Title: Homesteading Army Vet, Elderly Couple Face Eviction for Being Unable to Pay Predatory Code Enforcers Source:
From The Trenches URL Source:https://fromthetrenchesworldreport.com/ Published:Aug 25, 2019 Author:Jack Burns Post Date:2019-08-25 19:32:20 by Deckard Keywords:None Views:1079 Comments:11
Joshua Killeen, a U.S. Army veteran, entrepreneur and homesteader, thought hed done his research when searching for a state in which to build his homestead. The vision was to open a sustainable homestead to be used as a wellness retreat featuring classes on how to homestead and health and wellness clinics such as yoga, with his wife is an instructor. In 2016, he chose Arizona and settled in Yavapai County where he bought 10 acres. Thats when he says the nightmare began.
Less than two years after purchasing the property, a Yavapai County code enforcer named Jacob Lane blocked the entrance to Killeens farm. He told the budding homesteader he was guilty of breaking several building codes and if he didnt come into compliance hed have to pay a $7,500 fine.
Lane gave Killeen a hearing date to meet with the County. But after showing up to the hearing, Killeen said he was pressured into signing an affidavit saying he was guilty of violating multiple county codes or face the $7,500 initial fine as well as $500 per day per violation until the land was returned to vacant land.
To Killeen, the violations seemed much ado about nothing. There was a fence, a few outbuildings, and a tiny home in which he and his wife lived. We asked Killeen why he didnt just go ahead and secure the building permits for the structures and he said the county simply wasnt doing its job to ensure the permits were issued in a timely manner. So after waiting months on a septic tank permit, for example, the Army veteran had enough. He went ahead and used his land the way he wanted toyou know, like all Americans did before municipal codes were invented to control how people use their own land.
Killeen said not only was he taking it from Yavapai County officials but was giving it back as well. He threatened to turn in the county to the federal government for corruption because of the pace of their permitting was unacceptable in his mind. After threatening to get the feds involved, Yavapai County quickly gave him his septic permit.
Wanting to use his land the way he wanted to use it, Killeen said he preemptively started advertising his retreat on Facebook. The county, he said, had a fit over it and actually printed off pages from his Facebook account and brought them to the hearing. Killeen agreed to remove the advertisements but thought it odd the county would actually stalk his page to uncover dirt to be used in a conditional use permit hearing.
The army intelligence veteran soon realized he was not alone in being what seemed like a target for county officials to go after code violators. A retired couple in their 80s is currently facing foreclosure after being fined $9,300 in code violations. Those violations now have gone to debt collectors. They say they dont have the money to pay the fines and are being forced to sell their homestead over an incomplete home renovation (which originally had been permitted), and a few outbuildings on their land. The couple says the code enforcers violated the law by coming onto their property to take pictures.
Lind Storebo bought her property in 2016, and paid cash for it only to find out she too would be a target of intimidation and harassment by Yavapai County code enforcers. Like Killeen, Storebo was also asked to attend a hearing with the county. She said Yavapai County official David Williams was screaming at her, hurling profanity, spitting in her face as he did, and threatened to have her arrested if she didnt sign the affidavit for allegedly violating county codes when she put a camper on her land. Storebo was afraid of going to jail, and instead of fighting, simply vacated the land by removing the buildings and the camper. She now has land she paid cash for and cannot use.
Killeen says the ordeals could all have been avoided had the county respected the landowners rights to do with their land as they wish. He says the fees for permitting and land studies are staggering. Hes already paid out $11,000 in permit fees to the county. Killeen and his wife are determined to see their dreams come true at any cost but cant keep wondering why the county simply doesnt give individuals who want to live a more traditional homesteading way of life a pass on frivolous fees.
It seems in the land of the free, even if you pay cash for your multi-acre homestead, want to install a clean septic system and live a sustainable life, you cannot. If you do youll be extorted by your local government for attempting to do so, threatened with going to jail, and harassed until you comply.
Below is a video Killeen made after interviewing Storebo about her ordeal. Please like, share, and comment below.
This starts to sound like a totally corrupt county government.
The feds should get involved. Send in the FBI with warrants and dare these turds to lie to them. Then throw the book at 'em.
What good are the Constitution's guarantees of liberty, property, due process if the feds sit back and allow some puny county government to shake down the citizenry like this?
In this video I present the facts about the attack against Adam Kokesh. Adam bought some land in Arizona, it is located within the imaginary boundaries called Yavapai County. These lines are no different than the parish boundaries for a the Catholic Church; just because you are physically within those boundaries, doesn't mean you re within the church.
David Williams, an employee of the county government, did not like that Adam started building and doing improvements on land Adam owned outright. I spoke with Williams on the phone and he was unable to provide any evidence his claim against Adam is true. He believes the constitution and code apply to Adam because he's physically in Arizona, but he admittedly cannot prove it.
Rather than leave Adam alone until he had evidence of jurisdiction, Williams chose to escalate the matter. While he is telling people Adam chose the hearing, he neglects to mention he only offered Adam a false choice, either an admin hearing or a criminal prosecution. Despite a third option, acting in good faith and consistent with due process by dropping his attack until he had evidence of jurisdiction, Williams went with escalation.
I contacted the County Board of Supervisors in an effort to stop escalation, I spoke to Jack Smith, the chairman. Smith was admittedly not able to prove the constitution and code applied to Adam and agreed to speak with Williams and ask that the matter not be escalated until evidence of jurisdiction was presented. Smith did not keep his word, instead kicking the can to Craig Brown, district four supervisor.
Despite many messages by phone and email about the situation, Brown never responded. No one on the Board of Supervisors could present any facts proving the constitution and code apply to Adam just because he's physically in Arizona. Neither could one of their attorneys, Jack Fields.
Despite the lack of evidence, Williams was permitted to escalate the matter and Adam has been summoned to an administrative hearing in Prescott, Arizona on 9 August 2016. I will be assisting.
One thing is certain about the hearing, Williams and his accomplices will still not be able to prove the constitution and code apply to Adam just because he is physically in Arizona.
David Williams' Dishonest Responses - Adam Kokesh Update
No one on the Board of Supervisors could present any facts proving the constitution and code apply to Adam just because he's physically in Arizona.
Well then the county can do whatever they want with Adam -- including incarceration or even the death penalty -- since Adam insists constitutional protections don't apply to him.
Despite many messages by phone and email about the situation, Brown never responded. No one on the Board of Supervisors could present any facts proving the constitution and code apply to Adam just because he's physically in Arizona. Neither could one of their attorneys, Jack Fields.
Well, Adam is a little sketchy at times. This does sound like a sovereign citizen defense. I've started to think that is Kokesh's likely path in the future from some of his past events like dancing at the Jefferson monument or brandishing a loaded shotgun in D.C.
I'm just saying that Kokesh has a bit of history revolving around constitutional issues.