In what has to be some kind of record for earliness, school board member Paulette Burdick has already met the 1,014-signature requirement to get her name on the 2010 ballot as a Palm Beach County commission candidate, the elections office confirmed today.

Candidates can qualify for the ballot by turning in signatures from 1 percent of registered voters in the district they are seeking to represent or by paying a filing fee equal to 6 percent of the salary of the office they are running for. In 2008, commission salaries were $91,995 and the filing fee was $5,520 for partisan candidates.

Burdick and state Rep. Mary Brandenburg of West Palm Beach, both Democrats, are running to replace term-limited Commissioner Jeff Koons in heavily Democratic District 2.

Florida voters will probably face a major decision in 2010 about future development now that backers of a proposed constitutional amendment have won a major court victory.

But the battle over growth, whether at the ballot or in the courts, is far from over.

The Florida Supreme Court on Wednesday struck down a law that let residents revoke their signatures on constitutional amendment ballot petitions. The ruling clears the way for the Hometown Democracy initiative to get on the ballot next year.

The amendment would require that all changes to a city or county long-term growth plan be approved by voters.

“I personally don’t think it’s that radical, but it does go to the heart of the developer power which has the ability to get what they want from city and county commissions,” said Palm Beach lawyer Lesley Blackner, co-author of the proposal. She has spent almost six years and nearly $1 million of her own money to get the initiative on the ballot.

Opponents, including the Florida Chamber of Commerce, persuaded the legislature to pass the signature-revocation law specifically to try to thwart Hometown Democracy. They warn that the amendment would cause a permanent recession by halting development.

The high court has not yet issued a written opinion outlining the reasons for its 4-2 decision. But it upheld an appellate court ruling that found the signature-revocation law unconstitutional.

Now, voters may face a virtual Pandora’s box of ballot proposals for 2010.

Floridians for Smarter Growth, backed by the Florida Chamber of Commerce, is considering a counter-initiative. It would let residents vote on a growth-plan change only if 10 percent or more of a community’s registered voters signed a petition.

Meanwhile, the business-backed group Save Our Constitution, funded mainly by Associated Industries of Florida, wants to get an amendment on the ballot that would allow voters to put signature revocation into the constitution.

The competing ballot items are likely to yield one of the nastiest constitutional amendment showdowns in recent history.

“Hometown Democracy is essentially a proposal to freeze the status quo in place. … To say this is an economic catastrophe is probably a gross understatement,” said Ryan Houck, executive director of Floridians for Smarter Growth. “We believe this proposal is so bad for Florida’s economy that we will run a full-on campaign to defeat it at the polls.”

Associated Industries CEO and President Barney Bishop said his group is awaiting the Supreme Court’s formal opinion before deciding whether to ask for a rehearing.

Blackner and her supporters “were unabashed in their willingness to do anything and everything to get this on the ballot,” Bishop said. “But just be prepared. We’re going to use the same tactics they did. So better sleep with one eye open. ‘Cause we’re coming at you.”

Paige: “Don’t look back. Something might be gaining on you.”

WELLINGTON — Three corrupt Palm Beach County commissioners have gone to prison in the last three years, but the head of the public integrity unit in the Palm Beach County state attorney’s office said Wednesday night the public shouldn’t dwell too much on the past and should trust current commissioners to approve needed ethics reforms.

Assistant State Attorney Alan Johnson didn’t have an entirely sunny outlook. When asked by an audience member if he expected any future prosecutions of public officials, he gave a “general answer” of “I hope not, but I know yes.”

Johnson this morning said the answer referred to all public employees and his office is not currently investigating any commissioners.

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BOCA RATON — The keynote speaker couldn’t make it because she was sent to federal prison on a corruption charge, but the ethics seminar went on anyways today at Florida Atlantic University.

With disgraced former Palm Beach County Commissioner Mary McCarty unable to appear, a panel of lawyers advised about 50 local government officials on the federal honest services fraud law that has sent McCarty and four other elected officials from Palm Beach County to prison in the last three years.

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The long-awaited entry of West Palm Beach City Commissioner Bill Moss into the District 2 Palm Beach County commission race isn’t going to happen. Moss said this afternoon he’ll seek reelection to his city seat and will not run to replace term-limited County Commissioner Jeff Koons in 2010.

Moss was expected to enter a Democratic primary fray with school board member Paulette Burdick and state Rep. Mary Brandenburg, D-West Palm Beach, for Koons’ heavily Democratic seat.

Moss offered best wishes to Brandenburg and Burdick, but said he won’t be endorsing either remaining candidate.

Moss said he heard from constituents who wanted him to stay on the city commission.

After state Sen. Dan Gelber, D-Miami Beach, reached into the home county of rival state Sen. Dave Aronberg, D-Greenacres, for an endorsement in the 2010 Democratic attorney general’s primary, Aronberg announced that one of Gelber’s hometown elected officials is hosting a fund-raiser for him this month.

The Aronberg money event will be June 30 at the home of Miami Beach City Commissioner Jonah Wolfson.

Gelber earlier today announced that he’s been endorsed by Palm Beach County Tax Collector Anne Gannon.

South Florida Senators Aronberg and Gelber so far are the only announced Democrats in the 2010 attorney general race. Incumbent Bill McCollum is leaving to run for governor.

The Atlantic Monthly included Florida U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson in its top 30 Washington insider Twitter-ers.

Nelson – who lists his obsessions as The Everglades, the stimulus bill and alternative energy – is among the handful of politicians on the list, comprised mainly of journalists.

Here’s some of Nelson’s typical Tweets:

- I can’t believe some Florida lawmakers might actually be serious about allowing oil drilling within ten miles offshore.

- White House tells me the president will fly all nine remaining shuttle missions – even if it means flying the shuttle an extra year.

- Whoa, Arlen Specter is switching to Democratic Party after three decades in GOP

Other notables on the list include Newt Gingrich (Obsessions: lowering taxes, his new self-help book restaurants in suburban Virginia); U.S. Senator and losing GOP presidential candidate John McCain (Earmarks, war movies, Arizona Diamondbacks); his daughter, Meghan (Typical Tweet: Why is Newt Gingrich on my news crawl this morning? Last time he was interesting I hadn’t hit puberty yet…).

Follow Nelson at: http://twitter.com/senbillnelson.

Forty years after moving onto the Florida State University campus as a freshman, T.K. Wetherell took up residence at the president’s mansion.

After six years at the helm, Wetherell, the first FSU graduate to return as president, is stepping down, leaving behind a university wracked by budgetary woes, impending mass firings and a cheating scandal that could cost Bobby Bowden a chance to be the all-time winningest major college football coach.

Wetherell announced his resignation Wednesday at a Board of Trustees meeting, two years before his contract runs out.

“It would really be nice to win the national championship, go out on top and hire 1,000 new faculty. There’s no easy time in that regard,” Wetherell said when asked if he had remorse over leaving the university with so many problems.

“I wish we weren’t here. I wish we didn’t lose $82 million and I wish there were 650 people that were back on the payroll at Florida State doing whatever it is they do. I couldn’t control that. I tried. I did the best I could do with it, probably burned up more political capital than I should have in many people’s minds.”

Wetherell said he was willing to stay until a replacement is chosen.

When he took over as president in 2003, he and his wife, Virginia, said they would donate their 1,000-acre farm near Tallahassee – valued at more than $7 million – to the university after they die.

A soft-spoken Southerner with a folksy demeanor that belies a sharp wit, Wetherell often addresses even casual acquaintances as “buddy,” men and women alike. He’s easily accessible to the media and is often seen on campus.

Wetherell’s candor has landed him in hot water. At a March news conference, he slipped in an obscenity directed at Samford University, Bowden’s alma mater. He quickly apologized.

Wetherell earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees and a doctorate in education administration from FSU and is a stalwart Seminoles fan.

Once a wide receiver and kick returner for the Seminoles, he has seen the football team slip in the rankings the past five years after winning national championships in 1993 and 1999.

He’s contesting NCAA sanctions over a 2007 cheating scandal that involved 22 football players, as well as athletes from other sports, and a lawsuit filed by media outlets seeking records related to the sanctions. The NCAA ordered that those records be kept secret.

He has battled the legislature, which has slashed $82 million from his budget over the past two years.

And he’s giving pink slips to nearly 200 employees, including 25 tenured faculty members.

Wetherell spent more than a decade in the Florida House and left after serving as speaker from 1990-92. His Capitol connections were a huge asset during his tenure.

Wetherell, who was treated for prostate cancer shortly after he took over as president, said he had considered retiring for about a year but did not want to leave until the three-year budget plan, approved by the trustees Wednesday, was finalized. He said he wants to teach, travel, spend time at his Montana ranch and “just be a real person, not in blogs and editorials every day.”

“Sure, you’d rather go out on a different note. But I think we went out as positive as we could,” he said.

This year’s graduates, he said, represent his greatest accomplishment at FSU: 30 percent were the first in their families to receive a college degree, as was Wetherell.

Gov. Charlie Crist, also a FSU alumnus, said he was disappointed by Wetherell’s resignation.

“I love T.K.,” Crist said.

Under the current economic climate, the political clout Wetherell often wielded may not have been as effective in raising money, said Jim Smith, chairman of the university’s Board of Trustees.

Smith wants the university to hire someone from outside Florida with “very, very, very good academic credentials” who will “eagerly anticipate getting up every day and wanting to figure out how they can raise $1 billion for Florida State.”

Fund-raising will be a major part of the next president’s job, Smith said.

“I just don’t see the willingness of the legislature to continue to put money in the system,” he said.

Snaring an endorsement from his rival’s back yard, state Sen. Dan Gelber, D-Miami Beach, announced today that he has received the support of Palm Beach County Tax Collector Anne Gannon in the Democratic primary for attorney general.

Gannon is a former Democratic legislator who served with Gelber in the state House from 2000 to 2006. She also served in the Palm Beach County legislative delegation with state Sen. Dave Aronberg, D-Greenacres, who’s running against Gelber in the Democratic AG primary.

“I served with Dan Gelber and he is the definition of a leader,” Gannon said in a statement released by the Gelber campaign. “He has the unique combination of force and personality that brings people together and empathy to be able to understand the needs and struggles of everyday Floridians.”

Conservative freshman U.S. Rep. Tom Rooney, R-Tequesta, doesn’t often join with the likes of liberal Democratic U.S. Reps. Dennis Kucinich, Maxine Waters, John Conyers and Fortney H. “Pete” Stark. But Rooney and most of the House GOP were joined by 32 largely anti-war Dems in Tuesday’s vote on appropriating money for military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The $106 billion measure passed 226-202, with 221 Democrats — including local U.S. Reps. Alcee Hastings, Ron Klein and Robert Wexler — in favor. All but five Republicans voted against the measure, objecting to an array of non-military measures added to the bill.

Statements by Rooney and Kucinich illustrate the odd coalition that voted against the bill.

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U.S. Rep. Ron Klein’s investment portfolio took a hit last year while U.S. Rep. Tom Rooney saw the value of his family trusts increase, according to the latest round of congressional financial disclosure reports.

The reports show that U.S. Rep. Robert Wexler, D-Boca Raton, incurred fresh college-loan debt in 2008 while U.S. Rep. Alcee Hastings, D-Miramar, continues to list liabilities of more than $2.1 million for legal fees from a 1980s impeachment fight.

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Gov. Charlie Crist weighed in on a variety of topics this morning after signing several law enforcement-related bills at the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles this morning.

Sheltered from the blazing heat by tents, slews of department employees dressed in bright red shirts turned out to hear Crist speak and pose for pictures with the governor, who is also running to replace retiring U.S. Sen. Mel Martinez.

Among the bills Crist signed today was one that will expand the state’s DNA database. Law enforcement officials, now limited to taking DNA samples from those convicted of crimes, will now be able to take DNA from anyone who is arrested.

But Crist defended the bill (SB 2276) which civil liberties advocates argue is too far-reaching and have threatened to challenge in court.

“I think it’ll be alright or I wouldn’t have signed the bill. I think that we need to protect first and make sure that our people are safe. I think that this legislation will help us to do that even better,” he said.

Read what else Crist told reporters at a gaggle after the bill-signing after the jump. (more…)

About 50 members of the anti-tax Tea Party movement showed up for this morning’s Palm Beach County Commission meeting after taking umbrage at dismissive remarks by Commissioner Burt Aaronson at a meeting last month.

After a big crowd filled a plaza outside the county government center for an evening rally on April 15, Aaronson noted during a weekday commission meeting in May that Tea Party activists “participated in the tea party, but they couldn’t get here today.”

Aaronson was silent when one activist said she felt Aaronson’s remarks were out of line.

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U.S. Sen. Jim DeMint, R-S.C., one of the most conservative members of the Senate, calls former Florida House Speaker Marco Rubio “the conservative we’re looking for” in this op-ed posted on the FoxNews site.

Rubio is a decided underdog in the 2010 GOP Senate primary against the more moderate Gov. Charlie Crist, who has soaring approval ratings and a big lead in early polls. Without mentioning Crist, DeMint urges Republicans to ignore the polls and look to young conservatives like the 38-year-old Rubio for the party’s future.

“There are already many young, conservative leaders ready to fight for freedom in Washington and in state capitals all around the country,” DeMint writes, “But we’ll never find them if we only look for well-known politicians or choose our party’s direction based on the latest polls instead of timeless principles.”

Friend-of-the-blog Jose Lambiet writes today that Enid Atwater, sister of Senate President Jeff Atwater, was one of several folks laid off Friday from the Palm Beach County Convention and Visitor’s Bureau.

Enid Awater, a marketing vice president, helped design the county’s current advertising campaign and lobbied the legislature during the past year asking lawmakers to avoid cutting the Visit Florida budget. She declined to comment further about her severance package.

“This clearly had something to do with the economy,” said Enid Atwater. “Hard decisions had to be made. The cuts were deep.”

More from Lambiet’s Page 2 blog here.

Gov. Charlie Crist on Monday signed legislation setting the outlines for a proposed gambling deal with the Seminoles that could reap the state billions of dollars for education.

Lawmakers gave Crist until Aug. 31 to finish negotiations and sign a pact with the tribe — a step that still remains to be completed. The legislature must approve the contract once one is inked.

Under the 15-year agreement that lawmakers have outlined, the Seminoles could continue to have Las Vegas-style slot machines and blackjack, chemin de fer and baccarat at their two Broward County casinos and one in Hillsborough County.

The tribe would be limited to slots only at its remaining Florida locales, including Immokalee, which it had planned on expanding.

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State Rep. Ellyn Bogdanoff, R-Fort Lauderdale, was an early supporter of John McCain’s 2008 presidential bid when former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani was the GOP presidential frontrunner in the state.

McCain returned the favor today, endorsing Bogdanoff in her bid for the seat of state Senate President Jeff Atwater, R-North Palm Beach, who’s giving up the seat next year to run for chief financial officer.

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U.S. Rep. Ron Klein, D-Boca Raton, who flirted for a few months with a 2010 U.S. Senate bid, today endorsed fellow Democratic U.S. Rep. Kendrick Meek of Miami for Senate. U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Weston, also endorsed Meek today.

Said Klein: “I am proud to support Kendrick Meek for U.S. Senate. His hard work helped Democrats take back the majority in Congress in 2006. As a U.S. Senator, Kendrick will fight for our entire state and help pass critical legislation like the Homeowners’ Defense Act. He has my full support, and I look forward to seeing Kendrick working on the other side of the Capitol Rotunda soon.”

West Palm Beach Mayor Lois Frankel, a Democrat and former (and future?) congressional hopeful, has also endorsed Meek.

While Meek is the apparent Democatic frontrunner, a Quinnipiac University poll last week shows he’s little-known among voters, especially when compared to the GOP’s Senate frontrunner, Gov. Charlie Crist.

Wellington Councilwoman Lizbeth Benacquisto snagged some big GOP endorsements last week in her bid for the District 27 seat of Democratic state Sen. Dave Aronberg, who’s running for attorney general. But the Benacquisto blitz isn’t deterring fellow Republican Sharon Merchant, the former state House member who says she’ll enter the race soon.

Read about it here.

With Florida accounting for one of every six foreclosures in the country and legislators showing little interest in addressing the crisis, a handful of judges are exploring ways to keep borrowers and lenders out of an increasingly congested court system.

“It’s very frustrating to recognize that consistently over the last three years we’ve sustained budget cutbacks and staff reductions in the court system and this tsunami has hit with foreclosures,” said Burton Conner, a judge in the judicial circuit that includes St. Lucie, Martin and Okeechobee counties.

That circuit has begun requiring borrowers and lenders to meet before their first court appearances, leading to many cases being settled. Meanwhile, Palm Beach County’s circuit court last week launched a pilot program to help homeowners understand options that could keep them in their houses.

But action from Tallahassee has been limited, even with nearly 11 percent of all mortgages in Florida in foreclosure – the highest rate in the country, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. Foreclosures in Florida dropped from April to May but were still up 50 percent from the same time last year, according to numbers RealtyTrac released Thursday.

Story here

Read the Florida Supreme Court’s foreclosure task force interim report here | Complete the court’s foreclosure survey for homeowners, lenders and attorneys here