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February/March 2007 The Audacity to Win
In 2007, after years of experiencing what government can do to the people, Stewards of the Range, the American Land Foundation and Liberty Matters are moving into a “new frontier” of helping fight in local communities for the rights of property owners. Urging citizens to ask “what you can do for yourselves,” the trio of organizations will help citizens seek new perspectives and opportunities to defend their rights. The proposed defense will be in their local communities where the fight can be waged with a minimum of cash and a maximum of personal commitment and work. These organizations have moved to the local community frontier because today there is no national agenda for protecting the rights of property owners. No member of the past Congress has been willing or able to stop the erosion of such rights. The administration not only has ignored the rights of individuals, but also has moved actively into the effort to subordinate the sovereignty of the United States to foreign governments. Condemnation by government to achieve the government’s goals, not the peoples’ goals, runs rampant. Today, outside our local communities, no element of government speaks up for and defends the property rights of hard working Americans; the North American Trade Union will take away jobs, the regulations of federal land management agencies restrict and try to take away livestock grazing and other resource industries, and so-called preservationist planners try at the local level to take property through zoning restrictions. It is ironic the very same government that hard working, middle class Americans support through taxes, in turn takes their right to own and use property as they wish, and restricts their income potential. This middle class of America is made up of those whose property is most dear, and those who are most vulnerable to arbitrary government restrictions and takings. But, it is also these same people who are in the best position to wage local battles to defend their rights. With help, they can organize broad base citizen groups to emphasize to their county and city governments the importance of exercising the authority given to them by federal statutes. When necessary, they can exert local political pressure on locally elected officials far more effectively than they can on officials elected by much larger constituencies. So rather than mourn the fact that this Administration, the Congress, and the Courts have deserted the importance of property ownership revered by our Founding Fathers, and by the millions of liberty-seeking immigrants who came here to experience the American Dream (which most often involved a job and owning a piece of property), we have decided to move on to new vistas of action. National issues will not be ignored, but primary forward-looking actions will be centered on taking back America, one community at a time. The year’s focus on training property owners to organize and fight at the local level was announced during the “Unite to Fight” annual conference in November. Activities will center on three aspects of organization: local coordination plans by which governmental entities such as counties, cities, school districts, irrigation districts can gain “coordination” authority with federal agencies under federal statutes, local broad base organizations which can resist local planning and zoning restrictions on land use, and a plan to inform new members of Congress as to how the rights of property owners can be successfully defended at the local level. I. Local coordination plans for the federal lands. II. Local coordinating plans for planning and zoning. More and more, calls for help come from local citizens who are being victimized by their own local government. Comprehensive or General County Plans for land use, and implementing zoning ordinances, constitute one of the most egregious weapons against property owners. In most states, such plans and zoning are either condoned or mandated by state law. Land preservationists have prevailed upon county and city governments to adopt comprehensive or general county or city plans, which place no priority at all on protection of the right to own and use private property. The well-funded staffs of such organizations have put the “public good,” as they see it, at the forefront of local land use planning. Followers of their concept that private property ownership should be subjected to the “public good” have infiltrated the local government planning staffs. So, at the local planning and zoning level, the great “silent majority” of working people are ignored just as they are at the national government level. Paid employees of special interest groups “work” the municipal and urban staffs, and the governing boards, while working people - in town and on farms, ranches, and vineyards - are busy at their daily jobs, making a living for their families. For years, local citizens have stayed out of the zoning arena, believing as they did that their elected officials would not stray far from protecting and preserving life as it has been in the community in the past. Each time local bureaucrats took a citizen’s right without opposition, they were encouraged to take more. It became a matter of “today’s line of compromise is tomorrow’s starting line to move more aggressively.” Now citizens awaken to find that their property rights are being taken. At first, the taking was slow and steady. Now, it comes in torrential fashion. But, organized and operating aggressively, citizens can stem the zoning tide. They can make it clear that what needs to be done to serve the public good must be paid for by the public, not financed by property owners alone. In Monterey County, California several years ago, a group of citizens was organized to oppose a general plan that would have been disastrous to the agricultural industry in the entire south county area. The group joined together interested factions of the community and appeared in mass to oppose the plan. The Supervisors were on course to adopt the plan within a few weeks of the citizens taking action. After their organization appeared and testified against the plan, the Supervisors ordered it back to the planning staff. During the formation of the local group, a supervisor advised Stewards of the Range that he thought the plan should be adopted because the planning staff said that the plan would “keep the feds off our backs.” Our response was “That’s true, because this plan takes more rights and puts more restrictions on private property than the federal agencies could hope to order under federal law.” We also pointed out that if the federal agencies tried to impose such restrictions, there would be a method for contesting the restrictions through administrative processes and the courts. But, when the county imposes such restrictions under a zoning process authorized by state statute, there is little that a court can do. Courts do not like to set aside zoning regulations, and have many times in many ways stated, “The Court is not a super zoning authority.” Recently, in Sonoma County, California, a group of property owners organized as the Sonoma County Land Rights Coalition to fight against a county general plan that would have taken their rights. This story has been featured on page 1 and is a tremendous victory for the community. In San Luis Obispo County, California, citizens who are members of Farm Bureau, the county Cattleman’s Association and a group of active citizens known as POPR are collectively preparing to resist a General Plan which takes property through various means. Already adopted in that county is a Plan provision, which requires an applicant for a discretionary permit to give up trails on their private property which will be open to the public. These groups, and other groups forming throughout the country, can develop a work plan for themselves which contain most of the elements of the coordinating plans related to federal lands. Such work plans can be offered to county and city governments as a means of achieving coordinate status with Fish and Wildlife as to Endangered Species actions, with EPA as to Clean Air and Water actions, and to other federal enforcement agencies. And, if a city and county government isn’t interested in protecting the rights of its citizens, then while the citizens are organizing for the next election, they can attempt to acquire coordinate status through a school district or agriculture oriented district. These citizens groups can even start to explore the election process for putting their property owner interests in office at the precinct levels, on school boards, on agriculture and road district boards, and on boards of organizations representing working people. Stewards, ALF, and Liberty Matters will help by training them to organize and develop specific strategies for protecting their property rights. III. Educating the new Congress as to local successes for property owners. Many property owners, even though disappointed at Republican failures to protect their rights and social conservatism during the past six years, appear to be decimated by the November election results, which put Democrats in control of the House and Senate. We have a different view of the new Congress. After all, this turnover of power occurred because many Republicans had deserted the very ideals upon which they sought office. They certainly had deserted the property owners who voted for them. The public appeared to be fed up with a Congress that didn’t pay attention to local needs and interests. Keep in mind that everywhere a Democrat unseated a Republican, the Republican must have done one of at least two things: deserted constituents to the point at which they stayed home on election day or deserted them to the extent that they voted Democrat. Many of the Democrats who were elected are as conservative as the Republicans they replaced, or more so. Local citizens, and local organizations of property owners, should take up the task of educating these new members of Congress as to local efforts to win back their rights, their local successes, and of the obligation of Congress to recognize the need to protect the rights of citizens. In making these contacts, the new members should be reminded of the people’s interests, which put them in office. One thing to keep in mind is that this administration has gone down a long, slippery road toward developing a North American Trade Union which will virtually eliminate the sovereignty of the United States at the borders of Canada and Mexico, and will lead to more free trade agreements and “fast track” trade agreements. All these agreements subject American workers and American sovereignty to a type of globalism or world government that devalues the importance of private property, thus devalues the very foundation of this nation. Many of the Democrats who were elected are opposed to the fast spreading free trade agreements which cost American jobs, thus endangering the rights of American workers to hold on to their homes and any sort of livable income. Their most critical element of private property, home and income, are threatened by the movement toward world government. Representative Heath Shuler (D-N.C.), former professional quarter back, has voiced opposition to the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). He was elected from a district that has a higher percentage of farm and agricultural workers than the national average. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) won the Senate race in Ohio. During his thirteen
years in the House, he led the fight Representative Charlie Rangel (D-NY) has become chair of the House Ways and Means Committee as a result of the shift in power. That committee decides which trade bills go to the floor. He voted against the Central America free-trade deal, while his predecessor as chairman, Bill Thomas (R-CA) voted for it. In the Senate, Max Baucus of Montana (D-MT) has become chair of the Finance Committee and he voted against free trade with Central America. And, the new Speaker of the House, voted against free trade with Central America and against “fast track” trade authority while her predecessor voted for both; the new Majority Leader in the Senate voted against free trade deals with Central America, Chile and Andean countries while his predecessor voted in favor of all these agreements. A liberal report in the Miami Herald warned that there were so many anti-free trade Democrats elected in November that “Its time for globalized Democrats to keep their protectionist colleagues from taking over the party, and the country.” The columnist worries that a prestigious business school analysis shows that the “vast majority” of the 62 newly elected members of Congress are more protectionist of American interests than their predecessors. The analysis concluded that 16 House seats previously held by global free-trade congressmen will now be held by anti-free trade members, and five Senate seats have changed from globalists to “trade-skeptic or anti-free trade” members. As we move in our communities to take on the impact of such global projects as the Trans Texas Corridor, we must communicate our efforts and the dangers of the projects to these members of Congress. All details of the Texas Corridor, its impact on private property and jobs, its impact on trade and sovereignty, should become one of their primers, courtesy of local community organizers. Senator Jon Tester (D-MT), who defeated Conrad Burns in Montana, said in his victory speech what he had repeated throughout his campaign, “I will represent the working people who have no special interest group to lobby for them in Congress.” He can be made aware of the efforts of citizens in their local communities to defend their property rights - homes, farms and ranches, and income - from restrictive federal agencies, conservation easements and other forms of attacks which are funded and complemented by Congress. Even liberal Senator Charles Schumer of New York has written a newly published book pointing out that the Democratic party acts at its peril if it does not begin to represent the “average” American which is the working man and woman. Don’t write off the Congress. Keep in mind that a member may be “liberal” as to social issues, judicial appointments, and other matters, which bother most “conservatives,” yet be “conservative” as to American values of private property and jobs. Everyone involved in the spread of victory from community to community should resolve to communicate to their Congressional delegation their community efforts, the breadth of community interests involved in the efforts, and the results of their efforts. The enthusiasm of victory can be catching, eventually even at a national level. Did anyone catch the Boise State University victory over Oklahoma, a win that came because a team began to believe it could win, game by game by game? Did anyone see the movie “Glory Road,” the miracle of Don Hoskins little Western Texas State team that won a national basketball title because it began to believe it could win, game by game by game. Citizens can do the same, community by community by community. IV. Not a Conclusion, but a Beginning This is not so much a conclusion of an article as the beginning of a year of effort and progress. As Stewards, American Land Foundation, and Liberty Matters launch into a community by community defense of the peoples right to own property and use it for their benefit, keep in mind that every step is a victory if it isn’t a step backward. Sometimes there will actually be a win as to a positive issue with a federal agency or with a local zoning board, sometimes there will be a win by neutralizing or defeating a negative issue, but individual citizens will always win if they spread information and the will to organize and participate through a broad base of interests in the community, if they offer viable alternatives which do not take or endanger property, and if they show up prepared to articulate our position. Over the past few weeks since November, experts inside the D.C. beltway have said over and over again, “We know we can’t expect anything positive out of this Congress; we’ll have to concentrate on stopping bad bills.” One prominent conservative insider said, “We just can’t win during the next two years.” That may be so in their lobbying world, but outside the beltway, citizens don’t count on special interest lobbyists. They aren’t expert at lobbying special interests. But, when helped, they do know how to organize and carry their message to local elected officials. Citizens throughout this land who still have the American spirit will not give up their rights just because beltway experts despair. Those citizens have the audacity to try. And, if they stick to positive goals and work as hard as they can in their communities, they have the audacity to win. |
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