Collier County resident Kate Tardiff holds up a “passport” issued by Key West when it seceded from the United States in 1982 and declared itself the Conch Republic. She was comparing the island’s short-lived satirical secession to Collier County’s serious proposed federal nullification ordinance. (Image: CCBC
July 12, 2023 by David Silverberg
Disclosure: The author testified against the proposed ordinance.
The fate of a “Bill of Rights Sanctuary County Ordinance” proposal is uncertain after it drew overwhelming opposition from county residents at yesterday’s Collier County Board of Commissioners meeting.
In what would otherwise be a quiet, mid-July Board meeting, seven speakers expressed opposition to the idea of a sanctuary ordinance and only a single one defended the concept. A ninth speaker addressed personal topics.
The ordinance has not yet been formally introduced and was not on the agenda for the meeting. Nonetheless, speakers were allowed to make statements on the proposed ordinance by Board Chair Commissioner Rick LoCastro (R-District 1), under a provision for public comments on future agendas.
If the ordinance is introduced and the Board chooses to proceed, its consideration will be advertised and appear on the agenda of the meeting when a vote will be taken. The next regular meeting of the Board is scheduled for July 25. Agendas are posted on the Board’s website about a week before the meeting.
However, Commissioner Burt Saunders (R-District 3) urged the Board not to take up the matter during the summer when many residents are absent. LoCastro noted that people can call into meetings to testify if they’re not on site.
Following the discussion, it was unclear whether the proposed ordinance would be introduced.
The ordinance as written would nullify federal authority in Collier County, making all county officials and law enforcement officers subject to lawsuits for any alleged violation of the US Constitution’s Bill of Rights.
(To see a full discussion of the proposed ordinance as well as obtain a downloadable copy, see “ALERT! They’re baaaaaaack: Proposed anti-federal ‘Bill of Rights Sanctuary County’ ordinance threatens Collier County.”)
The opponents
The first of the eight speakers in opposition to the ordinance was Tamara Mitchell, a Collier County resident, who pointed out that the ordinance, which was first proposed in 2021, “was illegal then, it’s illegal now. A state cannot nullify federal law” and Collier County does not have that authority. She pointed out that the ordinance would result in chaos and the county would not be able to retain its employees.
“There is no need to have a county sanctuary for the Bill of Rights since the United States is a sanctuary for the Bill of Rights in every jurisdiction,” she said. “Why waste time on a proposal that is clearly illegal, will create many serious problems and is inherently unnecessary?”
She was followed by this author, who echoed her arguments on the proposed ordinance and added that debating it would simply be a repeat of 2021, would waste everyone’s time and would be unnecessarily divisive.
Jane Schlechtweg, chair of the Collier County Democratic Party, pointed out that the ordinance even violated the Pledge of Allegiance to the United States taken by everyone present at the outset of the meeting.
Susan Cone, a county resident, warned of the economic consequences of ordinance, which would make the county “dysfunctional and lawless.”
Kate Tardiff, another resident, held up a Key West “Conch Republic” passport. It was an artifact of the time in 1982 when the Florida island seceded from the United States—“and lasted exactly one minute,” Tardiff pointed out. At least, she said, “that was tongue-in-cheek.”
But Tardiff had a serious message: “If this anti-American ordinance is passed we may as well declare our secession from the United States of America,” she said. However, she declared the ordinance “DOA, dead on arrival.”
Todd Truax
Todd Truax, who runs an elder care facility in Collier County, noted that the ordinance would nullify all sorts of federal rules in the county like the kind he had to obey governing healthcare and employment. He asked: what would happen to the constitutional amendments after the Bill of Rights, numbers 11 to 27? Would they simply be ignored? Would all kinds of federal regulations be dropped? “Would this allow me to own slaves? Because I have some labor challenges,” he said. “It’s preposterous.”
Earlier in the meeting there had been discussion of an ordinance to ban excessive sound from cars modified to magnify engine noise. Under the ordinance, could this be regulated? “My noisy, orange Mustang Fury GT is my expression of free speech,” he pointed out.
Katherine Cunningham
Katherine Cunningham, a member of Moms Demand Action, a group opposing gun violence, noted that the proposed ordinance would nullify a variety of measures meant to protect the public. When first raised in 2021, the ordinance’s focus “was to prevent the enforcement of gun laws in Collier County,” she said. Groups pushing to nullify federal laws were attempting to negate gun safety and red flag laws despite their effectiveness in preventing gun violence.
“This bill reflects an attempt to block bipartisan gun safety laws passed with overwhelming support by voters and to block the courts’ interpretation of the Constitution to the detriment of public safety,” she said.
Melanie Wicker, a county resident, urged the commissioners to emulate Marshal Matt Dillon from the western television show “Gunsmoke” and uphold the rule of law even when townspeople were angry and wanted to take the law into their own hands.
“When people feel threatened and angry they can start to act like a posse gone bad,” she said. She argued that it is up to law enforcement authorities to administer the law equitably and the ordinance would force Collier County’s Sheriff Kevin Rambosk to choose which laws are constitutional and which were not, putting him in jeopardy.
“I hope this ordinance will never come before this board but if it does, please follow the example of Marshal Dillon and [Commissioner Burt] Saunders [who opposed it in 2021] and uphold the rule of law and abide by the Constitution as it is written. Vote no to vigilantism. Vote no to this ordinance,” she concluded.
The proponent
Kristina Heuser
The sole speaker in favor of the ordinance was Kristina Heuser, an attorney advising the Naples law firm of Boatman Ricci, who drafted the 2021 ordinance and, presumably, the latest version.
She characterized the reaction to the proposed ordinance as “a lot of hyperbole and fearmongering” and said that it was much narrower in scope.
“The ordinance makes it unlawful for the county to help the federal government in carrying out or executing unlawful or unconstitutional mandates of the federal government. So it’s not nullification, as we heard this morning, it’s not rendering willy-nilly just like federal law to be unconstitutional for you or that…we’re not going to abide by federal law in the county, it’s specifically saying that no willful official or employees will participate in carrying out or executing unconstitutional federal orders or mandates,” she said.
Heuser argued that the ordinance was based in settled federal law and the anti-commandeering principle and it had been upheld in federal courts. She said she looked forward to explaining this further at the next, July 25, meeting of the Board.
What’s next
If commissioners proceed with the proposed ordinance it may appear as an agenda item for the next Collier County Board of Commissioners meeting on July 25. The agenda for that meeting should be posted about a week before the meeting. Agendas can be checked here.
In 2021 the ordinance was placed on the agenda without prior notice on June 22 before its defeat by the Board on July 13.
At that July 13 meeting residents turned out in large numbers to argue against the ordinance. The turnout at yesterday’s meeting demonstrated that opposition to the ordinance had not slackened.
While the Commission considers whether to add the ordinance to the July 25 agenda, residents can express their opinions to the commissioners at the contact information below.
Rick LoCastro, Chairman
Commissioner, District 1
Rick.LoCastro@CollierCountyFL.gov
239-252-8601
Chris Hall
Commissioner, District 2
Chris.Hall@colliercountyfl.gov
239-252-8602
Burt L. Saunders
Commissioner, District 3
Burt.Saunders@CollierCountyFL.Gov
(239) 252-8603
Dan Kowal
Commissioner, District 4
Dan.Kowal@colliercountyfl.gov
239-252-8604
William L. McDaniel, Jr.
Commissioner, District 5
Bill.McDaniel@colliercountyfl.gov
239-252-8605
The entire half-hour discussion of the ordinance can be viewed online on the Collier County television channel. Discussion of the ordinance begins at mark 1:10 and concludes at 1:42.
Liberty lives in light
© 2023 by David Silverberg