Folks in Rock Hill, MO have been under the thumb of oppressive development for the last several years. A developer named Jonathan Browne, owner of a firm called Novus Development, decided he wanted to build a strip mall. In what has become the trendy approach to suburban "revitalization", he demanded taxpayer funding to cover his costs (and his mistakes!). He insisted on eminent domain to acquire property on the cheap. He bullied the very amateur mayor and board of aldermen into running over their very own citizenry in the hopes of increasing the city's tax base.
The result: a stable neighborhood has been bulldozed. An empty, ugly brick monstrosity sits on a corner where before was grass, sidewalks, and kids playing in the yards. Rock Hill is flat out broke, unable to even fix holes in the roads or pay their firefighters pension. And Jon Browne drives around in a shiny BMW and goes home at night to a million dollar condo in Clayton.
Anyone still think eminent domain is a necessary tool for economic revival?
1 comment:
As Yoda says,
"golddigger extraordinaire, that one be."
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