Showing posts with label Florida Hometown Democracy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Florida Hometown Democracy. Show all posts

Thursday, October 7, 2010

The only way to kill the real estate developer monsters in Florida is to drive a stake thru their hearts, er, wallets -Yes on Amendment 4. It's true!

Coming so quickly after my August blog posts comparing Broward Comm. Ilene Lieberman's efforts to already weaken the brand-new Broward County ethics rules to any number of famous hard-to-kill monsters that starred in classic Hammer Films, honored last year by the Royal Mail with stamps -Dracula, The Curse of Frankenstein, The Mummy- I feel a small amount of gratification.
Perhaps those posts of mine found an unintended audience, and helped contribute a kernel to the idea below.


http://hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/search/label/Ilene%20Lieberman
http://www.royalmail.com/portal/stamps/content1?catId=32300674&mediaId=76000716





http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KXuFEAx0eK4

http://www.youtube.com/user/FloridaHometown


Latest Amendment 4/FHD news stories at
http://floridahometowndemocracy.com/news

Why the lies about Florida Hometown Democracy? blog

http://floridahometowndemocracyamendment.blogspot.com/


http://floridahometowndemocracy.com/


http://floridahometowndemocracy.com/blog

Reminder: Amendment 4 Informational Forum in Hollywood on Wednesday, October 13th, from 7-9 p.m. at the Hillcrest Playdium, 1100 Hillcrest Drive, Hollywood, FL. Free parking

See my post from last week on this meeting with lots of information on participants at:

http://hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/2010/09/forum-in-hollywood-on-amendment-4.html

Thursday, September 30, 2010

Forum in Hollywood on Amendment 4 slated for Wednesday October 13th at the Hillcrest Playdium, hosted by HLSCA & HHCA

Received this bit of public policy news this afternoon that I wanted to share with you ASAP, so you can check your calendar and make plans to attend.

To be honest, until today, I'd never heard of the Hillcrest Playdium, but just hearing the name, well, it sort of makes me wish that Hallandale Beach had a Hippodrome of its own.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hippodrome_of_Constantinople

As most everyone knows by now, I support Amendment 4, since the Diplomat LAC proposal in Hallandale Beach earlier this year made HB the poster-child for why this legislation is NEEDED.

----------

PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE


Amendment 4 Informational Forum in Hollywood - Wednesday, October 13th, 2010

The Hollywood Lakes Civic Association (HLSCA) in partnership with the Hollywood Hills Civic Association (HHCA) will host a Forum on the upcoming statewide ballot question, Amendment 4. Amendment 4 would require city or county land use or comprehensive plan changes to go before the voters at an upcoming election.

Participating in the Hollywood Amendment 4 Forum will be following individuals:


For Amendment 4:
Bett Willett – Ms. Willett is the South Florida Coordinator for Florida Hometown Democracy, the grass-roots organization that was successful in getting Amendment 4 on the ballot. Bett is also a member of the Broward County Planning Council.


Tom Connick – Mr. Connick is a practicing attorney from Deerfield Beach and works closely with the Deerfield Beach Save Our Beach organization.

Against Amendment 4:
Mayor Frank Ortis – Pembroke Pines Mayor Frank Ortis is an outspoken critic of Amendment 4 and has a long history of civic service. Mayor Ortis was appointed to Vice Chair of the Broward League of Cities 2010-2011 Legislative & Advocacy Committee and has served as a Commissioner and Mayor for Pembroke Pines since 1996.


Cliff Schulman – Mr. Schulman is active with the “Vote No on 4” campaign organization.


Location for the Hollywood Amendment 4 Forum will be the Hillcrest Playdium, 1100 Hillcrest Drive, Hollywood, FL 33021.

Time: 7 to 9 pm.


Free parking.


For information, call 954-923-1940 or
info@hollywoodlakes.com

-----

For the record, Cliff Schulman, mentioned above as one of the speakers who'll appear as an opponent of Florida Hometown Democracy, is considerably more than just someone who is "active" in anti-Amendment 4 activities.

Schulman
is a frequent visitor
before municipal and county government bodies throughout South Florida on behalf of his clients in his role as an attorney and lobbyist.
He was formerly the co-chair of the Environmental and Land Development Practice in the downtown Miami office of
Greenberg Traurig, LLP, down on Brickell Avenue.

Earlier this year, Mr. Schulman left for
Weiss Serota Helfman Pastoriza Cole & Boniske PL
. http://www.wsh-law.com/content/attorneys/s/clifford-a-schulman/

Tell me, would it ever occur to you to ask for increased density for a client, in this case, Publix, as a result of
development credits for underwater land?

Underwater
, as in the Intracoastal.
No, really.

Well, Mr. Schulman has.


To wit, whether
"submerged lands within an adjacent platted lot owned by Publix can be included for purposes of determining density and intensity of land use under section 265-5 of the City of Sunny Isles Beach Code of Ordinances..."

I have to admit, THAT is one lawyer who thinks 'outside-of-the-box'!


To see more on the particulars, see

http://www.3dca.flcourts.org/opinions/3D07-1895.pdf
and http://eyeonmiami.blogspot.com/2007/04/greedy-developersjoe-martinezclifford.html and
http://eyeonmiami.blogspot.com/2009/07/r-allen-stanford-and-miami-based.html

Schulman
is also the Chairman of the Board of the Aventura Marketing Council (AMC).
http://www.aventuramarketingcouncil.com/

For more information on the individuals and groups mentioned above, see:

http://hollywoodlakes.com/news.htm

http://www.hollywoodcivic.org/modules/wfchannel/

http://www.hccacentral.org/


http://floridahometowndemocracyamendment.blogspot.com/


http://blogbybett.blogspot.com/


http://www.originalsaveourbeach.org/

Sunday, May 16, 2010

Monday night's meeting in Hollywood on Amendment 4 and Florida Hometown Democracy

The Hollywood Council of Civic Associations will be hosting a meeting Monday night in Hollywood on what's new in Florida Hometown Democracy's efforts to get Amendment 4 passed this November, and finally put the larger community's interests on an even playing field
with well-heeled developers and their lawyer/lobbyists' contributions to elected officials who vote on their proposals.

The guest speaker will be Bett Willett, the South Florida Coordinator for Florida Hometown Democracy, and a woman who has been extremely helpful recently to Hallandale Beach and Hollywood residents in defeating the Westin Diplomat's incompatible proposal to build multiple 25-30 story condo towers near the Diplomat Country Club, in a town like Hallandale Beach that has more condos on the books than seems either logical or desirable.

And to this geographically-limited and poorly-run city they wanted to add over 800 more condos and cars on secondary roads that already lead to gridlocked roads that residents daily curse.

Not surprisingly, throughout the entire process, the Hallandale Beach Chamber of Commerce, the tinny echo chamber of HB City Hall -which gave them $50,000 this year as they have for years- strongly supported this effort, as their head honcho Patricia Genetti spoke in favor of the Diplomat's efforts at least five times at public meetings that I've personally witnessed.

At none of those public meetings did Genetti ever make any public disclosure about how much of that $50,000 of taxpayer funds went towards HER salary.

It won't surprise you to learn that the HBCoC currently opposes Amendement 4, just like their puppet-masters next door at Hallandale Beach City Hall.
Oh, and in case you didn't know, last year, HB City Hall gave them a free office in their taxpayer-funded complex.

Monday May 17th
7:00 p.m.

Fred Lippman Multi-Purpose Center
, Main Auditorium,
2030 Polk Street, Hollywood, Florida 33021

Meanwhile...

Broward Bulldog.org

Ex-Supreme Court chief justice approves ballot petition, gets hired by firm allied with its sponsor

28 April 2010, 5:15 am

By Dan Christensen, BrowardBulldog.org


Weeks after casting the deciding vote to approve a controversial ballot petition in December 2008, former Florida Supreme Court Chief Justice Charles T. Wells joined a law firm aligned with the petition’s sponsor.


The high court’s 4-3 ruling gave life to a push by developers and statewide business interests – led by the Florida Chamber of Commerce – to blunt a possible change in the state constitution to greatly expand citizen powers over local development.

Read the rest of the post at:
http://www.browardbulldog.org/?p=1181 and http://www.browardbulldog.org/?p=1199

For more information:
http://www.browardbulldog.org/
http://www.hccacentral.com/
http://www.floridahometowndemocracy.com/
http://floridahometowndemocracyamendment.blogspot.com/

Bett Willett's
personal blog is called Blog by Bett
http://blogbybett.blogspot.com/-
--------

View Larger Map

Tuesday, September 1, 2009

Wednesday's Hollywood City Commission meeting on pensions/benefits promises to be one to remember

August 30th, 2009

In case you haven't seen this morning's Miami
Herald editorial yet, there's a lot to ponder...

As it happens, I happen to receive the City of
Hollywood email agenda notification for city
commission meetings, which I got on Friday,
complete with working links to staff reports
and comments.

That's unlike the situation in Hallandale Beach,
whose City Clerk's office doesn't post this
information onto their awful website until Monday
morning, often less than 48 hours before the
HB city commission meeting is slated to start.
HB City Hall does the same for the agendas for
Planning & Zoning meetings.

The developers and their lobbyists and attorneys,
like Steve Geller or Debbie Orshefsky know
full-well what's coming-up before you citizens,
whom the City of HB thinks aren't important
enough to get that information until just two
days beforehand.

That's not by accident, it's intentional.
That's the way Mayor Cooper and City
Manager Mike Good want it.

The better to keep you in the dark for
as long as possible!


The
Police contract is before the Hollywood
commission on Wednesday afternoon and
I'll be there for what promises to be quite a
heated and maybe even philosophical meeting.

According to the info I received, the meeting
starts at 1 p.m. and the union pension matters
get going about 3 p.m..
http://www.hollywoodfl.org/docdepotcache/00000/903/09-02-09%20Agenda.pdf

Also, just for disclosure purposes, so you know,
my father was a Miami-Dade County police
officer for over 25 years, and was on the
Board of Directors of the Dade County PBA
for over 20 years.

(The first night of the McDuffie Riots, when he
was told to report immediately,
I had to drive
him from North Miami Beach where we lived
then, down to the downtown
Police Dept. HQ
at the Civic Center, not far from the Orange
Bowl
-around midnight.

On the drive there and back on I-95 and the
826, I saw parts of Miami on fire, and heard
gunshots ringing
everywhere while also listening
to the radio broadcasts of what was going on.
Just in case I was pulled over on the expressway
by some cops,
since everyone was ordered to
stay off the roads, I was given the
business card
of a police commander or lieutenant for them
to contact
to prove I had a legit reason to be
driving.)


Not that this experience prevents me from fully
realizing how drastically things need to change
with regard to the conduct and attitudes of the
HB Police, starting from the top with Police Chief
Thomas Magill, who needs to be fired for reasons
I've already enumerated on the blog and in past
emails, but also including getting rid of some HB
cops who, quite simply, have no business being
let loose in the community with a gun and a shield
and their perpetual bad judgment.

My blog post on the HB Police situation, complete
with photos, which I've been working on for awhile,
will take place soon, hopefully, later this week.
Trust me, there's an awful lot you don't know about,
which is why photos are so very helpful.

Also wanted to share this very interesting tidbit that
I first read about at Eye on Miami yesterday/early
this morning
.

Saturday, August 29, 2009

Miami-Dade County: There Could be Trouble Brewing. By Geniusofdespair

http://eyeonmiami.blogspot.com/2009/08/miami-dade-county-there-could-be.html

We need to be vigilant to make sure that similar
efforts to weaken the checks and balances and
existing threshold of public accountability for
passage, isn't tried at the Broward County
Commission, to benefit their developer pals
at the public's expense.

As one of the commentators responding to this
post presciently remarked, this seems nothing
less than a clear shot to pre-empt FL Hometown
Democracy
before next November's election.
The other comments are quite on target as well.

I recently spied a copy of a similar fishy-smelling
paid county advert in the Herald re some other
upcoming M-D County hearings, which might be
the source of an upcoming blog post of mine.

http://eyeonmiami.blogspot.com/2009/08/miami-dade-county-there-could-be.html

Miami-Dade County: There Could be Trouble Brewing. By Geniusofdespair


So, what about the myriad low-lights, lies and
half-truths that took place at HB City Hall this
past week at the HB budget workshop, huh?

I'll have that here on Wednesday morning.
-----------
Miami Herald
Editorial http://www.miamiherald.com/opinion/editorials/story/1207387.html#nonePosted on Sunday,

Unsustainable pension pandering

OUR OPINION: Cities and police and firefighter unions must renegotiate budget-busting pensions

August 30, 2009

Warnings not heeded about pension burden

It's as if we're living through a remake of The Blob .

In our real-life version of the 1958 horror classic, the pink undulating clump has morphed into a fearsome mass of 25-years-and-out cop and firefighter pensions.

The sheriff, like the knucklehead cop in the original movie, refuses to heed warnings that this oozing insatiable blob threatens to devour the county budget.

Hollywood commissioners likely to approve firefighters' pay contract

As Hollywood commissioners weigh shutting parks, delivering pink slips and hiking the tax rate to close a $22 million budget gap, they are poised to approve a union contract ensuring steady pay raises and solid pension benefits to city firefighters.

The proposed contract, set for a vote Wednesday, would give firefighters a 2.5 percent cost of living adjustment each year for the next three years -- on top of raises they already received for promotions and long-term service. A separate pension agreement guarantees a minimum rate of return to employees, regardless of how well the market does.

Critics say the contract, even with its generally modest increases, comes at a time the city cannot afford it and puts a spotlight on escalating government pension costs.

Miami politics, pensions a tricky balance

It's a political plum any politician would savor: endorsements from the four major public employee unions in South Florida's biggest city, Miami.

Yet for Miami mayoral candidate Tomás Regalado, the support carries with it a tough question: To what extent, if any, will Regalado crack down on union pension benefits that threaten the city's bottom line?

And will mayoral opponent Joe Sanchez -- trailing Regalado in some polls -- use his foe's union support to his own advantage?

Miami faces worst financial crunch in more than a decade

Despite an unprecedented high-rise building boom that broadened the tax base for most of the decade, Miami is sliding toward the brink of its worst financial crunch since 1996, when the city flirted with bankruptcy and ceded daily control to the state.

The city has depleted its reserves by more than $50 million to plug operating deficits in four of the last five years, a downturn that began well before the nation's economic meltdown.

To make ends meet, Miami has been moving money from its capital improvement funds to the general city budget -- a practice akin to a homeowner repeatedly taking money set aside for a home improvement project to pay the grocery bills. These moves were not easily accessible to the public.

We ask our police officers and firefighters to do things we won't do because of the risks involved.

In exchange we pay them more, make sure they are well compensated for any harm received on the job and allow them to retire at an earlier age than other government workers because of the stress and risks they face. All of this is fair.

What isn't fair is how much political clout the first responders' unions wield in local governments and in Tallahassee to the detriment of taxpayers.

That clout gets commissioners elected with low turnouts and generates favorable laws in the Legislature.

But when city commissioners agree to hefty raises and more benefits for police and firefighters the pandering creates problems for taxpayers -- as has the Legislature when dumping unfunded mandates on local governments to curry favor with police and firefighters unions.

That's what happened in 1999 when the Legislature approved and then-Gov. Jeb Bush signed a change into law that limits how cities can use a long-standing state fund that helps pay for local police and firefighter pensions. The fund is financed by an excise tax on property insurance premiums -- after all, what do first responders protect, if not property and lives? The Legislature told cities that they could no longer use the fund for basic pension costs -- only to tap into it for extended benefits for police and firefighters.

A double whammy

Lawmakers passed the bill to cities and mandated better benefits. This double whammy, plus a series of later legislative-inspired local tax cuts, has put big burdens on cities even without the recession.

Government pensions are funded by contributions from workers, their employers and the return on investments. With the stock market in free fall in the past year, cities find themselves having to pony up far more than usual for pension funds to make up for investment losses.

And while the stock market shows hopeful signs of recovery, South Florida's housing slump and the recession it fueled are taking big chunks out of municipal budgets.

It's unsustainable.

The city of Miami will pay an extra $32 million into its pension funds in 2009-10. Consider that since 2001, Miami's pension bill has risen from $13.9 million to $60.8 million this year. Pension costs are projected to rise to almost $100 million by 2010.

That will consume almost one-fifth of the city's operating budget -- a Herculean challenge for a city that has a high poverty rate and dwindling property tax revenue because of empty condos and foreclosed homes.

Unrealistically generous

Many Broward cities also are scrambling to close pension holes created by unrealistically generous pension promises. For its firefighter fund alone Hollywood will pay an additional $9.2 million next year, more than double what the city contributed five years ago -- a portent of future pension demands.

Many cities are planning layoffs and cutting back services to balance budgets. Pension costs are just one contributing factor. But in Miami, which misused firefighter pension funds in the 1980s to pay for other city obligations, pensions based on out-of-control salary bumps threaten to bankrupt the city.

Under the so-called Gates settlement, Miami must use general-revenue money to keep the pension plan whole if stock market returns plummet, as they did last year.

Renegotiate contracts

Eventually the stock market will stabilize, and South Florida pension funds will see higher returns again, providing some relief. But cities will still be on the hook for ever higher police and fire pension costs.

The benefits are now so out of whack that taxpayers simply can't sustain them.

Yet city officials keep pandering. Hollywood is renegotiating its police, firefighter and general employee contracts as it faces a $22 million budget gap.

Incredibly, commissioners and Mayor Peter Bober agreed to give firefighters a 2.5 percent cost-of-living adjustment each year for the next three years, on top of raises they already received for promotions and long-term service. This salary-and-pensions contract will set the precedent for the others still in negotiation.

The firefighters union made some concessions: New hires' starting pay will drop 14 percent, and they will be guaranteed a smaller return on their pension investments (now at 8 percent; the state's is at 6.5 percent) if they enter the Deferred Retirement Option Program, which is another disaster in the making.

To their credit, union officials in several cities have also said they'll work with their city leaders to find ways to reduce costs.

Clearly, pension-plan concessions are going to have to be part of the solution. Taxpayers are at a breaking point.

Reader comments at:

http://www.miamiherald.com/opinion/editorials/story/1207387.html?commentSort=TimeStampAscending&pageNum=1#none
---------------
See also: Hollywood Budget: A Stone Unturned
at http://www.balancesheetonline.com/money.htm

Wednesday, April 23, 2008

Good news re signature petitions, Florida Hometown Democracy

Just received some good news this morning from the Central Florida Political Pulse blog of the Orlando Sentinel about a subject I wrote about a while back: petition gathering and the effort by some in Tallahassee to make that even harder.

I later found similar stories in the Herald and Sun-Sentinel, but as usual, Aaron Deslatte had more context.

In the next few days, I'll be posting some thoughts and observations on that Broward County Charter Review Commission meeting I attended two weeks ago, especially on the MTA proposal, which I spoke in favor of, recounting some anecdotes about Broward transportation you really need to know about.

I'll also connect-the-dots on the City of Hallandale Beach's effort to prevent the proposal's adoption by the 19-member panel.

Trust me, it's more of the same classic "Only in Hallandale Beach" moments you've come to expect from the crowd at 400 S. Federal Highway, Hallandale Beach 33009. _____________________________________________
http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/news_politics/2008/04/hometown-democr.html
Hometown Democracy wins a court victory
posted by Aaron Deslatte on Apr 23, 2008 10:56:29 AM

In the lingering legal fight between Hometown Democracy and the business lobby, the anti-sprawl Hometown crew finally notched a win Wednesday when the 1st District Court of Appeal ruled that a signature-petition revocation law the Legislature passed last year was unconstitutional.

After the law passed, Associated Industries of Florida formed a group called Save Our Constitution that targeted thousands of voters who signed Hometown's slow-growth amendment with mailers, asking them to revoke their support with claims that it would destroy the state's "scenic beauty."...

Go to the URL above to see the entire story and the court ruling in a pdf. format.

Reader comments are at:
http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/news_politics/2008/04/hometown-democr.html#comments
_______________________________________
http://www.miamiherald.com/775/story/506679.html
Miami Herald
State appeals court rules in favor of citizens group
April 23, 2008

An appeals court says it is unconstitutional to revoke signatures on petitions to get citizen initiatives on the ballot. The 1st District Court of Appeal decision Wednesday in Tallahassee reversed a lower court ruling. The higher court supported so-called Hometown Democracy proponents.

They seek voter approval for changes to plans laying out where new roads, homes, businesses and other development can be built. The decision rejects efforts by the Legislature and the Florida Chamber of Commerce, who have backed several new laws in recent years making it more difficult to pass initiatives. They contend such moves could limit growth and the state's economy.
__________________________________
A week earlier, the Sun-Sentinel was reporting:
www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/florida/sfl-flfxgr0416sbapr16,0,6475734.story

South Florida Sun-Sentinel
Legislation limiting citizen initiatives advances in House
The Associated Press
April 16, 2008

TALLAHASSEE
A bill that could make it harder for citizens to change the Florida Constitution using petitions has won approval from a House panel.

The bill does that in part by reducing the time signatures are valid for — two years instead of four. Also, cards with the signatures would have to be turned in within 60 days after they are signed. Right now, there is no time limit.
Gov. Charlie Crist last year vetoed a bill that would have required signatures to be turned in 30 days.

Another provision would require criminal background checks for people who get paid to collect signatures.

The bill's opponents, including Common Cause, labor unions and the League of Women Voters, argue that background checks, which can cost up to $85, and other provisions are designed to prevent average citizens from having a voice in government.

Only the wealthy and powerful would be able to afford to sponsor a petition drive, they contended.

Chamber of Commerce lobbyist Adam Babbington said background checks would enhance public safety because "this is an industry that operates in the shadows by and large."

The Chamber supports making it harder to amend the constitution.

Sen. Larcenia Bullard, D-Miami, was hoping for a rare sweet moment Tuesday in the largely bleak legislative session when she served Key lime pie at the Capitol.

"I hope it helps sweeten up the bitter session," said Bullard, who tasted one of the scores of pies available. "Let people feel good about something."

Across Capitol meeting rooms, firefighters, corrections officers and social workers were tracking down lawmakers in efforts to save jobs and health care for thousands of children.

Lawmakers are poring over budgets passed by the House and Senate and trying to come to agreements over cuts.

"We see all these people leave here feeling so out of sorts, hopeless, like nothing's going to happen," Bullard said.

"The Key lime, I thought, would be perfect to take their minds away from that for the moment."

Reader comments are at:
http://www.topix.net/forum/source/south-florida-sun-sentinel/TL9MA357DKHND42EC
__________________________________________________________________ Below are some excerpts from some older germane links about this subject.

http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/news_politics/2008/04/senate-election.html
Senate elections panel tries to undo petition-gathering ruling
posted by Aaron Deslatte on Apr 1, 2008 2:02:54 PM

A Florida Senate panel advanced a package of election-law changes Tuesday that critics said was an attempt to undermine a recent court ruling against the state regarding the way signature-petitions are gathered.

An administrative law judge in late February ruled the state Division of Elections had overstepped its authority when it tried to ban signature groups from "bundling" multiple signature-petitions together when they're presented to voters to sign.

A group called FairDistrictsFlorida.org, which is trying to make it harder for Florida lawmakers to gerrymander their legislative districts, had been circulating several petitions related to its drive to place the re-districting issue on the 2010 ballot...
_______________________________________________
http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/news_politics/2008/04/booker-and-dorw.html
Bucher and Dorworth get a timeout
posted by Aaron Deslatte on Apr 1, 2008 4:46:36 PM

In the middle of a hearing over his bill restricting the rights of felons to work as paid signature-gatherers, freshman Rep. Chris Dorworth, R-Lake Mary, was getting a grilling by veteran Democratic Rep. Susan Bucher.

The bill, a priority for business groups this year, would also require paid signature-gathers be Florida residents and cleared a Senate panel earlier in the day. But Bucher, D-West Palm Beach, wanted to know how the Department of State was supposed to police thousands of signature-gatherers across the state, who would be required to register with the state under the bill.

Dorworth said he didn't know, then told the panel he was sick, had been curled up in a ball just before the House Economic Development and Infrastructure Council meeting had started, and had been heavily medicated.

"Forgive me if I pass out," he said...

This is the one from one of my other daily must-read's, the St. Petersburg Times' political blog, The Buzz.
Go to the URL to see the reader comments, as they're 100% spot-on!

http://blogs.tampabay.com/buzz/2008/04/targeting-paid.html
April 01, 2008
Targeting paid petition-gatherers
Mindful of Florida Hometown Democracy's near-miss in its slow-growth ballot initiative, business groups and their legislative allies have a new idea.

They want to require all paid initiative petition signature gatherers to pay a fee, register with the state and be assigned a registration number to appear on petition forms (volunteers would not be affected)....