Who changed the constitution?

It appears the battle for control of private property in Thurston County is over, and the owners of the property lost.

That’s the feeling I get from those opposed to the county’s adoption of the Critical Area’s ordinance. Opponents seem to think that private property rights and personal use of their land, has been shunted asides and taken over for government purposes.

It’s even more pronounced when property owners looks at the City of Olympia’s recommendations on shorelines coming out of the the city’s planning commission.

More restrictive use of shorelines is a major part of the proposed changes and that affects just about every small business along the waterfront.

What the Olympia mothers and fathers will do with these recommendations has yet to be determined but one thing is certain. Whatever finally emerges will be more restrictions on private property rights.

That’s been the trend for the last 40 years and I’ve been fighting those restrictions for almost that long. I’m probably about the only local media person who has been. And I did it on the basis that government control of private property is against the law and that the constitution of the United States protects us from government infringement.

But, obviously I’ve been wrong. Government at all levels continue to promulgate more rules and regulations and the courts, at all levels, continue to approve these new government rules as legal and constitutional.

So, obviously, I’ve been wrong. I must be out of step with the new understanding of the constitution. I always believed that individual rights, including private property rights, was the basis for this country’s remarkable emergence as a world super power.

Guess I was wrong. I didn’t know that the constitution had been rewritten.

With 350 million people in the country and more coming every day, it’s important to protect our natural resources. It’s important to set rules that benefit everyone and it’s important to produce regulations that make us all better people.

But, why does it all seem like a crime.