For immediate release June 25, 2004
Realtors and Legislators Manipulate Shoreline Rules Hearings
Green Bay, WI --- Yesterdays circus in Minocqua was a
manipulated spectacle by the Wisconsin Realtors Association and
their paid legislators. Many Wisconsin residents attended the so-
called public hearing on the DNRs emergency shoreline rules,
only to witness a series of tricks to justify legislative votes obviously
decided before the hearing, stated Rebecca Katers, Executive
Director of the Clean Water Action Council, a citizen group based in
Northeast Wisconsin. The Joint Committee for the Review of
Administrative Rules (JCRAR) is dominated by a Republican
majority.
I traveled seven hours to attend this hearing, only to watch
legislators vote on the issue and leave before I had a chance to
testify. This was not a good day for democracy, added William
Iwen, President of the Tri-Lakes Association. Iwen represented
several dozen families and shoreline owners in Kewaunee County
who supported the emergency rules, but he was forced to wait 5
hours to testify. We believe its important to have strong rules to
prevent problems, because were finding its much more difficult
and expensive to clean up water quality and shoreline problems after
the damage is done. Unfortunately, its clear these legislators
werent listening. The hearing was flawed in many respects:
* Hearing in a remote location --- Minocqua is many hoursback to top
away from all the population centers of Wisconsin, making
attendance for most Wisconsin residents impossible.
Several hearings should have been held in multiple cities, to
reach a true cross-section of the population.* Hearing during work hours --- A weekday hearing is
impossible for ordinary working people to attend. This
favored all the realtors, builders, developers, lawyers and
politicians who came as part of their paid jobs.* Short, inadequate notice by the legislature --- Only one
weeks notice was given, and most people in southern
Wisconsin found out only by word of mouth. This was an
outrageous slight-of-hand by the JCRAR. Most hearing
attendees had not had time to read an impartial analysis of
what the rules actually required, they were forced to rely on
partisan interpretations which were often inaccurate.* No written comment period before vote --- The vote was
immediate, before most Wisconsin residents were even
aware of the issues. No time was granted for a written
comment period before the JCRAR voted.* Hearing located in anti-planning, anti-DNR area of state
--- The JCRAR selected the audience they wanted to hear, in
the most rabidly anti-zoning, anti-planning area of
Wisconsin, which is not representative of the true feelings of
most Wisconsin residents.* Hundreds of people turned away --- The JCRAR chose a
meeting room with a maximum capacity of 75-100 people.
When more than 400 people tried to attend, the local
government officials were forced to turn hundreds of people
away, due to the safety hazard. The 100 who stayed tended
to be local residents who got there 45 minutes early and
packed the room. People who had traveled hours from other
parts of the state were turned away.* Aggressive advertising by the realtors --- The Wisconsin
Realtors Association placed dozens of prominent ads in
newspapers all across northern Wisconsin, whipping up
hysteria about the pier issues, including inaccurate claims.
(If these issues were so vital, why didnt the Realtors
Association and their lawyer Paul Kent raise these concerns
in the months of negotiations leading up to the emergency
rules? Theyve proven they cant be trusted as negotiators.
They are without honor. The same is true of the Wisconsin
Builders Association.)* Complicit news media --- The Lakeland Times printed
editorials and articles featuring inflammatory, one-sided and
inaccurate propaganda from the Wisconsin Realtors
Association and anti-DNR property rights extremists. There
was no attempt at balance. The media deliberately
manipulated and frightened local shoreline property owners
with non-issues, and used them to promote other actions that
many reasonable shoreline property owners wouldnt
support if they had accurate information and a chance for
full and open debate. The Wisconsin Lake Association,
whose members include more than 100,000 shoreline
property owners were ignored.* Hysteria generated on a minor issue --- The simple-
minded focus on the pier issue (NR326) was used as a
smokescreen, or red herring, to deflect attention from the
more serious and far-reaching debate concerning the other
rules upholding the Wisconsin Public Trust Doctrine. The
first four hours of the hearing were completely dominated by
pier discussion and debate, frequently based on
misinformation and inaccurate rumors. For example, many
local shoreline residents attended and were upset because
they mistakenly thought the rules prohibited benches, flags
or ladders on their docks. This misconception was
corrected only after three hours of hearing.* Inaccurate claims by realtors and legislators --- The
hearing was conducted by obviously partisan legislators, and
dominated by lobbyists from the Realtors and other
development interests, perpetuating inaccurate
interpretations of the emergency rules even after DNR staff
clearly responded to their concerns and corrected the
inaccuracies. The legislators werent listening to DNRs
reasonable explanations.* Major issue delayed and sidelined --- The most essential
rule in the package, NR 1, wasnt opened for comment until
four hours after the hearing started, after most news media
representatives and public attendees had gone.* Legislators voting and leaving before testimony ended ---
The public hearing was fraudulent. Legislators had
obviously made up their minds before the hearing started.
Citizen comments were irrelevant. Republican Senators
Robert Welch and Mary Lazich requested and received a
suspension of the rules allowing them to cast their votes and
leave long before the end of the hearing, and before
comments had started on NR 1. They both voted against
NR 1 without bothering to hear citizen concerns. It was
extremely rude and should not have been allowed.* Grandstanding by politicians --- Representative John Gard
was also rude, as he breezed into the hearing in the middle of
the day, jumped to the head of the line of speakers, gave an
extreme property-rights-above-all speech, then breezed out
again. He didnt have the decency or courtesy to attend the
entire hearing and listen to serious citizen concerns. His
long and inaccurate speech was out of order, exceeded the
time limits, and took the place of citizens who had waited
hours to testify. The arrogance was astonishing.* Property rights issue misused, Constitution violated ---
Much of the frenzy created by the Realtors was based on the
phony claim that private property rights were at risk. This
is not accurate. Under Wisconsins Constitution, all lakes
and streams are PUBLIC property and belong to all the
people. This means the majority of TRUE property owners
live in the population centers of Wisconsin, not in Minoqua
or the northwoods. Shoreline owners have had the privilege
of extending their docks, rafts, boat hoists, riprap, and other
private structures into our public waters, but there must be
strict limits on this activity or the rest of us will lose the
values we hold most dear on our waterways: scenic beauty,
clean water, tranquility, healthy wildlife, and abundant fish.
Wall-to-wall development will ruin these values. If
shoreline developers want to amend the Wisconsin
Constitution and privatize Wisconsins lakes and streams,
they should be forced to proceed openly in this direction
rather than using back-door manipulation and Legislative
sleight-of-hand to grab public property under the guise of
private property rights.* Promises broken and bad-faith negotiations --- When the
Legislature rushed the Job Creation Act to passage in
January, the Act had been through numerous closed-door,
last-minute negotiations with the realtors, builders and other
special interests. The process was chaotic, corrupt and
undemocratic. Many of us struggled to keep up with the
changes and many still werent sure what had happened even
after the Act passed. Even so, it was clear that the Act
would weaken at least 23 separate environmental standards
for shorelines, and several air pollution regulations as well.
Legislators flatly denied any weakening and insisted that the
DNR would be instructed to write rules to clarify their
intent. They promised that the resulting rules would not
weaken Wisconsin standards. Now that the JCRAR has
voted to suspend several key aspects of the emergency rules,
we know these legislators cannot be trusted. Their promises
mean nothing, and were used as false defense for the Job
Creation Act.* Inaccurate reporting of votes in support of rules --- Some
news media claim that only 14 people registered in favor of
the rules, while 400 registered against. In fact, 45 people
registered in support of the rules, and at least half of these
supporters represented thousands of members across the
state. For example, Wisconsin Lakes Association supported
the emergency rules and they represent more than 100,000
shoreline property owners in Wisconsin. In addition,
Wisconsin Wildlife Federation represents at least tens of
thousands of hunters and anglers who support the emergency
rules. In contrast, the vast majority of the 400 who
registered in opposition to the rules were local individual
shoreline property owners who represented no one else, and
they came to the hearing primarily because of false hype
over the pier rule. Many specifically registered opposition
to the pier rule only. Most knew little about the rest of the
rules, especially NR 1. The rest of the opposition came
primarily from the realtors, developers, contractors and
others who would benefit from privatizing our lakes and
streams.* Abuse of DNR --- The ultimate hypocrisy came from the
legislators who took cheap shots at the DNR, claiming that
the agency was making a power grab and creating
thousands of new jobs of DNR bureaucrats. These
legislators know full well that theyve slashed the DNR
budget and staff several times in recent years, crippling
many of the agencys functions. At the same time, theyve
tied up key DNR staff in months of difficult negotiations, in
a huge rush to beat this years construction season. These
legislators and their developer friends in the had many
opportunities for input and clarification during the
negotiations. Everyone knew there would be glitches to
work out, but afterall these were only temporary, stop-gap
rules with less than 100 days to go before they expire. The
final rules will undergo a more deliberate and careful
process with full public hearings. Its an outrage that these
dishonest legislators abuse the DNR when the true power
grab is by the legislators themselves. The legislators
promote distrust of an agency THEY control, when the
legislators are the ones unworthy of trust.* Job Creation Act title is a lie --- This entire legislative
push has been built on a lie. Any reasonable person can see
that these shoreline rules have absolutely nothing to do with
job creation or job retention. The rules dont stop
development; they simply direct the development to occur in
the least destructive and least obtrusive manner. Few, if
any, jobs are affected.
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