An Opinion
Submitted by Michael Harrison
June 1, 2015 1:00 a.m.
Having passed both Houses at the State Legislature, House Bill 1201 was sent to Gov. Scott on May 27 for his signature. This bill calls for election of the Ocean Highway and Port Authority (OHPA) Commissioners to be held Partisan, and was opposed strongly locally by voters from both main parties.
Although protests from Amelia Island residents have not stopped the progress of this bill through the legislature, they have undoubtedly raised the level of awareness in Tallahassee that there are problems at OHPA, and Rep. Janet Adkins is now working to address them.
HB1201 is not the main problem in the Port’s affairs, but it certainly does not help. Although it is a long shot, it may be worthwhile to email Gov. Scott via http://www.flgov.com/contact-gov-scott/email-the-governor/ to ask him to withhold his signature.
I just wrote him:
Please do not sign HB 1201 into law. Your research will show that Rep. Adkins is already dealing well with an inflamed situation at the Port of Fernandina. Partisan election to OHPA only fans the flames. Nassau County needs as many candidates for OHPA as possible, and as many voters. Partisan elections limit both.
Please do not sign this bill.
Thank you.
Mike.
Thank you, Mike. Just send him an email.
I urge every one that’s followed this corruption of the principles of our Democracy to write Gov. Scott in opposition to HB 1201. I’m not expecting anything from our Protest, other than hopefully to make our Representatives and Governor aware that some of us are paying attention to the erosion of our basic Freedoms and Governance by the People. Please, take the time E-mail the Governor.
Steve, you are right on the money. I’m not sure if it’s inappropriate to insert a social media link within a comment, but I’ll give it a go because I see there are 200 registered members of the Port Alert Facebook group. Someone needs to introduce a new topic post to that group asap with this same information, and urgent call for action. If the post falls behind other topics [as they generally do], then keep bumping this urgent call to the top as needed. https://www.facebook.com/groups/PortAlert/
Just sent my email to Gov. Scott.
So the Florida House vote on this bill was 114 yeas, 1 nay. Guess no one in Tallahassee was playing attention to the decent voices in Fernandina Beach. To top it off, the Gov. doesn’t have to sign it, for it to become law. What a Country.