In tough economy, Toyota plant brings Miss. jobs

Before Toyota came, Cassius Perry was struggling like many in this hilly, sparsely populated region of north Mississippi that's shed thousands of furniture manufacturing jobs since the 1990s. The young father of three went to school to be a barber, but ended up working for a salvage company while he held out hope for something better.

This year Perry landed good pay and health insurance when he went to work for a supplier to the sprawling new Toyota plant on the outskirts of the tiny town of Blue Springs. Hundreds have been hired, giving local leaders hope that their area will become another Southern automotive boomtown. The plant is finally set to begin production on Nov. 17, following more than a year's worth of agonizing delays.

"It changed my whole life around. I was struggling before I got this job. It made a difference for me, my family, my kids and even my church. I can pay tithing now," said Perry, 22. "The benefits make the difference. I don't want to be 30 and stacked up in medical debt."

So far, about 1,250 Toyota employees are already building test cars at the plant, and the company expects to hire another 280 this year. More will come aboard in the future, and dozens of others are employed by suppliers.

Here is a link to an article that has some detailed information concerning this discussion. While I was wrong about some of the comments that I made... I was right on my basic premise and there was indeed private property seized that had to be seized to build these plants... they just did not include direct plant property... but it is worse... the State seized the property and paid for it with public funds... and then built roads... which were paid for with public funds... all to sweeten the deal to lure these plants here.

There are homes involved in the case of Nissan... and private property was seized in the Case of Toyota (for these public roads). These seizures were not for schools but for roads... but the roads were built in a comprehensive deal to lure these plants here... this is splitting hairs... bottom line... tomorrow's referendum on a Constitutional Amendment will stop these types of sleight of hand politics.

Here is the link to the article and an excerpt from it. Below that are my comments on this... and if this does not satisfy you then I have nothing more to say.

http://deltafarmpress.com/eminent-domain-private-development-0

Was any reason given for the governor’s veto of a measure that had won overwhelming approval in both houses?

“I never heard any official reason. There was talk at the time that if such legislation had been in place, we would not have got either the Nissan or Toyota plants in Mississippi.

“I attended the hearings in the eminent domain case related to the Nissan plant, and the judge ruled in favor of the landowner, saying the state couldn't’t take the land through eminent domain for economic development. The only land that was taken through eminent domain for the Nissan plant was for access roads and other infrastructure that was for true public use.

“The same was true for the Toyota plant; the only land taken through eminent domain was for roads for public use.”

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“Haley offered them long term tax exemptions and seized private properties for very little money”

This is true… the Clarion Ledger ran a couple of stories about below market value payments.

“... so that Toyota could build this plant. Every single Mississippian is paying for these jobs... and will for years... some paid with their personal wealth and property... and the upheaval of their lives.”

It seems that it was just property and not homes seized in the case of Toyota… it was private property that was taken from individuals for access to this plant property… and in the case of Nissan… the Nissan plant had one home that was under direct threat but was not taken for the plants use itself (court case cited in the linked article)… but there were homes taken for public access of right of way. In addition to this, we cut these companies some lucrative tax deals etc..

Now I was wrong (partially) about homes being taken for the direct use for plant property... in the case of Toyota no homes were taken for use on actual plant property... but property was taken to build roads into and out of that facility. I was right that in the case of Nissan... there was one home threatened for direct use... but there were homes taken for the public roads leading into and out of the Nissan plant. Property seizures... even in this case... would not have happened if it were not directly for the fact that this plant was being built and the sole purpose for these roads were to close the deal on building these plants... and who paid for these roads and who paid for that property? WE the people did... through tax receipts... but I was partially wrong and I freely admit that. By focusing on this one subject, you have totally ignored the larger story here.

Haley was involved in a land deal in Stone County, where a convicted (in Florida of the same kind of deal that he was working here in Mississippi) land developer (from Florida) was promising the County Commissioners the moon… schools… shopping centers… golf course… tennis courts… apartment complexes… turning rural Mississippi into an extension of the Gulf Coast… the entire dream ticket. They started a few Spec houses and cleared some land… Haley sent a representative down to do whatever he could to help implement this plan. Most of the populace saw through this charade and the Sun Herald and WLOX TV ran stories on this fellow and this land deal… one contentious “Town Hall Meeting” was held in Wiggins, Ms… WLOX ran some video on it... and people were raging... and about 4 months ago… the banks that were stuck with the loans from this failed plan... held an auction to liquidate the property they now own… they still own a great deal of land.

Many of these companies get these sweet deals... and in the case of Oreck Corporation in Long Beach, Mississippi... when the exemption time passed for tax free sailing... they packed up their plant and moved it to Tennessee... where they cut another 20 year tax free deal... etc etc etc. They should have some protections built into these agreements for the investments of the tax payers... to see to it that this abandonment cannot happen as soon as an agreement ends.

I was not 100% correct... but I was not “wrong”. There are also many cases where homes have been taken for redistribution of wealth... and they are documented... and that is the motivating factor behind the vote tomorrow for a Constitutional Amendment barring this practice... if the problem were not real... there would be no referendum vote tomorrow.

LLS

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