New complications arise on the way to the ballot

During the most recent public hearing for the Alachua County Charter Review Commission, several members expressed a will to reevaluate their purpose. They emphasized the importance of preserving the voters’ right to decide. Some clearly stated they did not support certain proposals and they did not want them to be adopted, but nonetheless they voted to put them on the November ballot, because the point is to let the citizens make the call.

In light of a bill that was just passed at the state level, the wills and intentions of review commission members may become a moot point on some issues.

Governor Charlie Crist signed House Bill 131 into law on Friday. It provides that sole power and control over certain policies and procedures are withheld by the state, regardless of any home rule or autonomy granted or upheld by a charter government on the county level, such as that in Alachua Ciounty.

Furthermore, the proposal made by UF law professor and review commission member Joe Little to achieve control over issues like non-partisan voting and commissioner salaries by converting the County Commissioners into Charter Commissioners may no longer provide a solution.

The legislation is lengthy and scattered with revisions and amendments. The entire legislation may be viewed at http://flsenate.gov.

Sarah Bleakley, legal counsel to the charter review commission, said she is still working on trying to find answers about which charter amendment proposals this bill can affect, and how it can affect them.

There are several that could depend on it, she said, but she’s still in the process of doing all the necessary research to be sure.

During its next public hearing on Wednesday, she will advise the review commission according to what she finds.

Ward Scott, chairman of the County Commission’s Rural Concerns Advisory Committee, expressed concerns about how the bill might affect local government before it was even passed. He said it poses a huge problem if it does indeed, as he suspects, forbid counties from holding non-partisan elections for commissioners.

Bleakley said this is one of the concerns she is looking into, although she wasn’t able to make an official comment on it yet.

Laurie Newsom, a chairperson of the Gainesville Tea Party, echoed Scott’s concern regarding the bill’s potential effect on the county’s ability to institute non-partisan elections.

But it doesn’t mean the amendment can’t still be put on the ballot, she said. What is in question, she explained, is the constitutionality of actually enacting it. Newsom believes citizens should still get a chance to vote on it, and if it gets passed, the issue can then be addressed of how to legally adopt it.