Orange County Sick-Time Fight

[spenser1058]

I posted kudos for the progress of central Florida leaders regarding efforts to get everyone, um, on board the idea of building density along the SunRail route, starting with a tour including the local Realtors. Meanwhile, the retrograde folks who are forever trying to keep OC a sleepy little burg were busy this week with maneuvers wholly inconsistent with government of, by and for the people.

http://orlandoweekly.com/news/happytown-orange-county-sick-time-fight-1.1371673

Whatever you think about the initiative (there is a good case to be made for and against), the fact is 50000 OC voters signed a petition to get the measure on the ballot. Immediately, the usual suspects in county government made plans to confuse voters with a counter-measure. Then, not content with even that, they came up with a last minute ploy that removed the initial charter amendment from the Nov 6 ballot altogether.

A "world-class" city is successful because everyone feels they are a part of the process. This is backsliding at its worst. This is simply bush league.

[prahaboheme]

That is just it -- Jacobs is not "world class." She said it herself: "cheap and darn proud of it." What a mockery she is making of local politics. This is outrageous.

[FLClarkKent]

It's the same crap they tried to pull with the domestic partner registry. Lots of mealy mouthed platitudes, but little actual leadership. Don't support the earned sicktime initiaitve? Fine. Just say you don't support it and that you'll help lead efforts to defeat it at the polls. (And chances are good that it would be easily defeated at the polls, especially with the biz lobby bankrolling the opposition).

Instead, they cheated the democratic process.

[prahaboheme]

This is heating up:

Judges order Teresa Jacobs to defend sick time ballot rejection by Sunday

[spenser1058]

We even made the national circuit with Chris Hayes on MSNBC:

http://www.msnbc.msn...043810#49043810

It's rather a shame the county commission has decided to join their Tallahassee GOP brethren in making us look like a laughingstock.

Update from Scott Maxwell at the Sentinel - he gets it just right:

http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/2012-09-15/news/os-scott-maxwell-orange-sick-time-091612-20120915_1_ballot-language-sick-time-measure

[FLClarkKent]

Domestic partnership registeries. Sick leave intiatives. Looks like that "Portlando" moniker might be starting to stick.

Put a bird on us, we're becoming a county of hipsters.