Dustin Gawrylow is the managing director of the North Dakota Watchdog Network and a Bismarck resident. Bismarck’s latest controversy can be summed up as follows: A local artist wanted to practice his first amendment rights by hanging an old fashioned black and white portrait of an internationally known climate change zealot on the alley-facing exterior wall…
Guest Post: Al Jaeger Strikes Again
This guest post was submitted by Dustin Gawrylow from the North Dakota Watchdog Network Today’s headline is that two of the three referral petitions may not make the deadline set by the Secretary of State under the law. But the real news story is that one of these referrals was given two separate deadlines – by…
Can We Make It Illegal for the Legislature to Legislate?
Today the Secretary of State’s office announced they have received a resubmitted petition to amend the state constitution to “limit Legislative options for amending state’s constitution,” as the press release puts it. I’d written about this measure last month when it was originally submitted. You can read the latest iteration in full below, but here’s…
Plain Talk: Can’t the People Be Trusted to Vote on Amendments to the Initiated Measure Process?
Proponents of North Dakota’s initiated measure process argue that the will of the people, as expressed at the ballot box, is the ultimate arbiter of political questions. So why then does a group of initiated measure enthusiasts, led by activist Dustin Gawrylow, want to stop the people from voting on amendments to the initiated measure…
Why Is a Construction Firm Printing Campaign Signs for a School District?
Over in Dickinson there is a bit of a kerfuffle over campaign signs promoting an upcoming bond election for a new high school. The story behind those signs is of statewide interest. At issue are the presence of campaign signs on school district property. Some say the signs – which say “vote for our future”…
Proposed Ballot Measure Would Block Legislature’s Ability to Amend Part of North Dakota’s Constitution Dealing With Ballot Measures
We live in a very populist era, but the the proposal detailed below may be the very peak of populist stupidity. According to a release from Secretary of State Al Jaeger’s office, a group of citizens has filed for review a proposed ballot measure to amend the state constitution in a way that would prohibit…
Dustin Gawrylow: Attacks on Gardner Are Petty and Vindictive
This guest post was submitted by Bismarck resident Dustin Gawrylow. This weekend there are two races at the North Dakota Republican Party state convention that really matter: nominations for the U.S. House of Representatives and the Secretary of State. I have personally known Will Gardner for many years, and have had enough in depth discussions…
Measure 4 Is No Power Grab But Rather Common Sense Reform For Initiated Measures
Fargo Forum reporter Mike Nowtazki has a profile of Measure 4 up today, and this oft-overlooked constitutional amendment is framed as being a “power grab” and a limit on the people’s ability to hold the Legislature accountable. But anyone familiar with the actual language of the measure knows it is neither. “I think it’s an…
Guest Post: The Legislature Must Tame The WAWS Monster
In 2011, the North Dakota Legislature approved the creation of a water project commonly known as WAWS (the official name is Western Area Water Supply Authority). The concept behind WAWS was very well intended: create a rural water system that would provide infrastructure and water to communities in western North Dakota and pay for the…
Why Are North Dakota Republicans Proposing A Tax On Water?
For years, Republicans have complained and called for reform of the state’s 11.5% Gross Production and Extraction Tax on oil production in the state. In the last few years, large scale efforts to “Fix the Tax” have been launched. The oil tax is what has created North Dakota massive influx of cash, and created the…