Second of two parts
The promoters of Florida Hometown Democracy are closing in on the 600,000-plus signatures they need to put their revolutionary idea on the ballot, one that would give citizens direct control over the development process, hence scaring the bejeezus out of the state's business interests.
So just who are the activists behind the Hometown Democracy movement? And why have they sunk nearly $1 million of their own money into fighting to get it onto the ballot? (That doesn't even count the $140,000 contributed by state and local Sierra Club chapters.)
Here's a quick look at a group the Naples Daily News termed "a collection of strange bedfellows:"
Steven Rosen, DDS: The controversial Fort Lauderdale dentist is an unlikely ally for Hometown Democracy, contributing more than $400,000 of his own and his Tend Skin International's money toward the petition drive. Why?
Turns out that Rosen, 56, is one "pissed-off" animal-rights advocate who has turned his fight to save gopher tortoises into a larger battle against growth.
"They can't label me as some kind of nut job," Rosen said by telephone from South Florida, "even though I probably am. But I'm adamant about my critters."
Rosen is probably best known for his efforts to save hundreds of non-native black-tailed jackrabbits living near a planned Miami International Airport runway from being shot by the government in 2003. He's no stranger to the courts, suing or being sued dozens of times for business and personal matters. He was stymied by state and federal regulators in his efforts to protect gopher tortoises, so he turned to politics.
"Florida Hometown Democracy seems the best way to stop this killing, to stop the development," he said. "This is the greatest thing I've ever seen. I told [Hometown Democracy co-founder Lesley Blackner] I will put up whatever money is needed to get this thing on the ballot."
In 1985, Rosen discovered that a pain treatment he gave to a patient helped clear up the patient's razor burr. He now sells six different skin and health products, including that original product, Tend Skin. It is simply aspirin, water and glycerine, but has not been sold without controversy. The Food and Drug Administration in 2001 sent Tend Skin a warning letter that it believed the products violated drug-safety regulations. "'Tend Skin' is promoted and labeled for razor bumps and ingrown hair, but is also promoted for the treatment of acne, cold sores, athletes foot, warts, pityriasis rosea and ringworm. 'Tend Skin' contains, among other ingredients, acetylsalicylate (aspirin), which is not recognized as a safe and effective ingredient in an external analgesic OTC drug product," the FDA notice said.
Rosen said the case has been resolved and that it made his products better (he changed the way he describes the products in sales materials).
Joyce Tarnow: So what is a former abortion clinic owner doing neck-deep in the Hometown Democracy campaign? For Tarnow — who has been described by the New Times alt-weekly in South Florida as "a weird combo: a wiry, gray-haired mother of three who's a feminist, an environmentalist and slightly wacko about population growth" — it is the connection between growth and fertility. "Fertility is an environmental issue," she told New Times in 2004. "That's why I try to get as many people sterilized as are in my way!"
A group Tarnow runs, the anti-immigration, zero-population Floridians for Sustainable Population, contributed more than $14,000 to Hometown Democracy. Telephone listings for Tarnow in South Florida came back disconnected and she could not be reached for comment.
Joe Redner: Tampa Bay's famed strip-club king is also mad as hell at the way Florida is growing out of control. The eight-time candidate for public office in Tampa Bay contributed more than $27,000 and speaks out on the organization's behalf.
Lesley Blackner: One of the movement's co-founders, Blackner is a prime target for opponents who like to point out that she lives in a more expensive home than the fat-cat lobbyist who has debated against her. Blackner has put nearly $500,000 of her own money into the fight and has nothing but contempt for the business interests who have poured millions of dollars into campaigns against her.
"I know they're really scared," Blackner told a Tampa Tiger Bay Club lunch gathering in November. As for her group's motivations, Blackner told the political club, "Nobody at Hometown Democracy stands to make a dime off the passage of this amendment."
This article appears in Dec 12-18, 2007.