Prop. 1 and its sponsors don’t care

I am embarrassed for the sponsors of Prop. 1 as they twist in the wind trying to explain away the flaws in their ordinance.

In a desperate attempt to divert attention from the holes in the proposition, they are actually trying to argue that because the U.S. Constitution was amended 27 times in 230 years it really is OK that their ordinance is a total mess. It’s OK that it’s full of flaws and loopholes. It’s OK that it will cost taxpayers millions. It’s OK that it will result in hundreds of lawsuits. The sponsors of Prop. 1 think all that is OK.

I do not.

Alaska law says that if we pass this proposition, we can't fix it for two years. We’re stuck with it — flaws, unanswered questions, lawsuits, government bureaucracy, higher taxes and all.

The sponsor argument is offensive. The U.S. Constitution and the Alaska State Constitution were carefully crafted over the course of months and years. They were the culmination of humanity's entire intellectual and political history. These two documents are towering works of genius by some of the greatest our nation has ever known. Prop. 1 was hastily copied out of an already spectacularly failed Oregon law with a 2-1 disapproval rating just two years after passage. In fact, not only did the sponsors copy the Oregon law complete with all the flaws, they added several new ones of their own. It didn’t work there and it won’t work here. They don’t care and think we shouldn’t either.

I care. I care because the residents of the Mat-Su Valley deserve better than this bait-and-switch. We deserve laws that actually protect our private property rights and the property of all the people equally. At the very least we deserve laws that can actually work. Prop. 1 doesn't even come close.

On Oct. 2, vote “no” on Mat-Su Borough Prop. 1.

Kevin Brown

Mat-Su Valley