The Institute for Justice in Washington, DC is one of the best non-profit organizations in the nation.  With a motto “litigating for liberty,” this public interest law firm has taken on some of the most interest legal fights ever, including defending school choice, economic liberties and private property rights.  Wal-Mart should be calling the Institute for Justice today.

Tomorrow, the Hercules city council will consider a proposal to use the city’s eminent domain powers to take private property owned by Wal-Mart as a way to stop the retail giant from developing the land.  Hercules is in the East Bay and, according to the San Francisco Chronicle, city leaders envision it becoming the East Bay’s Sausalito or Tiburon.  Wal-Mart clearly doesn’t fit in with their vision of an expensive, elite community filled with organic markets and restaurants with celebrity chefs.  A Wal-Mart, which caters low- to middle-class Americans, will draw a different brand of Bay Area residents to their city.  As one Hercules resident so eloquently told the Chronicle, "I don’t want to have anything ghetto around me and my family." 

In fact, the city commissioned a study to fight the Wal-Mart development that showed that the store would bring in lower-income people than who live in Hercules. 

As a homeowner, I can understand that the homeowners may not love the idea of a Wal-Mart locating near their home.  But the city leaders have an obligation to represent all land owners in the city and they are pandering to an elitist attitude.  Wal-Mart owns the land and it is a dangerous precedent for a city to land-grab simply because they don’t like the big-box retailer.  

City officials likes the Hercules City Council have been emboldened to use their eminent domain powers after last summer’s US Supreme Court decision in the Kelo vs. New London case.  This decision allowed local governments to use eminent domain powers to take private property for private economic development purposes, rather than simply for roads or other public use projects.  The Kelo decision has sparked a national backlash in favor of protecting private property rights, including the creation of the "Hands Off My Home" campaign and the Castle Coalition at the Institute for Justice and a statewide initiative sponsored by the Protect Our Homes Coalition here in California.

Hercules is in the 11th Assembly District, which is represented by Joe Canciamilla.  The district is 52 percent Democrat and 25 percent Republican.  Won’t it be interesting to see where Canciamilla (or his wife, who is running to replace him) comes down in this dispute?  In defense of private property rights or for the wealthy elitists in Hercules who don’t want any of "those people" coming into their swanky little town?

This entry was posted on Monday, May 22nd, 2006 at 12:00 am and is filed under Blog Posts.