ELECTION 2008: ENDORSEMENT *YES* ON ISSUES 1 & 3

These are almost no-brainers...

Issue 1 -- Moves the required petition filing date up from 90-days before the election to 125-days. Why does this matter? Because the current 90 day requirement doesn't give enough time for signatures to be validated and the issue to be "vetted" before the ballots are printed. So, like last year, we're going to have another Issue -- issue 4, I believe? -- that was withdrawn after the ballots were printed. There's a little rumbling that it will make things more difficult for people to get issues on the ballot. However, you should be planning more than 4-months out if you are really impassioned about an issue.

Issue 3 -- Simply allows citizens the right to "reasonable use" of water on their property. That's it, in a nutshell. It's about protecting people's property rights. I get the impression there was a specific incident that spurred this, but I don't think it's silly or egregious. What's on your property is on your property, though I imagine it won't be long before we get the legal question: what is reasonable use.

That's all for this evening, and pretty much all the issues.