Voting: why it matters most this year

I moved to Sunnyvale from Dallas because I grew up in the country as a kid and I love the atmosphere and character of small rural towns, with large uncrowded residential lots, pastures, the freedom to roam the country side and to walk and bike the roads and trails, to play in the creeks, and to enjoy the beauty and diversity of the surroundings. I looked forward to a higher quality of life without concern for my family's security or hearing gun shots and sirens from my patio. I looked forward to the community value of a well managed locally controlled school district with small high quality neighborhood schools that are actually attended by my neighbors. Most of all, I looked forward to the small town value of friendly neighbors knowing each other, looking out for each other, and helping each other when needed.

Sunnyvale is all that I hoped for with one exception. Over the years our town government has migrated towards an HOA type approach for governance. With every new problem, the council has adopted new regulations, imposing more and more restrictions until we now find ourselves subjected to governmental overreach in many aspects of our lives at the local level, almost as onerous as at the Federal level. Undoubtedly this has been done with good intentions and with an effort to control and ensure high quality development, as well as mitigate conflict between neighbors. However, I didn't move to Sunnyvale to live in an HOA or be subjected to the rules of living an HOA. I highly value my personal freedom and liberty. I bought acreage in Sunnyvale with the expectation that I would be able to do more with it then I could in Dallas. However, I've found that in many situations, Sunnyvale restricts my freedom even more than Dallas. It's ordinances tell me what my house has to look like, what kind of driveway I can have, how I have to do my landscaping, what kind of shed I can have, and the list goes on for hundreds of pages. All four of my immediate neighbors have been fined or had problems dealing the town on very minor issues one would not expect to be a problem.

There has to be a better way. We can manage the development in Sunnyvale and ensure high quality standards without infringing on the constitutional rights of our existing home owners. We don't want Sunnyvale to be another Highland Park. Let's maintain our small town rural character. Let's maintain and encourage diversity in housing styles (every house doesn't need to be masonry). Let's maintain our tree lined roads and pastures. Let's maintain our 1 acre minimum density zoning standards. Let's open up the flood plains to recreational use. Let's give more attention to parks and trails and wildlife than forcing people to brick their sheds and pave their driveways. We are educated adults with civic minded responsibility and concern for our neighbors. We don't need town hall acting as our mother and telling us how to design our homes, use our property, and live our lives.

Let's elect people to the town council who respect our individual freedom, liberty, and private property rights. Let's elect people to the town council who don't have the attitude that they know better what we need than we do. Let's elect people to the town council who will submit major legislation to the town's citizens for adoption rather than forcing it on us. Let's elect people to the town council who will role back HOA type restriction on your private property rights and bring back our rural character.

Your vote matters.

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