The number in front of each entry is used in the subscripted citations in the main body of the report. Not all sources in this list are referenced in the report. The additional sources are listed to provide a clearer context for the history of Wise Use and to assist further research.
County may extend ban on shooting, Sportsmen oppose proposal. Under current King County law, it is possible to shoot a rifle or handgun in your backyard and not violate any law. ..."If it ain't broke, then don't fix it," said Ted Cowan, the group's [Washington Sportsmen's Council] firearms legislation chairman.
CDFE files lawsuit in U.S. District Court to stop distribution of a report by the President's Commission on American Outdoors and to declare the panel's recommendations void. [NB: this is the suit for which Chuck Cushman submitted an affidavit stating that he was a member of CDFE in order to gain standing in the lawsuit.]
Gun-control plan opposed, County draws a bead on a firearms law. For the first time, the King County council is trying to make sense of a hodgepodge of regulations controlling the discharge of firearms. ..."It is a flawed thing," added Ted Cowan, Issaquah real-estate salesman and legislative chairman for the Washington State Sportsmen's Council.
Wildlife referendum may not make ballot. The sponsor of a referendum that would strip the governor of his newly won power to appoint the director of the Department of Wildlife said yesterday it doesn't appear his proposal will qualify for the November Ballot. "I'm concerned. You could say I'm not jubilant. It doesn't appear we're going to make it," said Ted Cowan of Issaquah.
Did Goodloe violate ethics rules?, Judge gave tips to activists. State Supreme Court Justice Goodloe denies he did anything wrong, asserting he was within his First Amendment rights Aug. 22 when he addressed about 50 people at an all-day workshop but on by the American Freedom Coalition. The national coalition's secretary is Richard Viguerie, a conservative activist, early and outspoken supporter of President Reagan and expert in direct-mail fund raising who helped Bellevue's Alan Gottlieb create a gun-lobby foundation in 1974.
Forest Service urged to allow more motorized activities. Snowmobilers, trailbikers, prospectors, car-campers, hunters and loggers came to town to tell the Forest Service what they want. ..."There's 42 percent of the national forest locked up in wilderness areas. That's enough," said Ted Cowan of the Washington State Sportsmen's Council. Cowan's group is one of about two dozen in what's called the Public Land User's Society -- or PLUS.
Meeting of minds on no-shooting zones-- King County shooting ordinance (link between Gottlieb and Ted Cowan)
Multiple Use Strategy Conference in Sparks, Nevada starts the Wise Use Movement. The conference resulted in a series of letters and policy papers that were published the next January as The Wise Use Agenda, edited by Alan Gottlieb. "Funding was provided in part by a grant for the Center for the Defense of Free Enterprise. Additional funds or in-kind services were proved by other Wise Use Movement citizen activist organizations. These include the Alliance for Environment and Resources, Sacramento, California; Modoc Cares, California, the National Reversionary Property Rights Owners Association, American Freedom Coalition, and the National Inholders Association."
Gottlieb's first known direct connection to Rev. Moon is his service for two years as a board member of the American Freedom Coalition of Washington, which rented office space from him at Liberty Park. The AFC is unquestionably a Moon holding and has a branch in each state. Gottlieb argued that the branches are independent and therefore not Moon connected, but Ron Arnold in a separate interview said that even the articles of incorporation for the state branches are dictated by AFC national headquarters. An AFC document copyrighted 1987 says under the heading "State and Local Committees -- Each state will form a similar [to the national] Policy Board representative of its key leaders and activists." The national board of directors had as its president, Dr. Robert G. Grant, who had visited Liberty Park to discuss the national coalition with Gottlieb and Arnold. See "Merchant of Fear" in Appendix IX.
Arnold also served as President of the Washington AFC board of directors in 1989, 1990 and 1991. He also joined CAUSA Northwest's Speakers bureau. CAUSA USA is a major Moon anti-communist group.
David Montgomery, perennial congressional candidate, served as treasurer for the Washington AFC, 1989-1992. Montgomery will later become a member of the Snohomish Property Rights Alliance, The Snohomish referendum lawsuit, the Committee for Environmental Justice, and the Maltby militia meeting.
Pierce secessionists vow to continue fight. After hearing from a Seattle attorney who told them that their plan to secede from Pierce County was viable, some 30 southeastern Pierce County residents vowed to convince their friends and neighbors to form a new county. Dennis Renolds, attorney with the Seattle firm of Mitchell, Lang and Smith, told the residents that the state attorney general five or six times has affirmed the right of citizens to carve new counties form existing ones. Brian Jones, the Graham veterinarian who has spearheaded secession efforts, said he expects the process of organizing support and gathering signatures to last between five and ten years. Others at the meeting said they would like to present the Legislature with petitions within the next two years. ..."Emotionally, I feel like Jefferson Davis," said Patty Spohn, president of the Eatonville Chamber of Commerce. "Let's go for it."
Mainstream Moon, the Unification Church, once relegated to cult status, now is exerting subtle but growing influence here and around the world. -- This is the article that took the lid off of Moon organization presence in Northwest politics. Cites Gottlieb, Arnold, Montgomery, Goodloe as participating in various Moon-financed organizations.
Mainstream Moon, Big names lend luster to group's causes, Church leader gains legitimacy among U.S. Conservatives. Continuation of the Walter Hatch expose.
Address is given as 12520 NE 10th, Bellevue. Ron Arnold is listed as the registered agent at 12500 NE 10th, the Liberty Park building. Officers and directors: Ron Arnold, president; Steven Goldberg, secretary; David Montgomery, treasurer; Alan Gottlieb, Rick Woodrow, and Arthur Braden, directors.
Rev. Moon's rising political influence, His empire is spending big money trying to win favor with conservatives. Details on AFC, explicitly tying Moon and Pak to AFC through Jarmin and Grant. "Even some of the coalition's state officials remain unaware of its ties to the [Unification] church. But the organization could not have existed without the church." Article cites Seattle Times as source.
Proposed land-use law is under fire. ...And Richard Christiansen says his 3 1/2 acre haven east of Kent is destined for oblivion under those same regulations if King County's proposed sensitive-areas ordinance is approved without far-reaching decisions. They were among more than 100 men and women who gave the County Council views on the legislation aimed at regulating land use around waterways, wetlands and steep slopes throughout the county. ...It was not a festive atmosphere. The opponents were angry over what they perceive as county government taking away land without compensation. ...Terre Harris, who organized Property Owners for Property Rights, handed the council petitions asking for delay and further study of ordinances containing more than 600 signatures. ...Jeannette Burrage, executive director of the Northwest Legal Foundation, said there would be legal consequences if the legislation was approved in its present form.
Sensitive-areas proposal draws loud opposition. King county will have some tough hurdles to clear in its effort to pass the controversial Sensitive Areas Ordinance. ...In the third meeting of the Property Owners for Property Rights, now renamed Property Rights Alliance, founder Terre Harris of Issaquah rallied the group to action. ..."they want us to walk into those hearing without current data so that we don't know what to say," said Hal Costello of Bear Creek. Costello is Property Rights Alliance's new president. ...Jeanette Burrage, executive director of the Northwest Legal Foundation, said her office and the group are researching a possible lawsuit against the county for preventing individuals from developing usable land.
Groups at war over land use. Hot words fly on growth limits vs. property rights. ...In one camp is the Property Rights Alliance... The group, formed just last month, already has attracted 1,500 members... ...Hal Costello, president of the Property Rights Alliance... ...The lead spokesman for the Property Owners [sic] Alliance, Terre Harris, is a longtime lobbyist and consultant for developers and is a former official with the Seattle Master Builders Association. The group's board members include Steve Jewett, a real-estate asset manager; Tom Ismon, a commercial contractor and developer; John Welch, a truck and construction equipment salesman; and Maxine Keesling, a retired realtor.
Sensitive areas law hits a raw nerve. King County's proposed sensitive areas ordinance, a land-use control measure that has confused and angered county residents, is going back to the drawing board. ...Activists who have been fighting the ordinance were pleased. "It's about time," said Hal Costello, a Redmond landowner and president of the Property Rights Alliance, a group he helped form to oppose the ordinance and promote rights for landowners. ...Councilwoman Cynthia Sullivan said she thought the new review would place more emphasis on "getting people comfortable with the ordinance," rather than redrafting it. She was particularly critical of Terre Harris, a Seattle consultant, lobbyist and spokesman for the Property Rights Alliance. Harris, she said, "is sending out stuff with utter fabrications..."
Sensitive-areas bill assailed. 'Junk it,' foe say of county proposal. King County's proposed sensitive-areas ordinance (SAO) took a hard kick in the rump last night. ...Con Butenco of Kent, the owner of 30 acres at Lake Youngs, complained that the county wants to clamp controls on a pond that he dug in 1956 so he could go fishing. ...Terre Harris, of Issaquah, representing the Property Rights Alliance, a non-profit group, suggested making numerous changes in the ordinance, including a provision to compensate property owners.
The registered agent is changed from Ron Arnold to Steven Goldberg. Officers: Ron Arnold, president; Robert Simpson, vice president; Steven Goldberg, secretary; David Montgomery, Treasurer; Art Braden, Alan Gottlieb, and Edsel Hammond, directors. Both Arnold and Gottlieb list their address as 12520 NE 10th Pl. [Liberty Park]
A limit on wetlands referendum, Judge restricts what can be placed on ballot. The Snohomish County Superior Court yesterday turned down a demand from a citizens group that would have suspended the enactment of most county regulations to preserve wetlands. ...Sherrie and Norman Stockland, members of the Snohomish County Property Rights Alliance, wanted to challenge the motion and the eight ordinances in a referendum their group is trying to place on the November ballot. ...The Stockland's attorney, Jeanette Burrage, unsuccessfully argued that the motion serves the same purpose as an ordinance and thus could be legally challenged.
Wetlands laws could go to a vote, Referendum backers optimistic. Enough signatures apparently have been gathered to ask voters to overturn wetland protection ordinances in Snohomish Count. Terre Harris, who operates The Harris Associates of Seattle, said he would formally announce today that the signature campaign to put a referendum overturning the Snohomish County ordinances on the ballot is a success. The referendum campaign is being run under the banner of the Snohomish County Property Rights Alliance, of which Harris is Treasurer. He said the group's board hired his firm to run the campaign. Harris founded a statewide property alliance group and spearheaded the campaign to stop approval of wetland ordinances in King County a year ago. ...The Property Rights Alliance challenged the Snohomish interpretation in court, but lost the first round in Superior Court. Harris said the decision has been appealed.
Wetlands ordinance assaults property rights. On behalf of the Snohomish Property Rights Alliance, we wish to thank the nearly 16,000 people who signed our petitions to place the Wetlands Ordinance R 90-1 on the November ballot. ...-Sherri Stockland, Board Member, SNOCO PRA
lists Ted Cowan as lobbyist for: King County Outdoor Sports Council, Property Rights Alliance, and Washington Rivers Coalition.
Address is listed as c/o Steven M. Goldberg, 12520 NE 10th, Bellevue, who is also the registered agent. Ron Arnold, president, lists his address as c/o 12520 NE 10th; Art Braden, secretary; David Montgomery, treasurer; Seven Goldberg and Edsel Hammond, directors.
990 for Northwest Legal Foundation, lists $173,633.88 in contributions and $90,643.77 in expenses. Board of directors: Robert L. Hale, President (R/L Assoc.); Richard B. Sanders, VP (Sanders Law office); Suzanne M. Groves, Treas. (Fremont Dock, Inc.); William H. "Skeeter" Ellis (Ellis & Li); James J. Klauser (James J. Klauser and Assoc); Richard Welsh (Nat. Assoc. of Reversionary Property Owners); Jeanette Burrage, Sec. and Exec. Dir. ($3,000/month salary)
Snohomish Count Property Rights Alliance files certificate of incorporation. 501(c)(4) tax-exemption. Statement of purpose includes: "Disseminating information and influencing, initiating, or repealing legislation, policies and regulations which affect private property rights." Directors: Arnold C. Hansen [Skykomish secession]; Darrell R. Harting; George A. Heinrich [county council candidate]; Paul E. Nolan; Joe O'Sullivan; John Postema [appointed to planning commission]; Dale R. Smith [Freedom secession]; Ed Soper; Norman Ander Stockton. Not noted on this or the annual report is James Klauser, executive director.
Rollback sought in surface-water fees. Petition seeks to overturn sharp increase. Protesting the creation of a costly new "superagency," a ratepayers' revolt is being launched to roll back King County's recently tripled surface-water management fees. Political consultant Terre Harris said a petition would be filed with county official today seeking a referendum to overturn the new fees supporting the Surface Water Management Division (SWM). Harris, who headed a successful campaign to repeal Snohomish County's sensitive areas ordinance last year, will run the month long drive to collect the 32,000 signatures needed to put the measure on the ballot sometime this year. ...The fee-rollback drive was hastily organized this week to meet today's statutory deadline for filing of the petition. One of the groups sponsoring the campaign is the Property Rights Alliance, said spokesman John Welch.
"A couple of days before Christmas last year, Arnold sat in on the organizational meeting in Snohomish County of the Washington Property Rights Network, a non-profit umbrella group for more than a dozen property rights alliances in the state. "The main reason I went was just to make sure the issue was not going to fall between the cracks," Arnold says. "We essentially just said: "Anything we can do to support you just let us know. If you need special help in fund raising, come see us." Ted Cowan is identified as the registered lobbyist for the King County PRA and Klauser is identified as the executive director of the Washington Property Rights Network. See 3/18/92 Seattle PI article from which this is taken.
Karen Budd (Budd-Falen law firm, author of Catron County ordinances); Bruce Mackey (Washington Wool Growers); Ralph Thompson (Columbia/Snake River Irrigators Assn); Dr. Dixy Lee Ray (author of "Trashing the Planet"); Mark Rey (Exec. Dir. American Forestry Resource Alliance); Jim Klauser (Exec. Dir. Washington Property Rights Network); Steve Gano (Campaign Dir for gubernatorial candidate Dan McDonald, formerly lobbyist for Plum Creek Timber, and Dir. of Gov. Affairs for the Washington Forest Products Assn.); Ted Ferrioli (Pres. of Community Relations Associates, a PR firm); David B. Howard (National Steering Committee Chairman for Alliance for America); W. Perry Pendley (Pres. of Mountain States Legal Foundation).
Washington Property Rights Network files articles of incorporation. Registered agent is James John Klauser. Board: Donna Gerasimczyk, Sumner; Paul Nolan, Edmonds [SNOCO Property Rights Alliance]; Maxine Keesling, Woodinville [King Co. PRA]; Michelle Strickland, Vancouver, Ed Squillace, Quilcene; Michael Fox, Shelton; Rufus Rose [Island Co. Property Rights Alliance], George Heinrich, Lynwood [Snohomish County Property Rights Alliance]; Maria Matthews, Woodinville; Harvey La Born, Bothell; Art Castle, Bellingham [Whatcom Affordable Housing Council (PAC), Building Industry Association, Whatcom Coalition for Land Use Education (CLUE)].
Whatcom Land Management Coalition landed on the Bellingham Herald's front page.
Partially as a result of pressure brought by Whatcom Land Management Coalition, the County Council extended the public comment period on the GMA-mandated draft "temporary" Critical Areas Ordinance (CAO) via three town meetings. Many county residents turned out to criticize the proposal.
Pierce County Property Rights Alliance files articles of incorporation. Pres.: Cal Hunziker; VP Kathleen Hedlund; Sec. Judy Moody; Tres. David Gran.
Whatcom Coalition for Land Use Education files articles of incorporation as a nonprofit corporation. Initial board of directors: Art Castle, C.H. "Skip" Richards and Bill Geyer, registered agent Jack O. Swanson.
CLUE sponsored first all-County property rights rally at Harmony Elementary School, attended by an overflow crowd of 300 plus, heard national land rights activist Chuck Cushman lay out a plan of action to deal with the CAO. The next day, hundreds of county residents began calling County Council members to voice their concerns and lined up at the County Planning Department to get copies of the May 1992 CAO.
Landowners get sharp call. Crowd of 300 cheers, applauds. Activist urges guerilla tactics. The commando-style advance man for an emerging property-rights movement marshaled new troops from a packed auditorium here [Harmony Elementary School] Thursday. And he issued marching orders on how to thwart Whatcom County's temporary proposal to regulate sensitive lands such as wetlands. Chuck Cushman, head of the National Inholders Association, mixed humor with rancor as he briefed about 300 people at Harmony Elementary School. ...The Whatcom Coalition for Land Use Education (CLUE) sponsored Cushman's speech.
Anderson warns of land-use revolt. (Bob Partlow - Olympia) The ground is beginning to rumble with aftershocks from the new state land-use laws. "If people keep pushing these regulations, and not listening to what the people are saying, then you're going to see the revolt a lot of people are worrying about," predicted Sen. Ann Anderson, R-Acme. Property rights is a centerpiece of Anderson's campaign to be state lands commissioner. ...That's fine, said Alan Gottlieb of the Center for the Defense of Free Enterprise. But when laws deprive people from using their land as they want -- thereby lowering the land's value -- it's as if government had seized the property outright. Landowners should be compensated for lost land values, he said. Said Anderson, "If we're going to have environmental protection, we have to ask some questions. Who's going to pay for it? How much is it going to cost?"
Emotional, energetic, highly-motivated yet disciplined CLUE supporters flooded County Council hearing on the CAO held at Council chambers on N. Forest in Bellingham; so many people attended, the meeting was postponed.
Land-rights crowd stalls county meeting. Council needs more room to discuss rules. The burgeoning property-rights movement overwhelmed Whatcom County government on Tuesday as the anti-regulation backlash took its first organized action. So many people packed a County Council hearing the council couldn't proceed. ...The heckler-filled crowd was the council's biggest turnout since it formed in May 1979, former Councilman Don Hansey said. ...County Sheriff Dale Brandland said he and two deputies attended the hearing due to concerns about the crowds. Many people said they attended in response to pleas issued at a property rights rally near Goshen last Thursday. ...Cushman implored his audience to pack hearings to send the message that county officials weren't listening to protest cries. [Skip Richards and Emily Jackson are pictured.]
CLUE sponsored second all-County property rights rally, at Lynden Middle School; the crowd was bigger, opposition to the CAO increased; Chuck Cushman did a repeat performance with a camera crew from 60 Minutes taping the whole thing. [60 Minutes ran a very negative piece on the property rights movement; some footage from the Lynden Middle School rally was used.]
County land-rights fight turning hotter, showdown looms. A blaze of anti-regulation ire raging through Whatcom County over the past 10 days has many observers wondering who's stoking the fire. On the evening of May 21, a little known group called Whatcom Coalition for Land Use Education (CLUE) sparked a political movement. ...On May 21, CLUE brought Chuck Cushman, a fiery property-rights trail-blazer who lives in Battleground. The coalition paid $1,000 to Cushman's National Inholders Assn for the visit.
Group leaders warn crowds to control rage. Leaders of the Whatcom County Coalition for Land Use Education have urged their troops to put a lid on their rage at a hearing on Monday. They told a crowd of about 250 people in Lynden on Thursday that heckling, threats and violence would defeat their aims.
Council Chair Dan Warner retaliated by re-scheduling the postponed CAO hearing on the campus of Western Washington University, at Arntzen Hall, right next to Huxley College of Environmental Studies. Over 800 people showed up, but since many of the 400 seats were occupied by college students before the hearing began, many county residents were unable to get inside. Once the hall filled, the doors were closed by Sheriff's deputies and no one was allowed in or out except to go to the bathroom. Many county residents left outside were told that they would not be allowed to testify, so they left. The meeting lasted well past midnight. Property rights were eloquently defended by many CLUE members and other county residents. No Council vote was taken. At a CLUE work session, a publicity committee, phone tree, newsletter committee and other action groups were formed.
Crowd packs land-use forum "We're really at a crossroads..." The talking is over. Now comes the decision. Nearly 800 people overflowed a Whatcom County Council land-use hearing on Monday, airing hopes and fears for a county on the brink of pivotal change. At least 75 people testified for a total of more than six hours on a county proposal to regulate sensitive lands such as wetlands. It is part of the county state-mandated answer to rapid population growth. ...Property rights advocates, including members of Whatcom Coalition for Land Use Education CLUE), drove home their pleas that the council exercise caution in the face of constitutionally protected rights.
CLUE sent out mass mailing in opposition to the CAO, demanding more hearings, which infuriated Council Chair Warner, who, at a June 8th Council work session to discuss proposed Council amendments to the CAO, described the allegations in the mailings as 'scurrilous lies.' Warner's comments provoked further media interest in the mailing causing much of it to be quoted in the article covering the Council work session. At that session, a few of the suggestions made by CLUE members were incorporated into the CAO amendments sponsored by Council members. But, for the most part, the CAO remained intact.
Environmentalists push back. Council urged to stand firm; property rights advocates also respond in writing. Backers of Whatcom County's sensitive-lands proposal have counter punched property-rights advocates who've taken swings at the plan. Nearly twice as many supporters as detractors last week contacted the County Council up to a Thursday deadline for written testimony on the temporary rules concerning use and development of the county's sensitive areas such as wetlands. ...Several critics faulted the council for holding the hearing at Western Washington University, abundant with students they described as sympathetic to environmental proposals at the expense of property owners....
Growth-law passage likely. Council set to vote on county controls for sensitive lands. Whatcom County's most debated growth-control measure buffering a ballooning population from itself and nature is due to become law tonight. The County Council on Monday spent 4 1/2 hours on last-minute tinkering with temporary rules governing sensitive lands such as wetlands.
Property rights group seeks delay; Warner calls flier 'scurrilous lies'. Debate on Whatcom County's sensitive-lands proposal has drawn record crowds, including nearly 800 people at a June 1 hearing at Western Washington University. Whatcom Coalition for Land Use Education (CLUE), a property-rights group that whipped up overflow turnouts, hopes to make tonight's County Council meeting no exception. CLUE coordinator Skip Richards mailed 4,000 fliers late last week calling for supporters to attend the meeting. ...The flier says the council is violating residents rights in "favor of land-use control extremists." It says the law could mean the "loss of all or part of your land to county regulation... with no compensation." The leaflet warns of numerous harms, including property owners inability to do anything in buffer zones established by the regulations. "Your children and grandchildren could be deprived of their future ability to own a home," the flyer says. "They may have to move away." Council Chairman Dan Warner railed against the flier at a council meeting Monday, calling its claims "scurrilous lies." He took exception to its claims that the public had been denied a chance to comment.
At the next Council meeting held at the Bellingham City Hall Council Chambers, CLUE supporters filled the room with a dramatically powerful, determined silence. The County Council, under the advice of legal counsel, decided to have yet another public hearing on the amended version of the CAO. Proponents of the ordinance were frustrated.
County Council puts off growth-law vote. Public need chance to review changes in sensitive-lands rules. A procedural snag prevented Whatcom County's sensitive-lands proposal from becoming law Tuesday as planned. The County Council made so many changes that the council decided the rules needed more public review. Several council members said they were disappointed they could not vote on the regulations, required by state growth laws. ...The delay, one of many in deliberations on the temporary rules, surprised a crowd of about 160 people at Bellingham City Hall. The council conducted business in the city room because it's bigger than the county's meeting room. ...Whatcom Coalition for Land Use Education (CLUE), which rallied the crowds, had mailed out 4,000 fliers about Tuesday's meeting. The fliers urged supporters to request another month of hearings. ...CLUE coordinator Skip Richards said the delay had nothing to do with the group's efforts. And he said the decision did not satisfy CLUE's concerns because the council is restricting comments to changes. The group wanted the council to further examine main questions on the rules, including the potential impact on taxes, Richards said. "Our concern is not to delay just to delay," Richards said.
CLUE members once again dominated the last County Council hearing on the CAO. Even so, the Council just went through the motions, appearing determined to pass the ordinance.
County GOP backs property rights group. The Whatcom County Republican Central Committee has endorsed the efforts of the property rights group Coalition for Land Use Education, CLUE. CLUE chairman Skip Richards spoke at a recent central committee meeting and outlined concerns about proposed county rules for development on sensitive lands.
Property Right group flexing muscles. Pierce County's fledgling property-rights movement displayed a knack for turning out large crowds during a debate earlier this year on the county's new ordinance to protect fish and wildlife habitat. ...A group called the Pierce County Property Rights Alliance has organized to spread the property-rights message and to do battle with environmental groups its members believe have been in the driver's seat on land-use and growth issues. The leaders have even coined a word, "enviro-religion" to describe what they believe is the zeal with which many public officials espouse broad environmental causes at the expense of individual property owners. ...Government has been careful to keep prayer out of schools and to preserve the distinction between church and state, said Judi Moody, the alliance's secretary Yet some officials espouse environmental beliefs with the fervor of a religion, she said. The property-rights movement got a late start in Pierce County, although it's picking up support fast, said Cal Hunziker, a Lake Tapps resident who recently was elected president of the Pierce County alliance. Like similar groups in several other counties, the Pierce County alliance received organizational support and advice from the Washington Property Rights Network, a statewide group that has lobbied to weaken provisions of the state Growth Management Act and wants to circulate a property-right initiative to voters next year.
Whatcom County Council adopts the Temporary Critical Areas Ordinance (TCAO) as Whatcom County Ordinance No. 92-032. This starts the formal phase of CLUE's challenge by referendum in the 1993 election, the legal counter-challenge to the referendum by environmentalists, and the final ruling by the Western Washington Growth Planning Hearings Board that the referendum process failed to comply with the GMA.
Groups decide to drop growth law appeals. Two Whatcom County groups have dropped appeals of county growth-management proposals. The Whatcom Coalition for Land Use Education and the Northwest Chapter of the Land Surveyors Association of Washington won't take their challenges to Whatcom County Superior Court, the groups announced. They appealed a county staff decision that a proposed framework for county growth-management planning did not warrant a broad environmental study. But both the county hearing examiner and council denied their appeals. The coalition also appealed the county's proposed temporary rules for sensitive lands. The hearing examiner and council denied that challenge, too. Skip Richards, vice president of the coalition, and Bruce Ayers, spokesman of the surveyor association chapter, said they decided debate over the growth-control proposal should be in a political forum rather than in court. [No mention of Ayers holding a board seat in CLUE. This is the first announcement of what became 93-2]
County Council passed the CAO; CLUE vowed 'this is just the beginning.'
Sensitive-lands law passes. Tuesday final, unanimous approval of Whatcom County's temporary sensitive-land rules marked an anti-climactic close to one of the county's most raucous public debates ever. ...Debate on the rules spawned an overnight political movement of property-rights advocates organized as Whatcom Coalition for Land Use Education (CLUE), which sparked reactions from supporters of the proposed rules. CLUE had turned out crowds at county meetings on the sensitive-lands rules, including much of 75 member audience Tuesday. The debate was just the beginning of an organized role for county property-rights advocates, CLUE coordinator, Skip Richards said. ...The group will also take part in debate on a permanent version of the rules expected by mid-1994, other county growth controls and qualifications of future county political candidates, Richards said. "We have a rich menu of options we can follow from here," Richards said. Many residents who had stayed away from county government became fixtures at council meetings on the proposal.
High court ruling reaches county land-use debate. Development: Compensation the key in government 'takings' of property. A land-use ruling Monday by the Supreme court doesn't signal a dramatic change in property-rights law, several Whatcom county residents said. Others said the ruling indicated a new direction for the more conservative court. The ruling took a crack at clearing up embattled legal turf at the heart of recent controversy over the county's new growth rules. [Lucas vs South Carolina].
[accompanying sidebar]The court has spoken: What does it all mean? ...Skip Richards, coordinator of Whatcom Coalition Land Use Education, [sic] said the decision should temper the zeal of Whatcom County regulators as they implement new growth controls including sensitive lands rules. He said the ruling appears to stiffen the judicial check on government regulations. But Richards said, "As far as what it means for property rights overall, it's a small step in the right direction, but the battles continue." The decision may sharpen requirements for government justifications for land-use rules, but it only addressed cases in which government restricts all uses of private land, he said. ..Dana Beech, a property-rights advocate in the Foothills Information Group, said the ruling is a "land-mark" affirmation of the property rights protections.
[The address is listed as 304 36th St. Suite 116, Bellingham. This is a mailbox at the Samish Mall.] Includes an announcement for the "They've Gone Too Far!" yellow ribbon run on July 11. Contact numbers are 592-5860 and 592-5951. Board of directors: Steve Brisbane, President; Skip Richards, Vice President; Bruce Ayers, Secretary; Frank Lang, Treasurer; Glenda Van Dyk, Art Castle, Bill Geyer. Newsletter editor/publisher Sharon Apeland.
Groups plan rally to display their rage. Growth: Deming rally planned by property-rights advocates who fear they're 'going to lose everything.' Whatcom County residents fuming about government bureaucrats who've "gone too far" will stage a rally here Saturday, then take their protest on the road through Bellingham. ...Rally participants will protest the County Council's land-conservation tax adopted Jan. 5. A referendum campaign this spring failed to get enough signatures to put the tax on November's ballot. ...The rally's sponsors are the Whatcom County Chapter of Washington Women in Timber and Whatcom Coalition of [sic] Land Use Education (CLUE). Glenda Van Dyk, a Washington Women in Timber member helping to coordinate the event, said the rally will give a chance for typically passive rural farmers, property owners and loggers to demonstrate their rage. ...For more information, call 592-5860, or 592-5951 or tune to channel 14 on citizens band radio.
CLUE joined other groups like Women in Timber, in sponsoring a property rights rally at the Deming Log Show grounds, featuring many speakers such as [State Sen.] Ann Anderson, followed by a truck convoy through the county. During the speeches, CLUE vowed political action against the CAO.
County GOP brass quit. 'there are people in the party with a hidden agenda' Three officers of the Whatcom County Republican Party resigned Saturday, citing a growing factionalization within the party. "I now find myself leading a majority of active members that call themselves Republicans, but who oppose Republicans with religious beliefs that are different from theirs," said Steve Cronkheit, who resigned as party treasurer. Party Chair Mark Nelson and Vice Chair Naida Deitsch also resigned. Both have held their posts at least seven years. Anti-abortion wing cited as cause of split. Eileen Sobjack of Custer, Yvonne Smith and Cathy Mikels were quoted as representing the winning faction.
'Gone too far.' Deming Logger Dan Pietila is tired of what he sees as an environmentalist attack on the timber industry. "Loggers aren't against good forestry, but environmentalists have gone too far in the other direction," he said. Pietila was one of approximately 150 supporters who attended Saturday's property-rights rally, held at the Deming Logging Show Grounds and dubbed "They've Gone Too Far" by its sponsors, CLUE and Washington Women in Timber. [Speakers included Skip Richards, Sen. Ann Anderson, and Bill Pickell of Washington Contract Loggers.] ..."We are being denied of our rights to own, manage, buy and sell our own property
a right guaranteed to us by the Constitution," Pickell said. "Our property is being taken over by those with a socialist agenda. And those who need to hear the message aren't even here today."
At a C.L.U.E. meeting held at Harmony Elementary School, members unanimously volunteered to circulate a petition for a referendum on the CAO which would, if validated, be put on the November 1993 local election ballot. Steve Brisbane announced he would resign from the presidency of C.L.U.E. in order to form a political action group to sponsor the referendum petition signature drive and subsequent election campaign.
Country folks see the need to secede... Groups in 3 counties are trying to break away. From the southern edge of Pierce County to the northern Snohomish County line, some rural residents are fed up. Outvoted in county governments by representatives from urban areas, ordered around by bureaucrats and ignored in public hearings, some country folks want to secede, and form their own new counties. There are four proposed: Southeastern Pierce County would become Liberty County, eastern King County would become Cedar County, southeastern Snohomish County would become Skykomish County and northern Snohomish County would become Freedom County. ...[David] Fields said the group [Cedar County Committee] is waiting for an economic analysis of the area -- being done by the University of Washington's graduate school of public affairs -- which will show whether the new county could raise enough tax money to support itself. ...Steve Meitzler, president of Citizens for Liberty County, the group that wants a divorce from Pierce County, said residents of the unincorporated southeast part of the county repeatedly are ignored by County Councilwoman Barbara Skinner and County Executive Joe Stortini. ...Vernell Robbins, one of the original organizers, said Citizens for Liberty County has been active for a year and a half and has about 65 members. The group plans to have petitions ready in about a month. ...Arnold [Arnie] Hansen, a new-county activist who lives near Monroe, said teams are already out soliciting signatures on petitions. In what would be Freedom County, he said, 2,000 people signed in one week. ...But state Rep. Emira Forner (R-Kent) is helping the Cedar County Committee sort them [legal requirements] out. Forner said that, historically, new counties have had to get approval from the Legislature, which would have to decide how to divide up the old county's debts and assets. Beyond that, there is nothing standing in their way, Forner said.
Includes a column headed: "Contact State Legislators" which encourages lobbying and electoral activity: "Register and vote for candidates who defend property rights against the GMA. Help others to register and vote. Many of the State Senators and Representatives are up for reelection this year." Includes quote from the New American (John Birch Society) on Al Gore, headlined "Look Who's Running for Vice President". Reprint of article from Timberman and Trucker by Dan Pietila, who accuses environmentalists of shooting over 50 rounds at him and his logging crew, "They are self-righteous zealots who will stop at nothing to halt the timber industry." Article, "Pacific Legal Foundation Moving to Bellevue". Board of directors: Steve Brisbane, President; Skip Richards, Vice President; Bruce Ayers, Secretary; Frank Lang, Treasurer; Glenda Van Dyk; Bill Geyer; Kathy Sutter (new addition). Art Castle no longer listed on board. Newsletter editor/publisher Sharon Apeland.
Rep. Rod Chandler holds a private property rights conference at Highline Community College. The agenda is on Chandler's congressional letterhead. Jim Klauser, Washington Private [sic] Property Rights Network gave a talk on GMA, planning, mass transit. Klauser stated that because of the drop in economic growth, corporations and businesses are migrating to other states where regulations on their ability to physically and financially expand are not as restrictive. Klauser stated that for each unit built by a developer, $12,000 of it goes directly to environmental impact payments.
Cedar County roots slow to take hold in Pierce County soil. Joe Holmquist has lived in Pierce County all of his 61 years, but these days he's rather call Cedar County home. ...Holmquist said he has collected the signatures of about 300 Northeastern Pierce residents interested in joining Cedar County if it becomes a reality. ...The group has about 30,000 signatures so far, said Ted Cowan, a Cedar County organizer. ...Cowan is not involved with the Pierce County petition drive, but said he supported it.
C.L.U.E. sponsored information meeting on water rights at the Everson Senior Center, featuring State Senator Leo Thorsness, other political candidates, and attorney John Groen, of the Pacific Legal Foundation. Some attendees would later form the Whatcom County Water Association, organized to fight for the rights of small water associations and their customers, who are threatened by state Department of Ecology and Department of Health stepped-up enforcement of state water rules.
Acting on behalf of the political action group he founded, the Coalition for Common Sense (CCS), Steve Brisbane filed three CAO referendum petitions; one called for complete repeal of the CAO; the second called for repealing some of the CAO, while the third version repealed the same sections as the second version, but also added specific wording which directed administration of the remaining provisions of the CAO to the county SEPA administrator. The third version was preferred by Brisbane and CCS, but it risked County rejection due to a legal technicality that referenda can just delete all or parts of laws, not add any language. The first version, which repealed the entire CAO, was filed just in case both the second version and third version were kicked out on technicalities. Eventually, it was decided to collect signatures only on the second version.
Ceder [sic] County Committee incorporates. The early version [unexpurgated] of "Cedar County Most Asked Questions" identifies the committee as: David O. Fields, Dick Peacock, Warren Iverson, Valerie Cunningham, Con Butenko, Jack Cairnes, and Ted Cowan.
'Cedar County' petition drive is under way. A group of southeast King County residents has begun a petition drive to form a new "Cedar County."
Contains considerable information about the upcoming primary election. The "Candidates Forum" has statements from 19 partisan and 5 Whatcom County Superior Court Judge Candidates. Of the 19 partisan candidates, 3 are Democrats. Board Members: Steve Brisbane, President; Skip Richards, Vice President; Bruce Ayers, Secretary; Frank Lang, Treasurer; Glenda Van Dyk, Bill Geyer, Kathy Sutter, Board members; Sharon Apeland Editor/Publisher; Sharon Pietela and Amanda Apeland, Copy Editors. (The last two are new additions.)
C.L.U.E. members dominated the first County Council hearing on County-Wide Planning Policies (CWPP), yet another requirement of the state Growth Management Act (GMA). C.L.U.E. members insisted on broader citizen participation in the development of policies. Although the Planning Department had already prepared a set of CWPP, the Council was reluctant to pass them; affected by the strength of CLUE-inspired opposition to the CAO, they promised to find ways to open up the process, and move more slowly, despite the fact the GMA-imposed deadline for adoption of the CWPP had already passed. The CWPP will determine the direction and extent of changes to the County's comprehensive plan, zoning and development regulations which are also required by the GMA.
CLUE provided members with in-depth review of GMA, CWPP, planning and zoning concepts by top local land use experts, at well-attended meeting. CLUE began preparing written input to CWPP.
King County officials accused of not listening. ..."It's going away fast," says [Dick] Peacock, 47, of his way of life. A rotund, jovial man who fights fires in Seattle for a living, Peacock seems unlikely in the role of a rabble-rouser. But he is one of seven people in the rural Maple Valley area behind a drive to secede from King County. ...They call themselves the Cedar County Committee. ..."The power base is in the cities," Peacock agreed. "When it comes to a vote, we're flat outnumbered. That's why we're going to form Cedar County. Rural people are going to have a vote." ...Many see the drive to form Cedar County as a backlash against the increasing number of environmental and land-use regulations that are coming out of the county in response to the Growth Management Act.
Unhappy citizens are thinking 'Goodbye Pierce, hello Cedar.' Secession fever has struck another part of rural Pierce County. A new play for redrawing the state's political map calls for slicing off a big hunk of Northeast Pierce County and attaching it to Cedar County. Cedar County, for those who haven't been keeping score, is the as-yet unborn county that dissatisfied resident of Eastern King County want to create. ..."Cedar County seems to be extremely well organized," said Judi Moody, a spokeswoman for the Pierce County Property Right Alliance, the group floating the Cedar County-South proposal. The Property Rights Alliance has scheduled a meeting Wednesday at the 6:30pm at North Tapps Middle School, 20029 12th St. E., Sumner, to explain the Cedar County movement. ...Ted Cowan, who serves on a seven-member committee promoting Cedar County in Eastern King County, said it was "flattering" that some Pierce County residents want to join the new-county effort. ..."All we're going to do is go down and tell them what we're going to do," Cowan said. "If that rings their bell, they'll go ahead and get their signatures and be part of us."
At next County Council 'town meeting' on CWPP held at Mount Baker High School in Deming, once again CLUE members, well prepared, turned out in force and participated actively in the small-group discussions. Issue[s] such as property rights, broader citizen involvement in the planning process, and fair treatment for rural residents were articulately presented for group 'facilitator' to write down and take back to the Council and the Planning Staff. CLUE members generally praised the process in the media, but remained skeptical about whether or not their ideas would actually be incorporated in the final product.
The state Supreme Court on Thursday upheld an lower court's dismissal of an attempt to recall Snohomish County Councilman Peter Hurley, ruling that the recall petition was not factually or legally sufficient. ...The recall petition, filed by an organization known as the Stand Up Action Committee, contended that Hurley trespassed onto the property of Robert Wolford and defamed Wolford by charging him with a crime. The nature of the crime was not detailed in the petition. ...In its decision, the Supreme Court said that to be legally adequate, a recall petition must state sufficient facts to inform voters and the targeted official of acts or failures to act that would constitute misfeasance and malfeasance or a violation of an oath of office.
The Coalition for Common Sense turned in over 11,500 signatures on petitions supporting the Referendum 92-3 to repeal portions of the CAO. Most of the signatures were gathered by hundreds of dedicated CLUE members.
The CLUE-inspired property rights movement was chosen by the Bellingham Herald as the top newsmaking story of the year.
contains request that people write to Sen. Ann Anderson, requesting that planners be licensed. Reprint from "National Action Committee" at University of Alabama in 1972: "Ten Commandments of Revolutionists" a hate-piece directed at progressives. "The Post-Lucas Challenge for Property Rights" by Ronald A. Zumbrun, President, Pacific Legal Foundation, from Vol. XVII, Number 3 of PLF's In Perspective. A page of "news bytes" from Land Rights Letter, The Louisiana Conservative, Putting People First, and OLC 7/92 (Oregon Lands Coalition?). Board Members: Skip Richards, Acting President and Acting Secretary; Frank Lang, Treasurer; Glenda Van Dyk, Bill Geyer, Steve Brisbane, Kathy Sutter, Bruce Ayers. CLUE Newsletter: Sharon Apeland, Editor/Publisher; Sharon Pietela, Amanda Apeland, Copy Editors.
Activist spurs County growth debate. Growth: Skip Richards, founder of CLUE, is the top newsmaker of the year. Sketchy biography. Some details on SDS and Northwest Passage. No mention of Castle or Geyer.
The Whatcom County Auditor announced the Referendum 92-3 to rescind portions of the CAO was validated easily, The Auditor's staff stopped counting signatures at 8,061, more than enough. The effects of the repeal should have taken effect immediately.
The Whatcom County Council votes to direct legal counsel Randy Watts to find some way to stop Referendum 92-3 from taking effect, and to substitute a phoney 'advisory' vote on the Referendum to proceed in the November 1993 election, rather than the real vote the County Charter requires.
County Council legal counsel Randy Watts files motion in Whatcom County Superior Court asking for a temporary restraining order stopping Referendum 92-3 from taking effect, which Judge Moynihan granted.
Steve Brisbane, leader of the Coalition for Common Sense, retained non-profit Pacific Legal Foundation (PFL) to defend Referendum 92-3 in court. PLF staff attorney John Groen took charge of the case.
Legal group to fight for land-use referendum. Law: Firm concentrates on cases dealing with property rights issues. A public interest law firm that has fought property rights battles throughout the country will help defend a referendum that scales back Whatcom County's sensitive-lands law. The non-profit Pacific Legal Foundation will defend in court the referendum circulated by the Coalition for Common Sense. Whatcom County Superior Court judge Michael Moynihan granted a temporary restraining order earlier this month that keeps the sensitive land law in place until a court hearing Jan. 29. ...the foundation joined the case "in defense of the right of the people to have a voice on local land use issues," said staff attorney, John Groen.
AS CLUE members feared, the County-Wide Planning Policies (CWPP) public process was given only one last meeting, in which the same tired format of individuals having to get up in front of a microphone and deliver monologues to the Council, was employed once again, this time at Sehome High School, on the south side of Bellingham. Since the December 3rd meeting, the citizen input was 'processed' by the planning committee which had previously drafted a set of CWPP; a new, alternative draft, status unknown, was circulated at this meeting, in which some of the citizen input appeared to be incorporated into new policies. The CWPP were put on a new 'fast track' schedule for adoption, outlined in a memo of 14 January by Planning Director Dan Taylor. Once again, CLUE members turned out in force and presented good comments, the fate of which remain unknown as of the writing.
Referendum 92-3 won a preliminary victory in court, as the first arguments between County Council attorney Randy Watts and PLF's John Groen took place in front of newly-elected Whatcom County Superior Court Judge Steve Mura. Judge Mura denied Watt's motion to stay the Referendum. Mura dropped the temporary restraining order because he saw no legal basis for the County staying itself from its own Charter. The judge suggested that the County go ahead and enforce the CAO if it believed the referendum invalid, and then if some permit applicant felt otherwise, they could bring suit against the County. Mura will rule later, after considering detailed briefs from both side[s] on whether any referendum can be allowed under the Growth Management Act. This case raises serious constitutional issues, and could go to the Washington State Supreme Court.
The County Council, not wanting to let the Referendum go forward, yet also not wanting some small rural landowner to wind up in court and become thereby a highly-publicized political victim of the CAO, decided to allow the County Building and Codes Administration to follow the Referendum, but issue 'provisional permits', which would allow applicant to take advantage of the Referendum version of the CAO, but which could be revoked if the County later wins its case against the Referendum in court. Steve Brisbane, in response, suggested that "provisional permits" would only be useful to someone who could build their home with "provisional nails". In a master stroke of cynical political manipulation, Council Chair Laidlaw cast the sole vote against the motion, even though she had allegedly encouraged the idea in the private, executive session during which the issue was discussed cloistered from public view.
Whatcom County Planning staffer, and CAO author and former administrator Terry Galvin announces that the process to develop a permanent version of the CAO has been suspended until November, pending the outcome of the vote on the referendum.
Retired major says he may run against Tim Hill. Republican Jack Cairnes says he may run for King County executive on a platform opposing taxes and light rail. Cairnes, a retired Army major, is a supporter of the movement to form a new Cedar County out of parts of southeast King County.
County Politicians Sue 32 To Stop Referendum Vote. Press release by Citizens for Referendum 93-1. Ed Husmann, Chair; Betty Wintch, Sec/Treas; Jim Klauser, Exec. Dir. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jim Klauser, Executive Director, Citizens for Referendum 93-1, 621 HWY 9, #B9, Lake Stevens 670-2448. [This group is composed of members of the Snohomish Property Rights Alliance.]
New counties bill gets hearing. Backers of proposed Cedar County speak out in Olympia for new organizational guidelines. A bill that would update the state's antiquated procedures for forming new counties got a hearing in the Legislature yesterday - and strong support from backers of a movement to break away from King County. More than a dozen supporters of the Cedar County movement attended the hearing before the House Local Government Committee. Since no county has been formed in Washington since 1911, there is uncertainty on how it's done, said state Rep. Elmira Froner, R-Kent, who proposed the clarifying legislation. ...[Ted] Cowan said some people who have signed his group's petition said they were surprised that there would no vote on the issue.
thanks to active intervention in the debate on the Growth Management-mandated County-wide Planning Policies (CWPP), the County's plan to force downzoning and lot consolidation in the rural areas was forestalled; instead, a citizen planning process known as Whatcom County 2040: The Next Generations, or, the rural visions committee, was formed. CLUE President Kathy Sutter was appointed to that committee and began to actively shape its direction as soon as it started.
Despite protests by CLUE, the preservationist County Council passed the County-Wide Planning Policies. At least they included Section M2, a CLUE proposal, which provides a means of reconciling property rights issues out of court.
Letter from Master Builders Association of King and Snohomish Counties (Associated with National Assn of Home Builders): "The purpose of both of these letters is to inoculate you against the siren song of new groups that may be coming formed to "fill the void" as the broader business community becomes aware that growth management is being implemented. Builder members of our Associations are easy fund raising targets of these groups. ...While we have worked within the governmental process, we have also supported the formation and development of a strong property rights movement in Snohomish County. We've provided major funding to these efforts, which are more sophisticated than any other county in Washington. ...The county wide policies themselves, later this spring, may be the subject of a referendum campaign. This depends on the outcome of litigation between county elected officials and citizens who have filed a referendum to repeal the policies." The letter is signed by Mike Echelbarger, MBA President and Rick Lennon, MBA First Vice President. [Jim Klauser, former president of MBA N. King/Snohomish, was the executive director of the Snohomish County Property Rights Alliance according to members. His name does not appear on annual reports submitted to the secretary of state's office, since executive director is not a board position.]
Farm bureau head to speak to property rights group. Darrell Turner, president of the Washington State Farm Bureau, will speak at a meeting of the Snohomish Property Rights Alliance...
Fed up with county government. County action depriving citizens of vote prompts call for protest rally. There is a group of people who don't like the way Snohomish County government goes about its business. Up to now, they have shown their disapproval by joining in an unsuccessful try to recall County Peter Hurley, backing the campaign to divide the county into two [sic] counties, or by joining the Snohomish County Property Rights Alliance, which has a long-standing feud with the county over land-use regulations. Many are involved in all three. ..."The people want a public way of expressing their displeasure," said Jim Klauser, executive director of Citizens for Referendum 93-1. "People from all over the state are saying, 'How can government do this?' This is a civil-rights matter."
County Council seats up for grabs. With Seattle, and suburbs to the east and north having made their cases, southern suburbs made their grab for power on the King County Council last night. ...Ted Cowan, a leader of the Cedar County secession drive, Cowan said at the Kent meeting that both plans were "equally crummy" because rural resident would be outvoted by people in Seattle and the suburbs either way.
The CLUE spin-ff Coalition for Common Sense, chaired by former CLUE president Steve Brisbane, had earlier retained Pacific Legal Foundation's John Groen to defend Referendum 92-3, which he did successfully three times. [See CLUE Scrapbook, Volume I, for details on the first two court battles.] The final Superior Court decision, by Judge Moynihan (who issued the original restraining order against 92-3) on the merit of the case shocked local government and the preservationists: the Referendum would stand and the vote would take place, as scheduled, on November 2. Judge Moynihan openly admitted that he sympathized with the county's position, but reluctantly concluded that they just didn't have a case: there was nothing in the Growth Management Act that prohibited a referendum. The council then voted to appeal the decision to a higher court.
Snohomish property rights group to outline plan of attack. The legal battle with Snohomish County for a referendum to overturn land-use policies will be outlined in at a meeting tomorrow of the Snohomish Property Rights Alliance. ...John Groen of the Pacific Legal Foundation, one of the attorneys representing the landowners in the referendum dispute, will discuss the state Growth Management Act and the referendum process.
Two groups formed to begin actively separating Whatcom County into three new counties, Independence County and Pioneer County; the rest could be called What's Left County or Huxley County. The separatist groups contained many CLUE members, who helped out in many ways.
The Referendum outraged the bureaucrats in the planning and building departments as much as the preservationist groups. Nate Brown held a 'press conference' in which he presented some twisted interpretations of Referendum 92-3 that made it even more restrictive in some aspects than the original CAO. Despite PLF attorney John Groen's letter warning that such interpretations were incorrect, and potentially violated campaign laws, Brown attacked the Referendum at every opportunity, using his power of intimidation and extortion of the local building industry to try to turn them against us.
New groups seeks political voice. Campaign: Government spending, citizen access are core issues. A new political organization kicked off Friday. The goal: give voice to people who feel that government isn't listening. "We're trying to avoid preconceived notions or labels. We want to provide solutions."
Lisa Starkenburg. ...Many of the group's officers and directors are business community members, including board chairman Bill Geyer, a private land use planner and former city of Bellingham planning director and Art Castle, executive vice president of the Building Industry Association. The group's director is Bellingham Realtor Marsha Barnhill. Steve Westburg is treasurer. ...Besides Castle, other board members are Robert Weisen of Ferndale, Anna Williams of Bellingham, Butch Edison of Ferndale, John Corliss of Bellingham and Bruce Ayers of Bellingham.
Sudden Valley property owners, stymied by the Water District Ten sewer hookup moratorium that was forced by a preservationist lawsuit, expressed their outrage in the press, and form their own private property rights group.
On the hottest afternoon of the year, CLUE members turned out in force at the joint Bellingham-Whatcom County Lake Whatcom Management Plan meeting, to protest a 'backdoor' downzoning scheme that Planning Director Dan Taylor tried to sneak in the Plan. The meeting didn't go 'as planned' by the planners.
CLUE held the first of its County Council candidate fora at Mt Baker High School; on the First District Race between arch-preservationist Sherilyn Wells, local social service activist Terry Borneman, and pharmacist Ward Nelson. The fora were the brainchild of and were organized by CLUE President Kathy Sutter.
Spurred by CLUE, the County Council votes to agree, in writing, to suspend any zoning plans for rural areas outside Lake Whatcom. The action was a clear victory for CLUE, and for property rights.
CLUE's At-Large County Council candidate forum was held at Laurel Grange. Incumbent Dennis Vander Yacht, along with the challengers wetlands consultant and Planning Commissioner Clare Fogelsong and Ferndale School Board member Marlene Dawson, faced tough questions on property rights, Referendum 92-3, and other key land use issues.
Our Third District County Council candidate forum was held at Laurel Grange. Candidates, including incumbent Bob Imhoff, real estate agent Lora Strobel, and former council member Emily Jackson got an earful about County government, the permitting process, over regulation, etc.
CLUE's Second District County Council candidate forum was held at Harmony Elementary School. Property rights issues were debated thoroughly by the candidates: homemaker Sonja Merk, retired businessman George Irwin, gravel operator Alvin Starkenburg and incumbent Marge Laidlaw.
Box at bottom of pg. 3: "G.M. A. Growth Management Act? or Great Marxist Agenda?" In an article on county secession, Kathy Sutter writes, "We simply feel that what we want and need from county government is not and cannot be provided by an urban-centered, urban controlled council. We do not want or need the over burdensome [sic], unnecessary regulation that is being heaped on us by a bureaucracy which must over-regulate to justify its existence and promote its growth. Furthermore, it is wrong for city dwellers, many of whom are temporary residents (ie: college students) to restrict our constitutionally guaranteed property rights for their own benefit." Planning announcement for an October 16 Freedom Run: "Since this is coming just two weeks before the election, we would like to make this a major event." Board members: Kathy Sutter, President; Glenda Van Dyk, Vice President; Skip Richards, Secretary/Treasurer; Sharon Apeland, Editor/Publisher; Sharon Pietila, Copy Editor; Jerry Apeland, Jeanne & Martin Van Buren, Tom Filion, Gwen & Chuck Zamzow, Marvin Pullar, Wayne & Donna Beech, Frank Lang, Shirley & Jerry Hardy, Dolores Hardy, Harry & Marilou Orr. Ex Officio Board Members: Ron Roosma, Charles & Irene Blasdell, Brian Knutzen, Robert Wiesen, Steve Brisbane.
Local Business PAC endorses candidates. Bellingham City Council hopefuls Bruce Ayers and Orphalee Smith have won the endorsement of the Whatcom Keystone Forum. Keystone Forum is a newly created political action committee emphasizing business and money issues. Ayers, a land-use specialist, is bidding for an open seat on the Council in Ward 6. Smith, an accountant, is challenging incumbent Louise Bjornson for the at-large position. Ayers is on the organization's board of directors. The group will also endorse County Council candidates.
Forum crowd pins down candidates on lands law. In a summer filled with political forums, one question has arisen more often than any other for Whatcom County Council candidates: What's your stance on the county's sensitive-lands law?
Arts center supporters raise most. Old-fashioned fund-raising used. ...One other group -- the Keystone Forum -- has had solid fund-raising success during its initial campaign season. It has collected $11,614. The newly formed political action committee focusses on business and economic issues. Many of the contributions came from Whatcom County firms, including $2,000 from Wilder Construction Co.; $750 each from Impero Construction and Yorkston Oil Co.; and $500 each from Jan Boven Gravel and Excavation, William T. Follis Realtors and Jerry Chambers Chevrolet.
Property rights and Referendum 92-3 supporters Ward Nelson, Marlene Dawson, and Alvin Starkenburg all win big in their County Council primary races. The Citizen's Initiative to stop city funds for the proposed Arts Center, which many CLUE members supported, won handily -- there would be no government subsidized arts center.
Hurley heads to defeat. Growth issues are boost to challenger. Snohomish County Councilman Peter Hurley was apparently defeated in his bid for re-election, while Councilman Ross Kane won the Democratic nomination in his council district, according to unofficial primary election returns last night. Democratic challenger R.C. (Swede) Johnson held a slight lead over Hurley in the Council's District 5 race, and Hurley said he didn't thing absentee ballots would change the outcome. "I think it's just too much to overcome," Hurley said. Johnson attributed his victory to "a lot of support from the cities, and rural areas of east (Snohomish) county. People had an adversarial relationship with Hurley," added Johnson, who was supported by property rights groups and developers in his attempt to unseat Hurley. ...
Rough election for some incumbents. Tuesday's primary election was a rough one for incumbents in two of Snohomish and Piece Counties' high-profile races. ...In Snohomish County, Councilman Peter Hurley, targeted for defeat by property-rights groups, apparently lost a close race for re-election, though some absentee ballots remain to be counted. Hurley was defeated by R.C. (Swede) Johnson, a Snohomish School Board member, for the Democratic nomination in District 5. Johnson will face Republican John Anthony, an environmental and land-use consultant, in November.
Property rights group forming. A small ad Dave Mason placed in Sudden Valley's community newspaper last year sparked the creation of a new property rights group. The Coalition for Property Rights held its first meeting a week ago, attracting nearly 80 people. ...Many shared Mason's view about the sewer controversy: "I don't like people's property rights being taken away." ...for information: 738-1866 or 676-9154.
The Referendum's political campaign culminated at a debate broadcast live over local radio. The 300-person audience was composed mostly of a few preservationists and hundreds of rural folk most of whom were CLUE members and supporters. By all accounts, Referendum supporters totally defeated its opponents. When asked to provide evidence of their claims that 92-3 hurt the environment, or benefitted large developers, they had no coherent responses.
The following Sunday, the Herald, whose editorial board attended the forum, endorsed 92-3.
Growth key issue in E. Snohomish county. Property-rights movement divides candidates in council race. ...When freshman Councilman Peter Hurley was knocked out in the primary election, the county's property-rights advocates had accomplished their goal. For them, it is a win-win general election, whether the winner is Democrat R.C. "Swede" Johnson or Republican John Anthony.
Starkenburg contributions lead roster. Politics: With campaign three days away, donations hit $30,000 in two County Council races.
Most campaign violations minor. Election: County Council candidate receives foreign contribution. Bob Imhof and Sonja Merk are cited as violators.
Dan Taylor and Nate Brown attacked Referendum 92-3 on a local radio talk show, lying through their teeth to influence the election. The preservationist talk show host did not invite Referendum supporters to the show.
In 1992 Dan Warner told us that if we didn't like the Council's agenda we should go out and elect a new Council. We did
and we all owe a lot to the courage, conviction and skill of Marlene Dawson, Alvin Starkenburg and Ward Nelson for stepping forward, taking up the cause, and for conducting inspiring, well-fought and clean campaigns against the preservationists and their slander mongers like the People for (ir)Responsible Government. Oh, by the way, Referendum 92-3, which all the political experts (except Shirley Hardy) said wasn't going to make it, did, by 53.5% to 46.5%. Over 60% of the unincorporated county voted with us. (Next time you need to know who things are doing to turn out, ask Shirley!)
Voters in critical mood. County Council incumbents lose seats in conservative move. After a sweep in the general election, a solid block of four conservatives plans to right the wrongs they believe current Whatcom County Council members have committed. "All the new candidates that are in place have a similar philosophy that deals with excessive regulation," said Marlene Dawson, at-large council member. "We've already talked about getting together and getting some common direction." ..."The message is we have swung a little too far to one side," Starkenburg said. "My real goal will be to bring everything to the middle." ..."My concerns were jobs in the future, where to find the revenue base for services.... and affordable housing through the growth management process," Nelson said.
City voters: Yes to Hall, Ayers; no to Rose. Election: Verdict out on Bjornson-Smith race until absentee ballot count. "He [Rose] just lost touch with the people," Knutson said. "I think the arts center had a lot to do with it." ...Two of the three city candidates endorsed by the Whatcom Keystone Forum won -- Hall and Ayers. The political action committee backed by business interests also endorsed Smith. Bill Geyer, a member of the Keystone Forum and co-chairman of Ayers' campaign, said he was pleased the group backed a winner. The results show people support putting the brakes on government spending, Geyer said. "The vote tonight says that people want government to perform differently," he said.
Kinch loss blamed on communications. [Snohomish County election results] ...In other races, Democrats maintained control of the Snohomish County Council, losing only one seat in three races - to Republican John Garner, who defeated incumbent Democratic Councilman Ross Kane. Garner, retired educator and former Marysville city administrator, defeated Kane 52 to 40 percent to win the District 1 seat. Kane had become the target of property rights advocates and developers who felt he stood for too-restrictive land regulations. Independent candidate Ronald Love got about 8 percent of the vote. ...In other areas, Garner said he wants to find solutions to stop a proposed new county called Freedom in the northern part of his district. Garner's campaign was supported by Freedom County proponents. In council District 5, Democrat R.C. (Swede) Johnson defeated Republican John Anthony by 55 to 44 percent. Johnson ousted first-term incumbent Peter Hurley, a Democrat, in the primary. Incumbent Karen Miller, a Democrat, held on to her seat against challenger George Heinrich. Democrats now control the council 3 to 2. The Democrats are Council chairwoman Liz Mclaughlin, Miller and Johnson. Republicans are Councilman Bill Brubaker and Garner.
We all have post-election responsibility. Politics: New lawmakers must prove they aren't rubber stamps for developers who elected them. [Op-ed piece by Barbara Hudson]
Victory common sense prevails! [cutline: "It remains to be seen if the County will now acknowledge, and enforce 92-3, and, if so, whether they will stick to the 'peculiar' interpretations of some of 92-3's provisions...."] Mentions Steve Brisbane retaining John Groen of PLF to represent the referendum in court. South Carolina moves to settle Lucas case, reprinted from Nations Building News. Eternal Vigilance: the price of liberty! states that "even larger issues face us in the future." [italics in original] "If you thought the CAO 'might' affect you, it is a given that water problems promise to be 'The Mother' of property rights problems." Reprints from an Alliance for America alert, Land Rights Letter, McAlvany Intelligence Advisor. Board members: Kathy Sutter, President; Glenda Van Dyk, Vice President; Skip Richards, Secretary/Treasurer; Sharon Apeland, Editor/Publisher; Sharon Pietila, Copy Editor; Jerry Apeland, Jeanne & Martin Van Buren, Tom Filion, Gwen & Chuck Zamzow, Marvin Pullar, Wayne & Dana Beech, Frank Lang, Shirley & Jerry Hardy, Dolores Hardy, Harry & Marilou Orr. Ex Officio Board Members: Ron Roosma, Charles & Irene Blasdell, Brian Knutzen, Robert Wiesen, Steve Brisbane.
Three new counties churning. Two groups that would divide northern and southeastern Snohomish County into two new counties - Freedom and Skykomish - say they are more than halfway through their signature-gathering phase and could be ready to file petitions with the state early next year. Supporters of a movement to create a new county called Cedar in Eastern King County also say they are well on their way and have scheduled a series of information meetings beginning tonight. ...John Stokes, a leader in the Freedom County campaign, said all supporters need to do to form a new county is collect about 11,000 valid signatures, representing 50 percent of the registered voters living in the area. Supporters now are comparing the signatures they have collected so far with voter registration lists to make certain they are valid, Stokes said. ...Arne Hansen, a leader in the movement to create a Skykomish County out of part of south Snohomish and northern King County, said his group has collected about 19,400 signatures, or 75 percent of the required number. ...[Cedar County] Spokeswoman Lois Gustafson of Woodinville said a two-week series of informational meetings begins at 7:30 tonight at Tolt Middle School (formerly Tolt High School) in downtown Carnation. [article lists other meeting dates and locations.]
the Rural Visioning Committee published the result of a survey they had commissioned of county residents' views of the future; as we predicted, everybody wants everything, but, basically urban dwellers want access to rural open space, while rural folks want to be left alone.
At CLUE's well-attended victory party, the energetic, overflow crowd, thrilled with the results, vows to continue the struggle, with renewed confidence and faith in ourselves and our cause.
Safe Drinking Water Act by Kris Heintz. Water Rights Hot Topic for 1994 by Rep. Val Stevens, 39th dist. Reprint from Freedom Club Report, "Save the Snails!" Board members: Kathy Sutter, President; Glenda Van Dyk, Vice President; Skip Richards, Secretary/Treasurer; Sharon Apeland, Editor/Publisher; Sharon Pietila, Copy Editor; Jerry Apeland, Jeanne & Martin Van Buren, Tom Filion, Gwen & Chuck Zamzow, Marvin Pullar, Wayne & Donna Beech, Frank Lang, Shirley & Jerry Hardy, Dolores Hardy, Harry & Marilou Orr. Ex Officio Board Members: Ron Roosma, Charles & Irene Blasdell, Brian Knutzen, Robert Wiesen, Steve Brisbane
Whatcom County's Temporary Critical Areas Ordinance (after R 92-3) is challenged by a petition for review before the Growth Management Hearings Review Board.
On January 18, 1994 the Western Washington Growth Planning Hearings Board received a Petition for Review from North Cascades Audubon Society, Washington Wetlands Network, Greater Ecosystem Alliance, Point Roberts Heron Preservation Committee, Watershed Defense Council, Friends of Chuckanut, and Washington Environmental Council. The petition requests a review of the Whatcom County Temporary Critical Areas Ordinance (TCAO) as modified by Referendum 92-3. The Petitioner's claim that the Whatcom County TCAO, as amended by Referendum 92-3, is not in compliance with the Growth Management Act. They assert that the modified ordinance fails to protect critical areas, fails to meet public requirements of the GMA, and fails to demonstrate consideration of minimum standards as required by the Act. Petitioners also allege that the Whatcom County TCAO, as amended by Referendum 92-3, is not in compliance with the State Environmental Policy Act. The Board has scheduled its hearing for May 12, 1994....
County referendum faces new challenge. Law: Environmentalists appeal revised sensitive-lands law to state land-use board. Seven environmental groups have asked the state to toss out Whatcom County's sensitive lands law. The groups claim the county's Critical Areas Ordinance doesn't protect sensitive areas such as wetlands. The original law was changed in November by a citizen referendum. Leaders of the referendum said they're confident they state will reject the challenge. ..."We think it's illegal. It was really an extremist referendum," said Mitch Friedman, executive director of the Greater Ecosystem Alliance, one of the groups that petitioned the state. ...Skip Richards, a referendum leader, said the environmental groups "are exhibiting the tendencies of the lunatic fringe. They're pathetic. If it weren't this serious an issue, it would be laughable." Steve Brisbane, another referendum backer, said state rejection of a challenge to a Clark County ordinance indicates the Whatcom County appeal stands little chance.
Freedom ride to Olympia. Petition for new county faces obstacles in Legislature. A campaign to chisel a new county called Freedom out of the northern half of Snohomish County is on its way to Olympia. ...Stokes said Freedom County backers will continue collecting signatures until March 8, when they will present their countyhood petitions to the secretary of state in Olympia for verification. ...The Freedom County campaign is one of several such efforts underway in the Puget Sound Region. Others include a proposed Skykomish County, which would take in the southeastern half of Snohomish county, and Cedar County which would be carved out of eastern King County. Warren Iverson of Hobart, one of the Cedar County leaders, said his group is still collecting signatures and already has gathered 37,500 of the 42,000 it needs. Skykomish County organizers couldn't be reached for comment last night. ...Jack Granstrom of Arlington, the proposed county seat, said he's been against the new county all along even though he sympathizes with people's frustration with bureaucracy and "unresponsiveness" of county government. ...On the other side is Darrell Harting, executive director of the Snohomish County Property Rights Alliance. He said the new county would give people "more local control." People in rural areas are getting short-changed, he added, because their tax dollars are being spent in urban areas.
Freedom County is called a bad idea. A new county councilman who represents a mostly rural area where many residents want to secede and form Freedom county yesterday called the idea a bad one. Councilman John Garner said the proposed new county, which would cover 75 percent of the rural northern half of Snohomish County, would not have the tax base to adequately support itself because it would be cut off from taxes generated by the Boeing Co. and other industry in the Everett area. "I don't know how they plan on finding money for social service programs" and other services like road maintenance and police protection, he said. Although he opposes the secession movement, Garner, who was elected in November to represent District 1, said he doesn't intend to stand in the way. ...John Stokes of Stanwood, leader of the Freedom County drive, disagreed that the proposed county wouldn't be able to support itself. He said it's "extremely asset-rich." ...On Thursday Stokes said about 13,000 people, more than half the registered voters in the affected area, had signed petitions to form the new county. That's enough to compel the Legislature to begin the process to set up the new county. Stokes said the petitions will be presented to the secretary of state March 8.
Local Water Rights Update, unsigned. Water Vigilance Pays Off For Now! by Dana Beech: "Thanks to all the voices of opposition who called their Legislators (C.L.U.E. members included) The bill died in committee due to so much opposition." Reprint: "Senator Ann Anderson appointed to Governor's Task Force" from a letter from Sen. Ann Anderson's office. Whatcom County Council Alert!, "And the 'Smart Growth' movement (the latest guide [sic] of the anti-growth preservationists) will be out to support their friends in Planning." ["Smart Growth" is the name of a pro-GMA group working in Snohomish County through the Pilchuck Audubon Society. Its leader, Ellen Gray, has been targeted with harassment and hate attacks.] Reprints from Loggers World smearing Greater Ecosystem Alliance and Greenpeace. The article cites "internationally known" Icelandic film maker Magnus Gudmundsson. Reprints from The Goodloe Report and The Making of America by W. Cleon Skousen. Board members: Kathy Sutter, President; Glenda Van Dyk, Vice President; Skip Richards, Secretary/Treasurer; Sharon Apeland, Editor/Publisher; Sharon Pietila, Copy Editor; Jerry Apeland, Jeanne & Martin Van Buren, Tom Filion, Gwen & Chuck Zamzow, Marvin Pullar, Wayne & Donna Beech, Frank Lang, Shirley & Jerry Hardy, Dolores Hardy, Harry & Marilou Orr. Sponsoring Members: Howard & Sandy Andreason; Dale Dykstra; Roy Giles; Robert & Lillian Paulson.
Ms. Smith agrees to represent a number of environmental groups in the appeal of Whatcom V. Brisbane, Supreme Court Case No. 60655-2. Smith requests amicus status for the environmental groups.
Watershed Defense Fund, et al. files a petition challenging the failure of Whatcom County to adopt an urban growth boundary.
Whatcom County Home Show. Pioneer County and Independence County shared a booth. Literature from both organizations, as well as CLUE was distributed. Jerry Hardy stated that the secession organizations got their start from CLUE and that CLUE supplied much of the information. Other literature distributed at the Home Show included "How a bill becomes law" from the Washington State Legislature, numerous reproductions of articles from Nation's Building News, Farm Journal, The Orange County Register, Timber/West, the Bellingham Herald, the Economist, and The New American (John Birch Society). Political materials included "Private Property Initiative Would Ease Regulatory Burden on Private Property" from Dan Wood and The Umbrella Group (TUG), "The Judicial Forum" from William C. Goodloe, "Property Rights, Civil Rights and Human Rights" from Kurt Denke, a Seattle attorney.
CLUE sponsors a meeting at which Chuck Cushman introduces the new issue of opposition to the North Cascades Park Proposal. The opening speaker was Ben Hinckle, CLUE member and activist for the Liberty Lobby / Populist Party (Bo Gritz presidential campaign). Hinckle made a presentation on the Committee of 50 States proposal for an "Ultimatum Resolution" which would dissolve the federal government if the budget deficit exceeded certain limits. The booklet on the Ultimatum Resolution bears reading in its entirety, since many of the most extremist statements are towards the end of the document. Hinckle was also distributing a "cut and paste" remake of a Militia of Montana pamphlet on "Executive Orders" with the name of his local group, Citizens for Liberty replacing that of the MOM. Cushman did his standard "they're going to strangle you" speech, this time with the park proposal as the issue. The meeting was videotaped. The significance of this event is that it shows that Cushman had ties to the militias from the very beginning of his opposition to the park. This overlapping of the fringes between Cushman and the militias is alluded to in documents from OC3. It appears that Cushman discovered the park as issue while he was in Okanogon organizing the Okanogon Concerned Citizens Coalition (OC3) in early 1994.
Park idea angers crowd. Property rights speaker, environmentalist clash over proposed preserve. Article describes the Cushman meeting.
Rally protests park proposal. Property rights activist absent from event because of chest pains. More than 200 protesters including a dozen from Whatcom County, rallied Friday against a proposal to establish an International Cascades Park along the U.S.-Canadian border. "We want to cut this off before it gets any further," said Marlene Dawson, a Whatcom County Council member who attended the rally at the University of Washington. "We assume that it (the proposal) is not going to be good news." Many of the protesters came from Eastern Washington... Larry and Delain Beck of Ferndale also marched in the protest.... "Our people are scared to death at what's going to happen to them," Cushman said. "The big meeting is all about how they can take land away from the little people."
Water Rights Update: There is a Moratorium (unsigned). Reprints: First the County and Federal Court Deals First Blow to Washington Term Limits Initiative from PLF's Northwest Project Report; Enviros get Sued and A Note of Explanation from Loggers World; Proclamation of Freedom and Mandate of the Sovereign from Freedom County; US Rep. Billy Tauzin's "The Private Property Bill of Rights." Board members: Kathy Sutter, President; Glenda Van Dyk, Vice President; Skip Richards, Secretary/Treasurer; Sharon Apeland, Editor/Publisher; Sharon Pietila, Copy Editor; Jerry Apeland, Jeanne & Martin Van Buren, Tom Filion, Gwen & Chuck Zamzow, Marvin Pullar, Wayne & Donna Beech, Frank Lang, Shirley & Jerry Hardy, Dolores Hardy, Harry & Marilou Orr. Sponsoring Members: Howard & Sandy Andreason; Dale Dykstra; Roy Giles; Robert & Lillian Paulson; Robert Wiesen; Bernt R. Hoekema, D.C.; Bill Hesselgrave.
Whatcom County adopts an Urban Growth Boundary in response to the petition filed by Watershed Defense Fund, et al. on 3/9/94.
Catherine W. Smith, attorney for Washington Environmental Council, North Cascades Audubon Society, Greater Ecosystems Alliance, Point Roberts Heron Preservation Committee, Watershed Defend Fund and Friends of Chuckanut, files an amicus brief in the Washington Supreme Court case, Whatcom County v. Steve Brisbane, regarding the 92-3 referendum on the Whatcom County Critical Areas Ordinance. In her brief, Smith writes, "This court should hold that the county referendum power is inconsistent with the public policy of broad concern embodied in the Growth Management Act, and that thus no development regulation, plan or policy enacted pursuant to the Act is subject to county referendum. Any other will subject every comprehensive plan and plan amendment..., every urban growth area, public purposes, or open space corridor designation... made by a "county" to micro-management in dozens of county referenda, contrary to the intention of the Legislature to promote 'the public interest that citizens, communities, local governments and the private sector cooperate and coordinate with one another in comprehensive land use planning.'"
Western Washington Growth Management Hearings Board, Final Order
finds Whatcom Referendum 93-2 failed to meet GMA requirements. After all the furor the whole mess ends back in the county council's lap.
Hearings board nullifies county lands ordinance. Growth: Environmentalist applauds decision; property rights activist says it's irrelevant. A state board has struck down a version of Whatcom County's sensitive-lands laws adopted by voters last November, saying the law failed to receive adequate environmental review and public participation. The state Growth Management Hearings Board ruled last Thursday to send the law back to the County Council for review and passage by mid-November. "Yahoo, we kicked their butts," said environmental activist Jay Tabor, a challenger of the referendum version of the sensitive-lands law. "The referendum version was simply a meat-ax job by a handful of developers behind closed doors." ...Although referendum supporters said the ballot box is the ultimate form of public participation, the [hearings] board said a public vote is "all or nothing" and doesn't allow for proper public input. [Skip] Richards said the referendum version's defeat by the board is irrelevant and, ultimately, will help his cause. "The purpose of the referendum was to show that the old council and their agenda was way off base with the majority opinion in the county," he said. ...Taber said referendum sponsors -- backed by the Keystone Forum, a political action committee -- care more about profit than about the people or the public process. "They're the money," he said. "They're the power. They're the conduit... They want all the marbles." ...Richards said the referendum has had little or no effect on land-use because of resistance by county bureaucrats to the new law. "All that we've done has had very little effect on making permits any easier," he said. "The purpose of the referendum was to create a whole new political climate -- and we've done that."
Whatcom County's failure to adopt an Interim Urban Growth Area ordinance is ruled moot by the WWGPHB due to the passage by the Whatcom County Council of an ordinance subsequent to the filing of the environmental groups petition to the WWGPHB.
Whatcom Environmental Council files a petition challenging the compliance of the Whatcom Interim Urban Growth Area ordinance. Prehearing set for September 1.
SNOCO PRA "candidates forum" at Lake Stevens Middle School. Actually, this was a political rally for the candidates that SNOCO PRA is backing in the primary election. Numerous campaign signs were set up on the lawn of the school and candidates were handing out literature and talking to voters. Political literature was distributed for David Montgomery (present) 2nd Cong. Dist.; Washington Watch; Jim Krider (present) Snohomish County Prosecutor, GOP; other candidates were present as well.
A prehearing conference on the Whatcom Interim Urban Growth Areas Ordinance established the issues involved in Whatcom Environmental Council's challenge were the County's failure to: 1) use OFM population projections, 2) follow the goals and requirements of the GMA regarding urban growth infilling, 3) establish an identifiable boundary line, 4) prepare or use a land capacity analysis, and 5) adopt development regulations prohibiting new urban growth outside the IUGA's.
Charged up business leaders vow to get busy. Business: People leave summit promising to get involved in politics and education. Whatcom County business leaders say they ready to act. Feeling motivated at the end of the two-day Whatcom Chamber Foundation Economic Summit, they plan to become high-profile members of the county, letting politicians and citizens know what they want. "I think the main accomplishment is everyone who attended was inspired," said Dan Robbins, president of The Children's Company Corp. "We didn't always agree on everything, but I think we came up with one direction that we're going to go." ...More than 200 people attended the summit at Best Western Lakeway Inn. After spending six hours in workshops, they came up with a list of things they hope to get done. In politics, they'll: * Push for re-examining local regulations on a five year basis... * Tell governments to adopt business practices, such as filing annual reports so the public knows how their tax dollars are being spent. * Push county government to create special water-related businesses looking to move to Cherry Point.... ...In housing, they'll tell government that limiting where homes can be built is driving up the cost of housing. ...Bill Geyer, owner of an land-use planning company, Cutter Pacific Inc., said the Chamber will organize groups to focus on the summit's goals and speak to schools and community groups. The summit's final report will be published in January.
A UN Plot to steal part of state? Environmentalists are brainstorming about a North Cascades international park. Or is it a U.N. plot to take over part of the state and throw out residents? At least 300 people took that possibility seriously enough to show up at a forum. Some think conspiracy theory from Monroe landscaper is true. Don Kehoe stood on a middle-school stage before 300 attentive listeners here Saturday and told them, in all seriousness, that: * Plans for an international park in the North Cascades are part of a global plot to dismember the United States and impose a one-world government. * If the plot succeeds, the United Nations will take over nearly one-quarter of Washington state and throw current residents out. * The international park will be "a preserve... for the world's elite,' who will build large houses inside its borders. * Those borders will be controlled by the Central Intelligence Agency, using "electronic fortifications." ...Kehoe said he's a newcomer to politics who publishes his own political journal. He said he is part of a group called the Committee for Environmental Justice, formed last month to fight the international park. It is sponsoring five of the six meetings at which he is to speak. The group is new, Kehoe said, and has no fixed membership or elected leaders. ...Environmental leaders don't know whether to laugh or cry. "I see it as a plot by aliens to take control and put Elvis in charge," said Mitch Friedman, executive director of the Bellingham-based Greater Ecosystem Alliance, one of 13 environmental groups working on the park proposal. ...Property rights and "wise use" (this movement generally opposes environmental laws) groups oppose the park, calling it a giant land grab. Chuck Cushman, a national wise use leader, said he thinks environmentalists, despite their denials, want to impose some form of land-use control on the area in the map. But Cushman, who organized a protest against the park outside a conference on the subject at the University of Washington last March, labels Kehoe's theories "absolute nonsense." "This is a fringe, right-wing group," he said. "We have nothing to do with them, and will have nothing to do with them."
WWGMHB determines that Whatcom Interim Urban Growth Area Ordinance is not in compliance with the GMA. The Board determined that Whatcom County's acknowledged failure to prepare and use a land capacity analysis that involved current data lead to the conclusion that no interim urban growth areas beyond existing city limits were permissible under the GMA. The Board's order stated that... Whatcom County needed to establish interim urban growth areas at municipal boundaries and not expand those until a proper analysis had been completed. Development regulations that would protect the rural areas of Whatcom County from urban growth also needed to be adopted in order for the County to achieve compliance.
The Final Order No. 94-2-0009 should be read for the full details of how the County failed to supply any evidence at all to show that it has met the procedural requirements. The Order is full of statements like "Whatcom County candidly acknowledged... that the requisite land capacity analysis had not been done...; "[w]e do not have any record... nor a tape nor summary of any debate... nor why the [County's population] study's numbers provide better projections than the OFM [Office of Financial Management] numbers, nor any other material evidence."; "...the County claims it made appropriate decisions.... We have not been provided with any evidence to support that claim."; and "...there is not one scintilla of evidence as to what facts were presented to, considered, and determined to be compelling by the County Council in making the decision...." The WWGMHB is scathing in it's condemnation of the County's failure to meet even one of requirements of demonstrating its position in the case. On the areas that the County included which were not adjacent to a city and were claimed in the ordinance to have "development characteristics and/or zoning which was clearly urban," the Board found that "[t]he County acknowledges that no such planning took place. The IUGAs are not in compliance with the GMA."
There are fifteen points in the Final Order where the Board found that the County had either failed to comply with the law or procedure. The single point on which the Board agreed with the County was that the Board could not alter the legislative intent of the GMA or order the county to adopt particular boundaries. The Board notes that "municipal boundaries must be used until proper analysis shows a need to expand the boundary" and then ordered the County to comply with the law.
Bellingham Herald, land-use referendum rejected. State Supreme Court overturns Whatcom County Superior Court ruling. The state Supreme Court today ruled for a second time that voters cannot use referendums to reject local ordinances enacted under the state Growth Management Act. The 8-1 decision reversed a Whatcom County Superior Court ruling that upheld such a referendum passed by voters here in 1993. The referendum sought to amend parts of the county's temporary Critical Areas Ordinance, which was enacted under the Growth Management Act. ...The Supreme Court ruled that a referendum was not allowed because the growth policies were of widespread importance
not just a local matter subject to the county home-rule charter. ...Writing for the court, Justice Charles Smith conceded that Whatcom County residents have the right of referendum under the county's home rule charter. But the state constitution expressly relegates home-rule charters to an inferior position with regard to the constitution and laws of the state, he wrote. The power to act under the Growth Management Act was delegated to counties' legislative bodies, and the right to referendum does not exist when the county is ordered to do something by the Legislature, Smith wrote.
County land-use fight not over. Challenges to state law remain unsettled. The State Supreme Court usually is the last legal battleground under state law. But skirmishes over Whatcom County's Critical areas ordinance continue. ..."The majority of the people here in Whatcom County have spoken about the tone and temper of what they want the critical-areas law to look like," said developer Steve Brisbane, who helped draft the referendum. ...The challenge stems from the way the council chose to revise the law, said environmental activist Jay Taber. A state board tossed out the referendum version of the law in July, saying it never received adequate public review. So the county could have reverted to the original law or do more public review of the referendum version, including a hearing and environmental review. ...The County Council chose to start with the less restrictive referendum version. ...Environmentalists have already challenged the environmental review, Taber said. That challenge will head to the county hearing examiner and, ultimately, could work its way through the court system, meaning it could take months or years before the fight ends. ...Taber agrees with the [Supreme Court] ruling, saying the state has an interest in the county's environmental and growth decisions. "Growth Management was enacted to protect statewide resources that are important to all citizens in the state," he said. "That includes state tax dollars because the state has had to come in and use state funds to solve locally created problems."
WWGMHB agrees that the Washington Supreme Court's action in overturning 93-2 has rendered the issue of non-compliance of the Whatcom Critical Areas ordinance with the GMA moot and thus dismisses the issue of requiring compliance as contained in the Final Order of 6/30/94. [Whatcom County is now back at square one on the CAO, roughly the same place as when CLUE hired Chuck Cushman to help organize disrupting the process. The taxpayers have had to foot a considerable legal bill for this fiasco and the county stands to lose state funds as a result of their willful non-compliance with the GMA.]
$200,000 boost for property rights effort. A last minute shot of $200,000 from timber companies, real-estate agents and home builders have given a boost to a grass-roots property rights initiative. The petition to the Legislature is to be delivered Friday with what backers say are more than enough signatures to force action next year. ... Most of the money raised in the past month went to pay people to circulate the Initiative 164 petitions, said Tom McCabe, executive vice president of the Building Industry Association of Washington, one of the prime organizers and financiers of the initiative rescue effort. ...The builders association was joined by Plum Creek Timber and other members of the Washington Forest Protection Association, the Washington Association of Realtors and Services Group of America, a Seattle conglomerate that has traditionally been a generous contributor to political campaigns. Within three days, the groups has raised $200,000, according to Elliot Swaney of the builders group.
Another crime measure. Get-tough, property groups say they have signers to force votes. Organizations promoting two popular conservative causes -- a new tough-on-crime measure and a private-property rights law -- say they have enough signatures to force legislators to vote on their proposals.
(AP) Property rights plan mounts. Initiative to make government pay for lost value heads to lawmakers. A proposal that would make government pay property owners for land value that was lost through regulation has drawn enough signatures to put the question to lawmakers or voters, backers asserted Friday. The Washington Property Protection Coalition turned over 231,000 signatures to Secretary of State Ralph Munro. ..."We have been forced to go to the initiative process" to halt governments's unconstitutional assault on property rights, Dan Wood, an initiative campaign leader, told a roomful of reporters and onlookers after turning over the boxes of signatures. "Initiative 164 is a Washington taxpayer's worst nightmare," Karen Verrill, president of the League of Women Voters of Washington, said in an earlier news conference called by foes of the measure.
Initiative signatures face state probe. Secretary of State Ralph Munro has asked for a state investigation after finding sheets of apparently counterfeit signatures of the property-rights initiative. Munro, who wants the State Patrol and Attorney General Christine Gregoire to investigate, said today he still expects Initiative 164 to have enough valid signatures to qualify for the Legislature. Backers submitted petitions with more than 230,000 signatures. Munro's staff found 100 sheets, with as many as 20 signatures per sheet, bearing suspect signatures. Some appeared to be fictitious names, Munro said. Other sheets were alphabetical listings that likely came from phone books. Some sheets included 20 signatures, all in the same handwriting, in alternating blue and black ink. "We've never seen anything this blatant," Munro said at a morning news conference. ...Dan Wood, state coordinator for the initiative campaign, went to see the suspect petitions and said that Munro was right to be suspicious. "I doubt that that many people in one community would have the same penmanship," Wood said.
Fake signature found on petitions for property rights. Fraudulent signatures on a citizen property-rights initiative have been discovered on petitions that appear to come from five Western Washington counties. Secretary of State Ralph Munro said his office discovered about 2,000 phoney signatures. Suspect signatures, including petitions filled out in the same hand-writing and some apparently copied verbatim from a telephone book, have been found from King, Pierce, Thurston, Jefferson and Clallum counties, said David Brine, a spokesman for the secretary of state's office. "It was not very clever how the person or persons did this," said Tom McCabe of the Building Industries Association of Washington. ...Wood said that signatures may have come from an "overzealous volunteer."
On November 9, 1994, we issued an Order in this case finding that Whatcom county's Interim Urban Growth Area (IUGA) Ordinance 94-033 was not in compliance with the Growth Management Act... In this case, Whatcom County has simply refused to do anything to alleviate the non-compliance found in our November 9, 1994, Order. ...None of these proposals have even gone through a public hearing process. Additionally, they are only a portion of the entire package and often raise as many questions as they purport to answer. ...The County has left us with no alternative but to find, under RCW 36.70A.330, that the original non-compliance continues.
...In our November 9, 1994, order we found that Whatcom County's Interim Urban Growth Area Ordinance was not in compliance with the Growth Management Act. ...A recommendation for sanctions should be based upon objective standards and be consistent. Under the situation that exists in this case, a request for sanctions against Whatcom County is objectively consistent with our previous recommendation for Jefferson County.
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