Justice Richard Sanders of the Washington Supreme Court will speak at the annual meeting of the Enumclaw-based Citizens' Alliance for Property Rights.

The public is invited to attend the meeting, which begins at 7 p.m., March 24, at the Enumclaw Sales Pavilion.

The Citizens' Alliance was born in the spring of 2003 and originally named the Property Rights Political Action Committee. The key meeting that resulted in formation of the PRPAC was at the Sales Pavilion and was the brainchild of Ron Mariotti (Sales Pavilion owner) and Steve Hammond, an Enumclaw pastor at that time. Spurring the group to action was the late Kent Pullen, who was then a member of the Metropolitan King County Council.

After Pullen's death, Hammond was chosen to fill the County Council seat on an interim basis. He has since been elected to a full term.

While the group has changed its name, organizers maintain their goal has not wavered: to elect politicians and judges committed to defending property rights. The CAPR's board of directors has been working to develop a list of short-term and long-term goals and has retained a professional fund raiser to come up with the cash necessary to make political change.

Sanders was invited to speak because he is "a true friend of Washington property owners," according to a press release issued by the Citizens' Alliance. He was first elected to the Supreme Court in 1995 and was elected to a full six-year term in 1998.

The March 24 meeting will include election of CAPR's officers and board of directors.