(This article was originally published on the Freedom Foundation blog on August 20, 2014, written by Glen Morgan, while he was the Property Rights Director at the Freedom Foundation. The original article posting was deleted by the Freedom Foundation in 2017. It has been reposted here exactly as it was originally written. Some links no longer work and some original images are no longer included in the article)
San Juan County has provided many examples recently of how Big Government—even in small communities—has a way of harming everyone using almost any excuse imaginable. This is particularly true when Gang Green infests the bureaucracy and political leadership.
It appears the bureaucrats and politicians running San Juan County have decided to require extensive permits and fees for anyone who dares to display artwork or outdoor sculpture – even for museums.
Despite no evidence of problems, no neighbor complaints and no rational reason for being engaged, San Juan County has decided to fine the 40-year old private Lambiel Museum $1,000 week for daring to allow artists to install outdoor sculpture art without going through the bureaucratic torture of getting a building permit 19 years ago.
A photo of the art work (or crime scene if you are a Central Planner) is included below. Read this recent letter from the museum founder here.
The embarrassing silliness of San Juan County’s effort to harass a private museum deserves all the ridicule and contempt from ordinary citizens it receives. The effort to harass a private museum that contains hundreds of pieces of artwork, providing opportunities to many local artists to display their talents, and which has been nothing but a gem for the local Orcas Island community deserves disdain from everyone.
Once again, while we certainly don’t need any more examples to prove that Big Government is the problem, this is just another example of, to paraphrase George Will, that, “The bigger government swells, the more government’s brain shrivels.”
In San Juan County, a bastion of “Progressive” utopia and a stronghold for environmental extremists, the shriveling never seems to end.
If you want to contact the San Juan County Council – go here.
If you want to sign the museum’s petition – go here.
If you want to read other stories about San Juan County read these (author’s note: dead links have been removed):
- Criminalizing Poverty in the San Juans
- Tales of Tyranny – Nick Jones Story – How to Shut Down a Farm Stand in the San Juans
- Tales of Tyranny – Charles Dalton Story – How to destroy a small organic blueberry farm in the San Juans
- San Juan County Council easily falls for Department of Ecology’s deceptions
- Children sing about “Spies” of San Juans (Friends of San Juans habit of spying on neighbors and harassing them)
- In San Juan County – It is Only Your Money They Waste – and the Council Laughs
For an endless collection of stories of abusive government and Gang Green escapades, go to these local websites:
- http://www.trojanheron.com/blog (new)
- http://trojanheron.blogspot.com (old)
- http://www.islandguardian.com/petersen
Related Articles:
- Planning to Stifle Human Ingenuity
- What Happens When the Central Planners Fail?
- Can Trees Grow Without Central Planning?
- Pick up an Antler – Go to Jail for Six Months
- Gophers, Artillery, and US Fish & Wildlife
- Shooting Owls, Counting Slugs, and Fighting Evolution – US Fish & Wildlife Service at Work
