Dear HCN,


Mark Muro’s piece about the defeat of growth-control initiatives in Colorado and Arizona was disheartening, but there is a bright side (HCN, 11/20/00).


All of us know that developers care about only one thing. Forcing them to spend money to defeat such proposals puts a crimp in their profits, and more than $4 million in each state must have hurt. This by itself will make any area less attractive to them. I’d urge the sponsors of these measures to do it again. Keep forcing the developers to disgorge some of their profits to defeat such initiatives until they finally pass.

Bill Hamma
Reno, Nevada

Close window X

Republish this article

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Our articles are available for republishing, but images are only available on a case-by-case basis. You can’t republish photographs or illustrations without written permission from High Country News and/or the photographer. Please reach out to syndication@hcn.org to request illustrations and photography for specific stories. Republishing guidelines

• Credit the author and High Country News - We prefer Author Name, High Country News at the byline.  At the top of the story, if on the web, please include this text and link: “This story was originally published by High Country News.”
• Check the image requirements - Images that are clearly marked CC or from federal agencies are in the creative commons and are available for republishing. Outside of this, you can’t republish photographs or illustrations without written permission from High Country News and/or the photographer. Please reach out to syndication@hcn.org to request more information.
• Don’t change anything significant - Articles must be republished in their entirety. Revisions for house style or references to time (“yesterday” to “today”) are allowed. If larger revisions are necessary, including significant trims or an editor’s note, contact us at syndication@hcn.org to get approval for the change ahead of republishing.
• Share on social media - When sharing on social tag High Country News in your post and note the story is from @highcountrynews
  • Twitter: @highcountrynews 
  • Instagram: @highcountrynews
  • TikTok: @highcountrynews
  • Facebook: @highcountrynews
  • LinkedIn: High Country News
• Stay in touch - Let us know you republished the story. Send a link to syndication@hcn.org once you’ve republished the story and let us know how it’s resonating with your readers.

Make them pay

by Bill Hamma, High Country News
December 18, 2000

<h1>Make them pay</h1> <p class="byline">by Bill Hamma, High Country News <br />December 18, 2000</p> <p>Dear HCN,</p> <p>Mark Muro’s piece about<br /> the defeat of growth-control initiatives in Colorado and Arizona<br /> was disheartening, but there is a bright side <a href="http://country-survey-collabs.info/servlets/hcn.Article?article_id=10115">(HCN,<br /> 11/20/00)</a>.</p> <p>All of us know that<br /> developers care about only one thing. Forcing them to spend money<br /> to defeat such proposals puts a crimp in their profits, and more<br /> than $4 million in each state must have hurt. This by itself will<br /> make any area less attractive to them. I’d urge the sponsors of<br /> these measures to do it again. Keep forcing the developers to<br /> disgorge some of their profits to defeat such initiatives until<br /> they finally<br /> pass.</p> <p><b>Bill<br /> Hamma</b><br />Reno,<br /> Nevada</p> </p> <div class="wp-block-group hcn-print-edition-box"> <p>This article appeared in the <a href="/?p=188227">print edition of the magazine</a> with the headline <span class="hcn-magtitle">Make them pay</span>.</p> </p></div> <p>This &lt;a target=&quot;_blank&quot; href=&quot;https://country-survey-collabs.info/issues/issue-193/make-them-pay/&quot;&gt;article&lt;/a&gt; first appeared on &lt;a target=&quot;_blank&quot; href=&quot;https://country-survey-collabs.info Country News&lt;/a&gt; and is republished here under a &lt;a target=&quot;_blank&quot; href=&quot;https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/&quot;&gt;Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;img src=&quot;https://i0.wp.com/www.hcn.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/cropped-HCN_Logo-Monogram_White_Sq-2.png?resize=150%2C150&amp;amp;quality=100&amp;amp;ssl=1&quot; style=&quot;width:1em;height:1em;margin-left:10px;&quot;&gt;&lt;img id=&quot;republication-tracker-tool-source&quot; src=&quot;https://country-survey-collabs.info/?republication-pixel=true&amp;post=106616&amp;amp;ga4=G-0NS3WVPPTN&quot; style=&quot;width:1px;height:1px;&quot;&gt;&lt;script&gt; PARSELY = { autotrack: false, onload: function() { PARSELY.beacon.trackPageView({ url: &quot;https://country-survey-collabs.info/issues/issue-193/make-them-pay/&quot;, urlref: window.location.href }); } } &lt;/script&gt; &lt;script id=&quot;parsely-cfg&quot; src=&quot;//cdn.parsely.com/keys/hcn.org/p.js&quot;&gt;&lt;/script&gt;</p> Copy to Clipboard

1