Eminent Domain

Even before Art was a part of the Council majority, he was able to stop eminent domain completely. The City Council in Bellflower is also the Redevelopment Agency. The majority of the Redevelopment Agency wanted to use eminent domain to take away property from the rightful owners and give it to a developer for a movie theater. The problem for the Council majority was that one of them owned property close to the project site and could not legally vote on the issue. With a tie 2 to 2 vote, the motion to implement eminent domain failed.

In the five years Art was in office, eminent domain was never enacted in Bellflower.

Property owners need to beware of the government. In last year's Kelo v. New London decision, the United States Supreme Court decided that eminent domain could be used to condemn private property so that it could be used as part of a comprehensive redevelopment plan. The Court held that "the city's proposed disposition of this property qualifies as a 'public use' within the meaning of the Takings Clause of the Fifth Amendment.

This is why we need the "Protect Our Homes Initiative", a state constitutional amendment initiative that would limit state and local governments' use of eminent domain to bona fide public purposes such as roads and public facilities.

Eminent domain should be illegal in all of California when it involves taking property from one private citizen or business for the benefit of another.