This Op-ed by Monica Christofili appeared on Fosters.com, May 7th, 2018. Newmarket, a small town in New Hampshire, is looking to join 11 other New Hampshire towns in adopting a rights-based ordinance. They've discovered the structure of law they live under is set up to protect neither them nor the landbase they live and depend [...]
This Op-Ed by Jamie Harvie appeared in the Duluth News Tribune, April 1st, 2018. Minnesota is nationally recognized for its reputation of good government and high voter participation. In that light, it is perplexing why state legislators would actively work to subvert our democratic process. Several bills — HF3814, SF3253, SF3135 and HF3606 — pending [...]
This guest comment by Ann Kneeland appeared in The Register-Guard, March 28th, 2018. On March 7, Circuit Court Judge Karsten Rasmussen ruled to keep the Freedom from Aerial Spraying of Herbicides Bill of Rights Charter Amendment off the ballot in Lane County. The judge’s decision is yet another canary in the coal mine singing out that, under [...]
Mayors are ready to pass gun control laws, but we can't do it unless the NRA and state legislatures get out of our way. We need to end gun preemption. This op-ed by 11 Mayors of major cities in the United States appeared in USA TODAY, March 23rd, 2018. Atop that list should be smart, common-sense [...]
This letter to the editor by Austin Babrow appeared in the Athens News March 8th, 2018. Do you remember in fall of 2011, when the fracking landmen came to town offering bonuses for signed mineral-rights leases, when they were caught on tape claiming that chemical-laden fracking water was essentially Dawn dishwashing liquid? Where were the [...]
This letter to the editor by K. Hridaya Sivalingam, PhD appeared in the The Laconia Daily Sun, February 28th, 2018. Friends and neighbors have asked me why I am voting yes to Article 29, the Community Rights-Based Ordinance in Ashland. The reasons are many, but the simplest is that I’m tired. I’m a resident, a taxpayer, [...]
This letter to the editor by Adam Tardif appeared on Fosters.com, February 23, 2018. On Feb. 6 the N.H. Community Rights Amendment, CACR 19, inspired so many supportive citizen testimonies that its House Municipal & County Government committee hearing ran 90 minutes rather than the scheduled 30. The following week, CACR 19 left its subcommittee [...]
This Reader's Opinion by Mayors Mike Ryan and Skip Campbell appeared the Sun Sentinel, February 18th, 2018. Twenty children and six teachers were massacred in an elementary school. Prayers rose to the heavens. Tears flooded our souls. Words inspired hope of change and action. It was not the first or a new type of massacre. [...]
This letter to the editor by Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillium was published in The Tallahassee Democrat, February 5th, 2018. It’s no secret that Florida’s cities and counties are under attack. The Florida Constitution gives local governments broad “home rule” powers to deal with local issues and priorities. For decades, Florida’s communities have taken pride in [...]
This guest comment by Lynn Bowers and Robin Bloomgarden appeared in The Register-Guard, February 1, 2018. At the Lane County Board of Commissioners’ Jan. 9 meeting, four members indicated that they supported scheduling a work session to consider referring legislation to the November ballot based on ordinances submitted to the board by proponents; Chairman Jay Bozievich committed to [...]
