|
Freedom County: Hearing date for government by consent On September 7, 2001, Snohomish County declared that the people of The State of Washington ARE NOT entitled to "government to which they consent." The statement was filed of record in Cause No. 01-2-009985 in reply to the Plaintiffs Motion for Summary Judgement. The motion will be heard on September 13, 2001 at 1:30 PM in the Skagit County Superior Court. The context of the county government’s view of government "of the people, by the people and for the people is;" Plaintiffs rail long and hard about people having a government "to which they consent," While that sentiment may carry force in the establishment of a national government, it has no place in a discussion of the internal organization of state government into political subdivisions. Plaintiffs provide no citation of authority supporting their proposition that residents of a political subdivision of a state may "declare their independence from" or "withdraw their consent to be governed by" the established county government. There is a name for the situation plaintiffs seek, It is anarchy. Why does government bother with elections if the political will (consent) of the voters "has no place in a discussion of the internal organization of state government into political subdivisions." I submit the reason we have regularly scheduled elections is to determine whether or not the people "consent" to the leadership presently exercising power. The organization of state government and who controls it can be changed in a number of ways. We can change the House of Representatives every two years, the state Senate and the Governor every four years. The people regularly express their consent at the state level and change (by their consent as expressed through the ballot box) the leadership of their cities and counties just as often. The constitution requires the state to provide for these elections faithfully. There is another mechanism, in addition to elections, providing for changing the leadership of the state and organizing its political subdivisions. The petition mechanism is simple and straightforward. The provisions that provide for changes by petition are Article I §1, §29, §32, Article II §28(18), and Article XI §3 and §4. Article I says that government derives its "just powers from the consent of the governed." Article II §28(18) prohibits the legislature from creating or combining counties without the express political will of the people of the affected territory. Article XI §3 provides the only mechanism for determining the "express political will of the people of the affected territories. Article XI §4 limits the legislatures discretion as to acting on the express political will of the people, i.e., consent as expressed in the petitions mandated by Article XI §3. Consider the county’s position again: "While that sentiment [consent] may carry force in the establishment of a national government, it has no place in a discussion of the internal organization of state government into political subdivisions. There is a word for what Snohomish County says about "consent," IT IS DESPOTISM. Despotism is a totalitarian government where all rights are mere privileges that may be revoked at the whim of the particular professional politician in power at the moment. It is scary that Snohomish County believes it is not answerable to the people. Please publish the foregoing as a letter to the editor or in the alternative attend the hearing and report the results. Respectfully, Thom Satterlee |