Private property rights are under attack
Dear Editor:
It is fashionable for politicians to say they are for private property rights and that they are for jobs, but is all this just hypocrisy?
Delta County commissioners just turned down Jansens' "request" for a gravel pit, violating their property rights and killing jobs.
Delta County put the Hostetler chicken farm through bureaucratic harassment, delaying their project and causing them to spend over $50,000 just to play around with their "planning" process, violating their property rights and making sure that no other chicken farm will ever consider relocating to Delta County, killing jobs.
Let me mention the recent closing of the Deitch Haus, which is sorely missed, another indirect victim of Delta County's anti-growth attack on private property. A five-year contract would not have been wise for the Millers to sign in Delta County's poor economy so they shut their doors instead.
Delta County forced Southwest Timber off Redlands Mesa into an untenable economic situation, a violation of their property rights resulting in bankruptcy and a loss of jobs.
Delta County didn't always have a land use planning department. Now there are stringent "density" standards, "viewscape" requirements and a whole host of other expensive, non-productive requirements that make it impossible for a farmer to participate in developing his own land — a violation of his property rights and, you guessed it, a loss of jobs. This is right out of "Earth First" UN Agenda 21 and is a prime example of how United Nations mandates are being implemented upon Americans through regulations which would first implement state control of the use of private property (fascism), then eliminate private property altogether (communism) right here in little ol' innocent Delta County.
In addition to the blatant governmental attack on private property, "Earth First" groups have tried to shut down the coal mines – nasty coal, all those employees driving back and forth to work, wearing out the roads, creating carbon dioxide with their cars and by breathing (people exhale carbon dioxide), a violation of private property and a huge loss of jobs. Any activity might cause dust, traffic, noise, so let's just ban it all and in the process deny our children jobs here, forcing them to leave. This is insane and certainly not something we should be taxed to enforce.
WSERC and others have opposed gas wells, a violation of property rights and a loss of jobs as well as a huge increase in energy costs for everyone. We just got back from Vernal, Utah, where the fossil energy business is booming, businesses are thriving and jobs appear to be abundant. It was awesome to see and so opposite of what we see when we drive into Delta. You didn't drive down Main Street and see business after business with rent, lease or for sale signs in their windows, you saw a thriving economy.
Maybe Delta County is envisioned as a bedroom community for Grand Junction or preservation of property values? Grand Junction's economy is based on fossil energy, something present state and U.S. government is hell bent on killing. The new county administrator pointed out that Delta County's biggest economic asset is the "mail box" economy, that is people dependent on Social Security and other retirement funds. How's that working out? Delta County has "lost" over 1,000 residents (out of 30,000) over the last three years. Land values have crashed to half what they were before Obama's first term (how's that for protecting property values?). Retirees are trapped, unable to sell their property should they need to move to a nursing home or close to their kids. With hyper- inflation which kills savings, retirement funds, and Social Security, the future doesn't look bright for anyone, not retirees or their children's children.
Barbara Hulet
Olathe