Re: “Don’t secede from Clearwater, mayor urges,” by Lester Dailey Editor: Secession is obviously not the answer to the island’s complaints. However, no one seems to recognize what the real problems are, and we are seeing attention being diverted from the real issues.
I believe the technical term for this is “Smoke and Mirrors.”
I believe we have two fundamental problems.
First: The mayor, the council, and the county commissioners are long time residents of Florida.
The Save Our Homes amendment allows them individually to pay (in many cases), less than 50 percent of every dollar they vote to spend. Non-residents and second property owners are therefore forced to subsidize the excessive budgets passed by these favored individuals. Therefore, problem 1 continues to be the Save Our Homes Amendment.
Second: More than 50 percent of the property owner’s on the islands are not Florida residents, and they are not allowed to vote on issues that affect their own property.
If all owners were allowed to vote, I am sure that the islands suddenly would have a much stronger voice regarding who pays for what in Clearwater.
Therefore: Problem 2, we are again fighting a battle that everyone thought was cured over 250 years ago – “No taxation without representation.”
