Thugs for Better Schools II

As Tim Grover has explained quite correctly there is no more worthy reason to employ the Government’s power to take property away from homeowners than for the purpose of public education. If only Native Americans could appreciate the government’s nobility and high call to purpose. Its called eminent domain.

And yet despite Tim’s pronouncement the Dixon-led school board made much of never having had to resort to eminent domain acknowledging that ED was not a very popular thing to employ. The denial of using ED was simply not true.

Tim was right. The School Board is protected by Federal statutes which give it carte blanc authority to take private property for the Red Plan. No homeowner could have withstood the Board’s authority to take their land and homes for the purpose of public education. As a result every one of the hundred or so folks who lost their homes to a Red Plan project was threatened with eminent domain whether they had to be taken to court or not. Had they attempted to fight for their property they would have lost it with little more than a perfunctory court appearance.

This effectively meant that any homeowner’s best option was to talk tough and attempt to force the District into giving them a good price on their homes to avoid a court fight and the appearance of bullying homeowers. While it is possible the Courts might have awarded them more money from the District it would almost certainly have cost them more in legal services than a higher purchase price would have been worth. In this sense eminent domain was a weapon aimed at every citizen who’s property stood in the way of the Red Plan.

And then just a few months ago eminent domain finally was employed to take a little land away from the business owner up by the Piedmont School. Scott Kuiti had been lied to by the District’s property manager about the acquisition of land. He had been cheated out of a business tenant by the District’s realtor who took the tenant for herself after telling the tenant Kuiti’s property would be torn down by the District. He had the District’s contractor tear down foliage on his property without permission and then trespass on his land with heavy machinery without asking permission. Finally, the School Board itself decided to take his land through eminent domain. Oh, and the Duluth News Tribune wrote an editorial making Mr. Kuiti look like the bad guy. Nice!

Mr. Kuiti did flip Tim Grover the bird when the Board Chairman came around to look at the damage. Not Nice! But, frankly, who could blame him.

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