Friday, November 04, 2005

More legal theft by government

Oakland Seizes Land, Swaps Retailer
Revelli Tire ( search) has been a family-owned business in Oakland, Calif., for 56 years. But if action by the city council remains on course, the tire store will have to find a new home or go the way of the dinosaur.

In July, using the power of eminent domain, the Oakland City Council evicted John Revelli from his store and locked the doors. The council's argument: One landowner should not impede the progress of a city on the move.

Oakland is going to give this land to a private developer and Sears (who sell tires) because:

"Sears is our only major retailer," said Oakland City Councilman Larry Reid. "We have a responsibility in terms of being able to keep Sears in downtown Oakland for what we hope will be a strong viable retail base."

And just so I can define "value" for everyone: Something is only worth what someone else is willing to pay for it or sell it for. Value and worth are mutually agreed upon, one side can't say that everyone got a fair deal if the other side disagrees.

4 comments:

jeff said...

I can't wait for a more rational eminent domain case to come up before the SCOTUS.

Daniel said...

I can't wait until some citizen barricades himself in his house/bussiness and refuses to leave!

Anonymous said...

But good god they were able to keep out WalMart.

MAX Redline said...

This could be bad news for Oregon Socialists

House legislation passed 376-38 would forbid state and local governments from using eminint domain to seize private property for use in "economic development" projects.

The city fathers down in Keizer-kistan are going to be livid when the measure, now on its way to the Senate, passes easily. It also appears to have ramifications for certain socialist judges, such as the one who recently decided to overrule the will of 1.2 million voters in the matter of statewide ballot Measure 37.

At the federal level, the House has already said - and it's expected that the Senate will agree - what Oregon's legislature has never managed to spit out:

Private property owners, YOU HAVE RIGHTS!