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It continues to amaze me how people like this can be used by special interest. I often wonder what life as a puppet must be like. If the ammendment to obolish the 2 at large seats succeeds you will imediatly see one to have an elected co. manager and then it won't matter about the other 5 commissioners they will be powerless and the special interest only have to buy one candidate.

If the ammendment to obolish the 2 at large seats succeeds you will imediatly see one to have an elected co. manager

And if they are not abolished, depending on who wins the seat, it is going to be mighty interesting to see how this Chair position morphs into something the citizens of Clay County never imagined.

Unfortunately I think there was language put in the Charter along with the creation of these seats that will allow it to happen without a vote from the electorate.

Mike Heemer

Since there are no details of the compliant online, here is a summary:

The case INVOLVES ALL 3 OF THE CTLAC PETITION AMENDMENTS has been assigned to Judge Frederic A. Buettner, Div. B, Fourth Judicial Circuit Court.

The Compliant consists of 17 pages including exhibits and is for Declaratory and Injunctive Relief.

GENERAL ALLEGATIONS

  "1.  This is an action for declaratory and injunctive relief to declare unlawful the summary and substance of certain proposed amendments to the Charter of Clay County, Florida, and to enjoin any referendum thereon."

  "2.  Plantiff ROY LYONS (hereafter "LYONS") is a registered elector and property owner of Clay County, and has standing to seek enforcement of ballot disclosure laws."

The general allegations continue with 10 more items before the counts:

  COUNT I:  UNLAWFUL BALLOT SUMMARY (Exhibit A, CC 08-03)

  COUNT II  UNLAWFUL BALLOT SUMMARY (Exhibit C)

  COUNT III:  UNCONSTITUTIONAL PROPOSAL (Exhibit C)

  COUNT IV:  UNLAWFUL BALLOT SUMMARY (Exhibit D)

  COUNT V: INSUFFICIENT NUMBER OF SIGNATURES referring to Exhibits A, C and D

Last paragraph of the compliant on page 12 reads:

 "WHEREFORE Plaintiff prays for a declaration that the proposed amendment at Exhibit D does not comply with s 101.161, FLA STAT. (2007), and for an injunction directed against the COUNTY and SUPERVISOR in their ministerial capacities, against the holding of any referendum upon the proposed amendment, and for such other and further relief as to the court may seem proper".

Title of the Exhibits are:

  A  - Reduction of the number of Clay County Commissioners from seven (7) to five 5)        

  B - 2008 Candidate Listing  

  C - Minumum requirements for voter approval of all charter amendments 

  D - Reduction of and changes in salaries of Clay County Commsssioners

Maybe this will clarify for you exactly what is involved.  Hope it helps.

This frivolous and obstructing lawsuit by Roy Lyons is very upsetting.  I voted AGAINST the original amendment adding the two at-large commissioners and worked with the CTLAC and many others to finally get the amendment on November’s ballot to abolish the two at-large seats on the BCC. Thousands of Clay County voters signed petitions in record time (twice).  I am planning to vote YES on all three amendments.  Less government, not more.  This is lawsuit is an insult to the CC citizens - all of us (and yes, I know the constitution grants him the right to do so).

I am very curious as to why this Chair position is SO important to a certain faction in Clay County and probably former members of the State legislature, that the citizens and elected officials of this County are actually being sued.  It is SO obvious that their agenda didn’t include being challenged by ordinary people and now they are suing us for exercising our First Amendment rights.  I wonder what the filer’s reward for his trouble is and how it feels to be manipulated by special interests.  I don’t see any puppet strings so assume its a hand puppet status (and we all know how hand puppets are manipulated). 

I have been feeling frustrated and angry for so long over our Federal government’s destruction of the constitution,  Tallahassee lawmakers spending our time and tax dollars on really dumba$$ items such as truck décor, and now this at our own backdoor.  Our county is being sued by a bunch of wannabes who happen to have a lot of money – and we all know how money talks.  This is very frightening to me that someone is so upset about these amendments that they will go these lengths to get what they want, despite the wishes and rights of the citizens. 

Let’s review:

(Disclaimer – this is my recollection of events as they occurred and my personal commentary so please don’t sue me or anyone else mentioned.  I will graciously accept any documented corrections of my recall of events) 

November 2007:  Bradley and Lyons requested a copy of the CTLAC revocation amendment soon after it was filed with the SOE in November of 2007 so they had all the information they needed at that time to check for any errors.  I wonder when they actually realized the error in the title (too many words).  

Feb/March 2008:  Approx 5400 signatures were gathered by the CTLAC for the Amendment to remove the two at-large positions to be placed on the November 2008 ballot and validated by the SOE. The amendment was in process for the ballot placement as a citizen's initiative.

In March, Mr. Lyons went to the SOE to file his own petitions for his own PAC - the CPVR formed by a few people (who don't hold meetings but communicate online) to protect our rights.  Lo and behold, when he was filing his own petitions, it was discovered that the CTLACs amendment had too many words.  IMHO, Mr. Lyons never did pursue with gusto his petition gathering so our rights would be protected.  Hmmm, I have always wondered what his/their real motives in forming this PAC could have been.  Coincidence?  I think not.

Late March/Early April:  The CTLAC discovered they had until June (after initially being given an erroneous date of April 24) to obtain the signatures again, and they succeeded in record time. The signatures were again validated by the SOE, forwarded to the BCC attorney.

July 8th , the BCC approved the Amendment for the November ballot placement.  The same day, Mr. Lyons filed his complaints with the Clerk of the Courts and began the process of suing the citizens and elected officials of the County on issues involving all three of the citizen’s initiative amendments.

I have never seen anything like this on a local political level – not even my home county in New York which I used to think was pretty corrupt!  So I am feeling it’s not only time for a change – but a HUGE change. I can vote for Fred, Mike Heemer and Steve Richards.  I will work for anyone else who is NOT one of the GOBs (Good Ol’ Boys).  AND I will contribute to a legal fund for the CTLAC if one is started.

I think that a Legal Fund for us to support CTLAC is a very good idea.  Someone from CTLAC, please let us know when to send our checks.

I'm sure there will be info out in the next few days about exactly how the CTLAC will go about defending itself and what people who want to help can do whether it's a donation or assistance in other matters.  The legalities of a "legal fund" versus just donating money are unknown at the moment.  We also have to be careful to not violate the terms of service here on MCS. 

Any information needed about contacting the CTLAC or their snail mail address for correspondence or whatever can be found on their website.

www.claycitizens.com