President's Message

I have good news to report. Our 9th Annual General Membership meeting was a huge success! William Perry Pendley, president of the Mountain States Legal Foundation, ably recounted powerful courtroom cases his organization has litigated on behalf of private property owners. He highlighted classical abuses of individual rights as a result of the Endangered Species Act and clearly articulated the need for government to abstain from engaging in private enterprise that benefits one person over another, or one company over another.

League co-founder Matth. Toebben, who currently serves on our Advisory Board, was presented an award for his many years of service as a Board Officer/Director; and william h adkisson-who now serves as our Honorary Chairman-was honored for his recent term as League President. In fact, I would again personally like to thank both of these gentlemen for generously donating their time to such a worthy cause. Without them, it is quite clear that the reasonable land-use regulations we enjoy today would have been far more restrictive than any of us could imagine.

Reflecting on the considerable turnout for this event, I would also like to thank you, our members, for allotting time in your busy schedules to attend. There were many events competing for your time on that evening, and I am so glad you chose to help support the cause of liberty! A special thanks also goes out to the members of our Al Yelton/Grant County Chapter, who in only their second full year, have been a source of renewed vigor for our organization. It is clear that as ineffective top-tier government planning tentacles reach out to rural counties, local groups like our Grant County Chapter must play a more significant role in defending private property rights.

With revisions to the Boone County Comprehensive Plan now behind us, our group plans to take on a variety of legislative issues in the coming months and will turn a certain part of our attention to addressing cloudy EPA regulations that unfairly treat property owners, such as dubious storm water guidelines and illogical emissions testing schemes. Be prepared for substantial undertakings in the coming year as we prepare to celebrate our 10th Anniversary!

May God grant you rich blessings during this holiday season.

Sincerely,
Brett Gaspard
LOKPO President

Letter to the Editor

I appreciated seeing the article on eminent domain in the League's Summer 2004 Newsletter.

Eminent domain abuse is corporate welfare at its worst. It's just morally wrong to kick people out of their homes and businesses so a private individual can make money. The Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution states: "... nor shall private property be taken for public use without just compensation." And "public use" was always generally understood to mean that when homeowners and business owners learn that their cherished properties are being taken from their possession without their consent, it's for a purpose that, allegedly, cannot be satisfied in any other way -- roads, for instance.

Increasingly during the last two decades, governments are seizing property for uses that can be called "public" only through a stretch of the imagination. Too many areas are conveniently labeled as "blighted". In many cases, people with relatively few political connections suffer at the hands of government officials exercising their eminent domain powers to benefit powerful interests who promise to fill public coffers. But when ordinary Americans learn that their government is taking someone's home to give it to a big corporation or to some private developer they are not only outraged, but cannot believe that this could actually happen in America.

Fortunately there is an increasing nationwide network of property owners who are working together with sympathetic lawyers to end these abusive cases of eminent domain. Governments all across America are quickly learning that citizen activists will no longer tolerate government theft of private property.

Submitted:
Bernard J. Kunkel
Walton, KY

Letter from the Past President

Dear League Colleagues:

Your intense support has generated state and national recognition for our organization. That is exactly what we want!

We are hopeful that every person or organization attempting to violate any property right of our citizenry will cringe at the mention of the League of Kentucky Property Owners!

We are even more hopeful that we will continue to influence the positive agendas of bureaucratic practitioners. Continue your vigilance.

I have sincere gratitude to all League members for their support during my tenure as your President. It was my genuine honor to listen to your concerns and provide some direction for your undertakings during that time.

Special thanks, also, for the beautiful clock, recognizing my service.

Sincerest Regards,
william h adkisson

Update from the Al Yelton Chapter in Grant County

Congratulations to Kentucky State Senator Damon Thayer! Senator Thayer won his political office over a good Grant County resident, Cliff Wallace.

The Thayer family are members of the Grant County League of Kentucky Property Owners and recognize property rights as a fundamental principle for a democracy to exist and flourish.

The Planning and Zoning Administrator has crafted a draft for a transportation ordinance on Grant County. Our secretary, Bud Clancy, obtained a copy of this draft and has reworked much of the wording and has identified all the roads. The speed limits on those roads will govern the distance between driveways. It looks complicated and could take more property rights. We will work to keep this ordinance as simple and forthright as we can.

Judge Executive Darrell Link wants Clancy to brief him on what we think this ordinance should contain. Planning Administrator, Jonathan Britt also wants to meet with us.

We are working to maintain all the Grant County LOKPO family memberships. If you have failed to renew your membership this year, please take a minute and do so. You need to be counted and the board needs this small amount of money to operate on.

Happy Holidays!
Charlie Phillips
President, Grant County LOKPO

Oregon Voters Approve Measure 37

Oregon voters re-affirmed their support of property rights by approving Measure 37 by a 57% margin in the November 2 election. Measure 37 requires any state government entity to compensate landowners when land use regulations deprive them of their property rights. The proposal is a refined version of a similar measure voters approved in 2002, but that was deemed unconstitutional by the courts. Many landowners who have been unable to use their property for 30 years following passage of the Land Conservation and Development Act of 1974, consider it payback time, big time.

91 year-old Dorothy English, who owns 40 acres on the outskirts of Portland, plans to file for compensation. "After 31 years of having this around my neck, you bet I'm going to make a claim," she said. "They destroyed my retirement and our lives, really. That's stealing. I don't know any other name for it."

State officials don't know how much the claims will cost the cash-strapped state, but early estimates peg administrative costs alone as high as $344 million. David Hunnicutt, of Oregonians in Action, which put Measure 37 on the ballot, figures easing restrictions on development would result in higher property taxes and provide sufficient funds to pay landowners' "takings" claims.