House Bill 1035 is dangerous and unnecessary legislation | Guestview
House Bill 1035, sponsored by Rep. Jayer Williamson, needs to be defeated. It is merely a thinly veiled attempt to hamstring an aggrieved community’s ability to exercise the right of home rule. Communities need this when the other means of redress have failed to achieve what many in the community feel is inequitable governance.
The fact that HB 1035 requires a 60% super-majority vote in favor of incorporation is capricious. There is no basis for this requirement in the Florida Constitution or statutes; in the past a simple majority has been the standard. It is more than mere coincidence that Rep. Williamson introduced this bill after attending a Santa Rosa County hearing in which the Navarre community’s move to incorporate was addressed. It was at that hearing that Rep. Williamson stated that a 60% majority straw poll vote was necessary before he would submit articles of incorporation to the Florida Legislature. When challenged to cite the source of that 60% majority vote requirement, Rep. Williamson responded that it was his requirement. His requirement?
Previous column: Providing objective and accurate feasibility study is right path for Navarre | Guestview
Related: Florida legislative session 2022 begins: What are Okaloosa and Walton county lawmakers' top goals?
Citizens of this state expect equitable treatment. An arbitrary requirement that materializes during a community hearing and then suddenly appears in a draft bill smacks of pettiness and rings of disparate treatment. HB 1035 is a thumb in the eye to every member of the Navarre community trying to improve it while preserving its heritage and character.
The majority of survey respondents voted in favor of incorporation and did so fully knowing that they will shoulder the financial burden of another layer of government. That majority is willing to endure that burden for two reasons: to ensure that tax dollars collected from us are being used to address this community’s needs — needs we have collectively identified and prioritized — and that we have a local government responsive to our concerns of responsible growth and development that do not destroy the character and heritage of our community.
Residents can determine how best to address their local needs. We select representatives to state and local government with a simple majority vote; the same citizens are perfectly capable of determining with a simple majority vote if additional governance is needed to better protect their community and to ensure that the taxes they are required to pay are appropriately used to address the needs of their community.
More legislative hurdles to affording every citizen the ability to organize efforts to improve his or her community are counterproductive. HB 1035 is an unnecessary piece of legislation that would codify an arbitrary hurdle that does absolutely nothing but further burden a Florida community’s right to determine how best to meet its local needs.
As citizens we must join together, contact our representatives, and demand the defeat of HB 1035 and its unnecessary intrusion upon the principle of home rule.
Jack Heacock is a member of Preserve Navarre (www.PreserveNavarre.com), a local nonprofit seeking to promote the health, welfare, and safety of the Navarre area.
This article originally appeared on Northwest Florida Daily News: Jack Heacock: House Bill 1035 is dangerous legislation for Navarre
