There was an election yesterday in Texas, just like there was in most of the rest of America. In Texas we had several Propositions to vote on. All passed.Including Proposition 11 which alters the Texas state constitution to make it more difficult for local governments to use eminent domain to seize private property to give to a private developer.
The Texas state-wide revulsion to outrageous cases of eminent domain abuse has been fueled by what was done to hundreds of citizens in Arlington so the Dallas Cowboys could have a place to build a football stadium. This is widely believed to be the worst case of eminent domain abuse in American history.
In North Texas we also have had a lot of people annoyed by how the Barnett Shale gas drilling industry has run roughshod over property owners, particularly what has happened in Dish, Texas, with landowners losing large slices of their property to pipelines, effectively destroying the value of their land.
Of yesterday's Proposition 11 approval, Texas Governor Perry said, "The voters of Texas have sent a clear message: Don't mess with private property rights."
Texas Farm Bureau President Kenneth Dierschke said passing the Proposition was an important, but incomplete, victory. Dierschke says the Texas eminent domain laws still favor the condemner of property.
The founder and director of Texans Uniting for Reform and Freedom (TURF) said, "Texans sent a strong message with their vote that they want eminent domain reform, but Proposition 11 did not get the job done."
Well, Proposition 11 certainly came along 5 years too late to stop Jerry Jones and the City of Arlington from committing the worst case of eminent domain abuse in American history. But I think Proposition 11 would stop Jerry now. That and the fact that the City of Arlington has told Jerry Jones there will be no more abuse of eminent domain in Jones' quest to build more parking lots.
Durango,
ReplyDeleteAlthough Jerry Jones use of eminent domain was an outrageous act, displacing homeowners, we can not forget that back in the late '90s we had a case of land grab right here in our own back yard, it involved the expansion of Northeast Mall in Hurst http://www.nytimes.com/1997/05/18/us/10-residents-under-siege-by-proposal-for-big-mall.html which also left many long time residents homeless. I am so happy that the laws are slowly changing to protect Texas residents from such corporate greed.
TX Moose---
ReplyDeleteI first learned of the Northeast Mall eminent domain abuse around the time people were upset by the Radio Shack eminent domain abuse when low income types were booted out of a housing project called Ripley Arnold. I think the Northeast Mall wrongdoing took place soon after I moved to Texas. I was still in deep culture shock, so during my culture shock period I'm thinking the Northeast Mall shocking thing was just one more thing I was having trouble processing. Taking people's homes for a malls parking lot. I have never shopped in that mall, even though it's just a couple miles from my abode.