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May 24, 2006

Hercules uses eminent domain against Wal-Mart

In what can only be described as an ominous sign of things to come, the city of Hercules, California has decided to seize private property to prevent it from being developed by Wal-Mart. The city has, in effect, decided to move beyond regulating land use to dictating specific land use and, for that matter, choose who owns and operates it. Under a Kelo type standard, this is a perfectly acceptable use of eminent domain.

The Hercules City Council voted unanimously Tuesday night to take the unprecedented step of using eminent domain to prevent Wal-Mart from building a big-box store on a 17-acre lot near the city's waterfront.
The vote caused most of the 300 people who had packed Hercules City Hall for the meeting to break out in cheers and applause.

"The city of Hercules is very unique. People from the outside have to understand that,'' said Hercules Vice Mayor Ed Balico just before the vote.

During a 90-minute public comment period that preceded the vote, nearly everyone who spoke urged the council to fight Wal-Mart.

"Throw the bums out," Hercules resident Steve Kirby said at the podium of Wal-Mart. "Wal-Mart will never understand what we want."

Another resident, Anita Roger-Fields, expressed concern for small businesses in the city, saying they could be driven out of business by the discount store. "(Wal-Mart is) the worst thing that could happen to our community. They want to crush the competition."

For more on this, see the article in the San Francisco Chronicle.

For a discussion of how Kelo has validated the collectivization of land and property, see my article here.

Posted by samstaley at May 24, 2006 09:51 AM

Comments

I feel like an empty room, but eh. Nothing seems worth doing. I haven't gotten much done today.

Comment by: Sten24351 at January 24, 2007 04:22 PM

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Basically nothing seems worth thinking about. I haven't been up to much these days. I just don't have much to say right now. I can't be bothered with anything , but whatever.

Comment by: Sten22930 at January 25, 2007 02:26 PM

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I haven't been up to anything recently, but so it goes. Such is life. What can I say? Pretty much not much exciting going on to speak of. I haven't gotten much done lately, but I don't care.

Comment by: Sten21699 at January 27, 2007 11:56 AM

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retty much nothing seems worth thinking about. My life's been completely dull , not that it matters. I've just been staying at home waiting for something to happen.

Comment by: Sten94282 at January 27, 2007 09:57 PM

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Basically nothing seems worth thinking about. I haven't been up to much these days. I just don't have much to say right now. I can't be bothered with anything , but whatever.

Comment by: Sten2544 at January 27, 2007 11:35 PM

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Comment by: Sten42804 at January 28, 2007 01:28 AM

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Comment by: Sten60910 at January 28, 2007 10:42 AM

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I've just been staying at home not getting anything done. I guess it doesn't bother me. Shrug. I haven't been up to anything. I haven't gotten much done today.

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Comment by: Sten2295 at January 28, 2007 06:37 PM

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I just don't have much to say recently. Such is life. I've basically been doing nothing. Basically nothing seems worth bothering with. Oh well.

Comment by: Sten42811 at January 28, 2007 10:51 PM

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I haven't gotten anything done recently. I've just been hanging out doing nothing. I haven't been up to anything these days, but it's not important. Today was a total loss.

Comment by: Sten80371 at January 29, 2007 03:36 PM

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I feel like an empty room, but eh. Nothing seems worth doing. I haven't gotten much done today.

Comment by: Sten68136 at January 29, 2007 04:14 PM

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I've just been staying at home waiting for something to happen. Whatever. Not much on my mind lately. I guess it doesn't bother me.

Comment by: Sten11410 at January 30, 2007 12:43 AM

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I just don't have much to say these days, but so it goes. Today was a total loss. I guess it doesn't bother me.

Comment by: Sten69164 at January 30, 2007 07:48 AM

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I haven't been up to anything recently, but so it goes. Such is life. What can I say? Pretty much not much exciting going on to speak of. I haven't gotten much done lately, but I don't care.

Comment by: Sten73209 at January 30, 2007 01:47 PM

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I haven't been up to much lately. I've basically been doing nothing , but it's not important. I can't be bothered with anything recently. I've just been letting everything happen without me lately.

Comment by: Sten68321 at February 1, 2007 08:22 AM

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I've just been staying at home waiting for something to happen. Whatever. Not much on my mind lately. I guess it doesn't bother me.

Comment by: Sten67483 at February 1, 2007 12:32 PM

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I haven't been up to anything today. I can't be bothered with anything recently. Nothing seems worth thinking about. I haven't gotten anything done recently, but oh well. Not much noteworthy going on worth mentioning.

Comment by: Sten35847 at February 1, 2007 04:04 PM

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Comment by: Sten43257 at February 1, 2007 10:34 PM

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Comment by: Sten52002 at February 3, 2007 01:17 AM

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I haven't been up to anything recently, but so it goes. Such is life. What can I say? Pretty much not much exciting going on to speak of. I haven't gotten much done lately, but I don't care.

Comment by: Sten50274 at February 4, 2007 12:23 PM

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Comment by: Sten68339 at February 4, 2007 11:11 PM

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Comment by: Sten13123 at February 6, 2007 08:15 AM

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