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OPPOSING RIGHT WING INITIATIVES AND FIGHTING TIM EYMAN
NO ON I-933 EDITORIAL SCOREBOARD
Opposition to Intiative 933 is so broad and diverse that almost every credible news publication within Washington State or with a Washington State audience has endorsed a resounding NO, joining a broad coalition of other groups and organizations. Take a look for yourself. There's just no comparison.
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ONLINE SINCE FEBRUARY 2002 WORKING FOR COMMON SENSE
22
NEWSPAPERS AGAINST I-933
2
NEWSPAPERS FOR I-933
Initiative 933 attempts to put a creative twist on the state constitution to undercut a decade of land-use laws. That done, it would then hold a financial gun to the head of state and local elected officials as they write new laws to manage growth, protect the environment and preserve agricultural lands....Vote no.
Initiative 933 is an expensive hoax on property owners and taxpayers who would live next to and pay for the turmoil created in the name of safeguarding private-property rights...Vote No on I-933, a very bad bargain for Washington state property owners and taxpayers.
This initiative may look “fair” to the select property owners it would enrich, but its unprecedented, radical, extra-constitutional notion of property rights would be catastrophic for the state as a whole. I-933 must be rejected.
Under I-933, government officials would have two choices: Let development occur or pay the landowner for loss of property value. It’s an awful choice, estimated in two separate studies to cost Washington taxpayers $8 billion...Initiative 933 goes too far and is too costly. Vote “No” on I-933 and send the property rights issue back to the Legislature where it belongs.
It's not worth it. Oregon's property-rights law hasn't led to a sweeping improvement in the fairness of the land-use system. Instead, it's picked new winners and losers, led to substantial legal and bureaucratic expenses, bitter fights among neighboring property owners and a confusing, chaotic system that can no longer ensure careful growth management. I-933 would bring all this to Washington state. We don't recommend it.
Look closely at who is behind I-933 and what their real motives are. Then decide if this is really the way we should be making planning decisions that ultimately affect all of us forever.
About the most positive thing we can say about Initiative 933 is that it is a good example of why it's bad public policy to write complex state laws by initiative -- absent the give-and-take of debate and compromise in the legislative arena. We strongly urge voters to fill the "no" box on their ballots on this proposal; it is a nightmare waiting to happen.
The cost of all this new government bureaucracy and compensation is staggering: $7.5 billion to $8.5 billion. This initiative goes too far and costs too much. Vote no.
Initiative 933 is a radical proposition with many harmful and far-reaching implications for the state and its future. Voters should reject this ill-conceived initiative.
If I-933 is an effort to strike back at government for overstepping its bounds, it is the bluntest of blunt instruments. It is a bludgeon when a scalpel is needed. If passed it will surely do far more harm than good — fair for some, unfair for many. Vote no on I-933.
The kicker is the sticker. The taxpayers would end up footing the bill. The Washington State Office of Financial Management estimates the cost to the public at $7 billion to $9 billion. A similar measure approved by Oregon voters has already cut deeply into government services and spurred almost $4 billion in claims against taxpayers.
Initiative 933 should be rejected by state's voters
Waiving land-use and zoning requirements, particularly a decade after the fact, is a train wreck waiting to happen.
Non-experts (in land use) who oppose Initiative 933 include a vast array of environmental, tribal, educational, religious and civic groups, even labor and builders' groups that understand the danger of trashing land-use regulations or extorting huge, unavailable tax dollars to pay for claims. Protect your environment, your quality of life and your wallet. Vote "No" on Initiative 933.
What if the courts do allow rules to be waived? You'll likely see irresponsible development, sprawl that isn't supported by proper infrastructure, and environmental damage. Voters should reject I-933 as an exercise in overkill.
No doubt states, particularly Washington, have imposed regulatory mandates that have been unfair to farmers and others. But the proper way to address that overreach is through legislatures, where all interests can come to the table in a deliberative process.
Initiative 933, the so-called “property fairness” measure, threatens to overturn a decade’s worth of environmental protections and orderly land-use planning. Alternatively, it could force local governments — meaning taxpayers — to essentially pay protection money to maintain the environmental and esthetic integrity of their neighborhoods and countrysides.
I-933 and Prop. Two are the worst kinds of abuse of the initiative system. All the efforts of local people to determine a common way of life, via planning and legislation, would be blown up by out-of-state money and disingenuous, manipulative ad campaigns.
The inequities farmers and ranchers face may not be readily apparent to the rest of the population. But if I-933 passes, the problems it would create for the state will be abundantly clear to all. The Herald recommends voters reject Initiative 933.
Washingtonians should choose a wiser path than our neighbors to the south and vote “No” on I-933, a pro-development, anti-growth-management measure cloaked in the guise of fairness.
No one should support Initiative 933 -- not even the many citizens in our county and state who are frustrated by government regulation. We urge everyone to vote no.
It would cost us billions (just ask Oregon) and likely roll back environmental protections that contribute to our quality of life while opening the door to development and gutting the Growth Management Act. Add our voice to the chorus urging a “no” vote on this ill-conceived measure.
Although all of us may be skeptical of government rule-making, I-933 would be a sweeping set-aside of laws that presumably had some merit in being enacted in the first place. Vote NO on Initiative 933.
We strongly recommend passage of this measure, primarily sponsored by the Washington Farm Bureau, which represents commercial farmers statewide.
Opponents of the initiative cry about the potential cost to compensate aggrieved property owners should I-933 pass. Proponents support I-933 because it's the fair thing to do. Count us among them, and vote "yes" on I-933.
I-933 enjoys little support among newspaper editorial boards because it is a disastrous, dangerous right wing initiative. VOTE NO.
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OTHER ORGANIZATIONS OPPOSED TO INITIATIVE 933 INCLUDE:
AGRICULTURE/ FARMING
Blue Heron Farm
Buty Winery
Craven Farms
Derby Canyon Natives
Farm Bank Project
Farms Northwest, Inc.
Finest Kind Orchards
Gordon Dairy
Growing Things
Hart's Nursery, Inc.
Kirsop Farm
Lark Haven Farm
Mesman Farm
Mother Flight Farm
Nash's Produce
Olympia Food Co-op
PCC Farmland Trust
PCC Natural Markets
Quillisascut Farm
Rosehip Farm & Garden
Skagitonians to Preserve Farmland
Sunny Pine Farm
T&T Orchards Inc.
Taylor Shellfish
Tilth Producers of Washington
Twin Springs Farm
Twin Tails Farm
United Farm Workers
Washington Sustainable Food and Farming Network
Western Students for Sustainable Food
Western Washington Agricultural Association
Whatcom County Agricultural Preservation Committee
Willie Greens Organic Farm
Winlock Meadows Farm
Woodward Canyon Winery
Yaksum Orchard
BUSINESS
A-1 Builders
American Institute of Architects, Washington Council
American Institute of Architects, Seattle Chapter
Bricklin Newman Dold
Greater Seattle Chamber of Commerce
Green Works Realty
Greening Properties
Mazama Country Inn
Miller/Hull Partnership
Mithun
NBBJ
Recreational Equipment, Inc. (REI)
Retro Printing and Publishing
Spokane Area Chamber of Commerce
Sunburst Gallery
Septic Sense
Urban Visions
Vulcan Inc.
CITY COUNCILS
Spokane, Snoqualmie, Auburn, Newcastle, Maple Valley, Shoreline, Covington, Burien, Mountlake Terrace, Puyallup, Mercer Island, Sammamish, Liberty Lake, Kirkland, Bellevue, Tukwila, Edmonds, Buckley, Issaquah, Des Moines, Mill Creek, Spokane Valley, Lake Forest Park, Redmond, Tacoma, Edgewood, Bellingham, Lynwood, Redmond, University Place, Olympia, Tumwater, Cheney, Everett, SeaTac, Woodinville, and many more...
CIVIC & PUBLIC INTEREST
Allied Arts of Seattle
American Planning Association, Washington Chapter
Hate Free Zone Washington
Housing Development Consortium
Island County Smart Growth Coalition
League of Women Voters of Washington (and regional chapters)
Municipal League of King County
Peace and Justice Action League of Spokane
People for a Peaceable Planet
Pro-Whatcom
Statewide Poverty Action Network
Taxpayers for Washington 's Future
Voters for Affordable Housing
Washington Tax Fairness Coalition
Washington Trust for Historic Preservation
EDUCATION
American Federation of Teachers - Local 1789
American Federation of Teachers - Washington
Gregory Hicks, Professor, University of Washington
League of Education Voters
Nalini Nadkarni, Professor, Evergreen State College
Washington Education Association
CONSERVATION
Admiralty Audubon Society
American Rivers
Audubon Washington
Bainbridge Island Land Trust
Black Hills Audubon
Blue Mountain Audubon
Camano Action for a Rural Environment
Cascade Land Conservancy
Central Basin Audubon
Chehalis River Council
Chums of Barker Creek
Climate Solutions
Clover Creek Council
Columbia Riverkeeper
Conservation Northwest
East Lake Washington Audubon
Evergreen Islands
Friends of Carbon Canyon
Friends of Clark County
Friends of Grays Harbor
Friends of Miller Bay
Friends of Northshore
Friends of Pierce County
Friends of Skagit County
Friends of the Columbia Gorge
Friends of the Hylebos Wetlands
Friends of the San Juans
Futurewise
Gifford Pinchot Task Force
Grays Harbor Audubon
Hood Canal Environmental Council
Kitsap Audubon
Kitsap Trees
Lands Council
Lower Columbia Basin Audubon
Methow Conservancy
Mountaineers
North Cascades Audubon Society
NW Energy Coalition
NW SEED
