by Kat Stansell
The Florida Republican Assembly is honored and excited to welcome Charlotte County as its 15th chapter. Led by Carl York, President, and his wife, Tracie, treasurer; 1st VP Carolyn Laskey; Terry Hoffman, 2nd VP; and Wendy Sullivan, Secretary, they are off to a strong start.
The chapter’s initial focus is to create a constitution for the county, which would be their first, since Charlotte was split from DeSoto County in 1921 (along with Hardee, Highlands and Glade Counties) by then governor, Cary Hardee. The population of Charlotte County at the time was 4,000.
In 1992, Charlotte’s citizens voted for home rule governance, which does not work today due to a 50-fold increase in population.
Rapidly expanding development has increased the population of Charlotte County to over 200,000. The amount of building that has accompanied the growth, has rendered home rule unwieldy, and full of problems which have challenged citizens’ rights. The new FRA chapter has taken the lead in correcting this, and is in the process of writing a constitution for the county.
Education and building good working relationships with school boards is their issue of next importance, followed by creating a strong resolution calling for true medical freedom. While knowing that all are vital, they’ve chosen the creation of a constitution as their initial focus, as it will smooth the road ahead.
The Florida Republican Assembly of Charlotte county is on course to restore the rights of self-governance in coordination with the statutes of the State of Florida and on behalf of its citizens. Check back often with FRA news as Charlotte works to adopt their first constitution and work with the local REC and RPOF on other matters of vital importance to the lives of free people.
If you are interested in joining or starting a new FRA Chapter, you can learn more here.
More kudos for all citizen activists in the state of Florida. You all are among the best in the nation!! ~Kat