If the folks in Florida House District 103 thought they were electing a legislator to actually legislate when they cast their votes for Barbara Watson, they wasted their time.  The electorate sent Ms. Watson to Tallahassee on March 1, 2011 to get stuff done.  I don’t know what promises she campaigned on, but it sure looks to me that in the year since she’s been at the State Capitol, she’s broken every one of them.

On the thirty three bills that have crossed her desk since March 16, 2011, she’s voted NO on all but two of them.  The one item she voted YES on was to authorize student-led prayer in school, and she apparently abstained from voting on a bill prohibiting public funding for abortions.  I say “apparently abstained” because according to Project Vote Smart, all it says next to this issue is “Did Not Vote.”  It does not specify whether she officially abstained or slept in that morning, just that she didn’t vote.

Now, you know I’m not a “morals” voter, I’m not even remotely interested in issues such as school prayer or abortion, neither of which I believe should be the government’s business.  However, there are people who care passionately about these issues, both for and against.  Most conservatives will applaud school prayer and halting public funding for abortion, while most liberals are dead set against them.  If these two happen to be issues you care about, you should be paying close attention how Barbara Watson voted.  Or not.

I don’t know.  Maybe Barbara Watson thought it’d be a cool gig running for office and setting up shop in Tallahassee.  According to the city’s official website, there’s tons of stuff to do there besides actually running the State of Florida.  Gee, who’d a thunk?  There are 14 webpages of area attractions under “What to do in Tallahassee” alone!  So, maybe she just bypassed reading those silly little House Bills and went shopping or dining instead.  Who knows?  I sure don’t, but I do know that when House leaders ask for a roll call vote, NO, or rather “nay,” seems to be Ms. Watson’s favorite word.

It appears that on October 18, 2011, Barbara Watson managed to introduce her own piece of legislation to the House under HB 0411, which was designed to prevent “certain municipalities from imposing certain surcharges on consumers outside their boundaries for provision of water or sewer utility services.”  This bill would have amended Florida Statute 180.191 with regard to public utilities, specifically Section 1, Paragraph (4), to read:

“A municipality located in a county that has a population of more than 1.5 million as reported in the most recent United States Decennial Census may not impose any surcharges authorized under subsection (1) on consumers outside the boundaries of the municipality.”

In plain English, this new House Bill would prohibit the City of North Miami Beach, which has its own water plant, from charging the currently approved 25 percent surcharge on water rates and fees to water customers outside our city limits.  As it stands, NMB owns and operates our water plant.  Our tax dollars literally built this plant from the ground up, and our residents do pay slightly less for water than people who don’t live here.  The only reason our water plant can continue to operate and be profitable for our city is if it continues to be able to charge the additional 25 percent surcharge to the “outsiders.”  If this bill were to have passed the House, someone would have had to make up the difference.  Guess what, folks.  That would have been us!  The City of North Miami Beach would have had no choice but to charge ALL its customers a higher rate to make up for the lost revenue.  Good thing this sucker “Died in Energy and Utilities Subcommittee” on March 9, 2012.

It seems to me that this House Bill 0411, was sponsored by Rep. Barbara Watson, the Representative of District 103, which is located just outside the City of North Miami Beach, and whose constituents are customers of our water plant, for the sole purpose of punishing NMB for the audacity of having a water plant.  And a fairly profitable one at that.

Sure, she’s trying to look out for the best interests of her district.  But to do so at the expense of those of us in North Miami Beach is certainly not in our best interests.

It’s my understanding that because of all the redistricting going on in Tallahassee now, it appears that our State Congressional boundaries are about to change.  I urge the residents of North Miami Beach to please remember the name Barbara Watson when she comes around here courting your vote.  Will she continue to vote NO on practically piece of legislature?  But more importantly, will she really represent your best interests or will she continue to wage class warfare on us by attacking our water plant?

Please vote responsibly.

Stephanie Kienzle
“Spreading the Wealth”