According to Representative Alex Andrade, from his Facebook account this morning, the local bill that had been prepared for filing in Tallahassee for the effort to incorporate Perdido will not be filed, after all. Even though at a recent legislative delegation meeting the issue was unanimously voted for approval. from Adrade's Facebook post:
“I will not be filing a local bill to place the question of Perdido’s incorporation on the ballot this Session. After reviewing We Are Perdido’s feasibility study in depth, and consulting with the Florida Department of Revenue and Florida House staff members, we determined that significant changes would be required to the proposal. Because, at this stage, these changes would need to be made by a single legislator instead of the residents of the affected area, I have made the decision to not file and sponsor the bill.
I have informed We Are Perdido of the decision, and encouraged them to spend this next year engaging in additional due diligence and public outreach if they decide to pursue this initiative in the future.”
I was neutral on the effort from the beginning, even though I saw serious issues with the feasibility study and a growing chorus of my constituents were reaching out with significant concerns.
Glad this effort will be given a bit more time for all of the details to be fleshed out, rather than being rushed through and forced like a square peg into a round hole---which is what it felt like prior to this announcement by Rep. Andrade.
More to come on this I am sure.
Andrade's handlers finally got around to reading it?
ReplyDeleteThey actually fully started going through it and asking questions that the residents have been asking since May…
DeleteHe read it prior to the delegation meeting, but didn’t delve into it until after he was going to sponsor it. WAP couldn’t or would t answer the questions, couldn’t or wouldn’t set meetings to go over the fine tooth questions, and ultimately got what they paid for in the study.
Rep. Andrade did his job 100% from the delegation meeting until today- he did what he said he was going to do- it was going to have some hard questions- that were asked and not answered, it was going to be scrutinized- and it was- and the answers were not forthcoming… forcing him to put a stop to it.
It wasn’t going to be another ‘we’ll pass it and find out’ it needed to be clear and transparent- and it wasn’t…
The opposition to this never stopped asking questions, and waiting for answers, finding their own answers and putting that information out there.
They will try again- but it won’t be for the 2024 elections.
11:17 AM, while your faith in the legislative process and our local delegators is refreshing, anyone tracking "Andrade's" bills over the years will recognize this is part of a well-established pattern for him. He doesn't do anything without being told what to do, cravenly submits to the higher ups with whatever they want, and is often embarrassed when the end result is being made to axe the thing they made him tout. Your statement "He read it prior to the delegation meeting, but didn’t delve into it until after he was going to sponsor it" says it all. Nobody needs a law degree to see how bad that study stank, yet he's a lawyer and didn't "delve" into it until after he agreed to run it. Broxson was also shoveling the BS along with him when he came prepared with that bogus bit about how the wetlands threw all the rules out the window etc.
ReplyDeleteThe good news--given their lack of transparency and outright lies--is that this attempt went exactly the way the last attempts have gone, which is not surprising as the same people keep running the same tired game behind the scenes. You didn't think that Jonathanesque bot they imported to run this was anything more than packaging did you? The same people who were behind it the last time were puppeteering it this time as well, with the same snake and shady moves, and nothing new about it except more sparkly tech to sell it.
If there is ever a real, honest attempt at incorporation out there from a grass roots movement coming from people who actually live in the area--that would be a completely different story. This one has all the earmarks of somebody up the feeding chain from Andrade serving some special interest on it, and then yanking it back--or having it yanked back by somebody above them etc. That's pretty much what the legislative function in Tallahassee has devolved into at this point: the reigning super majority is nothing more than an inept collective of self-serving, state-level oligarchs, swimming around in an outback microcosm of DC. And what the smaller patch of swamp lacks in reach, it makes up for in a much higher local concentration of toxic emmissions.
I’m sure they will be back. I really love the statement they submit to Studio 850 bragging about their 50 k in donations and reiterating that Inc is what is best for us in Perdido. Their PR has turned more residents against them than the actual policy issue at hand. Since the announcement by Rep Andrade Monday the support for Stop Perdido City has actually grown more. Oh and SPC has no funds. Purely grassroots. Additionally we are perdido seems to have county government derangement syndrome. They just don’t get it. Many of us are just fine with our County government, staff, departments, commissioners, etc. But we live in a realistic universe and know wants have to be balanced with reasonableness. Thank you
ReplyDeleteMel-
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with you. This is a push by people who do not live here and do not know the communities.
The residents- and grass roots efforts- have not pushed for it because they do not want it!
I do not believe this is a push from behind Andrade- on quick first look, the study looked good- once I started really looking and fact checking, the questions and confusion started pouring out of me. I also looked at many other areas studies that were done… this one is nothing compared to them…
Once facts started showing up, this whole thibg started to really stink!!!!