Friends,
Have you ever wondered why it’s so difficult for Winter Springs residents to achieve real, lasting change in our city? Why, despite engagement, advocacy, and public pressure, so many issues seem to stall or repeat themselves?
The answer isn’t a lack of concern or effort. It’s structural. Our city charter blocks residents from exercising the full authority that Florida’s Home Rule laws are meant to guarantee.
You may have heard politicians invoke “Home Rule” when arguing with Tallahassee or when cities clash with counties. But what usually gets lost in the back and forth is this: Home Rule isn’t about empowering politicians. It’s about empowering people.
At its core, Florida’s Home Rule doctrine exists to protect our right—your right—to shape the government of the community where you live.
What Home Rule Guarantees
Under Florida law (i.e. chapter 166, “Municipal Home Rule Powers Act”), local self-government rests on two simple principles:
- Voters must approve changes to a city charter proposed by city leaders, and
- Residents themselves have the right to propose charter changes by petition, even without permission from City Hall.
That second right is critical. It’s the safety valve. It’s what ensures that when city leadership becomes unresponsive or entrenched, the people still have a peaceful, democratic path forward.
Where Winter Springs Falls Short
On paper, the Winter Springs City Charter appears to honor these Home Rule protections. Article X even references our right to amend the charter.
But here’s the catch: Article X says charter changes must be made “pursuant to Article IX.” So naturally, you turn to Article IX expecting to find the process residents can use. What do you find instead?
Article IX lays out a petition process—but only for ordinances, not for charter amendments. Here is the key language:
“The qualified voters of this city shall have power to propose ordinances and… to adopt or reject it at a city election.”
That’s it. No mention of charter amendments. No procedure. No pathway. In other words, the charter tells residents we have a right—then quietly removes the mechanism needed to exercise it.
In fact, the charter goes further to outline two petition processes—Initiative and Referendum—and both are tightly limited to ordinances only. An Initiative allows residents to propose ordinances, which the City Commission may adopt or place on the ballot, making it inapplicable to charter amendments that must go directly to voters. A Referendum goes even further, allowing residents only to seek the repeal of an existing ordinance. In short, the charter provides no clear process for residents to propose charter amendments at all.
An “Illusory Right”
Legal scholars have a term for this: an illusory right.
It looks real.
It sounds real.
But when you try to use it, it vanishes.
This is why residents in Winter Springs have long been discouraged from attempting charter reform by petition. Under our current structure, citizens would likely have to fight twice—in court and at the ballot box—when Florida’s Home Rule framework says we should only have to win at the ballot box.
That is not how self-government is supposed to work.
The Fix Is Simple
This is not radical. It’s not complicated. And it doesn’t tilt the playing field in anyone’s favor. It requires adding just three words to Article IX:
“The qualified voters of this city shall have power to propose charter amendments and ordinances and… to adopt or reject it at a city election.”
That’s it. Those three words restore the balance of power that Home Rule promises—and that Winter Springs residents deserve.
What Comes Next
The city has once again promised to convene a charter review committee in the near future. If it does, I will be proposing this straightforward fix to ensure that no matter who holds office, the people of Winter Springs always retain their rightful authority over their own charter.
If you’d like a deeper dive, this issue—and the history of failed charter reform efforts in our city—is documented in Sections 4 and 5 of my book Our Home, Our Rule(pages 21–37).
Home Rule isn’t abstract.
It isn’t partisan.
And it isn’t optional.
It is the foundation of local self-government—and it belongs to the people.
—
Jesse Phillips
Founder, Winter Springs Water Quality Initiative