Dear OLG Member:

Yesterday, HB 218 was passed out of Committee and sent to the full House. This is an obvious success, but in order to understand how hard that was and how much work is ahead of us, it is necessary to understand the dynamics that took place and will continue to be in place.

Everyone in the Ohio Lakefront Group understands the concept of their deed and basically can't understand how the State can steal our property. Unfortunately, that basic belief is not shared by all, and there are those that want to steal this land. Yes, they are lying about their facts, but an often-repeated lie, soon becomes the truth. In addition we have some very powerful forces against us.

We have been working for months (some people have been working for years) to get this legislation passed. When it came time for the vote yesterday, that was all out the window. There were a number of Committee members that were swayed or coerced by the environmental community to vote against the Bill. There were several that were "sitting on the fence" because of the rhetoric opposing the Bill. The Bill passed out of Committee on a vote of 9 to 4. If we did not have a good turnout by our members yesterday, that vote could have easily been 7 to 6 and it could have even been 6 to 7. It was a very long and hard day for everyone that turned out, but they ended up making all the difference in the world.

The Bill will be up for a vote in the full House very soon, I hope to report good news to you with respect to that vote.

The Bill is now taking shape and will continue to be shaped in the Senate. A lot of incidental things have been clarified and the main battle line seems to be emerging--who owns the dry beach? It is very clear that we have drawn national attention. There is a national movement underway to seize private property (not just lakefront property) without any compensation. That national movement does not want to be handed a loss in Ohio.

That national attention means that our work will be all the more difficult in the coming months. However, together we can make a difference. Its our land and we need to work together to protect it. Together we can succeed as we did yesterday at the Committee.

By the way, for those that were there yesterday and did not understand the cryptic voting on amendments at the end, I must apologize. There were very few copies of those amendments and there was no way to know what amendments were even going to be considered before hand. The amendments that passed and failed are of interest.

Chairman Hollister proposed two amendments. One was to limit any fines to $500 and take out the language that the fine was "per day."   Grendell had five amendments and they all helped clarify who gets leases and permits and that a breakwall is a littoral structure.

All of Skindell's motions failed. Chief among these was to leave the language regarding where the Public Trust starts exactly the same as it has been for years. As we all know, the status quo is a part of the problem.

Thanks again for everyone's help. Spread the good word--we need all of the help we can get.

Tony Yankel, President