sweeneys poster children for hypocrisy

The Sweeneys - The Poster Children For Hypocrisy in Oregon

Did you see David Reinhard's column yesterday. Great work exposing the

hypocrites (otherwise known as Tom and Peiper Sweeney) who are

campaigning hard to take away your property rights. Here is Reinhard's

article in cased you missed it:

It all seems so doggone perfect. You've got the whole Oregon farm

family, Mom and Dad, two kids and a set of grandparents, walking the

family spread to soothing background music. Filbert farmer-dad Tom

Sweeney is the first to speak up:

"My family spent 45 years building up this farm and without Measure

49, 22 subdivisions will be built around us, threatening our water and

our way of life."

It is, of course, a political ad for Measure 49's repeal of Measure 37

property-right protections, and it's a pretty little thing. It tugs on

the heartstrings of even the most cynical city slicker and presents a

vision of simple people of the plow being driven off our emerald land

to make room for evil subdivisions.

But there's more to this story -- isn't that always the case in

campaign ads? -- and it has nothing to do with the intriguing question

of how large a circle Tom and Pieper Sweeney drew around their farm to

come up with the 22 subdivisions figure.

No, the rest of this Measure 49 story concerns the Dayton couple

that's now so worried about subdivisions that "will be built around

us, threatening our water and our way of life." The Sweeneys, it turns

out, sold 11-plus acres of farmland on the edge of Dayton to

developers who are putting up 56 homes on the old Sweeney spread.

Country Heritage Estates the new subdivision's now called, a takeoff

on the Sweeneys' Country Heritage Farms. In fact, one of the

subdivision's streets is named after the Sweeneys.

All things considered, the Country Heritage Estates houses should be

made of glass, but that's not the worst of the Measure 49 hypocrisy

here. Before selling their farm to the developers, the Sweeneys went

before the Dayton planning commission, which Pieper served on a few

years back -- and sought two things, both of which would boost the

value of the farmland. One, the Sweeneys moved to have the farmland

annexed into the city. (It was already just inside the urban growth

boundary.) This would mean the land would be eligible for Dayton city

water and sewer services. Two, the Sweeneys sought the highest

possible housing density designation for their property. Their success

on both counts drove up the value of their property and the number of

homes in the Country Heritage Estates subdivision.

But it doesn't end there. The Sweeneys have kept three acres along the

highway, across from Dayton High School. Perfect for a commercial

establishment -- a convenience store or restaurant, perhaps -- or more

homes in a subdivision, if that doesn't work out.

All this development, real and potential, is right near the farm of

the elder Sweeneys seen in the ad.

On the Lars Larson show last week, Pieper Sweeney explained that she

and Tom sold the farm to developers because nearby development made it

"completely impractical" to farm. The land just "could not be farmed."

But she acknowledged that nothing really prevented the family from

continuing to grow marionberries on the land and that Oregon has a

strong "right to farm" law.

She further said there had been no reduction in the farm's output

right up to the time they cashed in, though she told me Friday the

costs of farming this particular piece of land have gone up

dramatically.

It's hard to blame the Sweeneys for making the best deal they could on

farm property they bought 18 years ago. But it's a bit rich for them

to tutor Oregonians on the threat of subdivisions scarring Oregon's

farmlands -- and the threat to their way of life -- if Measure 49

doesn't pass.

They got theirs. They worked the system to enhance the value of their

farm property. They saw to it that the highest number of houses

allowable could be built on the old spread. Now they tell us all

they're worried about subdivisions and the family farm.

We got ours, now you get lost -- that's the message here. Measure 49

won't protect landowners from the government reducing their property's

value through land-use restrictions that were not in place when they

purchased the land. It would abolish the property-rights protections

Oregonians thought they secured in Measure 37. And it would stop

landowners in the same position as the Sweeneys from doing the same

thing the Sweeneys did with their now-subdivided farm, if the

government passes a land-use rule after a property's purchase.

The Dayton filbert groves, it seems, aren't the only place the

Sweeneys are spreading the fertilizer.