Washblog

Gosh, these people are happier!  I want to hang out with them! They don't look like they have chips on their shoulders.  These are some of the NO on I-933 people.  Thanks, guys!

It's rare that I'd post a straight press release. But I-933 is such a threat -- and the opposition to it is so straightforward and it comes from sources that I trust. So here goes.  This is unedited except that I took out phone numbers.

New York Developer Bets Big on I-933
Initiative 933 would lead to irresponsible development and cost taxpayers millions

For immediate release - July 6, 2006

Spokespersons available:
Barbara Seitle, President, League of Woman Voters
Steve Sakuma, Immediate Past-President, Skagitonians to Preserve Farmland
Len Barson, Deputy Director, External Affairs, The Nature Conservancy
Kelly Fox, President, Washington State Council of Fire Fighters

Olympia, WA - As signatures for Initiative 933 were turned in, dozens of activists gathered to question who would really benefit from 933's loopholes for irresponsible development and how much it would cost taxpayers.

Initiative 933 has received $200,000 from an out-of-state organization, Americans for Limited Government, which is chaired by Howard Rich, a New York real estate developer.

"It makes sense that an out-of-state real estate developer would back Initiative 933 - he won't have to pay the extra taxes or sit in the traffic jams that will be caused by the irresponsible development from 933" said Barbara Seitle, League of Woman Voters. "Voters have a right to know who is really behind this terrible idea."

Initiative 933 creates a "pay or waive" system that forces communities to decide whether to waive laws for certain people - or -  force taxpayers to pay them to follow the same rules the rest of us do. By exempting certain people from the law, 933 would create gaping loopholes leading to irresponsible development and threatening Washington neighborhoods and farms.

"Initiative 933 will open up our neighborhoods and natural places to irresponsible development," said Len Barson from The Nature Conservancy.  "Initiative 933 creates a loophole big enough to drive a bulldozer through." The Nature Conservancy has been helping to lead the effort to defeat Initiative 933 since March.

"Farming is a tough business and 933 will push the balance to impossible," said Steve Sakuma with Skagitonians to Preserve Farmland. "Initiative 933 places agriculture in Washington at a competitive disadvantage."  Steve operates the Sakuma Brothers Farms which has been in business since 1937.

Before local communities are even forced to waive laws for special interests, it will cost hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars just to administer 933. That number quickly rises into the billions when you look at the potential costs of paying special interests to follow the same rules the rest of us do. 933 also mandates that taxpayers must pay for claimants' attorneys' fees.

Kelly Fox of the Washington State Council of Fire Fighters said, "Taxpayers are forced to pay a premium to get emergency services to unplanned, irresponsible developments.  Increasing rural demand for emergency services where staffing and resources are already sparse will put a strain on mostly volunteer fire stations and reduce response times." The Washington State Council of Fire Fighters joined the coalition to defeat 933 last week.

Initiative 933 is so extreme and costly to taxpayers that a diverse group of organizations including the League of Women Voters, Skagitonians to Preserve Farmland, The Nature Conservancy, Washington Tax Fairness Coalition, Washington State Labor Council, Washington State Council of Fire Fighters and individuals across Washington state have created a coalition to stop 933.

Today volunteers encircled the backers of 933 with giant red question marks and green dollar signs while backers filed what could be the most extreme law that Washington voters have ever voted on, again raising questions about who will benefit from 933's loopholes and how much this will cost taxpayers. Volunteers also wore sandwich boards that asked backers some of the "933 Questions Left Unanswered.

Top 10 Questions Left Unanswered by 933:

1. Why did they make 933 so unfair to taxpayers?
2. Who really benefits from 933's loopholes?
3. Why does it threaten farms with development?
4. How come 933 actually increases traffic?
5. What about the endless lawsuits?
6. Why are taxpayers forced to pay attorneys' fees?
7. Why did they include `real and personal' property?
8. Why do they render zoning useless?
9. Why did they have to take $200,000 from a out-of-state land speculator?
10. Why did their paid signature gatherers tell people this was about eminent domain when I-933 doesn't affect eminent domain laws?

For more information and to read the 933 questions left unanswered by 933 visit www.NOon933.org.