PROP 90

Proposition 90 stops eminent domain abuse!

Local governments can take homes, businesses, and churches through unfair use of eminent domain. They can also take away your property value with the stroke of a pen.

We are three average Californians, and it happened to us.

Local governments unfairly tried to take our property away from us and turn it over to developers to build condos, hotels, and other commercial projects.

Why? Because these developers are politically connected, and their projects will generate more tax revenue for local governments.

If government can take our property, it can take yours too.

• Manuel Romero had eminent domain used against his family restaurant so that a Mercedes-Benz dealership next door could use the space for a parking lot.

• Bob Blue had eminent domain used against his small luggage store—in his family for almost sixty years—so that a luxury hotel could be built.

• Pastor Roem Agustin had his church threatened with condemnation so that a developer could build condominiums.

It’s wrong for senior citizens, small business owners, or anyone who can’t fight back to be forced to give up their property so wealthy developers can build giant retail stores, shopping malls, and upscale housing developments.

Government can also take property without compensating property owners.

When governments pass regulations that reduce the value of your property, it’s called regulatory taking. When this happens you should be compensated by the government for your lost value.

Government should not be able to take your home—outright or through regulations that reduce the value of your property—without it being for a legitimate PUBLIC use and without paying for what it takes.

That’s simple fairness.

That’s why California needs Proposition 90, the Protect Our Homes Act.

Proposition 90 will:

• restore homeowners’ rights that were gutted last year by the Supreme Court’s outrageous Kelo decision. That ruling allows eminent domain to be used to take homes and businesses and turn them over to private developers.

• return eminent domain to legitimate public uses, such as building roads, schools, firehouses, and other needs that serve the public and not the financial interests of the government and powerful developers.

• restrict government’s ability to take away people’s use of their property without compensating them.

Those who benefit financially from the status quo are spending millions to mislead voters and claim the sky is falling.

Opponents are engaging in scare tactics in order to divert attention from their REAL MOTIVE—maintaining the status quo so they can continue to profit from taking our private property.

For example, opponents falsely claim that the measure will hurt the enforcement of environmental regulations. But all existing California environmental laws and regulations are expressly protected.

The Protect Our Homes Act protects all of us—and helps families for future generations—while stopping government from taking your property simply to boost tax revenue.

Save our homes and businesses.

Please vote YES on Proposition 90.

For more information, visit www.protectourhomes2006.com.

MANUEL ROMERO, Eminent Domain   Abuse Victim

BOB BLUE, Eminent Domain Abuse
  Victim

PASTOR ROEM AGUSTIN, Eminent   Domain Abuse Victim

Of course we can all agree that Californians deserve protection from eminent domain abuse. And, if Prop. 90 was a well-designed reform of eminent domain, many thoughtful Californians would support it.

However, the out-of-state drafter of Prop. 90 is attempting a bait and switch on voters. This poorly-written proposition is loaded with unrelated and far-reaching provisions that will harm, not protect, homeowners and be very expensive for all California taxpayers.

We can’t afford to be misled.

The hidden provisions in Prop. 90 create a new category of lawsuits that allow wealthy landowners and corporations to sue for huge new payouts. These lawsuits and payouts would cost California taxpayers billions of dollars every year.

That’s why groups representing taxpayers, homeowners, businesses, police and fire, environmentalists, and farmers all urge you to Vote NO on 90.

THE LEAGUE OF WOMEN VOTERS OF CALIFORNIA says: “Prop. 90 would fundamentally change our system of representative democracy and put the interest of a few above the well-being of ALL Californians."

Prop. 90 is anti-taxpayer and anti-homeowner.

That’s why THE LEAGUE OF CALIFORNIA HOMEOWNERS OPPOSES PROP. 90 and says: “Prop. 90 is a trap that actually hurts homeowners. It would cost taxpayers billions and erode basic laws that protect our communities, our neighborhoods, and the value of our homes.”

Say NO to the Taxpayer TRAP. Vote NO on 90.

www.NoProp90.com

KENNETH W. WILLIS, President
League of California Homeowners

CHIEF MICHAEL L. WARREN, President
California Fire Chiefs Association

JACQUELINE JACOBBERGER,
President
League of Women Voters of California

The handful of wealthy landowners that paid to put Prop. 90 on the ballot are trying a classic bait and switch on California voters.

They want you to believe Prop. 90 is about eminent domain. That’s the bait. But, hidden in the fine print of the measure is the trap—a far-reaching section unrelated to eminent domain that would lead to huge new costs for all California taxpayers.

Prop. 90 would change California’s constitution to enable large landowners and corporations to demand huge payouts from state and local taxpayers just by claiming a law has harmed the value of their property or business—no matter how important the law may be or far-fetched the claim.

According to William G. Hamm, formerly California’s nonpartisan legislative analyst, “PROP. 90 could require BILLIONS OF DOLLARS IN NEW TAXPAYER COSTS EACH YEAR, if communities and the state continue to pass or enforce basic laws to protect neighborhoods, limit unwanted development, protect the environment, restrict unsavory businesses, and protect consumers.”

With no limit on the total costs, Prop. 90 traps taxpayers into signing a blank check. We all pay, while large landowners and corporations reap windfall payouts.

Here’s an example of how the “taxpayer trap” works:

If local voters pass a measure to limit a new development to 500 houses—instead of 2,000 houses that a developer wants to build—under Prop. 90, the developer could demand a payment for the value of the remaining 1,500 houses. Even if local community services and infrastructure would be strained by the larger development, Prop. 90 would put taxpayers at risk for payment.

Prop. 90 is not just limited to land-use laws. Read the official analysis. Statewide consumer protection laws, restrictions on telemarketing, and worker protections would all trigger new demands for payouts.

As a result, Prop. 90 would lead to thousands of expensive lawsuits that would tie up our courts and result in added bureaucracy and red tape.

The cost of these lawsuits and payouts would rob local communities of billions of dollars in limited resources that fund fire and police protection, paramedic response, schools, traffic congestion relief, and other vital services. That’s why the CALIFORNIA FIRE CHIEFS ASSOCIATION, CALIFORNIA POLICE CHIEFS ASSOCIATION, and CALIFORNIA SCHOOL BOARDS ASSOCIATION oppose Prop. 90.

PROP. 90 would trap taxpayers in a LOSE-LOSE situation. If communities act to protect their quality of life, taxpayers could be forced to make huge payouts. Or, if communities couldn’t afford the payouts, basic quality-of-life protections simply couldn’t be enacted. That’s why conservation groups, including the CALIFORNIA LEAGUE OF CONSERVATION VOTERS and the PLANNING AND CONSERVATION LEAGUE, warn the measure would drastically limit our ability to protect California’s coastline, open spaces, farmland, air and water quality.

For more information on Prop. 90, visit www.NoProp90.com.

When you vote, please join groups representing California taxpayers, firefighters, law enforcement officers, educators, small businesses, land conservationists, the environment, and homeowners.

Say NO to the TAXPAYER TRAP. Vote NO on PROPOSITION 90.

CHIEF MICHAEL L. WARREN, President
California Fire Chiefs Association

CHIEF STEVE KRULL, President
California Police Chiefs Association

EDWARD THOMPSON, JR., California   Director American Farmland Trust

DON’T BE FOOLED BY SPECIAL INTERESTS!!!

Proposition 90 protects our fundamental right to own—and keep—our homes and private property. It’s called the “AMERICAN DREAM,” and government should not be in the business of destroying it.

Proposition 90 fixes the Supreme Court’s outrageous Kelo decision.

Opponents—those who profit most from abusing eminent domain and taking private property—are shamelessly trying to mislead you and distort what Proposition 90 does.

Opponents say read the fine print. WE AGREE. You’ll see:

Proposition 90 MAINTAINS EVERY current state and local environmental, consumer protection, and public safety law and regulation. Read Section 6, which states, “the provisions added to this section shall not apply to any statute, charter provision, ordinance, resolution, law, rule or regulation in effect on the date of enactment.”

Proposition 90 HAS NOTHING TO DO with funding for police or firefighters.

The public health and safety are PROTECTED. The Legislature can enact ANY NEW LAW to ensure public health and safety.

Proposition 90 protects YOU from politicians who reward their campaign contributors by taking your private property and giving it to someone else.

The REAL opponents of Proposition 90 are those who profit by TAKING OUR HOMES AND SMALL BUSINESSES—greedy government bureaucrats who want higher taxes and mega-developer campaign contributors who make millions using agricultural land, residential neighborhoods, businesses, and churches seized through eminent domain to develop strip malls and other projects. IF THEY WIN, WE LOSE.

PROTECT OUR HOMES: VOTE YES ON 90.

MIMI WALTERS, Honorary Chair
California Protect Our Homes Coalition

MARTYN B. HOPPER, California Director
National Federation of Independent   Business (NFIB)

JOHN M. REVELLI, Eminent Domain   Abuse Victim