by Jennifer Williams

On Tuesday, Sept. 26, 2023, at the regular Garnett City Commission meeting, Mark Powls is on the agenda representing the KS Property Rights Coalition-ANCO for their property rights resolution.

The resolution proposal was mailed out to every Garnett resident last week, and the group submitted the resolution and supporting documents to City Hall then as well.

The cover letter addressed to the City of Garnett stated the following:

“This resolution is specific to the right of every individual to own and control their own property without infringements by government entities or others and the duty of the city commission to protect that right pursuant to the Declaration 1 of the Bill of Rights in the Kansas Constitution.

The Kansas Property Rights Coalition of Anderson County represents persons living in Anderson County, Kansas and the City of Garnett, Kansas on issues pertaining to the Kansas Constitution and the required duty of elected representative government to defend and protect the Right of every individual to a Life, the free exercise of Liberty, and to one’s pursuit of happiness (traditionally, and historically, understood to primarily include, “the right of every individual to own his, or her, own property in its many forms without infringement).”

The group will present the same information to the Anderson County Commission on Monday, October 2, 2023, at 10:30 am.

Their hope is that this will be used as a template for all municipalities to put their elected representatives on constitutional “notice”.

When asked about the resolution, Mark Powls said, “I think people will agree, that the only way to restore what was supposed to be a Federal Republic, can only be restored from the bottom-up. I believe that is why the U.N. targets our cities and counties to ignorantly (and sometimes intentionally) implement their global agendas. We saw the U.N. agenda get right back on schedule with the 2020 Plandemic, yet way too many elected commissioners are eagerly implementing their agenda. The enforcement mechanism for any mandates or unconstitutional regulatory agencies is created from within the U.S. executive branch and found in our City, County, and State governments, not the U.S. general government. Without the States, they have no power. Our cities have a local control power written into our Kansas Constitution and the counties have a statute granting certain local control powers that is pursuant to the Kansas Bill of Rights. Cities and Counties actually possess the power to stop unconstitutional decrees, mandates, and unconstitutional legislation via direct nullification, and we should begin exercising that local grassroots power. Without the people of these cities and counties, they are nothing.”

Mr. Powls stated that ultimately his personal goal is to limit property taxation to the original ordinance in our Kansas Constitution, taxing land only and not homes, commercial buildings, structures, or personal property. He believes land should all be taxed at the same rate and not different rates based on use. “Government has no right to tax on your use. If they do, then you do not own your land,” he claimed.

“Article 11 in the Kansas Constitution was never supposed to morph into this massive taxation matrix, and it has to end. Article 11 should be reduced to a very simplified couple of paragraphs like it was when Kansas was chartered as a sovereign country (state) in 1861. Government needs to reduce in size, beginning with its over-populated administrative deep state, and it needs to work within the budget the People give it.”

For more information or to watch the meeting, attend the regularly scheduled City of Garnett Commission meeting on Tuesday, September 26, 2023, at 6:00 pm.

Garnett City Hall
131 West 5th Avenue
Garnett, KS 66032

text of Resolution:

RESOLUTION TO REINFORCE THE CONSTITUTIONAL REQUIREMENT OF THE ELECTED GOVERNING BODY TO PROTECT THE INHERENT RIGHT TO OWN ONE’S OWN PROPERTY WITHOUT INFRINGEMENT BY ANY ENTITY, FOREIGN OR DOMESTIC PROPOSED BY THE KANSAS PROPERTY RIGHTS COALITION-ANCO.

“Property in a thing consists not merely in its ownership and possession, but in the unrestricted right of use, enjoyment, and disposal. Anything which destroys any of the elements of property, to that extent, destroys the property itself. The substantial value of property lies in its use. If the right of use be denied, the value of the property is annihilated and ownership is rendered a barren right.”

– From “Fifth Amendment” treatise by State Supreme Court Justice, Richard B. Sanders (12/10/97).

WHEREAS, The owner’s exclusive authority to determine how private property is used shall not be infringed upon except if an owner’s actions are a direct infringement upon the right of another to the same;

WHEREAS, The owner’s peaceful possession, control, and enjoyment of his/her lawfully purchased, real private property shall be protected by this commission, the employees of the City of Garnett, Kansas or its planning committees and volunteers or assigned agents;

WHEREAS, The owner’s ability to make contracts to sell, rent, or give away all, or part, of the lawfully purchased real property shall be protected by this commission, the employees of the City of Garnett, Kansas or its planning committees and volunteers or assigned agents;

WHEREAS, This commission, the employees of the City of Garnett, Kansas or its planning committees and volunteers or assigned agents are prohibited from exercising eminent domain for the sole purpose of acquiring lawfully purchased real private property so as to resell to a private interest or generate revenues;

WHEREAS, This commission, the employees of the City of Garnett, Kansas or its planning committees and volunteers or assigned agents has no authority to impose directives, ordinances, fees, or fines regarding aesthetic landscaping, color selections, tree and plant preservation, or open spaces on lawfully purchased real private property;

WHEREAS, This commission, the employees of the City of Garnett, Kansas or its planning committees and volunteers or assigned agents shall not implement a land use plan that requires any part of lawfully purchased real private property be set aside for public use or for a Natural Resource Protection Area directing that no construction or disturbance may occur;

WHEREAS, That this commission, the employees of the City of Garnett, Kansas, its planning committees and volunteers or assigned agents shall not implement or enforce a law or ordinance restricting the number of outbuildings that may be placed on lawfully purchased real private property;

WHEREAS, That this commission, the employees of the City of Garnett, Kansas, its planning committees and volunteers or assigned agents shall not alter or impose zoning restrictions or regulations that will devalue or limit the ability to sell lawfully purchased real private property;

WHEREAS, That this commission, the employees of the City of Garnett, Kansas, its planning committees and volunteers or assigned agents shall not limit profitable or productive agricultural activities by mandating, controlling, or regulating what crops and livestock are grown on lawfully purchased real private property;

WHEREAS, That this commission, the employees of the City of Garnett, Kansas, its planning committees, volunteers, or assigned agents for the City of Garnett, shall not trespass on private property without the consent of the property owner or is without possession of a lawful warrant from a legitimate court of law. This includes invasion of property rights and privacy by government use of unmanned drone flights, with the exceptions of exigent circumstances such as protection of life, limb, or the private property itself;

WHEREAS, That no land, owned by any individual or private entity, shall be seized by City, County, State, U.S. general government, private or public corporate entity, the United Nations or any other foreign entity for the advancement of personal interest or agenda in any form or method; or the unconstitutional use of eminent domain under the pretense of *climate change, emergency mandates; or any local or global agendas designed to diminish or dissolve the independent sovereignty and inalienable rights of the individual as a person of the State of Kansas; and

*(climate change: https://www.un.org/en/climatechange)

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT HEREBY PROCLAIMED by the Commission of the City of Garnett, of Anderson County, Kansas, that the City of Garnett Commission adopts the constitutional requirement to protect the inherent right of every individual to own and control his/her own real and/or personal property without infringement by any government foreign or domestic, or its assigned agents or employees or by any entity or thing, whether artificial, sentient, or non-sentient.