The Whidbey Environmental Action Network has requested from the county e-mails reportedly sent by all three commissioners to Rufus Rose endorsing Initiative-933, which calls for just compensation in cases where a person’s property is taken or de-valued for public use.

Rose, founder of the Island County Property Rights Alliance and former chairman of the Island County Planning Commission, spoke on behalf of I-933 at an October League of Women Voters forum held on South Whidbey.

“Rose explicitly stated that he had in his possession e-mails from all three county commissioners endorsing I-933,” wrote Steve Erickson of WEAN in an Oct. 12 public disclosure act request to the commissioners. “When I asked him to show me these e-mails, he refused.”

The request solicits “any and all e-mails sent by any county commissioners to Rufus Rose or anyone else since Aug. 1, 2006 discussing, referencing, and/or stating a position or opinion regarding Initiative 933.”

Commissioner Mike Shelton said he and his colleagues have not endorsed the initiative as a board, but they have told people their individual views.

While he faulted the wording in the initiative and the financially tenuous position in which it places local governments, he said he supports the initiative.

“The public good has been protected at the expense of individual property owners through regulation,” Shelton said. “I just believe that is wrong. It’s time for the pendulum to swing the other way.”

The initiative’s intentions are sound, but the Legislature would have to tweak the regulations and take the financial burden away from already strapped local governments, Shelton added.

If the initiative passes in November, the government will have to document certain factors prior to enacting laws regulating private property, according to a League of Women Voters of Washington summary of the ballot issue.

The initiative allows owners of private property to request compensation for loss of value, as defined by the initiative, due to regulations dating back as far as 10 years. Any uses that were legal prior to the development regulations would still be permitted.

“Government has the option of paying for the loss of value of the property or allowing the property owners to develop their property as they choose,” the summarized ballot issue states.

Opponents such as the Island County Smart Growth Coalition fear I-933 would eradicate many land use laws and could cost local governments billions of dollars statewide.