Eminent Domain & Batavia Schools
- on 09.24.06
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In Batavia, the schools and park district are working together to force the Mooseheart owners to give up their land. The problem is, the Mooseheart owners do not want to sell. You would think that if the land is not for sale the schools and park district would look elsewhere. But no, if they do not get the owners to sell, they are planning to use eminent domain to take the property anyway. This caused one of the school board members to vote against the plan and then to resign in protest.
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Both districts would like to add the 140-acre Mooseheart parcel for various projects, possibly including a sports complex for the park district. The boards met in separate sessions Tuesday. If talks do not work, the districts reserved the right to employ eminent domain, which spurred school board member Jeff Glaser to cast the only vote against the negotiations from either board before tendering his resignation. “I will not have my name associated with stealing someone’s property,” Glaser said as he walked out of the meeting. But he said the district would like to have a building referendum on the spring ballot and acquiring the land was a factor in that question. Eminent domain, he said, would be pursued only as a last resort. In a telephone interview, Mooseheart representatives reiterated Tuesday the land was not for sale. “We would oppose (the use of eminent domain) vigorously,” Mooseheart Chief Operation Officer Leonard Solfa said. “We’re not interested in selling to Batavia or anyone else at this time.” Calling the possible use of eminent domain by the Batavia school district “theft,†board member Jeff Glaser resigned Tuesday. “How can we negotiate when we say we’ll take it from them?†Glaser said. “If I was the owner, I would feel threatened.†Glaser said the board made its decision out of the public eye by having discussions in closed session on a night the board does not regularly meet. He said the discussion could have waited a week for the next regularly scheduled meeting to hear what the public thought. “It just felt wrong, the way it happened. What would it hurt, in the grand scheme, if we waited another week?†Glaser said. |
I know eminent domain is for public use so this is different than the Kelo decision. However, it still strikes me as inappropriate.
I have to agree with Glaser that this appears to be manipulative and deceptive. The school board called a special meeting, which are usually sparsely attended. The threat of eminent domain comes across as threatening and arrogant. This appears to be just one more tactic of schools that feel they deserve whatever they want and nobody can stop them.
