Posted on 01/14/2006 8:47:21 PM PST by Gomez
A year after Los Angeles seized three acres from a private company to construct a public building, a city councilman wants to sell the land to another private firm for a commercial development.
Both companies are furniture manufacturers. But executives with the company that would buy the land have political connections and have made $17,600 in campaign contributions to key city leaders.
Critics of the proposal say it's wrong for the city to use its power of eminent domain to take property from one business for a public purpose and then sell it to another business.
"It strikes me as an extraordinarily blatant abuse of eminent domain," said Jon Coupal, president of the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Assn.
The city's initial plan was to use the site for a new South Los Angeles animal shelter. The city paid $5.8 million to buy the property with money raised by a bond issue that voters approved to expand animal services.
The switch has delayed construction of the needed shelter by at least a year and could add $5 million to the construction cost. The price tag could hit $17 million, because the new site requires a more expensive design, and the cost for materials and labor has skyrocketed.
Councilman Bernard C. Parks, who is spearheading the plan and represents the area, says the public would benefit more if the land were used for a business.
"It's one of the last inner-city industrial areas, and so we are trying to ensure that it continues to develop," he said. "The original proposal impairs the growth of a major economic development."
The previous owners of the property, which includes three warehouse buildings, said the city has betrayed them.
(Excerpt) Read more at ktla.trb.com ...
"Councilman Bernard C. Parks, who is spearheading the plan and represents the area, says the public would benefit more if the land were used for a business."
Well then give it back to the original owners jackass!
Thanks, Supreme Court!
This will happen all over the country, wherever crooked city leaders can be found.
No one will be able to fight this, now that Kelo is precedent.
How are these people not being voted out of office?
How do these people not get shot or burned at the stake?
Bernard Parks was the LAPD Police Chief before being undermined by the mayor, James Hahn, who later was voted out of office due to "pay to play" scandals.
If you took away every LA politician who was not involved in some kind of pay to play, nepotism, cronyism, we would be free of government, at least for a while.
LA, while very populous and wide spread, is still a small town in the city center.
Even our last Republican mayor was a RINO.
This is just Socialist managment at its best.
It's called TRYANNY Barney.
You're going to see more and more of this as every corrupt or greedy local town gets in on the act. I've been following eminent domain for years since our family business was taken in New York City, and there's just too much money going to the towns and cities for them to do the right thing. We had high hopes in the Kelo case (too bad Alito wasn't on the court then).
Just one more Bush appointee on the SCOTUS and we can get that abomination overturned. Liberals looking after the small guy? Don't make me laugh. :-(
Exactly. And who votes those crooked leaders into office? There is no more by the people and for the people. The people sit by idly and whine "we can't do anything about this." This country was founded on the very principle of "we're not gonna take this." Our forefathers must be rolling in their graves.
It's called TRYANNY Barney.>>>>>>>
It is called tyranny and it is becoming, as a friend used to say long ago,"casual to the most obvious observer". I have often alienated people down through the years by trying to tell them what was coming but few wanted to listen. Now that we have come to the point that the courts approve of outright theft we may as well drop all pretense and announce to the world that the Republic is lost. Somewhere on this Earth a new nation should be set up with the provision that anyone who supports this sort of garbage must be deported.
Wouldn't have mattered a bit. The vote he's replacing, O'Connor, voted AGAINST runaway ED (not erectile dysfunction).
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