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Incorporate for closer government

Congratulations on the excellent article on incorporation. I want t o share some of my observations.

The motivation for Ruskin to become the fourth municipality in Hillsboroug h County is to find a way to bring the government closer to the people. Ou r present county government structure does not accomplish this goal, and, base d upon the current meetings being held by the Hillsborough County Charte r Review Board, there is little prospect for change.

Your article showed both the population for unincorporated Hillsboroug h County and the three cities. By combining this population your articl e reported a total population of 1,147,140 residents, with each count y commissioner representing 163,877 residents. This would be correct if th e structure called for seven single-member districts. However, four commissioners represent single-member districts and approximately 286,785 residents; three commissioners represent countywide districts and 1,147,140 residents.

In my opinion, the two ways to bring the government closer to the people are to increase the number of single-member districts, thereby reducing the number of constituents represented by each commissioner, or to encourage the formation of municipalities.

Finally, the citizens of Pinellas County with a population of just under 1-million now enjoy the benefit of being represented by 24 municipalities. Who do you feel is closer to their government?

Unincorporated unrest high

Re: The I word, Aug. 26

Letitia Stein's article on incorporation in your Brandon Times was of timely interest.

Many, if not most, of the land use meetings for Hillsborough County show a different group of people fighting the county staff's recommendations, which favor developers. The wetlands and charisma that drew people here are vanishing.

Approvals come according to comprehensive plans that are either old, no longer valid, or antiquated. Even some new plans have been violated.

This misuse of land is a great abuse to our community, and the system essentially prevents a citizen from protesting the approval of the project.

A change of commissioners or parties cannot solve this problem. Voters must approve a referendum to reorganize the county charter.

In the 10 largest counties in Florida, all have matured and resolved their local problems of controlling land use in two ways. They have added single-member districts so that commissioners represent more closely the people's wants.

Second, but more important, counties have added many cities or local areas of control. Miami-Dade County has 13 districts and 36 municipalities. Hillsborough has only three.

Of these, Plant City and Temple Terrace use county services where it is a benefit to both the county and the city. That keeps their taxes lower than in Tampa or unincorporated Hillsborough, and also allows them to control land use in their area.

Yet we have never recognized Plant City and Temple Terrace as having their own planning board, such that they can control their local land use.

We now have the annual five-year Charter Review Board meeting to audit the need for changes in our charter, but when the Charter Review Board meets, the commission chamber is empty of people. The few invited to speak are county department heads who dutifully state that everything is fine instead of identifying what is wrong and how it can be fixed, as would be the case in a normal business operation.

One board member believes that since no rush of citizens is in the audience, citizens must be happy with the county government. By reading letters to the editor, watching land use meetings and following news accounts of reported conflicts, it is apparent that this is not true.

Read Stein's article with the intention of going to Charter Review Board meetings and telling this board what is wrong, so that they understand that there is great unrest in poorly represented unincorporated areas.

You can never rebuild wetlands that have been destroyed. Building sites and high density are changing all of our areas into city lots, with all of the traffic and other problems that come with unplanned population increases.

Thanks to Letitia Stein and the Brandon Times for telling the story so well.

[Last modified September 2, 2005, 02:15:35]