[Capr-announce] January 13 CAPR meeting

[Laurel]

January 13, 2005 CAPR meeting

At 6:45 pm, King 5 began filming for an Up Front show that will air February 6. Those with stories were asked to tell them individually to the reporter and cameraman.

The meeting began at 7:10 pm with approximately 60 attendees.

SENATOR PAM ROACH

State Senator Pam Roach spoke. She is on the Government Operations & Elections Committee this year. She urged us to keep things in front of the media. She and other state legislators are planning a whistle-stop tour for state legislators to talk to their constituents regarding land use issues. Her legislative aide is Bob Young, the mayor of Bonney Lake, spoke briefly on his city's dealings with the Boundary Review Board. She can be reached at pamroach at aol.com

REFERENDA

We collected and turned in 18,000 signatures for each of the three referenda petitions. A recent newspaper article said that some signatures had already been disallowed. We expected that would happen, but are confident that we turned in more than the required amount of 6,891 sets, as we verified the validity of nearly 14,000 sets. 

King County Prosecutor Norm Maleng, 1000 Friends of Washington, and the Center for Environmental Law and Policy have sued to stop the referenda. They are citing a state Supreme Court ruling on Whatcom v. Brisbane from 1994 that prevented voters in Whatcom county from holding a referendum on Whatcom County's initial critical areas ordinance. Prior to Brisbane, when the state legislature wanted to suppress local referendum rights on actions they required of counties, they would direct the actions be done by the legislative arm of the county. The Growth Management Act specifies the legislative arm for policy plans such as King County's Comprehensive Plan. When the state legislature desires to retain local referendum rights, they direct that actions be performed by the county itself. Under GMA, that is the wording for specific regulations such as critical areas ordinances. The Supreme Court went against that well-established precedent in Brisbane.

We have asked our attorney, Dick Stephens, to file an appeal directly to the state Supreme Court. They may decide to hear it directly or they may send us to the Court of Appeals. The timing of the decision is up to the court.

The CAO is being enforced currently by DDES. 

We don't know when the referenda will make it to the ballot. The earliest could be April, but it may not be until the end of the year.

FUND RAISING AND OUTREACH

Once we win the right to put the referenda to a vote, we will have to be ready to launch the campaign to win the vote. There are 242,000 registered voters in unincorporated King County, with more urban than rural. To mail to this group will cost $150,000.

We are planning a direct mail campaign to raise funds. We have an anonymous donor who wants to attract large donors whose funds can be used to match contributions. The current challenge amount for this matching fund is $10,000. 

Rick Spence (206.510.2819) volunteered to put together a fund raising committee. We need volunteers!

Other ideas for fund raising were for CAPR to attend as many events as possible, and to hold neighborhood meetings with CAPR speakers. Nancy Lovell volunteered to organize a booth at the Washington Arms Collectors show this weekend.

James Pritchard presented some bumper sticker ideas and spoke on the Zimbabwe land grab - what's to stop King County from taking everything?

Advertising professional Jason Black, who is volunteering his considerable expertise, presented an advertising campaign using the theft of 65% of our land as a single message to drive the point home. He estimates that an effective media campaign will cost $150,000 plus another $50,000 if we choose to do paid radio spots. 

Ideas for bumper stickers:

65% Land Grab - 100% Wrong

100% Land Owner - Not 35%

65% Land Grab. What's Next? Fixed Elections?

Don't bother rear-ending me. Ron Sims already did.

Welcome to USSR Sims

Sims, at least kiss me before you screw me.

The bumper stickers will also be used for fund raising.

RECALL DOW CONSTANTINE

Armen Yousoufian is preparing the paperwork to recall King County Council representative Dow Constantine. Council members can be recalled for malfeasance, misfeasance, or violation of oath of office. There are several areas where Armen feels that Constantine has misused the power of his office, but one of the most egregious is a newspaper article where Constantine lies by omission concerning the CAO.

LEGAL FUND UPDATE

The bulk of attorney fees for the referenda suit have been paid at this point. However, we still need another $25,000 to continue the fight.

PACIFIC LEGAL FOUNDATION

Attorney Sam Rodabough spoke on the lawsuit that PLF has filed. They are still looking for additional plaintiffs to add to the suit. Now that the lower courts have struck down our referenda, PLF will move forward with their lawsuit. 

Also, PLF will file a Friend of the Court brief when our suit regarding the referenda reaches the Supreme Court, as they were the attorneys for Brisbane in that earlier case.

There are several areas where the CAO violates our rights: 

The clearing limitations are an in-kind tax, and RCW 8202 says that the burden is on government to prove that the cost to the property owner is proportional to the damage caused by development. 

Substantive due process has not been followed in some areas of the CAO. The remedy would be invalidation of the offending part of the ordinance.

Rural Stewardship plans are an unlawful delegation of authority from the legislative body to a regulatory body.

Market research has been done that shows that a Washington version of Measure 37 will pass if it makes it to the ballot.

REDISTRICTING

CAPR members have been attending the King County redistricting committee public meetings. It appears that rural representation will be reduced to two council members.

IN THE WORKS

CAPR leadership has been asked to attend several meetings in the coming month. Topics include a Washington version of Measure 37 and the possibility of forming a new county. President Rodney McFarland has also been asked to speak on the Critical Areas Ordinances at a meeting of the Local Government committee of the state House of Representatives.

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