Egad! Our fearless bureaucrats are teaching us how to be good little people

Fellow Citizens:

 

The story below represents the ARROGANT mind-set that we have allowed to foster in our bureaucratic employees.  Remember ... they work for us, they are on our payroll.

 

Fortunately, passage of Prop. 207 by an overwhelming margin of 65% not only protects our private property from eminent domain abuse and the nefarious practice of regulatory takings, but it will focus the thinking of our government employees.  In other words, it takes away their "mental green card" to be arrogant.

 

Here is what's arrogant with the incidents reported in the story below:

 

1.  The school district requested and "up-zone" from residential to commercial to build a new school district office. OK.  99.9% of the time an up-zone from residential to commercial results in the parcel becoming more (not less) valuable. Prop 207 only kicks in when an owner loses property value directly from a government action.

2.  If, as the story reports, the property with the new up-zone somehow decreased in value in the future, what grounds would a suit be based upon against the city for ACTION THE OWNER SPECIFICALLY REQUESTED!?!  Does this sound rational, "I made a mistake asking for the zoning change and the city with all their planning expertise should have known better and not let me do it ... they should have protected me from my stupidity ... now my property is worth a lot less so give me some money because it is the city's fault."

3.  If this had occurred in Apache Junction, even getting the electrical permit might have required signing a government imposed 207 forced waiver.

The facts are that in very rare instances one of the government forced waiver might (repeat, might) be in order.  For instance a large planned development might have some parcels of the larger plan where some planned open space may be down-zoned.  The city/county might be open to a Prop. 207 claim on the down-zoned open space parcels.  Might.  The developer would still have to overcome the argument that even though the down-zone was requested, now demands money.  It is a steep legal hill to climb.

 

Both notable Arizona attorneys Clint Bolick (former Institute of Justice) and Gary Lassen (successfully defended Prop. 207 against legal attacks from cities/counties) have opined that these forced waiver are unconstitutional.

 

The bureaucrats made blatantly false arguments during the campaign and now are punishing voters with their forced waiver scheme.  We do not pay them to make our lives miserable, yet they persist.

 

Local elected officials are the bureaucrats supervisors and unless they "call off the dogs" these anointed (strike that -- elected) officials will be held accountable by the very voters who demand prompt, courteous service from our government.

 

"Lose the attitude and get back to work," could be a good campaign slogan.

 

Snap at you later,

Big Rattler

 

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Thursday, February 08, 2007 http://www.kingmandailyminer.com/main.asp?SectionID=13&SubSectionID=18&ArticleID=11294&TM=70222.95 Zoning change clears way for KAOL primary New district office will also be built next to charter high school on Burbank Thursday, February 08, 2007 KINGMAN - Plans for construction of a new district office and primary school next to its high school on Burbank Street can now proceed at the Kingman Academy of Learning. The school district got the 1.26-acre parcel of property rezoned from R-4 (multiple-family residential) to C-2 (community commercial) during Monday night's meeting of the Kingman City Council. Gary Jeppson, director of the city's development services department, made a presentation seeking the rezoning to the Council. The site originally was given the R-4 designation more than 10 years ago to permit construction of an apartment complex that never came to fruition. The proposed school could be built on the property, but its designation had to be changed to C-2 to allow for the district office, Jeppson said. "We followed up on their application for rezoning when they submitted it," he said. School district officials had to sign a waiver to Proposition 207 to get the rezone approved. "We probably worked on this for three months," said Susan Chan, KAOL district administrator. "Prop. 207 deals with property owners requesting a rezone. If in subsequent years you feel it has lowered the value of the property, it gives you the right to sue the entity granting the rezone." By signing the waiver, KAOL has agreed not to sue the city if property values decline on the site in the future. Modular Technology of Phoenix is the project contractor for the new district office and primary school. It is producing modular units to be delivered to and assembled at the site. "We've given them a June 30 deadline for building completion," Chan said. "The school must go in first. We have some flexibility on when the district office is ready." The district currently leases space for its primary school (pre-school through grade 2) at First Southern Baptist Church on Hualapai Mountain Road. Electrical, plumbing and concrete work still must be done and now can proceed before final assembly of the modular units, Chan said. The primary school will border the back fence of KAOL Intermediate School on Harrison Street. Plans call for it to have 24,000 square feet of space with 17 classrooms, a large multi-purpose room, office complex and two banks of bathrooms. The district office will be located beside KAOL High School on Burbank Street. It will encompass 6,000 square feet of space, which is double the size of the current office on Beverly Avenue. Chan said she expects both new facilities to open in August when the 2007-2008 school year begins.