OSOB’s campaign is everywhere. The City’s explanation of what’s actually on the ballot is a link nobody clicks. I asked the City Manager to fix that.
chazstevens.substack.com
T. Chaz Stevens
An open letter to Deerfield Beach’s City Manager on the charter ballot, the campaign messaging circulating about it, and the outreach plan that may not exist.
City Manager Rod Brimlow
Deerfield Beach, FL 33441
OSOB signs are appearing around town. Its website is collecting donations, recruiting volunteers, and advertising public meetings. Its campaign materials are telling residents what the November charter questions mean.
What the hell is your administration doing to make sure residents understand what they actually say?
I have read the City’s proposed-charter-amendments webpage. It contains useful information. My question is what you are doing to put that information in front of people who are not already digging through municipal websites.
There are specific distinctions residents need to understand:
- D changes election dates and extends current terms approximately 20 months. It also excludes those extensions from the term-limit calculation. Those are substantial changes that deserve a direct explanation.
- G removes specified charter restrictions on FAR and mixed and accessory uses. It leaves the charter’s height limits in place.
- These are separate votes. Approving G does not approve D. A resident can support one and oppose the other.
Those distinctions appear in the City’s own ballot guide. They are not consistently maintained in the campaign messaging now circulating.
OSOB’s homepage discusses the beach and public-property provisions, then says voting yes on “these proposals” will extend commissioners’ terms and cancel elections. Its flyer says D “removes their 8-year term limits.” The published amendment retains the term-limit provision while exempting the transition extensions from its calculation.
Residents deserve the precise explanation—including the consequences that may make City officials uncomfortable.
Your administration should be capable of explaining every question accurately, visibly, and evenhandedly. That is the standard I am asking you to meet.
From where I sit, the campaign is visible and the City’s public-information effort is difficult to find. If that assessment is wrong, show me what I have missed.
Please answer these questions directly:
- Who is responsible for the charter-amendment public-information effort, and what communications plan have you approved?
- Beyond the webpage, what has the City distributed, through which channels, on what dates, and to how many residents? Please provide the materials and any existing distribution or reach reports.
- What additional mailings, email notices, public presentations, explanatory videos, or other outreach are scheduled before voting begins?
- Will the City clearly explain both what each amendment changes and what it leaves untouched—including D’s term extensions, G’s retained height limits, and the independence of the votes?
You run the administration. Residents should not have to become charter researchers to understand a ballot your City is placing before them.
A webpage is a resource. Where is the work to make it reach people?
Chaz Stevens is a First Amendment practitioner in Deerfield Beach, Florida. His work forced one governor to rewrite state law — and the governor wrote him into the bill by name. Oh, hell yeah! He drafts civil litigation pleadings and engineers public records work product for licensed attorneys at Sufficient to Show, and is the founder of REVOLT Training.
