[Vision2020] Vasquez says No to Prop 2

[Mark Solomon]

I can hardly believe I find myself on the same side of an argument as 
Commissioner Vasquez, but Prop 2 cuts across all divides. From 
today's Statesman.

m.


Robert Vasquez: Prop 2 will gut local land-use process for benefit of 
a very few
By Robert Vasquez
Edition Date: 10/19/06

As I am soon to leave the office of Canyon County commissioner, 
District 1, I am compelled to express the following opposition to 
Proposition 2 on the November ballot.

It will have onerous implications if passed, not just for county 
funding of expected services to our respective communities, but more 
importantly, in the deception being perpetrated upon my fellow 
American citizens of the great state of Idaho.

There is, in my opinion, a concerted effort by out-of-state 
developers like New York's real estate tycoon Howie Rich, and 
property-rights activists in Idaho to deceive the voter into passing 
this flawed legislation. Howie Rich creates and funds organizations 
like Club for Growth that enable his companies to buy up land for 
development regardless of how it effects the communities involved.

Let me set the stage by reiterating the collusion between Idaho's 1st 
Congressional District candidate, Bill Sali, and the Club for Growth.

Club for Growth bought the candidacy of Bill Sali for a mere $330,000 
(more or less) in soft money, negative campaign ads. Then Laird 
Maxwell, a staunch Sali supporter, steps forward with this 
Proposition 2 proposal, under the guise of "free market, private 
property rights" that would, of course, strike a chord with the Idaho 
sense of independence. What Mr. Maxwell does not disclose in his 
efforts is the fact that the Club for Growth has contributed to the 
funding to get Proposition 2 on the November ballot.

Now enters Bill Sali, still serving as a member of the Idaho House of 
Representatives, professing to be a low-taxes, small government 
conservative Republican, who voted in August to raise the Idaho sales 
tax by 20 percent, but makes no comment when asked about his position 
on Proposition 2.

Why? Because Club for Growth is guiding both campaigns, in hopes of 
fooling the Idaho voter once again into giving up their congressional 
representation to corporate greed, and the citizens' right to testify 
in opposition at land use hearings under the existing land use law.

As the land use law stands today, eminent domain, if exercised, must 
fairly, at market value, compensate the property owner.

If passed, Proposition 2 would simply bypass the citizen, and take 
the case directly to district court, where your tax dollars would pay 
for any amount decided on by the court. So the developer gets the 
property, you pay the landowner, and no one benefits but the 
attorneys, developers and very few landowners. This is not Oklahoma, 
and Idaho county commissioners are, politically speaking, far closer 
to their constituents than those in more densely populated states 
like Oklahoma.

So Proposition 2 is a 20-pound sledge being used by Club for Growth, 
Laird Maxwell and Bill Sali to drive a 10-penny nail into the heart 
of Idaho's local government process.

Let me urge my constituents and fellow Idahoans not to be deceived by 
the Club for Growth's siren song on Proposition 2. Let us send a 
message to the Club for Growth, and their puppets, Laird Maxwell and 
Bill Sali, that Idaho is not for sale. Vote "no" on Proposition 2.

Robert Vasquez is a Canyon County commissioner.
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