Dear UEL members and participants of UEL’s Clean and Efficient Energy Discussion,Jane Gilbert, Chair of Miami Dade County’s Greenhouse Gas Reduction Energy and Buildings Subcommittee of the Climate Change Advisory Task Force, would like to invite you to attend their next meeting on Wednesday, May 19, 2010 at 10am-12noon to be held at Overtown Transit Village North- 701 NW 1st Court, 2nd Floor Training Room.There will be a presentation by Oscar Gans on the FPL Demand Side Management Program. Chair Jane Gilbert suggests to review FPL’s filings to date on their proposed demand side management and the filings of parties that plan to comment on the proposed plan using this link.Please attend this meeting at the date, time, and location noted above. Please RSVP to Ms. Helen Wong by either replying to this email with a copy to me or calling (305) 372-6658. Map and directions to DERM on the DERM website.You will need to provide photo identification to the security guard in the lobby in order to enter the building. Please advise him/her that you are attending a meeting in the 2nd Floor Training Room.

Margaret Morales the South Florida Organizer of Clean Water Action/Clean Water Fund and Hold the Line member, said it best for all of us, thanking the residents who came out yesterday:It was amazing to me to see how strong the Hold the Line campaign really is, with so many bright green stickers staring straight back at the Commissioners.Although the Commissioners did go ahead and approve both Amendments 5 and 6, yesterday really was a big victory for HTL. Of course the developers pulling 4 on Tuesday was a BIG win. But even on 5 and 6, a number of additional measures and restraints were placed on both of these projects that made them items we can continue to monitor and work to reduce their impact, rather than complete losses that we have no ability to mitigate any longer.

The Urban Environment League is a member of Hold the Line. We agree with the Miami Herald Editorial that said: “The Commission sacrifices public good for private gain.” I will be representing the UEL at the County Commission meeting today, echoing the concerns raised in the Miami Herald:”How many public officials and independent authorities have told the Miami-Dade County Commission that moving the Urban Development Boundary would open the floodgates to westward expansion for no good reason?Five. The Florida Cabinet. The state Department of Community Affairs. The South Florida Water Management District. Florida Administrative Hearing Judge Bram D.E. Canter. County Mayor Carlos Alvarez.Add to that list the county’s own planning and zoning department experts and many, many Miami-Dade residents. They are tired of sprawl and the traffic gridlock and crowded classrooms that reckless, unplanned development generates without paying for the services it needs.”

AMENDMENT 5STANDARDS FOR LEGISLATURE TO FOLLOW IN LEGISLATIVE REDISTRICTINGBALLOT SUMMARY: Legislative districts or districting plans may not be drawn to favor or disfavor an incumbent or political party. Districts shall not be drawn to deny racial or language minorities the equal opportunity to participate in the political process and elect representatives of their choice. Districts must be contiguous. Unless otherwise required, districts must be compact, as equal in population as feasible, and where feasible must make use of existing city, county and geographical boundaries.AMENDMENT 6STANDARDS FOR LEGISLATURE TO FOLLOW IN CONGRESSIONAL REDISTRICTINGBALLOT SUMMARY: Congressional districts or districting plans may not be drawn to favor or disfavor an incumbent or political party. Districts shall not be drawn to deny racial or language minorities the equal opportunity to participate in the political process and elect representatives of their choice. Districts must be contiguous. Unless otherwise required, districts must be compact, as equal in population as feasible, and where feasible must make use of existing city, county and geographical boundaries. From the Tallahassee Democrat: The gerrymander — that ugly but all-too-common creature — has thrived in Florida for years.Serpentine congressional and legislative districts traverse the state everywhere you look. Elections are shockingly uncompetitive, with only three incumbents in the Legislature losing over the past six years (out of 420 elections). And even though there are more registered Democrats than Republicans in Florida, Republicans control 15 out of 25 congressional seats, 76 out of 120 state House seats, and 26 out of 40 state Senate seats.Hoping to curb this out-of-control gerrymandering, Florida’s voters recently placed two initiatives on the ballot for this fall’s elections (one for Congress, one for the Legislature). These initiatives, sponsored by the nonpartisan group FairDistrictsFlorida.org, would ban line-drawers from trying to “favor or disfavor a political party or an incumbent.” Instead, districts would have to be compact and contiguous, to respect existing political and geographical boundaries and to safeguard minority voting rights.The FairDistricts initiatives have been applauded by almost every unbiased observer of the Florida political scene. Major newspapers throughout the state (including the Tallahassee Democrat) haveendorsed them.