Like the ghosts in the movie Poltergeist, the idea of an ordinance nullifying federal law in Collier County threatens to return again. (Image: Poltergeist)
July 9, 2023 by David Silverberg
On this coming Tuesday, July 11, longtime county observers expect Collier County Commissioner Chris Hall (R-District 2) to introduce a “Bill of Rights Sanctuary County” ordinance that will attempt to take Collier County out of the authority of the US federal government.
If the Board of Commissioners approves putting the proposed ordinance on the agenda on Tuesday, it may be advertised as a county ordinance for a vote at the next regular meeting on Tuesday, July 25.
This will mark the second time that extreme conservative activists have attempted to nullify federal law in Collier County, Fla.
On July 13, 2021, the Board voted down an identical ordinance by a vote of 3 to 2.
Like its predecessor, the current proposed ordinance argues that the federal government is encroaching on citizens’ rights and privileges, particularly through executive orders. It attempts to nullify federal authority by allowing lawsuits against county officials.
“Collier County has the right to be free from the commanding hand of the federal government and has the right to refuse to cooperate with federal government officials in response to unconstitutional federal government measures, and to proclaim a Bill of Rights Sanctuary for law-abiding citizens in its County,” it proclaims.
If passed, Collier County would effectively secede from the United States, lose the protection of US law and essentially be rendered lawless.
The proposed ordinance
The proposed ordinance has 13 establishing clauses (paragraphs beginning “whereas,” that state the facts as viewed by the drafters). (A link to download the full ordinance is at the end of this article.)
These paragraphs argue that the federal government is increasingly encroaching on citizens’ rights and privileges, particularly through executive orders that are not based on legislation. It then goes on to list a variety of laws and precedents that the drafters believe are being violated.
The second section lists the Bill of Rights, the first ten amendments to the United States Constitution.
It is in the third section that the draft gets to the substance of the proposal. It defines an “unlawful act” as any “federal act, law, order, rule, or regulation, which violates or unreasonably restricts, impedes, or impinges upon an individual’s Constitutional rights including, but not limited to, those enumerated in Amendments 1 through 10 to the United States Constitution.”
Such federal acts will be “invalid in Collier County and shall not be recognized by Collier County, and shall be considered null, void and of no effect in Collier County, Florida.”
The fourth section prohibits the county and its officials from enforcing “unlawful acts” as defined by the ordinance. Any official who violates the ordinance can be sued in court and punished under the county code.
The fifth and sixth sections hold that if the ordinance conflicts with any other law, the more restrictive rule will apply and that even if sections of it are invalidated in court, the rest of the ordinance will remain in force.
The previous effort
The new proposed ordinance closely tracks its predecessor, which was introduced in June 2021 and defeated by a 3 to 2 vote of the Board of Commissioners on July 13, 2021. It was drafted by lawyer Kristina Heuser who is of counsel to the Naples firm of Boatman Ricci.
It was introduced by Commissioner William McDaniel Jr. (R-District 5) and supported by a group of allied individuals that included retired firefighter James Rosenberger, his wife Carol DiPaolo, anti-COVID vaccination activist Beth Sherman, and Keith Flaugh, head of the Florida Citizens Alliance, a conservative education advocacy organization.
It was also backed by a variety of officials and legislators, including Rep. Byron Donalds (R-19-Fla.), state Rep. Bob Rommel (R-currently-81, then-106, Naples) and the county’s top law enforcement officer, Sheriff Kevin Rambosk.
The same coalition is likely to back the current proposed ordinance.
Some things have changed, however.
The composition of the County Commission changed with the 2022 election of commissioners Chris Hall (R-District 2) and Dan Kowal (R-District 4). Both were endorsed by conservative grocer and farmer Francis Alfred “Alfie” Oakes III and backed by the Citizens Awake Now political action committee he heads.
Another difference was passage on April 11, 2023 of a Collier County Health Freedom Ordinance, prohibiting mask and vaccination mandates in the county, duplicating state law. Passage of that and an accompanying resolution—although both were heavily revised and diluted—likely emboldened the effort to reintroduce the current ordinance.
At the time of its first introduction, the United States was still in the midst of the COVID pandemic, which fed advocates’ anti-vaccination passion, paranoia and conspiracy theories. It was also closer in time to the Jan. 6, 2021 insurrection and attempted coup at the US Capitol. At the time of the 2021 debate, ordinance advocates feared federal law enforcement officers arriving in Florida to arrest Jan. 6 rioters and mentioned that in their arguments for passage. Since then, 91 arrests have indeed taken place in Florida, more than any other state.
Analysis: Ordinance consequences
What remain unchanged since its first introduction are the potential consequences of the proposed ordinance. These were enumerated and discussed by residents and County Attorney Jeffrey Klatzkow during the 2021 consideration and vote.
The ordinance would bring the orderly functioning of Collier County to a halt. Any resident could bring suit against virtually any action by any county official or law enforcement officer if the resident argued his or her constitutional rights were being violated. The officials would be personally liable for providing their own legal defense, potentially beggaring them for simply running the county.
“The big issue here is not going to be damages,” Klatzkow told commissioners at the time. “It’s going to be attorney’s fees. There is an incentive for attorneys to bring actions under this because every hour they put in is an hour they can bill.”
Exactly what would constitute a violation and how that violation would be determined remain unclear in the current draft as in the first version. Attorneys testifying during the 2021 debate pointed out the ordinance’s vagueness, unenforceability and unconstitutionality.
Since it would put Collier County outside federal law, the ordinance would jeopardize all of the county’s federal grants and benefits, which are so numerous that they ran to five single-spaced pages when presented to the Commission during the debate. It would also likely make the county ineligible for federal assistance from the Federal Emergency Management Agency in the event of a hurricane or other natural disaster.
Since it does not recognize federal authority—including federal courts—enforcing the ordinance would be a Catch-22. For enforcement, county authorities would have to refer cases to federal courts that they did not recognize and these courts would hand down verdicts that the county wouldn’t recognize because it won’t accept federal law.
A way around this was never satisfactorily explained during the 2021 debate.
The ordinance would interfere with federal law enforcement in the county, including immigration regulations and criminal investigations.
The ordinance could interfere with the orderly administration of federal programs like Social Security, Medicare and food assistance on which county residents are dependent.
It would complicate commerce as businesses both inside and outside the county would have to deal with a jurisdiction that didn’t recognize any federal commercial rules including health and safety, labor, and taxation regulations.
In addition to all these impacts within the county, passage of the ordinance would make Collier County a national laughingstock, if not an international pariah. Potential visitors and guests would hesitate—to put it mildly—traveling to a destination that didn’t recognize national law and was effectively lawless.
Given its obvious unconstitutionality, the ordinance would immediately be subject to court challenge and the county would have to pay the costs of defending it—likely in federal courts whose authority the county would be fighting not to recognize.
“It is so unconstitutional in so many ways I would say, ‘Let’s go out and have a beer and forget about this,’” said David Millstein, a retired civil rights attorney who also taught civil rights law and served as former head of the Collier County American Civil Liberties Union, at the time.
Commentary: Stopping stupidity at the source
On the day that the Board of Commissioners defeated the first ordinance, it also unanimously passed a resolution stating that: “…The County Commission of Collier County, Florida reaffirms its loyalty, its patriotism and its allegiance to the United States Constitution, its Bill of Rights, its Amendments and the duly constituted laws, acts, orders, rules, and regulations of the United States of America and that these have force in Collier County as they do in the rest of the United States, now and in perpetuity.”
That resolution should reassure all who are worried about the applicability of the Bill of Rights in Collier County, Fla.
There is no need for a “Bill of Rights Sanctuary County” because the United States itself is a sanctuary for the Bill of Rights in every jurisdiction and in all places where American law holds sway.
What is more, the Commission rejected it after fully debating it in 2021 and examining all its aspects and implications. The arguments then also apply now.
The clear and obvious fact is that this proposed ordinance is nothing more than a legalistic expression of rage and paranoia ungrounded in actual law or reality from people who simply don’t want to follow rules they don’t like. It is part of a wave of politically-driven sanctuary proposals that have cropped up around the country.
The ordinance is not formally on the published agenda of the next meeting of the Collier County Board of Commissioners on Tuesday morning.
However, as happened in 2021, it may be slipped onto the agenda without prior notice. If the Commission chooses to schedule formal debate, the ordinance will have to be advertised and is likely to formally appear for a vote on the agenda of the next scheduled meeting on Tuesday, July 25.
To register an opinion on this ordinance, whether it should be considered by the Commission at all and whether it is right for Collier County, residents can weigh in with commissioners or speak at the July 11 scheduled meeting.
That meeting will take place at 9 am in the Board of Commissioners chamber on the third floor of the Administration Building at 3299 Tamiami Trail East, Suite 303, Naples, Fla.
Public petition speakers are limited to 10 minutes and general address speakers to 3 minutes. Speakers must fill out request slips available outside the chamber prior to the meeting.
Commissioners can be contacted at:
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
A full copy of the proposed ordinance can be downloaded here. (Contact TheParadiseProgressive@gmail.com regarding any difficulties accessing or downloading the document.)
Liberty lives in light
© 2023 by David Silverberg