ACTION ALERT: Term Limits Convention to get floor vote!

It is decision time.

Will Florida become the first state to officially apply for the Term Limits Convention to propose a constitutional amendment to reform the U.S. Congress?

We will find out this week, as HM 417 and SM 630 have passed all four of their committee hurdles and have been scheduled for a floor vote in the House. We expect quick successive votes on the measures, with the first on Wednesday or perhaps even sooner. (I will update this blog post as additional information is available.)

Your state reps need to hear from you today!  Go here to look up your reps and send them a quick email message urging them to vote 'yes' on the Term Limits Convention memorial HM 417 / SM 630.

There are currently Term Limits Convention campaigns in eight states, but Florida is positioned to be first across the finish line. This would be a victory in itself, but just as importantly it will give impetus to the seven other campaigns.

Term Limits Convention approved by House committee, Brevard REC

Rep. Matt Caldwell

It was a big day for the Term Limits Convention today, as the bill calling for the Article V amendment convention (HM 417) passed its second and last House committee and won a unanimous endorsement by the membership of the Brevard Republican Executive Committee.

The bill was approved in the House State Affairs Committee in a 14-3 vote, with chairman -- and dependable term limits advocate -- Rep. Matt Caldwell (R-Fort Myers) presiding.

In the Senate, the TLC bill (SB 630) already passed two Senate committees late last year.

The TLC is now expected to see floor votes in both houses of the Florida legislature during the 2016 session which opened this week.

If it passes both chambers, Florida will be the first state to apply for amendment convention limited solely to the issue of Congressional term limits. Upon application of 34 states, Article V of the U.S. Constitution requires that Congress "shall" call the convention for the purpose of drafting the amendment. The resulting amendment must be ratified by 38 states.

The members of the Brevard Republican Executive Committee applaud the idea and, with a unanimous vote, became the third county Republican Party to officially endorse the Term Limits Convention at their January meeting. Chairman Barbara Davis led the vote of about 80 BREC members.

Previous resolutions in favor of the TLC passed with wide margins in Palm Beach and Volusia Counties in 2015.

Palm Beach Gardens: Your vote doesn't count unless the old guard wins

In spite of a new voter-approved term limits law that was approved by nearly 80 percent of the vote, 4-term incumbent Vice Mayor David Levy is running for his fifth consecutive election to the Palm Beach Gardens City Council. The 2014 law, which is retroactive, limits council members to two consecutive elections to the council.

City cronies are circling the wagons for Levy, as his city attorney and city clerk, Patricia Snider, are arguing Levy can place his name on the ballot in spite of the new law. Palm Beach County Supervisor of Elections Susan Bucher is permitting Levy's name to appear, saying it is up to the municipality -- that is, Snider -- to enforce its own election laws.

Levy's defense to irate voters is even more brazen. He is reportedly replying that if the voters don't like his illegal candidacy, he won't be able to win re-election.

In other words, the results of the 2014 elections didn't count and he is entitled to a do-over -- with different voters!

Levy's smugness about a do-over comes from the fact that he knows that March municipal elections attract a very low turnout, from some 7,000 in 2014 to as little as 3,000 in 2011. On the other hand, over 20,000 voted on the term limits law in the general election of 2014.

This is one key reason why municipal term limits are so important. Incumbents can turn out the vote of self-interested special interests in their districts and win repeated, lopsided elections as the bulk of the citizenry are busy taking care of their own lives, families and businesses. It is a classic case of the phenomenon of concentrated benefits and dispersed costs.

Levy's calculation -- based on the pre-term limits math of automatic victory -- is that even though law-abiding citizens won't like it, he'll win anyway. So, to hell with the voters. They probably won't even hear about the fraud until it is too late, if ever.

Please tell Palm Beach Gardens City Clerk Patricia Snider that she works for the voters of Palm Beach Gardens, not for David Levy and other longtime incumbents. She should respect the will of the voters and not place Levy's name on the ballot.

Send her an email by clicking here. Thanks!

Palm Beach Gardens political math: 4 + 1 = 2 terms

That politicians can be shameless should be no surprise, but sometimes the brazenness of their efforts to hold on to their pedestals (and stipends) can still be jaw-dropping.

Case in point: Palm Beach Gardens Vice Mayor David Levy.

In Palm Beach Gardens in 2014, 79 percent of the voters in this northern Palm Beach County city approved a citizen initiative that limited city council members to two consecutive 3-year terms in office. At the same time, 68 percent of voters approved a second measure making the two-term limit retroactive. The message the voters were sending couldn't be any clearer.

Nonetheless, four-term council member and current vice mayor David Levy has just announced his candidacy for reelection to a fifth consecutive 3-year term.

What?

Wait, there's more. When Palm Beach Gardens resident and term limits supporter Sid Dinerstein launched a legal complaint, Levy -- who won election in 2003, 2007, 2010 and 2013 -- feigned surprise. "I thought it was fairly clear I could run," he told the Palm Beach Post.

David Levy

Levy is backing his statement by pointing out that he took a few months off back in 2012 so therefore the 2010 election shouldn't count. The problem for Levy is that the Palm Beach Gardens law was written explicitly to prevent such chicanery. The operative language states that "no individual shall be elected to the office of council member for than two (2) consecutive full terms."

Often term limits laws are written to limit politicians to serving two full terms in office, which gives sleazy politicians a pretext for claiming -- a la Levy -- that if they resigned a month or two early they didn't serve their full terms and hence could run again. Not so in Palm Beach Gardens.

But perhaps we should grant Levy some small praise. He is, after all, providing a public service by demonstrating exactly why term limits were needed in Palm Beach Gardens in the first place.

Palm Beach County voters are welcome to send an email to urge Levy to respect the law that they petitioned and voted for and to leave the council with dignity.