All I have seen regarding Iniative 933 are television ads that say I-933 is for the big developers that want to strip the land and that I-933 will cost billions of dollars. The government has even put negative facts in the voters pamphlet to sway the general population.

I disagree with what they are saying. I-933 is backed by individual property owners who have lost property rights and land value – without compensation – to county governments such as King County. This is not about stripping the land or ruining the environment – this is about the property rights of people in America that have been stripped away by the government. A similar initiative was passed in Oregon, and it has not cost billions.

The county has taken away the use to 65 percent of people’s property with no just reason. I am just as much an environmentalist as those helping put negative ads on television are. I was born in this state and I don’t like what I see the government doing when they confiscate people’s property rights without compensation.

I will vote “Yes” on I-933 because I believe the government in America should not blatantly take away a person’s right to their land.

Howard VanLaeken

Duvall