Former Speaker Byrd, please understand, regulators don't regulate just to regulate

Settle in, I've got a lot to say here. You've read my Facebook October 3 response to Johnnie Byrd's comment and some have asked to know if he responded. Well he did. And here is my response to his response. (No, this exchange will not go on any further.

So here was Johnnie's response to my October 3 post:

"Sonny, I know trusting individuals to make their own choices is hard for those who have spent a career as government regulators steeped in bureaucratic power to compel compliance from the populace. Deregulation can be scary but freedom is what makes us a great country."

And here is my response:

Johnnie,
Your comment is clearly trying to paint my public service career as antithetical to personal freedom. Nothing could be further from actuality.

I served 13 months in Vietnam as a U. S. Marine helicopter pilot where I flew over 200 combat missions and served as Forward Air Controller for the 3rd Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, on the ground, where my job was to call in air support when my unit was under fire. My service to my country — whether in Vietnam or with the St, Johns River water Management District, or the Southwest Florida Water Management District, or the Peace River/Manasota Regional Water Supply Authority — attests to my dedication to public service and a free American Democracy and should not be confused with any uneducated thoughts to the contrary.

Nevertheless, let me share some thoughts for you to consider.

I appreciate your passion for individual liberty—it's THE cornerstone of our democracy. Having spent decades in water management, I can tell you firsthand that responsible governance isn’t about controlling people. It’s about protecting the freedoms we all depend on, i.e., clean water, public lands, access to natural resources that aren’t owned by any single individual or corporation, etc.

Regulation, when done right, isn’t a power grab—it’s a safeguard against exploitation, short-sighted development, and the erosion of shared assets (see Tragedy of the Commons https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tragedy_of_the_commons).

I’ve seen what happens when deregulation goes unchecked: polluted and disappearing springs, dried up lakes and wetlands, saltwater intrusion, loss of access to public lands, and communities left to foot the bill for someone else’s profit or unintended mistake.

And let me be clear: I’ve never met a regulator who regulates for the sake of regulating. The professionals I’ve worked with—scientists, engineers, planners—don’t wield personal authority. They operate within frameworks created by elected officials, tasked with implementing laws passed through democratic processes. As you know, in Florida, as elsewhere, regulatory authority is not self-generated, it’s provided through laws and rules propagated by the legislature or other elected bodies.

In fact, if memory serves, you were the Speaker of Florida’s House of Representatives, the very institution from which water management regulatory authority emanates pursuant to Florida’s Constitution. So you are very much aware that the rules we subsequently developed weren’t dreamed up in a vacuum. They were guided by your statutes and further guidance by administrative dictates of the Governor’s Office and State departments AND, then debated at an advertised public forum, voted on, and enacted by water management Board members appointed by the Governor.

So, when we talk about regulation, there’s no regulating just to regulate. We’re talking about the will of the public expressed through laws, laws designed to protect the long-term interests of Floridians, not to stifle them.

Freedom isn’t just the absence of rules. It’s the presence of fairness, accountability, and shared responsibility. That’s what I’ve spent my career defending, not bureaucratic control, but the kind of thoughtful balance that, hopefully, will keep Florida’s natural heritage and sensitive natural systems intact a little longer for future generations.

Sandspur