To Rural Landowners, Government Types, Interested Parties and the News Media:

If you don't live in King County, WA, don't think for one minute that this kind of arrogance and corruption won't find your neck of the woods.  A government not monitored is a government out of control, which leads to arrogance and corruption, as it has in King County.
 
King County Government (along with Seattle government) and its 1,800,000 inhabitants, drives everything in Washington State.  It drives elections.  It drives regulation.  It drives social programs and it drives radical environmentalism.  It elects social and radical environmental representatives that stack the deck in the Washington State Legislature, like Senators Adam Kline and Ken Jacobsen.  It sends similar-bent socialist representatives to the U. S. Congress, like Jim McDermott.   Its entrenched roots are abject socialism and radical environmentalism.  It has over 16,000 employees at an average annual salary of $55,000.  King County Government is not only arrogant, but it is corrupt as well.  And it's not the first time.  Their power comes from your taxes and you pay way too many taxes and fees for what you are getting in services.  It's a rip off.
 
Chuck Pillon and I found evidence of such corruption with several K/C departments and filed a formal RICO (racketeering) criminal complaint with the FBI in May 2005.  It's almost a year now and we have heard nothing from the FBI.  Bob Williams, President of the Evergreen Freedom Foundation, filed documented evidence of King County voter fraud in the 2004 election, with the U. S. Attorney in Seattle (John McKay).  John has failed to move forward on that evidence.  The pattern of corruption extends through all of King County's agencies and it is ever more so in the Department of Development and Environmental Services (DDES) under the direction of one Stephanie Warden, the County Executive's (Ron Sims) hand-picked minion.  Check out Ms. Warden's PDC file and see how much money she has given to Ron Sims' election campaign.
 
In further illustration of their arrogance and the exercise of power, way beyond any legislative or constitutional limits, DDES has abused that power [with the help of the County Prosecutor's Office (Timothy Barnes) and the Sheriff's Office (Sue Rahr)] by coming down hard, with both barrels on rural landowners in King County, to make examples of them so that others will be sure to come into compliance with their draconian rules, regulations and ordinances.  Cases of over-abuse abound throughout the County, but two such cases are egregious examples of that abuse.   The case of Mr. Charles Strouss (40 acres-Redmond) and the case of Mr. Ron Rowe (20 acres-Issaquah) are prime examples.  Their lives have been turned up-side-down by DDES's over-zealous prosecution of insane ordinances.  There is not space here to outline those cases as they have been chronicled before in previous messages.  Suffice it to say, these two law-abiding King landowners have been "savaged" by their government, for little or no reason.  The handling of each case was bungled by 3 County departments all the way down the line and cost us, the taxpayers, huge sums to prosecute what were essentially non events.
 
Finally, some builder/applicants to DDES's lucrative department of corruption had enough and filed a class-action lawsuit against DDES, alleging over $20,000,000 in over-charges to all permit applicants.  I have attached just 4 pages of a 110-page brief filed in Snohomish County Superior Court (Judge James H. Allendoerfer) covering what the plaintiffs are seeking in relief and a chronology of the actions that have taken place before and after the filing of the class-action lawsuit.  It is an expose' of just how arrogant and corrupt King County Government and DDES really are.
 
When King County Executive Ron Sims got "wind" of the class-action lawsuit, he dug up $2,000,000 out of your tax dollars to refund applicants in order to defuse or make the lawsuit go away.  His half-hearted "olive branch" did nothing of the kind and only angered the plaintiffs more.
 
In the attached brief excerpt, you will find reference to RCW 82.20.020.  Here is the link to that RCW.  https://apps.leg.wa.gov/RCW/default.aspx?cite=82.02.020
 
Also in the brief you will find reference to Covell v. Seattle.  Here is that link.
https://www.mrsc.org/mc/courts/supreme/127wn2d/127wn2d0874.htm
 
A hearing is scheduled on June 16, 2006 at 9:00 AM before Judge Allendoerfer in Snohomish County Superior Court on the class action lawsuit.  Please get the word out on as many of the email lists you have on those who may wish to attend.  Stay in the left hand lane for the Broadway Exit to Everett, straight ahead to Pacific Avenue, up the hill 2 blocks and look for available parking, or parking under the Courthouse complex.
 
It is our intent to inform, educate and alert folks, especially rural landowners, to what is going on with their government, no matter where they live.  One example of arrogance and corruption in one jurisdiction, can be the alarm bell for people in other jurisdictions.  We hope you will take the time to read through this material and inform yourself on just how arrogant your government has, or will become.
 
 
 
Ron Ewart, President
NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF RURAL LANDOWNERS
P. O. Box 1031, Issaquah, WA  98027
425 222-4742 or 1 800 682-7848
(Fax No. 425 222-4743)
Website: www.narlo.org