Pitchford's opponents shouldn't expect relief from being SLAPPed
[ Go Back ]
By Jim Turner
Posted at 11:42 AM on October 01, 2007
The non-profit Jensen Beach Group, seeking help from Rep. William Snyder, R-Stuart, against a lawsuit that may be intended to shut them up, shouldn't expect to see a bill pushed to prohibit such lawsuits in the next regular legislative session.
Snyder isn't going to be sticking up for the developer, who just happens to claim that the suit filed by the resident's group is retaliation for his lawsuit that was aimed at making them go away. The freshman House member is just going to be confronted with political reality.
As much as the developer's suit and others like it should be tossed for being nothing more than a means to intimidate people to be quiet, the legal shenanigans has the backing of big business in Florida.
And Snyder hasn't built the political clout to sway other members to take on such a well financed lobby. As a Republican, he may have the wax to get Icarus off the ground, but the sun can get extremely hot in Tallahassee.
Besides, Snyder's more grounded. He knows he must still build relationships if he wants to push anything that could become controversial.
Giving law enforcement agencies in Florida more power to make arrests of human cargo smugglers, as Snyder has proposed on behalf of the Martin County Sheriff's Office, is one thing. This matter, in the eyes of other state lawmakers, would be avoided as a local to Martin County issue.
Reily Enterprises wants to build a subdivision on land zoned by Martin County for a 17-acre mobile home park, Pitchford's Landing, immediately northwest of the Jensen Beach Causeway.
Because of the proposal, developer Bill Reily was the focus of intense criticism by the Jensen Beach Group, which came together earlier when residents got upset about the white elephant at the end of the causeway called Renar Place.
So adding more development to the area was quickly met with coordinated vocal opposition. Than shortly before Pitchford's Landing was to go before the county commission, Reily filed a lawsuit against the resident group - along with 20 named individuals - alleging they "interfered with Reily's advantageous business relationships."
He called it a defamation suit. The group and residents call it a Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation, or a SLAPP suit, designed to silence or intimidate those who use public forums to go against a government action.
The Jensen Beach Group has responded by filing its own lawsuit against Reily and the county, and they asked Snyder to consider legislation to prohibit future SLAPP suits.
Snyder hasn't done anything, but he's so far saying the right things.
"They're very sensitive about the whole issue, they'd like to see something done," Snyder said of the Jensen Beach Group. "But I'm in the research stage right now."
He's not on the verge of filing anything.
And I expect he won't.
Snyder may deny it, but he's not going to embark on his own foolhardy flight when his support will quickly melt once the heat is turned up.
Posted at 11:42 AM on October 01, 2007
The non-profit Jensen Beach Group, seeking help from Rep. William Snyder, R-Stuart, against a lawsuit that may be intended to shut them up, shouldn't expect to see a bill pushed to prohibit such lawsuits in the next regular legislative session.
Snyder isn't going to be sticking up for the developer, who just happens to claim that the suit filed by the resident's group is retaliation for his lawsuit that was aimed at making them go away. The freshman House member is just going to be confronted with political reality.
As much as the developer's suit and others like it should be tossed for being nothing more than a means to intimidate people to be quiet, the legal shenanigans has the backing of big business in Florida.
And Snyder hasn't built the political clout to sway other members to take on such a well financed lobby. As a Republican, he may have the wax to get Icarus off the ground, but the sun can get extremely hot in Tallahassee.
Besides, Snyder's more grounded. He knows he must still build relationships if he wants to push anything that could become controversial.
Giving law enforcement agencies in Florida more power to make arrests of human cargo smugglers, as Snyder has proposed on behalf of the Martin County Sheriff's Office, is one thing. This matter, in the eyes of other state lawmakers, would be avoided as a local to Martin County issue.
Reily Enterprises wants to build a subdivision on land zoned by Martin County for a 17-acre mobile home park, Pitchford's Landing, immediately northwest of the Jensen Beach Causeway.
Because of the proposal, developer Bill Reily was the focus of intense criticism by the Jensen Beach Group, which came together earlier when residents got upset about the white elephant at the end of the causeway called Renar Place.
So adding more development to the area was quickly met with coordinated vocal opposition. Than shortly before Pitchford's Landing was to go before the county commission, Reily filed a lawsuit against the resident group - along with 20 named individuals - alleging they "interfered with Reily's advantageous business relationships."
He called it a defamation suit. The group and residents call it a Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation, or a SLAPP suit, designed to silence or intimidate those who use public forums to go against a government action.
The Jensen Beach Group has responded by filing its own lawsuit against Reily and the county, and they asked Snyder to consider legislation to prohibit future SLAPP suits.
Snyder hasn't done anything, but he's so far saying the right things.
"They're very sensitive about the whole issue, they'd like to see something done," Snyder said of the Jensen Beach Group. "But I'm in the research stage right now."
He's not on the verge of filing anything.
And I expect he won't.
Snyder may deny it, but he's not going to embark on his own foolhardy flight when his support will quickly melt once the heat is turned up.
