Subj:	will the dissolution of CC&Rs imperil the Union or Arizona?
Date:	2/10/02 10:33:36 AM US Mountain Standard Time
From:	Starman group
To:	hoanet@yahoogroups.com, chore@yahoogroups.com, hoas@yahoogroups.com, hoaa@yahoogroups.com, ahrc@ahrc.com
CC:	sgerard@azleg.state.az.us, mjarrett@azleg.state.az.us, sbundgaa@azleg.state.az.us, hguenthe@azleg.state.az.us

For Immediate Release.

BILLS BEFORE THE ARIZONA LEGISLATURE CALLING FOR THE DISSOLUTION OF CC&RS AND HOAS SUPPORTED BY MANY HOMEOWNER RIGHTS ADVOCATES.  SB 1362 falls short because it excludes HOAs, but SB 1376 hits the mark.

Let's examine this issue of the dissolution of CC&Rs and HOAs from an historical parallel. While  I have referred to a "the conspiracy of silence" with respect to  the undemocratic, private HOA governance, Joseph J. Ellis, Ford Foundation Professor of History, Mount Holyoke College, writes about another forbidden topic in our nation's beginnings in Founding Brothers  (Alfred A. Knopf, 2001).  

Chapter 3, is called "Silence", and deals with the slavery issue from day one to  a petition by 2 Quakers to address the issue before Congress in 1790. I found this chapter to  present a disturbing historical parallel to the question of the dissolution of CC&Rs that call for the establishment of homeowner associations.

The issue before Congress in 1790 was what to  do  with the slave problem, which was considered a moral and an economic issue,  and included 1) being an unmentionable topic in public, the word "slave" doesn't even appear in the Constitution [Art 1, Sect 2.3, refers to "the number of free persons ... excluding Indians not taxed, three-fifths of all other persons"] ;  2) a "gentlemen's agreement" in 1787 not to  bring up the issue of the slave trade until 1808; 3) arguments that the relocation of freed slaves would cause economic chaos in the Southern States and would be cost prohibitive, because the use of slaves had gotten to  be too big a problem to handle [a biracial society was not even contemplated at that time], and 4) the use of slaves was still growing in 1790.

Does this sound all too familiar? Those who  have been following my arguments and events in Arizona can't help missing the parallels.  Just replace "slave" with "HOA private government".  Very disturbing indeed. We all know how long it took to free the slaves and how it finally came about.

The reason offered by Professor Ellis as to why nothing was done in 1790  was the fear of destroying the Union, because as early as 1790, the first time the issue was addressed in public  (the Constitutional Convention of 1787 was a "closed door"  affair), Georgia and South Carolina were already making these threats. He writes, "Whether even a heroic level of leadership stood any chance was uncertain because -- and here was the cruelist irony -- the effort to make the Revolution truly complete seemed diametrically opposed to remaining a united nation".

The issues raised by the Quakers was tabled until 1808 to coincide with the issue on the ending of the slave trade. Ellis writes, "Madison knew what the American Revolution had promised, that slavery violated that promise, and Franklin ... [reminded] all concerned that silence was a betrayal of the revolutionary legacy".

In our modern, faster paced society we cannot wait any longer for a redress of  grievances.  In our modern, enlightened society, action must be taken today by the various state legislatures.  The Union is not in peril today! The states are not in peril today!  If Arizona can survive the $100 million dollar plus alternate fuels fiasco, it will survive the dissolution of these undemocratic, private governments, and so can the other states.

___________________________
HOA Network
Citizens Against Private Government HOAs
"We must make the injustice visible"    ... Gandhi
George K. Staropoli   
pvtgov@cs.com
http://pvtgov.org