I wasn't too keen on the itermodal facility BNSF wants to put in my back yard. Not so much out of NIMBY instincts, I can actually think of a bunch of positives the facility would bring. But big business has a bad habit of panhandling local governments, and Gardner would be a sitting duck for a corporation that does $1.5 billion a year on an 11% profit. They have very little competition, and they have government-like powers.
So I signed a petition, put up a sign (later stolen) but figured if the bear wanted to shit in those woods, I could do little about it.
The petition, turns out, says Gardner can't annex the area BNSF has already said they will absolutely use for their intermodal park. They have federal law and Supreme Court decisions going back to the 1860s on their side, powers of imminent domain, and so on. In other words, this intermodal (train to truck) site is a done deal. The only thing a city would have any say about would be things like warehouses. If you want those to be up to code, and if you want to tax the property the railroad is using, you have to annex the facility.
If the ballot initiative (presented, falsely, as a way to stop the facility from even coming here) passes, the only thing that is certain is that for a 10 year period, the city of Gardner will have zero authority over even the warehouse facilities. We're not going to prevent this neighbor from moving in. Potentially, we might prevent ourselves having any voice at all in making this neighbor act neighborly.
I should have known better than to enter the Dolphin Song for any reason.
The only thing weighing in favor of reason: lots of people know that if they don't undrestand a question when voting, they should vote NO. This isnt' absolutely true, but it's a good reflex to have: 99% of all ballot initiatives will cost you money, hurt your community, or (most likely) both. Voting yes is for people who want to be taxed more and have less freedom.
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