Eminent domain to be decided
The fate of billions of dollars worth of private property in California will be at stake this year in a political battle over how much power the government should have to seize homes and businesses for redevelopment. Harrison Sheppard in the Daily News.
With competing eminent- domain reform measures on the June ballot, the outcome will pit taxpayer groups against elected officials - and business and developers likely against both of them.
"I think the local and state chambers will fight this tooth and nail," said Barbara O'Connor, director of the Institute for the Study of Politics and the Media at California State University, Sacramento, "because this is one way that they can `mine' inner-city areas, which are often cheaper to develop and have large developments where they couldn't otherwise acquire property."