[hedgetrimmer]

State Sen. Sheila Kuehl demonstrates her utterly totalitarian approach to government. She also co -authored AB 1058, the monstrosity of a bill sitting on Gray Davis' desk which will, in Ms Kuehl's mind, will stop global warming and eliminate air pollution from the skies of California in one fell swoop. She's brilliant isn't she?

[unixfox]

And the hits just keep on comin.

[spunkets]

Smart growth isn't smart at all. It's dictated land use by the politically powerful that can't stand the choices their fellow human being would like to make. Smart growth is really plantation maintenance.

[hedgetrimmer]

Smart Growth is driven by the American Planning Association. Here is just one little blurb from their website:

Environmental Management Goes Global

What ISO 14001 means to local governments

By Ron Bass
Copyright by Jones & Stokes Associates

In today's era of "command and control" regulation, the idea of implementing a voluntary program to improve environmental performance stands out as a fresh approach. ISO 14001 is a voluntary standard established by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) that helps organizations to reduce pollution and minimize the adverse environmental impacts of their activities, products, and services. More than 1,300 companies throughout the world have developed environmental management systems (EMSs) that conform to ISO 14001. But the international standard offers many benefits to government agencies as well.

How do communities participate?

For a government agency to adopt and implement an EMS, it must be willing to change its internal structure from top to bottom--to better focus on environmental issues. The five elements that must be included in an EMS under ISO 14001 are:

Environmental policy
Planning
Implementation and operation
Checking and corrective action
Management review

A little subversion anyone?....

[NativeNewYorker]

An instant transfer of wealth to those who own land in developable areas, from those whose land values would be capped.

This really is nuts.

[Born to Conserve]

Lower property tax and increase land transfer tax and this problem would be solved. There would be no incentive for people to sell there land to developers.

[madfly]

[from LA times article] The Bush administration has joined the National Assn. of Homebuilders in opposing the act and voiced its opinion to the group in a strongly worded letter written by Mel Martinez, secretary of Housing and Urban Development.

"The standardization of land-use planning would begin to define what constitutes 'good' growth management decisions," he wrote. "The problem is, of course, that what would be 'good' for one community could be 'bad' for another."

(another quote from the letter from HUD)

Letter from HUD (Mel Martinez) to F. Gary Garczynski,
President, National Association of Home Builders, Washington, D.C.
April 12, 2002

Although the recently published American Planning Association (APA) Guidebook suggests ways in which communities implement particular planning techniques and provides model legislation that shows how it can be done,communities must grow as THEY decide.

Should this lead us to believe that Bush will veto the Community Character Act?????

http://www.yourpropertyrights.org/legislation/HUD-letter.pdf

[snopercod]

This is down your street and up your alley.

[Ben Ficklin]

Notice the mention of the American Planning Association in this article. If I am not mistaken, this group is behind S 975.

S 975 sneaking thru the US Senate