Viewpoint: Orange Rising redefining the power of locals

By Daniel Tilson

“All politics is local” is a saying most are familiar with.

“Think globally, act locally” is another.

Both underline a point that people of any ideological persuasion or political affiliation (except for fascists) ought to be able to agree on.

The only way middle-class, working poor and retired folks can have some say over how things work in their communities, is to be active participants in and watchdogs over the electoral, operational and decision-making processes of local government.

It may sound boring, or impossible.

But it’s neither. In fact, it’s exciting and doable.

Florida’s best case-in-point these days — and the best-case scenario of a community coalescing to compete for political influence and power against wealthy corporate and private personal interests – can be found in Orange County.

That’s where an alliance of more than 20 organizations backed by thousands of residents has unveiled an action plan that can and should become a model for every other county statewide.

The coalition is called Orange Rising and its new campaign is VOTE LOCAL. Its goal, as stated in a press advisory:

“Here in the I-4 corridor presidential elections get a lot of attention, but local elections are all too easy to ignore. One reason for that is that local offices are voted on during the primaries. Not many independent voters vote in primaries, so they also tend not to vote in important local elections. We want to fix that.”

And so in the coming months leading up to Aug. 26 primaries and local elections, a new website — www.votelocal2014.org — will offer voters easily digested information about local government, elections, office-holders, candidates and issues.

Candidates for mayor and county commissioner are being asked questions about issues of common concern in the community, with answers posted on the website. Or as is already the case with incumbent Mayor Teresa Jacobs, the refusal to answer questions will be noted.

Meanwhile, participating organizations and individuals will be spreading the word about why it’s critically important to be a voting player in local government, rather than passive onlooker.

Recent experience with taming Orange County’s “government gone wild” has been a good teacher — and motivator.

A 2012 Citizens Initiative petition drive gathered more than 50,000 signatures and got a proposed amendment on the ballot, which, if passed, would have required county employers to offer a minimum of five paid sick-leave days per year to workers.

But five of six county commissioners and the mayor are Republicans.

They sided with big business interests, which opposed the measure because their profit margins are pinned on low-wage workers who get no sick time or other benefits.

And the commission didn’t simply take sides; it did so in brazen fashion.

Commissioners were caught texting with representatives of corporations such as Disney and Darden Restaurants, during hearings that led to removing the amendment from the ballot.

When an investigation zeroed in on those texts, they turned up “deleted”; an illegal act that led to the commission paying $90,000 in fines.

Rather than learning his lesson as a key “textgate” culprit, District 2 Commissioner Fred Brummer instead came up with a democracy-dampening plan to clamp down on Citizens Initiative petition drives, do away with the independent elected office of Tax Collector, add two new Rick Scott-appointed commissioners, and more.

But the Orange Rising Coalition turned out a crowd of well-informed citizens who helped put the brakes on the plan.

And now, that same coalition is getting to the heart of the matter, the elections.

Pay attention, and take notes.
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A New York University graduate, Daniel Tilson owns a Boca Raton-based firm, Full Cup Media, offering “a la carte” and custom-bundled packages of communication services. Column courtesy of Context Florida.