Straw poll seeks Lakewood Ranch residents' opinion

LAKEWOOD RANCH — A straw poll seeking voters’ input on whether Lakewood Ranch should become its own city is under way.

A poll of Lakewood Ranch’s 11,000 registered voters began Aug. 1 under the oversight of independent certified public accounting firm Kerkering, Barberio & Co. If voters are out of town, ballots will be forwarded to the address on file with the U.S. Postal Service.

The ballot asks voters if they favor submitting a bill to the Florida Legislature to consider incorporating Lakewood Ranch.

“This is not a vote to become a city,” said Tom Thomaides, chairman of the Lakewood Ranch Incorporation Study Group, the group leading the charge. “This is a poll. It allows the process to continue (and) gives all of us a chance to take the next step.”

Voters will be provided with a return envelope but not postage. Individuals have three weeks to return the ballot.

If results of the poll are favorable for incorporation, the Incorporation Study Group will submit a bill, or “special act,” to the Legislature. There, a committee of legislators will review the proposed incorporation, including the proposed city charter and feasibility study, during the next legislative session to determine whether it believes incorporation would be beneficial to the community.

If the Legislature approves the proposal, the decision then would go to a public referendum of registered voters in Lakewood Ranch, as required by law, likely in June 2012. If legislators find flaws with the proposal, it will not be approved and therefore will not go to a public vote.

Straw polls are being sent through certified mail and will be tabulated by Kerkering, Barberio & Co. as results come in. The company, which has an office in Lakewood Ranch, has donated its services for the project.

“We believe it’s important to give back to the communities in which we work and live,” Managing Partner Rob Lane said, noting the firm has not taken a position on incorporation. “When we were asked to assist in this important process and determined that we could independently oversee it, we agreed to donate our time.”

The Incorporation Study Group hopes to have results back by the end of August so it can meet a requirement to submit the “special act” to the Legislature 90 days prior to the start of the legislative session, which begins in January.

Thomaides said the group researched its options for conducting a straw poll, including phone calls, petitions and statistical sampling, but was not satisfied with any of those methods. The group decided on polling all registered voters in Lakewood Ranch because it would be most comprehensive.

A straw poll of residents is not required of law, but has become standard practice so a community’s legislative delegation, which would be bringing the request forward, has confidence in doing so.

“I don’t think it could be done better,” resident Douglas Schugg said of the straw poll’s format. “It’s a good step for voters. I think it’s the fair way to do it.”
Resident Paul Jackowski agreed.

“They’re the ones making the decision,” he said of voters.

However Jackowski said he wished all homeowners could vote in the straw poll as well.
Incorporation Study Group members said the cost of the straw poll is about $10,000.

Contact Pam Eubanks at [email protected].

STRAW POLL QUESTION
“Do you favor submitting a bill to the Florida Legislature to consider the incorporation of Lakewood Ranch as a city?”