We, the undersigned registered voters of Sacramento County, do hereby request the Board of Supervisors to approve Julie Linderman’s request to waive the $3,935.00 appeal fee imposed concerning the Arden Creek Town Center project, PLNP 2016-00461.

A governmental entity is not a “for profit” enterprise: its function is to deliver services to the public at the least cost possible. It is inappropriate that anyone be charged such an astronomical fee for an appeal to elected decision-makers of a decision made by their staff.

While some decisions can be appropriately concluded by County employees, it is imperative that citizens be able to confront the elected officials on the Board of Supervisors for a final judgment because the first amendment of the United States Constitution provides the public “the right to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”

Given that ordinary people do not typically have the deep pockets necessary to afford an arbitrarily set charge of nearly $4,000, such a high fee limits access to the right for redress of grievances, thereby creating an unfair barrier to equal treatment of all citizens under the law.

We urge the Board of Supervisors to waive the fee imposed on Ms. Linderman and to revise its fee requirement to a de minimus level or remove it altogether.