Having just read the entire Government Accountability Report GAO -07-28 on EMINENT DOMAIN let me add the following.
Although eight of us, including three attorney’s specializing in eminent domain law, spent perhaps three hours responding to their questions, the 58 page report leans heavily on input from the various redevelopment agencies.
Part of the ground rules of the meeting was that we could not discuss any project currently engaged in litigation nor could we discuss specific homes or businesses. According to their report they toured various redevelopment project sites. However they were not interested in looking at our extensive photo board of a major redevelopment project in Hollywood.
The meat of our collective feedback can be found on pages 32 through 35.
During our meeting we mentioned “victims” that were not included in the report. Ziggy Kruse, manager of Bernard Luggage, had already lost one job due to eminent domain and was about to lose another. Although property owners and their tenants may have compensation protection resulting from these “takings” their employees are out on a limb not knowing if our when their jobs will be eliminated due to closures or relocation out of a reasonable proximity.
The positive message from the report is the extensive list of reforms approved by the legislature or voters in other states that should be taken into consideration as we start our efforts on “Prop 90 lite.”
Larry Gilbert who is looking forward to enhanced property rights protection in CA.
Keep pressing the issue Larry. The redevelopment agencies are hoping to delay things until the property rights movement runs out of steam.
Had we had a pure, anti-Kelo measure on the ballot you wouldn’t have to be going thru these hoops because it would have won big. I hope people will focus on what we can win with instead of reaching into someone’s ideological grab-bag that ends up with the people being stuck with the status quo.