and he just keeps getting more money for his senate run against Kendrick Meek.
And the bucks keep flowing inUnlike Sarah Palin, Charlie Crist has chosen not to quit his governorship early. Florida's own one-term wonder is using his remaining time to ingratiate himself with as many deep-pocket interest groups as possible.
..."Take Senate Bill 360, which he signed into law last month. Authored by lobbyists for developers, it's one of the worst pieces of legislation to come out of one of the country's most buyable legislatures. The law emaciates Florida's Growth Management Act by removing state oversight of massive residential and commercial projects known as Developments of Regional Impact, which put enormous stress on neighboring communities.
More outrageously, the new law will stick taxpayers -- not developers -- with most of the high costs for roads and other infrastructure that housing subdivisions require.
It's a recipe for more reckless sprawl, which is the last thing Florida needs, and the last thing a self-baptized environmentalist like Crist should be endorsing.
Good for Carl Hiaasen for speaking out this.
Howard Troxler of the St. Pete Times had a
lot to say about this sell-out as well.What the state House did Wednesday was essentially to gut the Growth Management Act for big chunks of the state.
Big cities and counties could allow growth without worrying about whether roads and other services can handle it. Small counties would be laid open to entire "new towns" of big development without the usual review.
The name of this bill, the House's revised version of Senate Bill 360, is ironically titled the "Community Renewal Act." It would be better titled the "Katie Bar the Door and Strip Mall Act of 2009."
Crist signed the bill.
Charlie also gave developers more power when he put the control of Florida's water in the
hands of just 5 people.With a stroke of his pen last week, Gov. Charlie Crist put the future of Florida's water resources in the hands of five people. Now the five - four men and one woman - are trying to figure out how to wield their significant new power over development and water-use permits, yet still give the public a chance to be heard.
..."Until this week, if a bottling company wanted to slurp millions of gallons of water out of the aquifer or a developer wanted to pave over thousands of acres of swamps, the state permits had to be approved by one of five water management district boards appointed by the governor. The board's vote took place in a public meeting where residents could stand up and give their opinion.
Charlie keeps giving Florida away to developers....and Hiaasen is right. The money keeps pouring in.