JOHNNIE BYRD TO DEFEND HOME RULE CHARTER GROUP LEADER

The Lakeland Ledger is reporting this morning that indicted political activist Dewey Smith has hired Plant City attorney and former Florida House of Representatives speaker Johnnie Byrd to fight efforts to keep three controversial changes to Polk County's charter off the ballot.

Smith was indicted by a grand jury last month for knowingly submitting petitions to the Supervisor of Elections office with allegedly forged signatures, including a couple with SOE Lori Edwards' name. He was also indicted for violating campaign financing laws by accepting and attempting to hide a $5,000 contribution from a supporter; the legal limit is $100.

The three items supported by Smith's Home Rule Charter Committee would:

1) Cut the salaries of all constitutional officers (Sheriff, Property Appraiser, Supervisor of Elections).

2) Place term limits on those constitutional officers to eight years.

3) Make those constitutional officers, in effect, department heads under the supervision of the County Commission.

Another group, the Polk Committee for Effective Government, has filed a lawsuit seeking to prevent SOE Edwards from verifying the petitions. That lawsuit will be heard April 1.

The hiring of Byrd only applies to the petition drive, not to his pending criminal charges.

Byrd is no stranger to controversy, as we all know. As speaker, he was a primary supporter of "Terri's Law". Locally, he served as legal counsel to Bartow's First Baptist Church in regard to the Nativity scene controveresy over the Christmas holiday.