Everything one might want to know about the CTLAC

Fellow Bloggers and Guests,

Thank you for taking the time to read this very long blog. I hope this blog will answer some of your questions, which I have tried to answer in the past.

Citizens for Term Limits and Accountability Committee (CTLAC) find it odd that some individuals consistently chastise citizens for their non participation in local government, yet when a group of citizens take an active part in their government, those same individuals, along with some elected officials, inundate the citizens with attacks and criticism. I realize no amount of facts will satisfy anyone who consistently uses false information to support their position, but I thought I'd give the truth one more chance. Here's everything one might want to know about the CTLAC and a history of the debate with the Charter Review Commission. This is a long and extensive. I had to take several naps during the research and preparation phase. Please feel free to do the same--just pleas come back.

The CTLAC is a group of county citizens, mostly retired. We have no secrets, no hidden agendas and no covert meeting in the middle of the night. Most of us can't stay up that late. Our member numbers vary due to life: vacations, births, illnesses, deaths, areas of interests and the number of public forums we present. We sometimes work with Clay Action Network (CAN), another county citizens' group, for the good of our county.

We came together as a group because of the seemingly consistent illegal activities of our local officials. Our intentions are pure; we want honest government for county citizens, our children and our grandchildren. Although some individuals appear to delight in poking fun at Co-founder Durwood Smith and heaping criticism upon him, his is but one of our members, with no more influence than the rest. He will soon be 80 years old and taught in the public schools for more years than many readers have been alive. His primary concern in life is to lovingly care for his critically ill wife. He has strong ethics, so in the short stints he takes from care giving, he also attempts to lovingly care for his county. If you knew this kind, honest gentleman, you would realize that , while he is passionate in his desire to help the county, he is not capable of the strong-arm dishonest tactics or attempts to mislead county citizens, which some have suggested. Durwood, admittedly, does spend more time than the average citizen at the Wal-Mart parking lot.

CTLAC consistently researches actions taken in Florida and throughout the nation to bring about needed changes in our government. Research has led us to several actions which are succeeding throughout the nation to stem political corruption and bring about honest representative government. Each strips powers from moneyed special interests who purchase favors from our decision makers, such as lobbyists and developers, then return it to the people. Term Limits, Single Memeber Districts (SMD) Hometown Democracy (HTD) and lower salary of some officials, are ways to accomplish this shift of power to citizens. Before I was involved, CTLAC  worked very hard to gather signatures to place Term Limits and SMD on the ballot. Many of our elected officials fought publicly and privately against these changes. These same officials appointed some individuals to the Charter Revision Commission (CRC) who felt as they did.

Some members of the CTLAC attended a number of CRC meetings. Several members of the CRC initially discussed reversing Term Limits and SMD, even though the voters strongly supported these issues at the polls; SMD had yet to be instituted. There was strong opposition from citizens to leave these mandates in place. Research results became real-life when Lobbyist John Thrasher suggested in the Times Union that SMD needed to be revamped, (even though it had yet to be implemented), by adding at-large commissioners. Shortly thereafter, developer Jack Myers came before the CRC on May 5, 2006, as reflected by meeting minutes, and said "Obviously, I am not for SMD, but now that we have it, I am trying to think of some ways to make it happen." Developer Myers said his "first preference" would be a 5-2 plan. The CRC quickly decided to "add to" SMD by placing an amendment on the ballot to add 2 at-sarge commissioners. The CRC stated they researched the issue and found that adding 2 at-large commissioners would create more accountability. They published their "research" on the commission website.

Journalist Susan Armstrong wrote an article about this issue in the Sept. 6, 2006 Fleming Island Messenger called "Educate or Advocate." In the article, she said she contacted the same "experts" the CRC used to back up their research suggesting the 5-2 created more accountability in county government and was a better fit for Clay County. The journalist said the 2 expert, Dr. Wayne Bailey and Mr. Larry Arrington, were from Volusia County with a population of over 650,000. Armstrong worte that Volusia County went to a 5-2 blended system about 2 years before, but Baily said they had been "tweaking" their system for 30 years by adding or subtracting members. Mr. Arrington said their new system had "serious problems" and suggested that if the 5-2 was passed in Clay County, an expert should be summoned to the county and do interviews and work shops with officials and employees to "determine where the problems lay." BOTH EXPERTS SAID THERE WAS ABSOLUTELY NO DATA OR RESEARCH REGARDING A BLENDED SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT "BECAUSE THERE ARE NO SYSTEMS IN THE STATE THAT ARE THE SAME." Ms. Armstrong wrote "Dr. Bailey said he was familiar with the data from other states that PROVED SMD WERE MORE SUCCESSFUL THAT AT-LARGE DISTRICTS." She wrote that Volusia County's "strong" chairman was a full-time member and paid the maximum allowed by law with 650,000 population, $70,000. The other members were paid $35,000.

The journalist wrote even though the CRC published on the county website their research suggested the 5-2 was a superior system to the SMD, the CRC was not accurate. She spoke to members of the CRC, who finally admitted THERE WAS NO RESEARCH ON THE 5-2 SYSTEM. but it was their "opinion" it was best for the county. Armstrong then went to the last CRC meeting and the members were preparing to publish a handout to "educate" the public on the research that the 5-2 system was superior. She challenged them stating that they could not use county funds to "advocate," only to "educate." They agreed to use their own money to publish these handouts. She also cautioned them when they spoke at public events, they must state the information was "opinion" not fact.

The CRC and several like-minded individuals formed the EAR PAC. Along with CRC members, lobbyist, large land owners , and developers donated large sums of money ( approximately $30,000). The PAC had no public meetings and shared no information with the public. As a PAC, they are not required to do so. They used this money to launch a massive mail-out campaign to perpetuate the same information that appeared on the county website, which Ms. Armstrong had already proven was false.

I hope this full explanation helps to clarify any erroneous information which several bloggers have offered as fact. The CTLAC is planning an open meeting on Feb. 6 at 7 PM at the Fleming Island Library. The public is welcome. We will be discussing the citizen initiative amendments to be placed on the ballot in November. The meeting has been planned since August and was not the result of any coercion by anyone. Blogs do not dictate our agenda and will not change our vision of honest government in Clay County.

For those of you readers who are still reading (and awake), thank you for taking the time to read this long blog. I hope I have been informative and helpful. Please do not expect me to respond again to late-night attacks and multiple personality harassment on the blogs. I am too old and have too many important issues to deal with in my efforts to see that this county has honest government with consistent checks and balances. Clay County deserves nothing less.