By Antonio D. French
Filed Thursday, March 23 at 7:18 AM
Last week, men dressed in suits were spotted protesting outside of the downtown offices of the City's Land Reutilization Authority (LRA). The men were carrying signs and passing out fliers which claimed that the LRA "stole" their property.
"How would you like it if you had just bought your home for $100,000, the City comes to your home while you were at work, take (sic) your fence down and tell you they condemned it?" read the flier.
It continued, "Next, when you go to pay your taxes, they tell you that you don't own your home, the City and the LRA own it because they foreclosed on it with a 'Fencing' demolition fee of $800."
The property the men were apparently speaking of was 5900 West Florissant, in Ald. Greg Carter's 27th Ward.
"It takes four years to lose a building," Carter told PUB DEF. He said the property owner disregarded certified letters from the City for all of those four years.
Carter said that the property in question was taken due to unpaid taxes and liens. He said that the owner of the property, a denist named Dr. Raphael Williams, did not do anything to maintain his building for nearly 20 years. He said the building has been in disrepair since the days the 13-year alderman attended high school.
"He has been holding the community hostage," said Carter. Though he said he has no plans yet for the property, he is happy to know that the busy corner is now available for redevelopment.
PUB DEF made several attempts to contact the protestors. One of the men wrote his name and number of the back of one the fliers, but has not answered messages left at the number.
6 Comments:
That's one hell of a busy intersection in a busy neighborhood. Another suspicious case of a valuable location getting condemned and seized by the LRA?
9:14 AM, March 22, 2006
I can only say that if the owner has not paid taxes, and if the building is run down, then the LRA did their job. This is assuming that there is any truth found in this story.
10:02 AM, March 23, 2006
University City did the same thing about 10 years ago. They took 10 properties in the Loop from African Americans and gave them to white developers--(Parkview Gardens Association). The City of U.City and the LCRA paid these people $7000-$10,000 for their three-six-family buildings. All of the victims were Black. The City went after their property & maintained a pattern of refusal to issue permits, constant violation notices, harrassment of their contractors. You cannot rehab property in U.City without permits from licensed contractors. This is part of public record because several filed lawsuits to get market value for their property. Names of two families who filed suit: Sandra Keeley, MaryBelle Barnes. Donald & Delores Mills went thru several years of this struggle with the city. They couldn't get permits, their contractors were also harrassed. Their property was not seized because they hired an eminent domain attorney and filed a HUD complaint. They went thru 3 years of this ordeal. According to the Mills as a result of their complaint HUD investigated U.City for I believe a year and a half (Their complaint was that the City was engaged in discriminatory housing practices. I guess this HUD complaint is a part of public record. EMINENT DOMAIN CAN BE TERRIBLY ABUSED. Read more about this situation in an article from the Post Dispatch dated November 13 or 14, 1996.
12:10 PM, March 24, 2006
More about that eminent domain abuse in u. city 10 years ago. Mayor Joe Adams who is presently running again for mayor in u.city was mayor at that time--yep, 10 years ago. So, you can also ask him about that eminent domain abuse in u.city since he was the mayor. The darnest thing is that he is African American just like those victims, but I guess he didn't want to interfere. Looks like u.city was a pioneer in the type of eminent domain abuse that frightens most people. That's amazing for a city who talks about how proud they are of their diversity. P.S. Rumor has it that those developers who were politically connected enough to u.city government to get those properties are NOW millinaires or multi millinaires.
1:49 PM, March 24, 2006
More about that eminent domain abuse in u. city 10 years ago. Mayor Joe Adams who is presently running again for mayor in u.city was mayor at that time--yep, 10 years ago. So, you can also ask him about that eminent domain abuse in u.city since he was the mayor. The darnest thing is that he is African American just like those victims, but I guess he didn't want to interfere. Looks like u.city was a pioneer in the type of eminent domain abuse that frightens most people. That's amazing for a city who talks about how proud they are of their diversity. P.S. Rumor has it that those developers who were politically connected enough to u.city government to get those properties are NOW millinaires or multi millinaires.
1:49 PM, March 24, 2006
Maybe all those people arguing about a documentary might look into the eminent domain story. No, wait, it's easier to argue about whose conduct is more pure than to actually investigate government abuse of power!
10:39 AM, March 26, 2006
Post a Comment
<< Home