Everything Came up Roses
Once he had a flower shop where the parking lot of the Fox Hills Mall is, called Flowers by Daniel Skinner.
The city needed his property, and so the city paid him. He was paid to move, and he moved to Motor and National where he put up his flower shop for five or 10 years. He was able to buy the corner building and to expand.
At a relatively young age, Mr. Skinner was able to hang it up. He and his family moved to Hawaii.
A Former Colleague
Then, Mr. Rose continued, there is the case of former Mayor David Hauptman.
A few years ago, he was moved out of the site that is now Mike Miller Toyota. David moved his business over to Jefferson Boulevard in L.A.
It is clear to the Councilman that Mr. Hauptman, his former colleague on the dais, and his business have lived happily ever after eminent domain.
Long Quiescent
A complicated mechanism that has been authorized but barely noticed for 220 years by the U.S. Constitution, eminent domain seems to have been little used until the middle of the last century.
Originally written to allow governments to claim property in order to build projects deemed for the greater public good, the definition was controversially widened two years ago by the U.S. Supreme Courts ruling in a Connecticut case known as Kelo. This decision permitted governments to seize residences and hand them over to private developers.
Take What You Have
Mr. Rose said that his advice to property owners on the receiving end of eminent domain is to make the best of what they have instead of reacting negatively.
I grant you eminent domain is an emotional thing, the Councilman said.
You can sit back and you can cry about something that happened to you 30 or 40 years ago. Or you can take the lemons and make lemonade out of them. It truly depends on each individual.
Genesis of Town Plaza
The good part is when the Redevelopment Agency initiates economic development, as it did at Town Plaza (in Downtown). That was built on an old city parking lot, which the city bought a million years ago. Used to be a gas station. Then the Agency took it over. They turned it into Town Plaza.
Taking a longer look at the non-victim dimension of eminent domain, Culver City-style, Mr. Rose turned to further examples.
Downtown Changes
Nobody said anything when the former (and longtime) owner of the Sagebrush Cantina sold his business, and it was converted into an art studio and another restaurant, Mr. Rose said.
Ken Chernus decided to close his (photography) business and rent it out to a restaurant (Fords Filling Station).
Nobody said anything when Gus Prado decided to retire and take advantage of the success of the Redevelopment Agency.
The Passage of Time
Do we look back now and say the Agency was wrong in creating these economic opportunities?
These are just some of the benefits that nobody now wants to talk about, Mr. Rose said.
My question is Is the initial redevelopment that the Agency did looked at as good or bad now? When it happened, some people said it was a terrible thing. Now it is looked at as positive.
A Pivotal Inquiry
I would like to ask the critics of the eminent domain that is going on now:
Would the now natural evolution of Downtown ever have happened if the early work of the Redevelopment Agency had not occurred?
