Land use planning under orchestrated attack via initiative system
August 10th, 2006
From Ray Ringo’s brilliant article for the High Country News on July 28 about conservative ballot initiatives in Montana:
Although the campaign has local allies in each state, the out-of-state money is the driving force: As this story goes to press, it ranges from about 40 percent of the local campaign budget to as high as 99 percent. The exact numbers can be hard to come by, because the libertarians have covered their tracks as much as possible. Montanans in Action has funneled another $600,000 to the California initiative, for example. Montana’s loose campaign finance laws don’t require the group to divulge where that money came from, but it’s unlikely that it originated in a poor rural state like Montana.
Washington: No on 933 already!
California: In the recent Primary in Napa County voters defeated Measure A, an eminent domain initiative that residents deemed too dangerous for the carefully planned, and agriculturally sensitive environment. Meanwhile, California faces statewide voting on another problem ballot measure, the similarly repulsive Proposition 90, like other eminent domain measures around the country, also funded by Howie Rich. Poll released on August 2 shows Proposition 90 ahead with 46% of California voters likely to vote yes for it against 32% opposed.
Idaho Proponents just announced that they have enough signatures to put “This House Is My Home” on the ballot in November. Supported by notable Conservative wackos, the ballot measure is yet another Measure 37 clone that dismantles land-use safeguards while serving the interest of pretty much no one.
Missouri: Back in May it seemed like a petition signing steamroller would get an eminent domain measure on the ballot this year, but as of Tuesday there were only two ballot measures approved, and the property “right” measure wasn’t one of them.
Interestingly, the two measures up for vote are an increase in minimum wage and a Constitutional Amendment guaranteeing the right to stem cell research.
 Going door-to-door in Three Forks, Montana, Eric Dondero likes to approach people who live in mobile homes, because, he says, they’re ’amazed someone is coming to their door to ask them about a political matter.’ He gets a signature from the elderly woman in this home.. Ray Ringo |
Montana : Initiative 154 still needs more signatures despite grotesquely disproportionate financial support of Howie Rich. Columnist Ray Ringo was one of the few that was actually able to locate Mr. Rich for an article published on July 28:
Rich was not easy to find. He has an unlisted phone number, and his Fund for Democracy has no Web site and is not listed as a business entity in the New York secretary of state’s database. When I found him and explained that I’d tracked all his donations to the campaign, he said, “You’ve done your homework.”
On the phone, Rich was confident of the rightness of his cause. “I believe in the American Dream. … I believe in free markets. I believe that … government has been growing at an excessive rate, at the federal level and in many states,” he said. “I’m happy to support local activists who are working to protect property rights in a whole bunch of states.”
Nevada: Judge keeps Nevada eminent domain initiative on the ballot
By Kathleen Hennessey
Associated Press
August 08, 2006
A Clark County district judge on Tuesday ruled against government groups that want to prevent an initiative aimed at curbing eminent domain abuses from appearing on the November ballot.
Judge Mark Denton rejected arguments from opponents of the People’s Initiative to Stop the Taking of Our Land, who argued that the measure addresses several separate issues in violation of a state law requiring initiative petitions to deal with only one subject.
“Basically, the judge used a lot of common sense and realized the entire initiative petition is about eminent domain and the rights of people in eminent domain-type functions,” said Don Chairez, a former judge and a Republican candidate for attorney general who led the petition drive.
Clark County Commissioner Bruce Woodbury, one of the PISTOL opponents who filed the complaint, said the group will appeal to the Nevada Supreme Court.
Conceivably, another acronym for the group “Stop Taking of Our Land” could be “STOOL”.
Related posts: Is "No on I-933" making the same mistakes as "No on M37"?, I-933: The grown-ups are waking up to the problem, Damascus voters ruin Damascus
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