I am writing you all to let you know that today we won at the Collier County Board of County Commissioners. We were outnumbered yet we stood together against a room packed full of union and government protected taxi owners/drivers who were advocating for excessive fines and even jail time for their fellow citizens and neighbors who utilize UBER for riding sharing services. We won with a 4-1 vote, a motion to deregulate. The gravity of this victory is tremendous and I ask that you all take a moment to think about it. We didn't get a statement of support. We didn't get a resolution or some platitudes. We didn't get one of our local boards to "ask" the state or feds for "more power." In fact, we didn't even just win for UBER. We deregulated the ENTIRE vehicle for hire industry in this county. We ROLLED back government regulations. We frequently celebrate when we stem the tide. Today we reversed decades of government protection rackets. This is almost unheard of in today's world. It was achieved with 8 Libertarians who led the way since July and who showed up with 720+ signed petitions (from our Republican, Libertarian, unaffiliated, and others in the community), smart political maneuvering, targeted outreach in the community. and a WINNING message based on PRINCIPLES. It didn't require hours upon endless hours of fighting the same losing battles in front of our elected officials over and over again. We didn't slam taxi drivers or taxi companies. We didn't drag different groups through the dirt. There were two Libertarians who spoke at today's meeting in favor of Uber and deregulation. No one else in the entire county spoke on our side. Myself, the current Chair of the Libertarian Party of Collier County, and Jason Hartgrave, the LPCC Finance Chair and likely NEW Chairman come the end of December when my term expires. I had time ceded to me from Paul Harper, LPCC membership chair, Elsa Martinez, LPCC Secretary, Keith Flaugh, SWFL Citizens Alliance, Dawn Drellos Thompson, LPF Secretary, and Jared Jones, LPCC Activism Chair. Peter Richter, LPCC VIce Chair was also present. What mattered the most was principles. Jason delivered a smashing presentation on technology and free markets. I stood in front of the BCC and asked not that they let Uber off the hook, but to let the entire county and industry off the hook by freeing up the market. We didn't try to choke the taxi companies with their own archaic, anti-market ordinance that was designed to limit competition. We argued for their freedom too even if they didn't quite understand why that was what they should have wanted in the first place. We have seen this play out time and time again on issues of great importance (second amendment, common core, millage, MSBUs, etc) over the last 4+ years in Collier County. I cannot state strongly enough just how significant this victory was. We didn't just save Uber by getting an exemption or getting the county to look the other way. WE DEREGULATED AN ENTIRE INDUSTRY! There is no more licensing requirements. No more fees. No more code enforcement sting operations. No more bureaucracy. All that's left is VOLUNTARY MUTUAL CONSENT BETWEEN TWO PARTIES WHO WANT TO GO FROM POINT A TO POINT B FOR AN AGREED UPON COST IN ADVANCE... whether it's in a taxi or an Uber car. This is monumental.