15 Highway

An article by Frank Schiavone

Paying Favors: Is that what politics is about?

has been added to www.charlesharmon.com

Congressman Gary Miller and Rancho Cucamonga Mayor Don Kurth must be longtime pals. Otherwise, why would Congressman Gary Miller be so supportive of my mayor?

Recently, I read an invitation to purchase tickets to “Mayor Don Kurth’s Annual Luncheon”. Listed in the invite are the names of people on a “Host Committee”. You have to come up with at least $ 5,000.00 to be listed as a host committee member. Guess whose name is listed first on that host committee? Congressman Gary Miller!

Now $5,000 is a lot of money to hand over to a political candidate, let alone a local politician. The Congressman doesn’t live in Rancho and we’re not his constituents. What would motivate a US Congressman to be so generous towards the mayor of Rancho Cucamonga? It has to be a deep and abiding friendship.

Or could it be that Congressman Miller has a pending application to build a highly destructive, multi-million project development in our foothills and needs several concessions from our City in order to make it happen? You see, Congressman Miller needs to move heaven and earth – a lot of it.

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A new article by Frank Schiavone

The Property Rights Myth

has been added to Cackel.com

As most of us have experienced firsthand, property rights are not absolute or unqualified. Cities restrict the use of property all the time.

Developers tend not to like land use and environmental limitations.

To overcome regulation, a common tactic is to threaten “takings” litigation invoking a passage in the Fifth Amendment – “nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation”. This tactic is borne of a growing and aggressive “property rights movement” that seeks to curtail government regulation and interference in land use decisions. The “movement” has been emboldened by a few notable and favorable court rulings.

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