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Blog Entry 5 of 6 2007 Lakewood City Council/Mayorial Race Blog
This is what I think of the mayorial race. It will explain my postings and include responses to postings.

Blog Url: http://denver.yourhub.com/~MayorialRace

Even More on Eminent Domain
Contributed by: Allan Berger   on 10/5/2007

I think Rita thinks I am attacking her because she opposes what RTD is doing with respect to a property at 14th and Wadsworth. I am not.In general, I sympathize with those whose property is under the gun and if an amicable solution can be worked out (including moving the staging area to a site owned by the city), I am all for it.

Rita responded: " the 14th and Wads corner is not within the line of the rail. They want land further than what statute allows. These are the very abuses that we have to protect against." Let me be clear, I believe this was an excellent response. It is her opinion that, as a political matter, RTD should be stopped.

Bully for her. I really have no opinion on the issue.

I then write a little ditty about eminent domain. Mayoral Election: About Eminent Domain. I accurately reflect that opinions of her supporters seem to be anti-Kelo. And I wonder if she would eminent domain off the table. She responds that she is not. Again: I believe she gave an excellent answer.

Then she wrote a non-sequitor: "a city cannot trump federal law." It was a non-sequitor because I never suggested that a city do anything of the sort. And there is no federal law that covers how a city should run eminent domain proceedings, only a requirement for due process, for compensation, and for their to be a benefit to the public. Her legal analysis was severely lacking, as was her understanding of eminent domain. Her answer lacked nuance and understanding of what the city could and could not do in an important area. That concerned me.

Finally, if she thinks she is being attacked based upon what is on YourHub, I wonder what Bob Murphy thinks. And Mike Rock, for that matter, whose name Rita is dragging through the mud.



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Showing 1-3 of 3 comments
Submitted By: Catherine Decker
posted on 10/10/2007 @ 7:22:44 AM
(Not Rated)
Max, you are mistaken about Lakewood and eminent domain. Any parcel in the blight zone can be taken using eminent domain, even if it's for economic gain. Lakewood didn't enact any tough laws, that's a really funny joke, though. Bet you heard that from councilman Murphy, same guy who told similar fictional statements to a crowd about Lakewood never having used eminent domain and the eminent domain lawyer had to correct him about the 100 times we did, including the ones at Belmar and Walmart at Colfax. If you think you're right, please show me the city code or charter section where we did that.
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Submitted By: YourHub.com
posted on 10/9/2007 @ 10:37:50 PM
(Not Rated)
It is not about the properties along Wadsworth it is the 1900 properties that are in the TOD that have been blighted by the City for the betterment of the developers. It is not about all the high density housing crammed into the single family neighborhoods destroying the nature of these neighborhoods. It is not about the lies of RTD and the promises broken by RTD. It is about the attitude and support of the City towards developers and RTD, the disrespect of citizen’s property rights, contempt of people’s opinions, and their way of life.
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Submitted By: Max Tyler
posted on 10/9/2007 @ 6:56:49 AM
(Not Rated)
Nobody likes Eminent Domain and it's darn hard to defend but for cryin' out loud, it’s got nothing to do with the Lakewood Mayor's race. If this were an honest debate, the discussion would be about Lakewood's eminent domain. There have been no adversarial takings of property by Lakewood in the last 8 years, period. Doug Stiverson, a small business owner on Colfax across from Walmart had a hot discussion with Murphy and Burkholder over the issue, they listened and Lakewood now has the toughest Eminent Domain laws in the state. No private home and no owner occupied business can be taken by Lakewood. The guy on 14th & Wads has a problem, but how does Rita knows better than RTD about what the statute allows? She’s probably too young to remember that exactly the same thing happened to Bell Plumbing - a 100 year old business totally disrupted for a construction parking lot by RTD at the start T-REX six years ago.
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Showing 1-3 of 3 comments
CONTRIBUTOR INFORMATION

Allan Berger

Lakewood , CO

Allan Berger has posted 6 blog entries and 4 comments since joining on 12/1/2006. Allan Berger 's average blog rating is 2.93.
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