I was in Tallahassee earlier this week to present a plan to the Florida Senate Appropriations Committee regarding Stuart’s Recreation Center. While in the capital, I attended a workshop on “All Aboard” and a House Committee hearing on Representative Fine’s bill known as HB 17. Fine’s bill would curtail local government’s ability to regulate businesses within their borders. I voiced my opposition to the bill as did a number of cities and counties. The preemption of your rights will have huge unintended consequences in counties and cities throughout the state.

It is really frustrating to me, as a Republican, that this “Big Brother” idea was sponsored by a member of my party. Further, it passed that initial committee with only one Republican member voting no as did every Democratic member. When you have to count on the Democrats to limit more regulation, then the world is indeed turned upside down. The idea that the best government is that government which is closest to the people apparently is not believed in Tallahassee.

Our representatives in Washington, but increasingly also in Tallahassee, have decided that they should minutely manage local affairs. They know best and we, the people, are too ignorant to be trusted. Members of the legislature have come to the conclusion that pesky citizens should not have a say in their own back yards.  As an example of this mind set, the legislature has preempted cities such as Miami from deciding whether or not to outlaw plastic bags.

This undemocratic and authoritarian style of governing is predicated on being business friendly. In other words, we can’t have businesses bothered by the locals.  The Florida constitution gives cities the right to manage their own affairs except where prohibited constitutionally or by legislative statute. The anti-democratic legislature doesn’t believe that to the detriment of every Floridian.

For example, the fiats handed down from Washington and Tallahassee regarding short- term rentals and sober homes have decimated some communities. The  legislators who sponsor and pass these bills argue that you can vote them out of office. If you wanted to get rid of Representative Fine you would have to move to Palm Bay.  Unelected and unresponsive to your needs, these men and women do indeed control your destiny.

The best thing that our Tallahassee and Washington representatives can do is not always use the power that they have to legislate. They should not assume that a problem brought to their attention in their local community is state or nationwide.  They should stick to those things that localities can’t do. The state should decide who can practice medicine or law but not where a city decides to allow offices to do so.  Is it really a concern of the state whether plastic bags are allowed In Miami or in Stuart?

Locally elected commissioners are not rubes that need guidance. We are keenly aware of what our citizens and voters want. Local elected officials are not in a bubble as so many state and federal officials are. We see and hear our constituents on a daily basis. The vast majority of us are not career politicians but rather are women and men who want to serve their communities. If we lose the public trust, we will be gone in the next election.