Hometown Democracy, Cable TV Channels

I said a couple of times last week that I figured on writing my Sunday column about the recent deceptive mailing being sent out by Florida's business groups fighting the Hometown Democracy movement.

But on Saturday, our Tallahassee bureau chief Steve Bousquet wrote an informative column on the same subject, making it clear where the mailing was coming from. The letter was signed by John Thrasher, former speaker of the state House, who claimed that Hometown Democracy (which seeks local voter control over growth in this state) was being backed by "big developers." Bousquet noted:

It's certainly worth debating whether Hometown Democracy will have a devastating effect on Florida's economy. But it's not pushed by "big developers."

Nowhere in his three-page letter did Thrasher find space to list his occupation.

He's a highly paid lobbyist for Southern Strategy Group, which represents progrowth businesses like Disney, Associated Industries of Florida, the firm directing the revocation drive, and St. Joe Co., a "big developer" if ever there was one.

Since I was going to say exactly the same thing, and I think it will have more impact if I wait briefly before saying it again, I switched gears on Friday. I wrote for Sunday about the fate of access channels on Bright House Networks, the biggest cable company in the Tampa Bay area. I said it was a shame that Bright House wants to move our democracy to a higher digital tier of channels that will cost more to view. At the same time, I criticized local governments for trying to get rid of public access channels. Here's the column.