HomeMy WebLinkAboutComm No 0044.07 - Testimony - CA-27 - PONC fund - Easements - Eminent DomainFrom: Diga Kern <23.diga@gmail.com>
Sent: Thursday, March 7, 2019 6:19 PM
To: Charter Commission
Subject: NO on Comm. CA -27
Aloha,
In regards to this great referendum -based PONC law, I feel that it is unnecessary for amendments emphasizing
acquisition of easements and legitimizing eminent domain to be enacted.
The main reason I oppose these amendments is that it may be more difficult to find private matching funds for
purchases by a government entity armed with eminent domain. You have already heard, or are going to hear, testimony
from the Trust for Public Lands to this effect. Matching funds are the magic of PONC, any amendment (like the ill-
advised recent attempt to remove "in perpetuity" language) endangering the likelihood of private funding partners
should be anathema to lawmakers!
As a member of the public, and a person sincerely interested and involved in restoration forestry work, I think that the
spirit of this law is for the County to non-adversarially acquire properties identified by community groups as relatively
available for purchase and protection. Any property that is not able to be acquired through honest negotiation and
maintaining a win-win attitude, is probably one that the owners have substantial private property -based attachments to.
Sincerely,
Geoffrey (Diga) Kern
1
Comm. No. 44.7