Envision Spokane EXPOSED - Vote NO on Prop 1

Vote NO on Spokane Proposition 1

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Prop. 1 and it's supporters are back with their same tired, activist agenda that will cost jobs and raise taxes. Spokane soundly rejected this proposal in 2009 with a 76% NO vote, but your voice was ignored and it is on the ballot again.

Make no mistake - Prop. 1 will make Spokane a lawyer's utopia with you, the taxpayer, footing the bill.

Vote No on Prop. 1 and join community leaders, employers, and citizens who oppose this out-of-touch agenda. What is likely to happen if Prop. 1 passes?

It will destroy jobs and stifle the local economy. Employers will be driven out of Spokane. New businesses most certainly will not locate here. City residents will lose hundreds, if not thousands of jobs.

It will spur hundreds of costly frivolous lawsuits, clogging courts, costing taxpayers and small businesses millions in legal fees, and reducing the funds available for vital city services. In brief, what does Prop. 1 do?

Prop. 1 gives the Spokane River, its tributaries and the Aquifer the "inalienable rights to exist and flourish". This is a vague and over-reaching mandate that is designed to allow for hundreds of frivolous and expensive lawsuits.

Prop. 1 provides for workers to have the right to constitutional protections in the workplace. This is a redundant and unnecessary addition to city ordinances, since these protections are already guaranteed! Again, this requirement is simply designed to allow for lawsuits and endless litigation. This unnecessary threat will cost thousands of jobs as businesses move out of the City to avoid costly and frivolous litigation.

Prop. 1 requires people seeking significant zone changes or new development (even if allowed under the comprehensive plan) to obtain the approval of a majority of voters in a neighborhood before the change is approved. Likewise, a majority can reject a change. While this may sound good, the reality is it adds burdensome and unfair regulations that will drive good businesses and projects to locate elsewhere. The truth is that no new growth equals no new jobs, no new revenues and stagnation is our City.

Prop. 1 strips our businesses of rights guaranteed to them by Federal law. Not only is this going to be deemed illegal, but most importantly it will drive employers out of Spokane, costing thousands of jobs and destroying our local economy. Didn't Spokane already Vote NO on this proposal?

In 2009 Spokane voters overwhelmingly rejected a similar proposal brought by the same group sponsoring this proposal. In 2009, over 75% of the voters said NO, yet this small group refused to listen, and brought it back again this year. Who is behind Prop. 1?

An organization called "Envision Spokane", comprised of a handful of local activists. While they claims to be locally driven, the initiative is the brainchild of a Pennsylvania-based group called the "Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund" and there are "Envision" groups pushing the same agenda elsewhere.

Who will pay for all of this? How will it affect City services?

Taxpayers will pay through service cuts and higher taxes. The truth is, if the Charter amendment passes, tax dollars that would have gone for parks, senior services, police protection and other vital services will instead be spent on frivolous lawsuits and bureaucracy.