Finish the job
How can you tell a politician is lying? His lips are moving.
It’s a wry joke, usually guaranteed to bring a chuckle.
But this time, few among the 4.2 million Floridians who voted to require that fees already being collected by the state be used to the “acquire, restore, improve, and manage conservation lands” are laughing.
During their regular session, our state legislators ignored provisions within the new constitutional amendment approved by 75 percent of the voters.
Instead of earmarking the funds for the purchase of an estimated 46,800 acres southwest of Lake Okeechobee to mitigate pollution-fraught discharges from Lake O while benefitting Everglades restoration, the politicians in Tallahassee instead talked about diverting the funding approved by the voters to operating expenses.
Specifically, with an estimated $750 million in voter approved money on the table, the “water quality” pols we entrust to 1) represent the people who elected them and 2) adhere to the state’s bedrock governing document, its constitution, brought forth a measure to allocate only $200 million of that.
For “operating and regulatory” expenses for existing agencies.
Not for land acquisition.
Not for restoration.
Not for natural habitat improvement.
But for “management” of existing properties, the cost of which has been funded from other sources and as slick a legislative loophole as we have seen politicians attempt to slide through.
Former Lee County Commissioner Ray Judah, a longtime proponent of conservation who now serves as the coordinator of the Florida Coastal and Oceans Coalition, said it best:
“It is unfortunate that the legislature is looking at siphoning off money that was intended to purchase environmentally sensitive land pursuant to the language of the Florida Constitutional amendment and use that money to pay for regulatory agency operations,” he said. “This is a bait-and-switch type of tactic similar to what they did to the lottery.”
Indeed.
And it is bait-and-switch that, unfortunately, is being condoned, or at least allowed, by some of the legislators we elected to represent us here in Southwest Florida.
Let us be clear: Despite a no-go vote proffered by the South Florida Water Management Governing Board, the purchase of the acreage that would allow land to be set aside to build a 26,000 acre reservoir to direct water from Lake Okeechobee south – instead of west to the Caloosahatchee and east to the Indian River – so it could naturally filter and replenish the Everglades, has overwhelming support.
Voters, environmental groups and yes, local officials throughout Southwest Florida hailed the passage of Amendment 1 as it provided a funding source for the so-called EAA/U.S. Sugar land purchase, a project that has been moving forward since 2008 since the “Reviving the River of Grass” deal first was approved under then-governor Charlie Crist.
Purchase of both acreage in the Everglades Agricultural Area and the 26,000-acre Sugar Hill property, which the owners have contractually agreed to sell, has been deemed vital to not only the restoration of the ‘Glades but to the long-term health of southwest Florida’s watershed and our local economy.
Allowing the discharge of polluted, “unfiltered” water to flow into the Caloosahatchee to the detriment of not only the river but gulf shore waters in unconscionable – especially since the money is not only there, but voters specifically agreed that the purchase of land and land restoration was important enough to be imbedded into the state constitution for the next 20 years.
State Sen. Joe Negron, R-Stuart, who chaired the Select Committee on Indian River Lagoon and Lake Okeechobee Basin, is now proposing that $40 million to $50 million be budgeted and then used to provide bond financing of up to $500 million the U.S. Sugar Land is estimated to cost. (More realistic numbers are actually $350 million to $400 million at the $8,000 per acre at which the land has been market valued).
We urge our local delegation to support the proposal, if not one to earmark the entire purchase price in the upcoming budget year.
As clean water advocates across the state urged legislators this past weekend, it’s time to “finish the job.”
The voters have spoken. Their mandate – and their trust – should not, must not, be betrayed.
Spend the Amendment 1 tax dollars as they were intended to be spent.
Observer editorial
Southwest Florida Legislative Contacts
* Senator Lizbeth Benacquisto, District 30
**Served on the Select Committee
District Office
1926 Victoria Avenue
2nd Floor
Ft. Myers, FL 33901
(239) 338-2570
330 Senate Office Building
404 South Monroe Street
Tallahassee, FL 32399-1100
(850) 487-5030
Senate VOIP: 5030
benacquisto.lizbeth.web@flsenate.gov
Senator Garrett Richter, District 23
**Serves on Commerce and Tourism Committee
3299 E. Tamiami Trail
Suite 203
Naples, FL 34112-4961
(239) 417-6205
404 Senate Office Building
404 South Monroe Street
Tallahassee, FL 32399-1100
(850) 487-5023
richter.garrett.web@flsenate.gov
President of the Senate, pro tem
Representative Matt Caldwell, District 79
Building A
15191 Homestead Road
Lehigh Acres, FL 33971-9749
Phone: (239) 694-0161
Capitol Office:
218 House Office Building
402 South Monroe Street
Tallahassee, FL 32399-1300
(850) 717-5079
matt.caldwell@myfloridahouse.gov
Representative Heather Fitzenhagen District 78
** “Protecting our waterways” a stated goal
Capitol Office
1302 The Capitol
402 South Monroe Street
Tallahassee, FL 32399-1300
Phone: (850) 717-5078
District Office
Suite 208
2120 Main Street
Fort Myers, FL 33901-3010
Phone: (239) 533-2440
heather.fitzenhagen@myfloridahouse.gov
* Representative Dane Eagle District 77
** Environmetal stewardship a stated goal
Capitol Office
1302 The Capitol
402 South Monroe Street
Tallahassee, FL 32399-1300
Phone: (850) 717-5077
District Office
Suite 310
1039 Southeast 9th Place
Cape Coral, FL 33990-3131
Phone: (239) 772-1291
Representative Ray Rodrigues District 76
Capitol Office:
1302 The Capitol
402 South Monroe Street
Tallahassee, FL 32399-1300
Phone: (850) 717-5076
District Office:
Suite 218
17595 South Tamiami Trail
Fort Myers, FL 33908-4570
Phone: (239) 433-6501
ray.rodrigues@myfloridahouse.gov
* Cape Coral