Marion County decision spreads more Measure 37 bullshit

How many ways are there to say "pissed off," "outraged," "travesty of justice"?

If I neglect to use any in this post about today's horribly political, uninformed, slanted decision by the Marion County Board of Commissioners on an appeal of a Measure 37 subdivision in our neighborhood, please add them on your own.

[Update: The Salem Statesman Journal ran a front page story about the atrocious decision today (Thursday).

It begins: "Marion County commissioners ignored their own planning commission and scientific reviewer on Wednesday when they approved a 42-home subdivision in a limited-groundwater area in the hills south of Salem."]

This morning Patti Milne and Sam Brentano, two Republican commissioners who are remarkably unashamed at showing their abhorrence for facts and love for development, no matter the cost to people already living in an area, voted to allow 42 lots on 137 acres in a groundwater limited area.

My wife and I have been leading a fight against this subdivision. We were pleased when a Hydro Review study conducted by the Measure 37 claimant (Leroy Laack) was failed by an independent hydrogeologist peer reviewer.

In other words, Laack failed to show that there was enough water to supply the subdivision without harming surrounding wells and springs. Under the Marion County groundwater ordinance, this should have triggered a one to two year Hydro Study that involves the collection of additional information via well monitoring, drilling of test wells, and such.

To her credit, commissioner Janet Carlson recognized this. She pushed to follow the ordinance and require a study. She was outvoted. Her final words were:

I'm very concerned about what this may portend for the area.

Yeah, us too. Except we're way more concerned, because we and the forty other people who have contributed to the Keep Our Water Safe Committee live out here and depend on wells. Without water, our homes are virtually worthless.

But this didn't matter to Milne and Brentano, who have never met a subdivision they didn't like, even if an independent report says "There's no evidence it won't harm existing water users." It was obvious from the outset that they were out to ignore reams of facts and blindly give Laack whatever he wanted.

I felt like screaming, watching Milne and Brentano mangle what should have been an open, rational, deliberative process. When Carlson painted them into illogical corners, you could see their pinhead conservative brains struggling to figure out how to ignore reality and get back to their dogmatic anti-neighborhood agenda.

It was painful. The public has every right to expect a hell of a lot more from elected officials.

The Marion County Planning Commission approved 27 lots but said that a Hydro Review had to be conducted before the subdivision could move forward. Laack, the Measure 37 applicant, agreed to conduct the Review, saying "I wouldn't go ahead with the development if it was going to harm the water supply of neighbors." (Yeah, right. More bullshit from a guy who I bet won't keep his word).

The Hydro Review was failed by a peer reviewer hired by Marion County. This plain and obvious fact kept being pointed out by Janet Carlson, but she was speaking to the deaf ears of astoundingly clueless Milne and Brentano.

Milne kept talking about "dueling hydrogeologists" hired by Laack and the Keep Our Water Safe Committee. She didn't grasp that the peer review process is how conflicting opinions are resolved. In this case, in our favor. Again, Marion County's groundwater ordinance requires that a Hydro Study be conducted if a Hydro Review is failed.

However, Milne and Brentano's sole goal was to get the subdivision vested before the Measure 37 fix that's been referred for a likely November vote is enacted. They didn't care about whether neighboring wells go dry, or whether they're following the Planning Department rules.

Many times I felt like throwing my notebook at them and storming out of the hearing room with a loud This is horseshit! Which, it was. Brentano and Milne had no valid reasons for approving the subdivision other than their own 100% pro-development, anti-environment political philosophy.

We and our neighbors figured that even the notoriously conservative Marion County Commissioners wouldn't be so crass as to ignore an official peer-reviewed conclusion that inadequate water supply evidence is available to justify approving the subdivision.

But they surprised us. Brentano and Milne were even more dismissive of the rights of property owners currently living in the area than I expected. Come election time, voters need to keep this in mind. They only care about their next contribution from the Asphalt and Concrete Manufacturers' Rape the Earth Fund—not whether our wells go dry.

We're hoping to get some help from 1000 Friends of Oregon for an appeal. They owe us more than a little assistance, because this case is a poster child for why the Measure 37 fix (HB 3540) is desperately needed.

It was pointed out today that if the fix is approved, only three homes would be allowed on a Measure 37 claim on groundwater limited land. Yet the Marion County Commissioners just approved 42 homes on lots averaging three acres in an area where five acres is considered necessary to support a well.

Lesson: you can't count on politicians who suck on the pro-development teat to protect the property rights of those who live near a Measure 37 claim, even when an independent study says "There's not enough water."

Some people are immune to reason and facts. George Bush is one. Sam Brentano and Patti Milne are two.

At times today I felt like throwing in the towel. But that would be letting the purveyors of bullshit have the last word, and I don't think I'm willing to do that.

We'll do our best to stop this subdivision and protect our groundwater. As one of the folks on our side said this morning, "Karma is going to come back and bite Milne, Brentano, and Laack."

I agree. You can get away with greedy ignorant selfishness only for so long. The universe has a way of making things right in the end. Come this fall, I'm expecting that one of those ways will be passage of the Measure 37 fix.

Then, we need to get Milne and Brentano out of office. They're an embarrassment both to Marion County and open-minded Republicans.

Comments

[Richard]

Well, isn't that just too bad. We, the voters read the ballot measure very, very carefully. The provisions of 37 are clearer than the water that comes, or will come, from your well. Laack's rights are more important than yours. He owns land. You won't let him do with his land what he wants. That's why we passed 37. We are tired of being told what to do with our land. If you don't like it, sue us. He doesn't care what you do with yours, why should you care what he does with his.

The fact that his development will benefit from what you do is just an example of your irrational benevolance. Why don't you exercise your rights and turn your property into a transfer station.

I'm sick and tired of being told I live in a community. Community has the same root as communism, as Jeff Kropf tells us - and he tells us the truth. It's my property, damn it, and you can't tell me what to do with it. I'm tired of your using land use planning to rip me off. This is a dog eat dog world, that is the way the development community works. If you don't like Patty or Sam, elect some socialist to your liking.

Patty is the brightest mind in the party. She has our interests at heart.

And anyway, you have nothing to complain about. Nothing has happened yet. You are being dishonest to discredit our Commissioners, who are merely following the law we passed.

How dare you denigrate Milne and Brentano! They are following the law. They were elected; they know to whom they owe their offices. If it weren't for we who support Day and Hunnicutt we would be in thrall to planners! Spare us, pleeeze. If you want the view, give Laack what he wants.

You write: "But they surprised us. Brentano and Milne were even more dismissive of the rights of property owners currently living in the area than I expected. Come election time, voters need to keep this in mind. They only care about their next contribution from the Asphalt and Concrete Manufacturers' Rape the Earth Fund—not whether our wells go dry."

Come on: How many jobs to you contribute to the economy? As long as Laack doesn't put in any nude dancing, he is as heavenly as Patty and Sam. I just don't understand how you can pass off this sort of dishonesty to we who value our rights to do what we want.

[Brian]

Red Cloud, you don't know what you're commenting about. But that figures. You're blinded by the light of Measure 37 and can't see the big picture.

Like I said, an independent assessment by a consulting hydrogeologist concluded that there is insufficient evidence to prove that the Measure 37 subdivision won't harm neighboring wells and springs.

That's a fact. A fact that was ignored by two of the three commissioners. We and our neighbors have property rights too. That's another fact--also ignored by Marion County.

The county's groundwater ordinance requires collection of new information about water in an area when a Hydro Review is failed. That's a fact. The commissioners ignored it.

I realize that facts are uncomfortable to Measure 37 fanatics. And political extremists like Milne and Brentano. But when government operates by personal dictates, rather than rational discourse, our country is in trouble.

We don't have kings here. We have public servants. Milne and Brentano ignored their own county law and did what they felt like doing. That's dangerous. And dishonest.

So I stand by my criticisms of Sam Brentano and Patti Milne. They're uninformed and dogmatic, unwilling to consider the facts and rights of us and our neighbors. Today was an embarrassing decision for Janet Carlson, the only commissioner (and chair) who understood this case.

[Richard]

Opps, I guess the irony was too heavy. I sympathize entirely with you; I was trying to parody the comments I've taken from Measure 37 supporters.

Everything you have said is correct. As someone said, maybe Oregonians will wake up, but only when something bad happens. Some things bad are happening. There are those of us out here who wish you the very best.

[Brian]

Red Cloud, sorry I missed your parody. But you sounded pretty darn serious.

In fact, I ran into a 1000 Friends of Oregon staffer yesterday and he said, "Have you read the comment from Red Cloud on your post? He goes on about communism and community."

So you fooled two of us.

[PropertyRightsLover]

There is nothing sweeter than to listen to the rending of garmets and the gnashing of teeth when one of the liberal jackass candle n' sandal crowd gets screwed over.

Go pray to a tree, draw little symbols in the dirt, burn some sage...do whatever it takes to heal your poor broken spirit and get over it. You have your little bucolic paradise, but you will be damned if anyone else can enjoy their property too.

[Brian]

PropertyRightsLover, thanks for making such an excellent case against Measure 37 and in favor the fix that will be voted on in the fall.

Ignorant attitudes like yours are what will lead voters to pass the ballot referral and restore the property rights of all Oregonians, not just the favored Measure 37 few.

[fixafix]

I appreciate your comments and the sarcasm was getting so deep I started to loose track of which political opinion was being presented. Is it possible to agree with the concerns over ground water limited areas and disagree with the Measure 49 fix? I have read Measure 49 several times and I believe that it is convoluted, prone to litigation and goes too far. Whether we like it or not, Oregonians voted in Measure 37 for some core reasons that although we may not entirely agree, the concept of government taking away our rights as land owners we can surely all appreciate. If Measure 49 would have left those fundamental conservative beliefs alone and fixed ground water limited concerns and any other unbiased REAL concerns that are out there then we would have a bipartisan solution that would be voted in everyday of the week and twice on Sunday!

Instead we have special interest groups making what could have been a good fix into a one-sided litigation nightmare that throws away hard-earned investments by our seniors and if that’s not enough, is so poorly written it will surely be litigated to death, a process that taxpayers will enjoy I'm sure.

What should happen is that we as Oregonians demand that our legislators go back and fix the problems with measure 37 and not try to change the underlying intent of a measure that has already been approved by the voters.

[Brian]

fixafix, what special interests on the Yes on 49 side are you talking about? Those who want to preserve farm, forest, and groundwater limited land for the benefit of all Oregonians?

They sound like like non-special interest folks to me.

You say you've studied Measure 49. So you must realize that "hard earned investments by seniors" are precisely what is protected, and even enhanced, by Measure 49.

It allows up to 10 home sites. It allows transferability of the development rights for those sites, which makes them a lot more valuable to the claimant. So average claimants will be helped by Measure 49.