Who is this 72nd AD candidate Chris Norby anyway?

Chris Norby fighting eminent domain

Over the past few weeks I have watched blog  reports about OC Supervisor Chris Norby and Linda Ackerman and have remained silent. That is about to end.

I could wrap us this endorsement and text to describe Chris by quoting a Rotary slogan. “Service above self.”

There is no question of his commitment to support victims of redevelopment and eminent domain abuses, all at “no personal gain.”

He created what has been labeled the “RUG” an acronym for his booklet entitled “Redevelopment: The Unknown Government.” Since producing the first 5,000 copies in 1996 he has published a total of nine updated editions whose distribution has exceeded 75,000. Those reports have been distributed across the country. In fact the Institute for Justice in Washington, DC has distributed them at their Castle Coalition property rights conferences.

Chris and I met as a result of our fight on a “bogus” declaration of blight in Mission Viejo over 10 years ago. He invited me to speak at one of his annual Conferences on Redevelopment Abuse that was held in LA. Shortly thereafter I joined the statewide grass roots group CURE, Californians United for Redevelopment Education, that partnered with Chris’s MORR, Municipal Officials for Redevelopment Reform. In Jan. 1998 a few Mission Viejo watchdogs joined Chris and a group of statewide activists on a trip to Sacramento to support victims of eminent domain for Assemblyman Tom McClintock’s (AB 923) hearing.

Since that date Chris has conducted bi-annual redevelopment conferences around the state. Many of the invited MORR guest speakers are well known across the country. His next conference is being held on Nov 7th in San Jose. In addition to Chris Norby organizing these conferences we traveled to San Diego in 2005 and testified before a joint committee of the Assembly and Senate in an effort to add some teeth into the current laws as it pertains to the impact of redevelopment and blight.

Chris organized the successful 2006 protest rally for Bob Blue, owner of Bernard Luggage in Hollywood, where we were successful in blocking the taking of Bob’s property that was never for sale. That effort to save Bernard Luggage resulted in the new W hotel making the store part of their new half billion dollar project at Hollywood and Vine Streets in Hollywood.

LA City Council president Eric Garcetti ‘s Sept 27, 2006 Press Release reads in part “The agreement was reached between the Blue Family Trust, owners of Bernard Luggage Building on Vine Street, the Community Redevelopment Agency of the City of Los Angeles (CRA/LA), and project developers, HEI/Gatehouse Capital and Legacy Partners.”

In the June 6, 2006 election Chris successfully championed Orange County
“Measure A An Ordinance Prohibiting the Exercise of Eminent Domain for Private Purposes.” Seventy six percent of the voters supported this Measure.

To demonstrate Chris’s skill level in crossing over the aisle was his getting Democratic Congresswoman Maxine Waters and CA Republican Senator Tom McClintock’s joint appearance at the 2006 MORR conference supporting Chris’s property rights protection.  That is one priceless photo.

Larry Gilbert supports Supervisor Chris Norby for the 72nd AD seat.

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