Couple feels right at home in eco-friendly house made of straw
But soon they will wish they were living in the house made of sticks, and when that doesn't hold up to the old huff-and-puff, can the house made of bricks be far behind?

Musings from Brian J. Noggle: Illinois Secedes
I got this link from Instapundit. Our governor has a...well..."unique" conception of his significance in the grand scheme of things. The notion that government officials have a limited role to perform seems not to be in his repertoire. This is the most recent in a series of publicity-grabbing, grandstanding, and supremely arrogant missteps. He thinks he's going to be President someday. Everybody else is thinking that he won't even be Governor after 2006.

Property ruling sparks action by states, Congress
The scale of the public reaction, and now the legislative response, to the abominable Kelo decision is remarkable.

HoustonChronicle.com - Peirce: Privatized neighborhoods aren't the future we want
Nancy Levy sent this link to a piece by nationally-sydicated columnist Neil Peirce, who writes about Bob Nelson's new book, Private Neighborhoods and the Transformation of Local Government, about to be released by the Urban Institute Press. I have read it, and it is by far the best statement to date of the case for residential private government. Bob comes from basically a libertarian perspective, and he has been thinking and writing about HOAs for a long time. This is a major work. I disagree with him on a number of issues--particularly the view that people who move into an HOA should be seen as voluntarily joining an association--but there is no doubting the quality of his work. I think policy makers who are pro-HOA will be using this book as their reference work. However, it is quite radical in that he sees HOAs as replacing local governments. I think increasingly they are becoming an additional layer of government. I don't see the local state withering away anytime soon, certainly not while the "double taxation" principle reigns supreme.

Housing Markets Pricing Out Middle Class
Real estate experts warn that housing prices in many markets are too quickly outpacing the incomes of most workers. The widening gap affects families across the country, from Washington D.C. and Rhode Island to Florida in the South and Nevada and California in the west. In California, the situation has long been the worst: Only 17 percent of households could afford a home with a median price tag in April, according to the California Association of Realtors. By May, the median home price in California climbed to $522,590 — more than double the price in most other states. To buy the typical home with monthly payments of $3,067, a California family would need to earn about $122,700 to qualify for a conventional loan.

Arbitrator reverses election results for Deep Creek board
Here's a news article referencing the opinion linked below:

CHARLOTTE COUNTY -- Three Deep Creek residents who lost in a community association election have insisted for months that it was stolen from them. More than two-thirds of the 950 votes cast for them were invalidated. This week, a state arbitrator agreed with them, ruling that the Section 20 Property Owners Association conducted its December election "improperly and in bad faith." Arbitrator Susan Wilkinson Harnden overturned the results and handed board seats immediately to Kim Jakubaitis, Mike Brown and Michael Della Camera. The victors hoped that the order, received Friday, would end another controversy at Section 20, a community with a reputation for wild election fights and raucous meetings monitored by off-duty sheriff's deputies. "It's time that homeowners get to take over and participate instead of the board being the dictators of the community," Jakubaitis said. "It should be the community that runs the community." But not so fast. Friday afternoon, the victors showed up at Section 20's office to get keys and give notice that they would hold their first meeting Monday. According to Jakubaitis, association manager Lee Dunn refused to acknowledge the arbitrator's order, and the situation got so tense that a sheriff's deputy was called to the scene. Dunn could not be reached Friday for comment. Karl Scheuerman, a staff attorney for the state's arbitration program, said the arbitrator's decision is final and can't be appealed...The victors are the first in the state to overturn a property owners association election since October 2004, when a state law took effect that requires election disputes in such associations to be resolved by an arbitrator, rather than going through civil court -- a more time-consuming and costly process.

Homeowners' Association -- Summary Final Ruling --Section 20 Property Owners' Association, Inc.
This was sent to me by Jan Bergemann of Cyber Citizens for Justice. The term "Division" refers to the Division of Land Sales, Condominiums, and Mobile Homes, which is part of the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation. This looks like a ruling that could not only correct this election result, but provide other HOA owners some recourse for election irregularities:

COMES NOW, the undersigned arbitrator, and issues this Summary Final Order as follows:

Pursuant to Chapter 720, Florida Statutes, the Division has jurisdiction over election disputes between homeowners' associations and its members. Section 720.311(1), Florida Statutes, requires the Division to conduct mandatory arbitration of election disputes between a member and an association pursuant to section 718.1255, Florida Statutes, and the rules promulgated by the Division.
....
It is hereby ORDERED:

1. Effective immediately upon issuance of this order, the winners of the 2004 annual election of the board of directors of Section 20 Property Owners' Association are declared to be Mike Brown, Kirn Jakubaitis, and Michael Delia Camera.

2. Edward Halle, David Mooney, Robert Evans, and or any individuals serving in lieu of these candidates, shall step down as directors of the board, immediately. Any official documents of the association in possession of these individuals shall be turned over to the board within 5 business days of this Order.

[and it goes on from there}

Mountain Democrat Online: retired cop shot at--HOA feud to blame?
POLLOCK PINES - In 23 years of duty on the San Francisco Police Department, Paul Seidler, 62, had never been shot at, but all that changed Wednesday at 2 a.m. when three suspects reportedly entered his home on Gold Ridge Lane and shot at him twice, narrowly missing, according to El Dorado County Sheriff's reports. Seidler identifies himself as the country's first openly gay uniformed police officer who acted as a liaison between the SFPD and the gay community after the White Night Riots. While openly homosexual, Seidler said he believes the incident is related to problems he claims he has been having with ongoing harassment from his homeowners association. "It started with the homeowners association," Seidler said. "My house has been paint-balled, tacos were thrown at my car ... the little incidences built up into large incidences." He told the Mountain Democrat that in the past he has criticized the Gold Ridge Forest Property Owners Association. He claimed the association has held meetings without giving notice and voted without the required quorum. Seidler also said he has had trouble with the association since he has built the second story deck on his home, which does not have a door on the back.

baltimoresun.com - Carroll planning board threatened with jail
Approve this project or be incarcerated, says judge. How's that for local democracy?

Despite a shortage of water and a petition signed by 600 residents, a judge has ordered the Carroll County zoning commission to reverse itself and immediately approve a 254-townhouse project in a badly congested region of the county. The Carroll County Planning and Zoning Commission must approve the Eldersburg project or its members -- including a county commissioner -- could be jailed for contempt, according to Carroll Circuit Judge Michael M. Galloway. The planning commission denied the project last year, citing inadequate facilities in South Carroll, whose population has nearly tripled since 1980. Residents also submitted to the court a petition with more than 600 signatures opposing the project.

Man Sues Mass. for Right to Get Drunk - Yahoo! News
I don't recall having seen "the right to get drunk on private property" in the Bill of Rights, but I suppose it's worth taking another look to see if I missed something.

BOSTON - A man arrested when police showed up to break up a New Year's Eve party at a friend's house has filed a lawsuit, arguing he had a constitutional right to get drunk on private property as long as he didn't cause a public disturbance. Eric Laverriere, 25, of Portland, Maine, was taken into protective custody by Waltham police and locked in a cell for nine hours until the effects of the alcohol wore off. Legal experts said his lawsuit, filed this week in U.S. District Court in Boston, is the first to challenge a state law allowing police to lock up drunk people against their will for their own protection. Laverriere argues that the Massachusetts Protective Custody Law was written to combat public drunkenness and that the police had no right to use it to take him from a private residence.

SAN FRANCISCO / Tenancies-in-common battle hits courtroom / North Beach owner wants to convert a 6-unit property
This article, sent to me by Nancy Levy, talks about the weird practice of buying buildings as tenants in common, a San Francisco staple. People get together and buy apartment buildings as TCs, instead of doing condo conversions. It can be enormously profitable because they city regulates the purchase price in order to help tenants become owners, but after they buy as TCs they can then sell the building at market rate.

The high-stakes, often cutthroat contest of who buys and who rents homes in one of the world's most competitive real estate markets will play out in a civil trial today in a San Francisco courtroom. The case will determine whether the owners of a rent-controlled North Beach apartment building can evict the 13 tenants who currently live there in order to convert the property into tenancies-in-common for sale and, perhaps one day, lucrative condominiums. But the debate stretches far beyond the six-unit property at 424-434 Francisco St. and strikes at the heart of affordable housing in the city by highlighting the contention surrounding increasingly popular tenancies-in- common, or TICs, in which a group of people collectively own a building but live in separate units and share the mortgage.

Americans Migrate to Cities in South, West - Yahoo! News
From Fred Pilot comes this AP article summarizing a recent Census Bureau report on how Americans are, as Fred puts, migrating to Privatopia.
WASHINGTON - Skyrocketing housing prices are driving people from San Francisco, Boston and other big cities. Warm weather and more affordable living are behind the rapid growth in midsize cities in Florida, Arizona, Nevada and California.

SB 186 Senate Bill - Bill Analysis
Fred Pilot sent this link to a California legislative bill analysis dealing with use of association funds for campaign purposes in association elections. There is some interesting language in the analysis, quoting the bill's author, which ai assume is Senator Battin:

Common interest developments (CIDs) . . . are powerful
contractual institutions that help maintain their
residents' property values by enforcing local regulations .
. . When operating as intended, they maintain order as well
as afford relief to local municipalities by providing
homeowners with necessities such as paved roads, water, and
street lights. They may also offer benefits, such as
recreational centers.

Governed by elected boards, CIDs act much like
quasi-governments by levying fees, or "assessments," to
gain the revenues needed for the association to fulfill its
obligations. This authority places a large amount of power
into the hands of the elected board members.
Unfortunately, California law is not specific concerning
the oversight of elections held within CIDs, opening the
possibility for serious abuses of power.

One such instance is when a sitting board or individual
board member uses association funds to pay for
"informational" newsletters that are just thinly veiled
campaign pieces. This is not the purpose for which
assessments are levied, and it gives an unfair advantage to
the incumbents. This is akin to a city council member
using city funds to finance their own campaign, or a
legislator running for office using his or her block grant
. . .

Though many associations have already adopted stringent
guidelines in their articles of incorporation and/or
bylaws, the lack of statutory direction leaves gaping
loopholes open to exploitation. SB 186 addresses this
problem, and in conjunction with SB 61 will serve to
guarantee the sanctity of the ballot box in common interest
developments.

Daily Herald | Kane County, Illinois--Batavia: Subdivision residents may be taxed for maintenance
I've been hamstrung in blogging recently because of my office being renovated...v-e-r-r-r-r-y s-l-o-o-o-ow-l-y--and only today, I am told, will my new office computer be hooked up and ready to use.

Here's an Illinois story sent by Fred Pilot. An HOA is not functioning like it should, so the city says--fine, we'll create a special service area and tax you HOA residents for it. As I keep saying, HOAs are rapidly becoming an extension of local government.

For years, Batavia officials have complained no one has taken full responsibility for mowing the grass around the wetlands, keeping the algae out of the ponds and maintaining the entryways at the Davey Farm subdivision. If no one pledges in the next few months to keep up those areas, as well as the half-acre park and other pockets of green space, city officials say residents will pay the price. The city is ready to invoke a special service area drawn up in the 1997 annexation agreement and levy a tax against the homeowners. “The association hasn’t quite gotten its act together,” Alderman Jim Volk said. “They are not keeping up with maintenance.”

Press release on status of Las Vegas Grand lawsuit
Nancy Levy forwarded this update on the mega-suit against the developer and other "entities" responsible for constructing the Grand--now removed to federal court. But sometimes the federal judge doesn't buy the diversity of citizenship argument, and back she comes. We'll see.

LAS VEGAS, NV, (NAMC) - On June 8, 2005, defendant Vegas Grand filed a motion to transfer the case to the U.S. District Court, for the District of Nevada. The filing immediately removed the case from the Nevada state courts to the federal courts. The case is now pending in the federal court in Nevada and has been assigned to U.S. District Judge James C. Mahan.

NBC5.com - News - Chicago Housing Authority To Install Additional Cameras At Developments
Thanks to Nancy Levy for this one. I thought Cabrini Green was supposed to be knocked down and replaced by condos and townhomes by now. Nice to know they can focus in real close on those gunshots. Things sure are under control in Chicago public housing, don't you think?

The Chicago Housing Authority will install police surveillance cameras at additional developments, officials said Wednesday.At a news conference at the Near North District police station, 1160 N. Larrabee St., Mayor Richard M. Daley said the CHA has purchased 24 new bulletproof cameras identical to those used under the 2-year-old "Operation Disruption" and monitored by the city's 911 Center. Ten cameras already are in place at various CHA complexes, including Cabrini-Green, and 14 more will be installed by the end of the year, according to Monique Bond, spokeswoman for the Office of Emergency Management and Communications...Daley said the cameras will also be equipped with the same acoustic sensors used to triangulate the position of nearby gunfire. When gunshots are detected by the cameras, an alarm is sent to the 911 Center and the camera's lens focuses on the area where the gunshot went off..

Possible Declaration of Independence copy found in Alabama...

...Nicholas Cage being sought for questioning...

This much is certain: Janice Burks has a copy of the Declaration of Independence, which her late husband said he found in a hidden compartment in a box he bought in Philadelphia decades ago. Past that, the truths are not exactly self-evident...

Man arrested after he rescues swimmer
Today's tale of local government employees run amuck has to be read to be believed. There is little doubt that had this man not done what he did, the fellow he rescued would hve died.

When Dave Newman waded out of the San Marcos River on Sunday afternoon, he was exhausted. He had just pulled Abed Duamni of Houston out of the swirling waters below Joe's Crab Shack and deposited him, safe and sound, on the far shoreline. Then Newman, of San Marcos, was handcuffed, put in a Texas State University police squad car and taken to jail, where he was charged with interfering with public duties.

Harold Berliner: Don't let your taxes pay for private developments
From Nancy Levy comes this link to this remarkable piece by a former elected District Attorney of Nevada County, California, who lays out in detail the dynamics of real estate development that lead to privatization. It even has 25 footnotes. Local governments, he says, are strapped for cash and thus approve residential development projects where the developer promises to build the infrastructure. This is a must-read, especially for people who still doubt that it is land economics that is driving the rise of common interest housing, and who claim that it is all about consumers demanding private governments and deed restrictions.

Local government does not have enough cash on hand to invest in anything but it's most essential, depleted public infrastructure – some of which is 100 years old, and vitally needed to improve present traffic conditions. The present Board and Councils are well aware of these priorities, and hesitate to depend on "iffy" money in the future to finance projects that benefit single developments; especially ones that are trying to off-load their full infrastructure responsibilities and are not significantly helping the present population.

Supreme Court job approval drops
The Kelo decision was announced on June 23. This poll was taken from June 24 to June 26. The switch in approval/disapproval is striking: from 51/39 to 42/48. And that followed on a drop from around 60% approval that had held for several years. From 60% to 42%--it's time for some new blood on this court. O'Connor's replacement can't be put in place too soon for me. (I found this link on Polipundit).