By Bill Du Bois, Published in Dakota Farmer, May 2005
Not All Feedlots Are Created Equal
Do you think we should be able to vote on what kind of future we want for
South Dakota? An initiative allows citizens to propose new laws or ordinances. A referendum means the people can stop legislation from going into effect South Dakota voters have consistently said we don't want large factory farms. But industrial ag proponents refuse to take no for an answer. Governor Mike Rounds and Secretary of Agriculture Larry Gabriel say if citizens don't like a decision, they must wait until the next election and vote out the officials. That may be true in other states but in South Dakota, democracy is more direct. Citizens can collect signatures to put issues on the ballot. Knowing local residents might reject some controversial feedlot permits, giant feedlot supporters are now trying to take away these rights. If a large industrial feedlot wants to come into an area, the local zoning board holds a hearing. Even if an overwhelming majority of local residents oppose an operation, commissioners may ignore them and approve it. That happened in Hutchinson and Bon Homme counties a few years ago. Residents then collected the necessary signatures within the required 20 days to put the issues on the ballot. Industrial farmers went to court to stop any vote. The South Dakota Supreme Court ruled people have a right to vote on such matters. Voters then rejected the two 3,200-head hog feedlots by votes of 66% and 80%. Not to be inconvenienced by a mere thing like the will of the voters, factory farm lobbyists then got the legislature to outlaw democracy. The legislature passed a law saying if commissioners approve a feedlot permit, citizens can’t veto it. Citizens were outraged. They collected enough signatures statewide to stop that law from taking effect and to bring it to a vote. It would have been on the 2004 ballot -- but knowing they’d lose, legislators backed down and withdrew it. However, the enemies of democracy weren’t done. In Moody County (Flandreau), they got 1st District Planners to attempt to word the zoning ordinance to get around the right to vote. County commissioners and voters didn't know that was the intent. The South Dakota Supreme Court will rule (probably by the time you read this) on whether Moody County citizens lost their right to vote on two industrial feedlots because of such shenanigans. No matter how the court rules, citizens in counties which did NOT pass zoning ordinances on large feedlots will keep the right to vote. Even in counties tricked into such an ordinance, either the voters or county commissioners can change it. Shenanigans threatening every South Dakota voter are also going on in Deuel County (Clear Lake). County commissioners this March rejected two initiative petitions claiming citizens can’t change a zoning ordinance. They
are clearly wrong and will lose in court. But it will cost citizens thousands
of dollars to go to court. Years ago in the South, there used to be poll taxes to discourage blacks from voting. To insist citizens must first hire a lawyer in order to exercise their right to vote amounts to nothing less than an expensive poll tax. It is Un-American. Not all feedlots are created equal. Voters should have the right to separate the good from the bad. It is our quality of life that is at stake. Together, we should have the right to overrule a handful of zoning commissioners. We need to balance the scales. Producers need to know what to expect
before breaking ground and the people need to retain their right to
have a say on controversial permits. Giving voters 20 days to collect
signatures to put an issue on the ballot after a permit is approved
is fair to both sides. |