During a Wednesday press conference organized so that he could brag about his plan to bring back the whooping cough, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis was asked directly about his signing of SB 180, which Manatee County and ten other local governments are suing to have overturned. His answer suggests the governor is either daft or a liar. While I’ve been tempted to believe the former of our gov over the years, despite his Ivy League credentials, I’m betting on blatant dishonesty this time around.
Despite being a Republican, DeSantis has trampled the conservative principle of home rule ever since being elected in 2018, routinely signing bills into law that preempt local ordinances, usually for the benefit of deep-pocketed developers who fund his campaigns and dark-money PACs. SB 180 and its predecessor, SB 250, were particularly egregious because they sought to prevent governments from enacting sensible reforms to strengthen environmental protections or otherwise regulate new development.
Those two areas of policy have overlapped quite a bit lately, as rampant overdevelopment has exacerbated the challenges posed by historic storm events and a warming climate in general. SB 180 primarily aims to facilitate the rebuilding of homes for storm victims by preventing local governments from imposing additional burdens on them through new, more stringent regulations in the wake of a storm. But the devil is always in the details, and the original draft was amended to ensure that it included new development as well.
“... The reason why I thought these people needed relief is because their home gets damaged by a major hurricane,” DeSantis told the Florida Phoenix at Wednesday's press conference. “They want to go out and restore their home to what it was like before the storm hits, and the local governments are telling them, You can’t do it. You gotta do something else. What right do they have to tell you that you can’t rebuild your home? This isn’t California. This is Florida.”
Yeah, okay, Ron, we’re with you on that part, but hopefully, you are aware that the bill you signed does much more than that. It is a dangerously irresponsible gift to an industry that writes you a lot of big checks. I mean, I think you would have to know as much, given the petitions with thousands of signatures that were delivered to you, the letters and emails from your constituents, and pleas from local lawmakers within your own party who warned you as to what this bill would mean for their communities. But all those cries from the Floridians you are paid to represent clearly do not mean spit, next to a friendly phone call or two from the billionaire developers who pad your campaign coffers.
Don’t play dumb, Ron, even though you are growing increasingly convincing in the role. If you can’t find a pair of boots lifted high enough to stand up to those developer buddies of yours, at least tell everyday Floridians the truth. They mean nothing to you, nor do the communities they comprise. Your legacy will be one of sad political theater, your pathetic War on Woke, an obsession with drag queens and rainbows, and the future environmental disasters your senseless, bought-and-paid-for policies are sure to bring forth. Ron DeSantis, the man who destroyed Florida, seems a likely epitaph.
Dennis "Mitch" Maley is an editor and columnist for The Bradenton Times and the host of our weekly podcast. With over two decades of experience as a journalist, he has covered Manatee County government since 2010. He is a graduate of Shippensburg University and later served as a Captain in the U.S. Army. Click here for his bio. Mitch is also the author of three novels and a short story collection available here. He can be reached at editor@thebradentontimes.com.
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sandy
SB 180[ was supposed to provide some relief to citizens whose homes were damaged or destroyed. Communities bent over backwards rescinding permit fees and expediting permits to the best of their abilities given the volume of applications while adhering to some federal regulations that supercede state regulations. Wetlands, infrastructure would not be impacted any more by repairing or replacing preexisting structures and no impact fees would be charged. It never should have been about proposed and new developments or new structures that were never impacted by the storms. DeSantis got bought and paid by developers. He knew exactly what was in the bill.
Saturday, September 6, 2025 Report this
David Daniels
At some point, I would hope that at least one of our local leaders will stand up to the bullying from DeSantis. He is threatening local governments with costly, invasive, time consuming Doge audits. He is threatening to remove our own representatives, and he is threatening to withhold funding if local governments don't bow down. If local leaders who have the authority and support of the people don't push back to these threats, they will continue - and be used in a broader range of issues. There won't be a need for the legislature to pass pre-emptive bills, the governor will just force local governments by threat. The executive branch, through these doge audits and the comments made by Mr Ingolia, are already demanding to make the spending decisions of local government. Some might say that is fine, but we need libraries, and parks, ball fields and public funding of charitable organizations. Why have a city council and county commission if the executive branch can simply extort them by threat? By not fighting back, local governments are normalizing this new over-reach method of controlling local policy.
Sunday, September 7, 2025 Report this
rayfusco68
Liar, liar, pants on fire. The only way to change things is at the voting booth. If we send the same co conspirators from Manatee County back to Tallahassee things won't change. The way we got relief in Manatee County is by removing the developer cancer at the Commissioner level. We have to change Tallahassee if we want home rule.
Sunday, September 7, 2025 Report this
magstarwire
Spot on again Mitch!
Sunday, September 7, 2025 Report this
tjet62
As usual you are fight on the money. He is such a disappointment.
Sunday, September 7, 2025 Report this
tjet62
Right not fight.
Sunday, September 7, 2025 Report this
Ladyred4Justice
A quick comment to Ray. It appears you are not aware that the current County Commissioners, who are NOT developer puppets, signed on with other counties and cities to fight Darthsantis and the developers. The corrupt governor threatened to replace them all with his chosen sycophants if they went against HIS wishes for the wetland developments. He threatened the City of Bradenton and Sarasota stating funds they were due from our property taxes would be withheld if they did not do as ordered by "The State." SB180 removed voters voice in their local county and city.
The current commissioners are not the problem. Your State Representatives and Senators are the problem. One Party rule is the problem. It leads to authoritarianism and fascism. Power corrupts. "Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely."
Sunday, September 7, 2025 Report this
rayfusco68
Ladyred4justice, I must not have written my comment clearly. I was praising the fact that the voters put in the correct commissioners now and that we need to replace the House and Senate people that are working with Desantis.
Monday, September 8, 2025 Report this
misty
I suspect Gov D received strict messaging guidelines needed to further HIS career objectives. Let us all work to research the gubernatorial candidates next year and vote for someone who will protect our State of Florida. (Hint - ignore the glossy mailers.)
Tuesday, September 9, 2025 Report this
Lktinsanfran
DoucheSantis has, and always will be, a snake in the grass. No offense to snakes! Thank God we only have another year. He is a horrible human being and, dare I say, he is getting more evil. I wish those wonderful geniuses behind "Southpark," being Matt Stone and Trey Parker, would set their satiric sights on him. Now that would be a feature film and one I would gladly pay Comedy Central to see. Politicians only get away with this corrupt nonsense because we let them. Just ask yourself, "What have they done for me?" I can answer that - "NOTHING!"
Wednesday, September 24, 2025 Report this