Michigan senator wants to limit local 'tree police'

Opinion | C’mon, Michigan. Don’t get hysterical about ‘tree police’ bill | Bridge Magazine - Tom Casperson:

December 12, 2018 - "Let’s put ‘tree police’ in proper perspective. I recently sponsored legislation, Senate Bill 1188, that attempts to strike a better balance between local government authority and private-property rights around the state.

"Our state includes more than 1,700 local units of government - cities, townships and villages. A small handful of them, less than 10 percent, have an ordinance that allows them to regulate trees on private property.... These communities don’t pay or credit their residents and businesses for planting more trees. But if you want to remove a tree, they require you to plant another to their specifications or pay hundreds of dollars per tree to remove them.

"On its face, this is simply unfair, undemocratic and unscientific. We heard in Senate testimony from an arborist who noted that many unmanaged woodlots get overrun with invasive trees and vegetation. Sometimes, the smartest remedy is removing trees to keep a forest healthy.

"Environmental groups and local government interests testified that this kind of local ordinance is a critical tool for managing stormwater, light pollution, noise pollution, carbon, aesthetics and community development, and even their ability to meet state and federal environmental laws.....

"But all of these arguments ring hollow when you stop to consider that more than 90 percent of Michigan communities accomplish all these ends without local tree removal ordinances - through mutual agreements and incentives, not fees and fines.

"Our concern is that, ultimately, local tree removal ordinances are simply a way for local government to maintain an unfair level of control over residents and fill local coffers.... We do not argue against the benefits of trees.... But there are other ways for local units of government to provide incentives for residents, businesses and farmers to plant more of them.

"The practice of a few local governments squeezing their people over how they manage trees on their land flies in the face of one of our most fundamental American rights - private property."

Read more: https://www.bridgemi.com/guest-commentary/opinion-cmon-michigan-dont-get-hysterical-about-tree-police-bill
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Seattle suit against warrantless rental inspections

Mandatory Warrantless Rental Inspections Inspire Seattle Lawsuit - Hit & Run : Reason.com - Scott Shackford:

December 5, 2018 - "In an alleged effort to root out slumlords, some cities treat renters as though they don't have any rights, forcing residents to allow government officials in for mandatory warrantless 'inspections' to make sure homes are up to code. The lawyers at the Institute for Justice, a national public interest law firm, have ... filed a class-action complaint against the city of Seattle that attempts to put a stop to its inspection program.

"According to their lawsuit, Seattle launched an inspection program in 2015 that requires landlords to register rental properties with the city. The city then randomly chooses 10 percent of the rental properties to inspect each year. This includes inhabited apartments and houses.....

"In July, according to the lawsuit, a group of renters sharing a home wrote city officials telling them that they do not consent to a search of their property. The owner of the home also wrote to let the city know that she was respecting her tenants' wishes. The city responded that if the landlord refused to let the inspectors in, she faced penalties of $150 a day for the first 10 days, and then $500 a day afterward. Seattle did not even respond to the letter from the tenants.

"The Institute for Justice is now representing both tenants and landlords in these cases to try to stop unwarranted inspections under the city's law, arguing that it violates the privacy provisions of the Washington Constitution....

"The Institute for Justice wants the city to have to show probable cause that there are code violations within somebody's home before it can demand access. The group is asking for Seattle's inspection system to be declared unconstitutional and for an injunction to be put in place stopping warrantless searches without a tenant's consent.

"This suit has been filed under Washington's Constitution rather than under the Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution because the state has additional privacy protections that are a little broader.... It was actually under Washington's Constitution in 2016 that another group of property-rights-protecting lawyers, the Pacific Legal Foundation, stopped Seattle from snooping through people's trash to make sure they were separating out their food waste."

Read more: https://reason.com/blog/2018/12/05/mandatory-warrantless-rental-inspections
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40 Maine towns have declared food sovereignty

One year after becoming law, food sovereignty in Maine has taken hold — Homestead — Bangor Daily News — BDN Maine - Julia Beilly:

November 27, 2018 - "Since becoming law a year ago, the number of Maine towns and small communities with a food sovereignty ordinance has grown to more than 40.... The legislation, ... signed into law last October, allows municipalities to regulate local food systems, including production, processing, consumption and direct producer-to-consumer exchanges. This type of commerce had been regulated at the state and federal level, which continues to regulate meat and poultry production and sales.

"No official data are being collected on the towns adopting the ordinance, but last week Augusta became the latest municipality in the state to pass an ordinance based on the sovereignty law, joining the dozens of municipalities including Auburn, Machias, Blue Hill, Rockland, Chapman and York.

"Sen. Troy Jackson, D-Allagash, ... along with Rep. Craig Hickman, D-Winthrop, co-sponsored the food sovereignty legislation signed into law....

"In Greenwood, population 800, the ordinance is acting as a sort of small business incubator, according to Suzanne Dunham of Dunham Farms and Velvet Hollow Sugar Works in Greenwood. She and her husband Brian also manage the Greenwood Farmers Market.... Before passage of the food sovereignty ordinance made the licensing moot, the Dunhams were fully licensed by the state [but] 'others in our community didn’t have the economic means to go through licensing,' she said.  Now, thanks to the ordinance the town passed last June, that obstacle has been removed.

"'Greenwood’s food sovereignty ordinance allows me to make pies and other baked goods in my home kitchen and sell them directly to customers without having to be licensed by the state,' Greenwood resident Amy Chapman, who runs Amy’s Bakehouse out of her home, said. 'Since I have several other part-time jobs and baking is only a small part of what I do, it would not be worth my time, money and energy to do it for a weekly farmers market if I had to go through the state’s process to become a licensed producer'....

"That is exactly what Jackson envisioned for the law. 'A lot of people can’t take the chance on doing something they wanted to do because they found it too onerous or costly to become licensed under state or federal regulations,' Jackson said. “I think people who have a product will now take more of a chance and actually do something to create a small business'....

"Neighbors selling to neighbors has been going on for generations in Maine, but for all that time growers and producers not licensed by the state were forced to conduct business out of the public eye and only with trusted, known customers."

Read more: http://www.bangordailynews.com/2018/11/26/homestead/one-year-after-becoming-law-food-sovereignty-in-maine-has-taken-hold/
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Libertarian city councillor stresses co-operation, gradualism

St. Peter city councilmember talks Libertarian message » Local News » The Free Press, Mankato, MN - Anthony Ratnaraj:

April 26, 2014 - "St. Peter City Councilman Roger Parras spoke about the importance of cooperating with other elected officials to grow the Libertarian Party of Minnesota at its state convention in Maple Grove Saturday.

"Parras, one of two elected Libertarians in the state, was given a slot at the state convention to speak about how Libertarians can get elected.

"'If you have the intentions of just saying "no" across the board, your odds of getting elected are pretty low,' Parras said.

He said most people aren’t comfortable with 'too drastic' changes, but they’re okay with a 'slow change' in government....

"He said he’s using logic in issues like armored vehicles for the police, a roundabout for improved safety, and regulating e-cigarettes to make other members think about the cost and benefit of their actions.

"He was against what he called the 'militarization' of the police force. He asked questions like, 'Why do we need this [armored vehicle]?' Or, 'Is it necessary?' '

"'Unless it’s the city budget, they don’t see it as, you know, city money or tax money,' Parras said."
"
Elizabeth Dahl, a Libertarian candidate running for the Crystal City Council, said she agrees with Parras that Libertarians need to work with other officials. 'Decide what you think is the most important fight to fight now. And then, slowly work your city government to the point where they’re accepting more and more Libertarian ideas,' Dahl said."

Read more: http://www.mankatofreepress.com/local/x2117355031/St-Peter-city-councilmember-talks-Libertarian-message
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