"If time could be rolled back, they would never have voted for Measure 37 in 2004"
This post is part 3 of an ongoing call-to-action (published yesterday in the Huffington Post)designed to get you off your seat and into action to urge as many voters as you can to vote against Proposition 90, one of the most deceitful and damning initiatives to appear on our California ballot in decades.
In a recent poll, Oregon voters say they would defeat Measure 37 by a two-to-one margin.
Please come with me below the jump.
Now almost two years later, the ugly truth about these bait and switch tactics are surfacing. It is truly amazing that the same
out of state zealots that we talked about yesterday were busy in Oregon in 2004 and plotting and laying the groundwork for 2006 and the coming 2008 elections. And by the way, in Oregon -- everyone thought that it would not pass, but it did.
Don't let it happen here.
That's the best advice we can take from our friends up North, the voters of Oregon. Two years ago, Oregonians passed Measure 37, which is very similar in design and purpose to Proposition 90. Like California's Proposition 90, Oregon's Measure 37 allows property owners to file speculative claims for any land use regulations that a property owner could claim has cost them money.
The results in Oregon have been devastating. In just two years, more than 2600 claims seeking more than $6 billion in compensation - these are taxpayer dollars - have been filed resulting in at least a $4,000 bill to each household and rising. Rather than protect property owners (the same claim the pro-90 forces are making in California) Oregon's law has actually taken away protections for homeowners and taxpayers. And while proponents will claim that Oregon's law was retroactive, while California's is prospective - don't be fooled. The intent is the same: to handcuff local governments, and prevent them from enacting even the most basic zoning laws, regulations and other protections that we all need to support neighborhoods and homes.
It pits neighbor against neighbor!
From our website, you can link to YouTube videos of Oregonians hoodwinked into voting for Measure 37, who now have serious regrets. Measure 37 is threatening the value of their family farms, homes, and natural resources. They openly tell us that they were misled in television advertising and radio broadcasts.
David Jones, the owner of East Lake Resort in Deschutes County, tells us the story of someone threatening to build a pumice mine, geothermal plant, and 150 vacation homes inside a national monument. Listen to his story. He was fooled!
Scott Lay and his family are the long term owners of rural farmland in Clackamas County, Oregon. Their neighbor wants to build a gravel mine adjoining their property. He and his family were fooled!
Jim LeTourneux is a forester in Yamhill County who worries that Measure 37 will lead to 848 homes being built on 848 acres of forestland - threatening his sustainable foresting business. He was fooled!
Don Dean is a resident of Spring Lakes Estates in Marion County together with Laurel and Brian Hines. They describe the potential impact of the 82 homes being proposed on 215 acres of pristine land with limited groundwater supplies. There is no infrastructure to support these new homes, yet local governments are powerless to prevent such development because of Measure 37. They were all fooled!
Smelling blood after their victory in Oregon in '04, the anti-government extremists took this show on the road and pushed similar initiatives in nearly a dozen states. Out of that, four battleground states were born - and the legislation proposed in Arizona, California, Idaho and Washington is even more radical than what was passed in Oregon.
YES, hear me again -- they broadened the terms of the proposed legislation for what is now called "takings" initiatives and went after the crown jewel -- California.
There is no question that Prop 90 is bad for California and the nation. It is an insidious attempt to mislead the voters of California. Prop 90 has little to do with eminent domain and everything to do with an attempt to take power away from the people and place it in the hands of the courts. Its implications will hurt homeowners, taxpayers and businesses. It will immobilize efforts for building infrastructure and affordable housing. Prop 90 will prevent the conservation and protection of the environment.
Even worse, failure to defeat Prop 90 will send a chilling message nationwide that a few out-of-state anti-government zealots can push their Grover Norquist agenda with a few million dollars. If they can succeed in California, they will seek to push this agenda everywhere.
If you agree with the discussion above, please send this link to ten others and link to the article. Let us not be fooled again.
Cross posted at the Huffington Post