Staff

When nearly 1,000 people showed up in Chiefland to protest a proposal to privatize water to take it from the haves and give it to the have nots, it was a lesson in what the United States is all about: freedom of speech, freedom to protest peaceably, freedom to disagree.



That’s exactly what people from Suwannee, Lafayette, Hamilton, Levy, Citrus, Alachua, Marion, Dixie, and many other counties did Nov. 20 when the Florida Senate Natural Resources Committee convened a meeting before nearly 1,000 citizens who were mad as….well, you had to be there to know just how mad some really were.



It was the largest of five meetings held across the state to get the opinions of citizens on the water issue.



There were so many outraged citizens at the meeting they could not all fit into the 485-seat Chiefland High School auditorium. By meeting time at 6 p.m., the auditorium had filled completely and the overflow was being directed to the gym where speakers and TVs had been set up to accommodate the crowd. Some had arrived before 3:30 p.m. to make sure they got a seat.



Busloads of people from all over North and North Central Florida came, some with signs that said, NO! Others wearing shirts that said, “Our water is not for sale” and carried signs that said, “OVER MY DEAD BODY!” in reference to a picture of a faucet with water flowing to the south and an X placed over the flow.



The Senate Natural Resources Committee, some fidgeting throughout the meeting, others who left early for other appointments, consisted of Sen. Nancy Argenziano who represents Suwannee County and every county along the Suwannee River except Hamilton County, Chairman Sen. Al Lawson, Sen. Rod Smith, Sen. Paula Dockery (vice-chairman), Sen. Anna Cowinn, Senate Natural Resources Committee staff director Wayne Kiger, Sen. Lee Constantine and Sen. Evelyn Lynn. Before allowing the public to speak, each committee member expressed their own feelings about a report by the Council of 100 that urges the governor to privatize water, set up a board appointed by the governor to oversee all the water management boards in the state and begin moving toward providing water for those in Central and South Florida who have squandered their water and now want North Florida’s.



The committee has held four other meetings this fall, seeking the opinion of the voters on the issue of water transfers in Bay, Duval, Palm Beach and Polk counties with about 200 in attendance at each meeting.



“I can assure you we are not going to transfer ANY water!” Sen. Smith said to the cheers of the audience.



“I think we’re here tonight because Sen. Argenziano wanted us to come and meet a few of her closest friends!” Sen. Dockery said with a smile to the cheers and applause of the audience. She added that she has yet to find anyone at any of the previous hearings who is for the Council’s proposal.



Sen. Lynn said she’s very familiar with water problems in the state and has encouraged every city to write letters demanding there be no water transfers from north to south. “We’ve got to keep what we have here to keep our agriculture going,” she said amid cheers and wild applause.



Lawson said those who sit on the Natural Resources Committee all have “their fingerprints on almost every piece of environmental legislation ever passed.” Lawson added, “there’s nothing more important than water…we don’t want any water boards!”



Rep. Dwight Stansel was at the meeting and told the audience just what they wanted to hear: “This is probably the most absurd idea I’ve ever heard in my six years in the Legislature. I don’t believe there’s going to be any water boards.” And, he added, “They’ll take the water from underneath my land from my cold, dead, clammy hands!” as the audience cheered and applauded wildly.



Young, old, quiet, mouthy, some foreign by birth and American by choice, elected officials from big cities and small, some wearing suits, others shirts that protested sending water to South Florida. The message from them all was the same, “no one is taking our water and if you think differently, just try it!” One county commission chairman even went so far as to say his people were already buying shotguns and buckshot in preparation for any water thievery attempts. And, he said it without cracking any hint of a smile.



The seriousness of those in attendance was evident as they came to the podium one by one. Here’s just a few of the comments that were made from the podium:



Suwannee County Commission Chairman Jesse Caruthers – Urged the Senate committee to look carefully at any Council of 100 proposals. He said CARES and Suwannee River Water Management District “are not our enemy.”



One opponent from Citrus County said the proposal is a means to overlook the ravaging of the state and continue to do it. “This is an issue about cheap water to sustain unbridled growth! As an elected official, you serve the people of the state of Florida and not the Council of 100!” he told the committee.



Congressman Allen Boyd, represented by Harold Mikell – “Congressman Allen Boyd feels very strongly that local services first is adequate.”



US Senator Bill Nelson sent a representative who told the committee, “Sen. Nelson is very concerned about this, but he’s confident you all will make the right decisions.”



Mary Cavanaugh – “I have a camaflouged well and my mean husband is there tonight guarding it!” She condemned the Council of 100’s proposal, saying each member of that group must pay $3,000 each year to sit in on the “secret meetings.” She warned that a foreign company is presently buying up water companies all over the US and accused the Council of working with this company to achieve their goals of privatization of water. “The Legislature needs to listen to us and not the Council of what’s it’s name!”



One man even recited the Declaration of Independence. Guy Marwick urged water boards to tighten up their permitting and urged the state to look at the bottled water industry.



Renate Cannon, Chiefland, a German-born immigrant who is now a US citizen said there is no price for freedom as she told of escaping from Nazi Germany. Cannon said she worked for the Texas Water Development Board at one time and eventually the Texas ranchers lost their water to San Antonio through water transfers. She urged strong measures and careful study of water problems.



Levy County Commission Chairman Danny Stevens -“Some say this is going to be another Civil War! There’s people in Williston tonight getting shotguns and buckshot! The state wants our water, we say not only no, but hell no!



The state needs to live within its means,” as applause and cheers rose from the audience.



Sen. Argenziano replied that “The governor has his Council of 100, we have 16 million people (Florida citizens)!” to the cheers of the audience.



Alachua County Commissioner Penny Wheat, an environmental activist -“Whiskey is for drinking, water is for fighting over,” she quoted. “Stealing vital resources from one area for another is the beginning of improverishment,” she noted. “Make no bones about it, it is thievery, turning land into a desert to feed the greed. This is what it is, turning an area into a dust bowl to make rich people richer,” Wheat told the committee amid applause and cheers of support.



Florida Voter’s League President and Withlacoochee Water Board Chairman Eugene Poole – Warned the importance of protecting the state’s water is vital to citizens’ survival. “Coming together is a beginning, staying together is a success,” he stated. “Listen, otherwise you are going to learn a hard lesson. That’s not a threat, that’s a promise,” he warned the committee.



One opponent of the Council’s proposals, Bob Parente, sang his protest -“Cool, clear, water!” he sang in a booming baritone that reached the back of the auditorium amid cheers and applause.



Florida Audobon Club’s Frank Sedmera of Lake City – Said he is opposed to transferring water. He pointed out a 1980 report on water was shelved thanks to elected officials.



“This is not a water supply problem, it’s a growth management problem,” Sen. Dockery, who left early to go home to celebrate her 14th wedding anniversary with her husband, said.



Dunnellon Mayor John Taylor – Presented Sen. Argenziano with a shirt with an emblem that implied the Council of 100 only has 100, those against the Council’s proposals have thousands. Taylor also added that North Florida has all 32 first magnitude springs, and they must be protected, along with keeping a close watch on bottled water plants “who are sucking our springs dry too!”



Sen. Lynn – Encouraged all who are against the water transfers to e-mail, call, write and do everything within their power to get the attention of every senator and representative in Tallahassee. “They must hear it from the voice of thousands and thousands of people and not just one!”



Many local people attended the meeting, either driving their own cars or taking a bus from the Advent Christian Village or the one provided for any citizen who wanted to go.



At least one television station was at the meeting, while dozens of newspaper representatives from Live Oak, Mayo, Tallahassee, Gainesville, Dunnellon, Ocala, Williston and other towns across the area attended the meeting.



Committee members say they are prepared now with the public’s opinion if the issue comes up in Tallahassee during the next Legislature.