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Ward County deserves better representation

Robert Kibler

Eureka Township

I was in the crowd at the last Ward County Planning Commission meeting. At issue was the proposed implementation of an 80 foot easement rule for newly purchased or replatted lands. Those 80 feet come off the centerline of roads that must be part of new plats, 40 feet each way. It used to be 33 feet, and people who had these easements taken from them by Ward County used to be compensated for the land taken. But now, the 80 foot easement is considered a “donation” to the County, one that garners no financial compensation, and one upon which the landowner continues to be taxed.

I was thrilled to be in the meeting because the house was packed with people standing against the proposed 80 foot ordnance. The passion, the intelligence, the eloquence displayed by citizens against governmental encroachment was downright inspiring. It was enough to renew one’s belief in the positive spirit of humanity. Even the Planning Commission members were opposed to the change–all except one. Planning Commission member and Ward County Commissioner Weppler stood against the entire room in her support for the 80 foot donation–even as it impacts rural areas that will not see the need for roads for a hundred years.

I admire Commissioner Weppler, and think she has a true dedication to the betterment of Ward County. She often comes under attack unfairly. At the same time, her argument in defense of the 80 foot easement rule is troubling, especially while facing such a show of strong, intelligent, well considered arguments by citizens against it. People in the room noted the unconstitutionality of the 80 foot easement, the erosion of individual rights by the blind encroachment of government, the fundamental extortion occurring through ordnance fiat, the unfairness of taking land without compensation, and the concern for an action taken before a need is established. A land grab by the County, all thought. And in response? Commissioner Weppler could only argue that very smart people had proposed the ordinance change years ago, and essentially, we should trust their decision. Really? Is that how the world goes? What is the phrase–the road to hell is paved with good intentions?

And considering a decision right because it was made by smart people is tantamount to suggesting the validity of a decision based on the act of deciding itself. This line of reasoning wants better consideration, because a healthy society is always revisiting decisions, and casting off seeming bad ones in favor of good ones. Otherwise we would still be fighting in Vietnam, or allowing kids to drop out of school at age 14, or outlawing blacks from using restrooms, Jews from using beaches, Indians from living on their own land. On and on. Extended outwards, it is a dangerous line of false argument.

In elementary school we learned that when we vote someone into office, they exercise both “implied” and “express” powers in the act of governance. That is, we expect that they have implicit wisdom to make good decisions, or that they will expressly do our bidding in office. But to argue that a decision is good because smart people made it exercises neither of these powers. Rather, it defies logic, and suggests that there is no sound argument for arbitrarily taking land from the citizens who own it for purposes of enacting the 80 foot donation. Decisions based on precedent alone lack value, show little understanding of changing context, and fundamentally deny the right of governance to the present-day citizen, who, if the Planning Commission meeting is any indication, deserve far better. But as several people noted in the meeting, the Ward County Planning Commission will do what it wants anyway, regardless of what the people think. I hope this is not true, just as I hope that decisions affecting thousands of people are made with a greater level of thought, care, and dialogue than Councilmember Weppler displayed in the meeting.

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