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SACRAMENTO - Just weeks after voters rejected a controversial measure to reform eminent-domain laws in California, taxpayer advocates have returned with a similar measure they say will protect property owners from some government seizures. The measure, sponsored by the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association, would still allow governments to seize private property for public purposes but would prohibit seizures for private development. The measure is similar to Proposition 90, which voters rejected earlier this month, but differs in a few key aspects. For one, Proposition 90 had a provision - not included in the Jarvis measure - that critics said would...

The U.S. Supreme Court's notorious 2005 decision in Kelo v. New London allowed state and local governments to condemn private land and transfer it to developers to construct shopping centers or other private development. The ruling led to a nationwide outcry, and last week voters in nine states adopted new restrictions on eminent domain to prevent such abuses. In September, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed five bills that he claimed would rein in abuses of eminent domain in California. Unfortunately, these laws accomplish little -- they simply tinker with procedural details while leaving the state's abusive redevelopment industry intact. For example,...

Sometimes in politics the only thing worse than losing is winning. Let's start with the losing. I'm most bitter about the defeat of Proposition 90, the statewide initiative that would have banned eminent domain for private use and required cities to pay compensation for property value taken by regulation. It lost, 52.5 percent to 47.5 percent, pretty close given that the "yes on 90" campaign didn't do much of anything. I expected the corporate guys who benefit from eminent domain and the government agencies that like to exert their power to fund a powerful "no" campaign, deceptive as it was...

Welcome to the live thread for the California Primary Election. Polls are open until 8pm tonight. If you are a registered voter, it is your duty to vote and defend your rights and civil liberties, protect your pocketbook, and vote the bums out where applicable. Feel free to discuss issues key to your local area that others may be interested in. Post your polling place experiences if you like. And post numbers as they come in later tonight.

So, without any further words, here is the Voter Guide:BALLOT MEASURES NOVEMBER 2006 - SUMMARYThe FR and Bill Leonard recommend: Proposition 1A = YESProposition 1B = NOProposition 1C = NOProposition 1D = NOProposition 1E = NOProposition 83 = YESProposition 84 = NOProposition 85 = YESProposition 86 = NOProposition 87 = NOProposition 88 = NOProposition 89 = NOProposition 90 = YES

This is the text of an email I sent to my best, uber-liberal friend. Dear, Xxx: You sent an email to me several weeks ago telling me why Prop. 90 was a bad idea. I ask you to read this as a response: Over forty years ago my dad and a business parter named Otis Thompson (not the real name, FReepers) bought a piece of property in Port Townsend to use as a fuel storage lot. It happened that this property was located on a prime piece of waterfront real estate on the point near downtown. After they went out...

Proposition 90, the “Save Our Homes” initiative, leads in the polls, because reining in abuses of government eminent domain and regulatory powers sounds good to the potential victims—every property owner in the state. So attacks, largely from those wielding such powers and their beneficiaries, are intensifying. Opponents assert Proposition 90 will decimate California’s ability to “preserve and protect” wildlife, open space, the coast, farmland, etc. Then they bring in their lynchpin “proof” of its disastrous consequences—Oregon’s 2004 Proposition 37, the first such property protection initiative to pass. They point to its “draconian” effects, and say that even worse consequences face...

After hundreds of millions of dollars in campaign advertising, voters are souring on initiatives that would enact new taxes on oil production and cigarettes, a new Field Poll has found. Californians surveyed last week and early this week were narrowly against Proposition 87, a tax on oil extraction to fund alternative energy. They were evenly split on Proposition 86, another measure on Tuesday's ballot, which would impose a new levy of $2.60 on each pack of cigarettes to pay for an array of health causes. Proposition 87 dropped four points in support from a poll taken at the end of...

Despite endorsements from Bill Clinton and Al Gore, support for Proposition 87, a measure that seeks to tax oil production to fund alternative fuel development, continues to wane, according to the latest Field Poll results to be released today. Both the Democratic former president and vice president in recent weeks have been front and center on behalf of the Yes on 87 campaign, being featured in television advertisements and leading rallies such as the one that Clinton appeared in at San Francisco's civic center on Wednesday. But the latest poll, taken between Oct. 23 and 30, shows 40 percent of...

SACRAMENTO – Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has announced his opposition to a property rights initiative on the November ballot, but his Democratic opponent is questioning why it took him so long to decide. Up for re-election, the Republican governor had withheld his opinion of Proposition 90, which has been championed by conservatives in his party but criticized by environmental groups whose support Schwarzenegger has also sought. A spokesman for state treasurer Phil Angelides, Brian Brokaw, said the governor “had to be repeatedly prodded to take a position” on the ballot measure. “Phil Angelides never hesitated to oppose Prop. 90 and the...

With a week to go before the election, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has taken a position in opposition to his own Republican party and a host of conservative groups like the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association by coming out against Prop. 90 -- the eminent domain initiative that opponents say represents a regulatory nightmare which could tie up many infrastructure improvements in a legal chokehold. "Rebuilding our schools, roads, levees and housing is a critical priority of my administration," writes Schwarzenegger in an op-ed piece released today. "Unfortunately, Proposition 90 also includes language that would make rebuilding our system or public infrastructure...

Mr. DeVore (R.-Irvine) represents 450,000 people in coastal Orange County's 70th Assembly District. He also serves as a lieutenant colonel in the Army National Guard. California is known for titanic and sometimes meaningful political battles, and this year is proving no exception. Among the seven statewide candidates and 13 ballot measures are three particularly high-profile campaigns, accounting for more than $200 million in campaign spending. These include the Schwarzenegger-Angelides race for governor as well as two ballot measures, Proposition 86, a $2.60-per-pack tobacco tax increase, and Proposition 87, a $4-billion tax on oil to fund research on ethanol and other...

Liberals: Wanna Halt Wal-Mart? Vote YES on Prop 90 (California) Charles B. Warren, San Francisco ...before Redevelopment, folks who wanted land to build a new store or something, had to buy it directly from those who owned it. Maybe they had to pay more, or give more thought to their site needs. The really cool thing about redevelopment, from, say, Walmart's perspective, is that if they get their land from the city directly, they also get permission to build on it. Here in SF it has been almost a decade that Home Depot has been unable to build a new...

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger visited an urban charter school Tuesday to emphasize his support for public works bonds on the November ballot, but he said he has to give more thought to an initiative restricting government control over private property. Running for the state's highest office, Schwarzenegger and Democratic challenger Phil Angelides face pressure to take positions on all 13 ballot proposals to show where they stand philosophically. But each has deferred one ballot choice for seemingly political reasons, even with Election Day only two weeks away. While Schwarzenegger toured the American Indian Public Charter School in Oakland to tout the...

The property initiative poses a political dilemma for Schwarzenegger because it is backed by his GOP base yet opposed by environmental groups and the California Chamber of Commerce, two interests the Republican governor has courted. Schwarzenegger said Tuesday he has not taken a position on Proposition 90, though he intends to "very soon because I'm looking at all the aspects. As you know, it's a very complicated issue, and so I'm looking at all the different angles so that I come out very clear." Proponents have asserted that Proposition 90 prevents government from seizing private property to give to another...

Like the surprise ending to a long, dreary novel, Proposition 90 sits at the very end of this fall's crowded California ballot, a subtle plot twist that seems out of place among the more obvious turns that precede it. But take notice. This unassuming proposal is the most important question voters will confront on Nov. 7. Polls show that few voters know what Proposition 90 is about, much less understand its significance. No wonder, given that relatively little money has been spent so far communicating messages for and against the initiative. And unlike some of the other measures on the...

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has signed two bills that tighten use and oversight of eminent domain in California. These bills make Proposition 90 unnecessary. They also should make clear to Californians the real agenda of the well-financed outside groups promoting Proposition 90: They want to redefine "takings" in the United States. --snip-- These people want California voters to believe that Proposition 90 is about "fixing" eminent domain abuses. But don't be fooled. The California Legislature held hearings in August, October and November of last year to assess the eminent domain situation in California after the Kelo v. City of New London...

The complaints often come long and loud when courts strike down part or all of various ballot propositions after California elections because they're either unconstitutional or so vaguely written that no one can tell just what they mean. But sometimes these court actions are flat-out necessary, either to protect vital rights or to fix problems the voters never knew they were creating when they passed an initiative.

THE 2005 U.S. Supreme Court Kelo decision outraged America. The Big Bench ruled that the city of New London, Conn., could seize residents' homes through eminent domain and give them to a private developer. The ruling doesn't fit with the Fifth Amendment language that governments could take not property for "public use" without just compensation. That's when I got in touch with John Revelli, whose property and business (Revelli Tires) were seized by the city of Oakland so that a private developer could build apartments on the lot. "I thought the government was supposed to protect the little guy," Revelli...

Community vs. individual By Lisa Vorderbrueggen CONTRA COSTA TIMES Behind Proposition 90's land-use legalese is an abiding societal dilemma: When do the rights of the community trump the rights of the individual? Initiative proponents say government is too heavy-handed and property owners are unfairly bearing the costs of community amenities such as open space and wildlife habitat. Prop. 90 would bar governments from taking private land, through a legal process called eminent domain, for the purposes of turning it over to a private developer. And it would force local agencies to pay landowners for broadly defined losses that result from...