Sarasota County move to change petition rules is met with outrage

Last evening the Charter Review Board, which has done nothing for a couple of years, voted to approve measures that will complicate the process citizens must undertake to get a Charter Amendment on the ballot.

This specific measure was developed in a CRB committee headed by developer James Gabbert.

It was proposed after the citizens placed an amendment for Single Member District Voting on the 2018 election ballot, and it passed in all five districts.

From a piece by Tim Fanning in the 10.15.20 Herald Tribune: 

SARASOTA COUNTY — Two controversial measures expected to make it harder for citizens to change Sarasota County government rules by voting to amend the county charter sailed through a special review panel late Wednesday:

Among the proposed changes the charter amendments would require:

• A petition cannot conflict with the Florida Constitution, general law or the county’s charter, though charter amendments already cannot conflict with the Florida Constitution.

• A petition to be signed by at least 10% of the number of registered voters in each district in Sarasota County. 

• A petition would need to be reviewed for legal sufficiency by the county upon the collection of validated signatures of 1% of the registered voters of the county. Signatures must be submitted before Jan. 1 of the year the election is held. If the legal review is invalid, it will be thrown out. 

• A petition would need a fiscal impact statement prepared by the county. It would accompany any charter amendment proposed by the petition and would appear on the ballot. 

The proposed changes come just two years after the county placed some of the most restrictive measures to date for charter amendments on the November 2018 general election ballot.

Those measures, passed by voters, increased the number of required signatures for citizen petitions and imposed a narrow deadline for petition signatures to qualify for future initiatives.

The measures to double the number of citizen signatures to qualify for a ballot amendment came at the instigation of Commissioner Mike Moran, who initiated Board discussion at the July 10, 2018 meeting (start at the 2 hr 19 minute mark). The Board quickly adopted new language and got the measure on the Nov. 2018 election ballot.

Many who opposed the Board's doubling of required signatures said it will make new citizen amendments virtually impossible.

More:

Background on the CRB's effort from the Sarasota News Leader

More on the evolution of the CRB skewed by the influence of Bob Waechter

The broadcast of the 10.14.20 meeting was NOT clearly advertised. No one was able to offer input from a remote location. Several citizens did attend in person and spoke. The meeting can be seen at the link below:

Oct. 14, 2020 Meeting of the Charter Review Board