Government is theft. It takes money from those who earn it. Then gives the money to donors, friends, special interests, foreign terrorist governments, criminals and about 20 million criminals from foreign countries.
Now, the discussion has begun in San Diego to steal private property and give it to the homeless. In textbooks, this is called either socialism or communism.
“Council President Sean Elo-Rivera recently suggested seizing private property – or even threatening to – could give the city more leverage as it sets out to replace the hundreds of shelter beds it’s losing in the near term.
Elo-Rivera argues the city shouldn’t dismiss any potential tools – including potentially taking private property to address the crisis – as it urgently seeks shelter options. The way he sees it, this tool, typically referred to as eminent domain, could serve as leverage in negotiations with property owners of future shelter sites. “
The Case for Seizing Private Property for Shelter Sites and Why the Mayor Is Against it
Council President Sean Elo-Rivera is urging Mayor Todd Gloria to consider seizing properties to increase the city’s shelter options. The mayor isn’t on board.
by Lisa Halverstadt, Voice of San Diego, 8/15/24 https://voiceofsandiego.org/2024/08/14/eminent-domain-san-diego-homeless-shelters/?goal=0_c2357fd0a3-5566b09763-81866633
Council President Sean Elo-Rivera recently suggested seizing private property – or even threatening to – could give the city more leverage as it sets out to replace the hundreds of shelter beds it’s losing in the near term.
By early 2025, four city-funded homeless shelters must shutter for reasons ranging from expiring permits to planned redevelopments. Another already closed in July. The forced closures mean the city will be down 732 beds by early next year.
Officials agree they need to find replacement options fast, especially for two large Father Joe’s Villages shelters set to close by the end of the year. But they differ on tactics they should use to address the gap.
2024
Elo-Rivera argues the city shouldn’t dismiss any potential tools – including potentially taking private property to address the crisis – as it urgently seeks shelter options. The way he sees it, this tool, typically referred to as eminent domain, could serve as leverage in negotiations with property owners of future shelter sites.
Mayor Todd Gloria isn’t interested.
Gloria and his team, who are urgently trying to push another large shelter proposal that wouldn’t deliver new beds until at least the second half of next year, are pushing back on Elo-Rivera’s idea. They argue eminent domain is a complex, lengthy legal process that won’t deliver shelter as fast as they need it.
The policy dispute began with dueling memos – and was punctuated by a City Attorney’s Office memo siding with Elo-Rivera.
On June 28, Elo-Rivera sent a memo to Gloria proposing, among other tacks, that city staff work with the City Attorney’s Office to potentially seize properties or formally urge property owners to sell to secure shelter options with priority given to vacant, blighted sites.
In his own July 12 memo, Gloria rejected that idea.
“Due to the complexity involved with eminent domain actions in the state of California, funding and resource limitations, and timeframe considerations, this option will not be pursued by the administration,” Gloria wrote.
The City Attorney’s Office wasn’t cool with that call – or the fact that the mayor was so publicly turning it down. In other words, he was telling property owners the city has no plans to use one of a city’s most powerful tools.
Assistant City Attorney Jean Jordan wrote in a July 19 memo that the city’s bargaining position in lease negotiations for a mega shelter in Middletown – a deal that’s been criticized as unfavorable to the city – was hampered when Gloria declared he wouldn’t pursue that option.
Jordan wrote that the Gloria memo declaring that his administration opposes eminent domain to acquire alternative shelter sites amounted to a decision to forgo “the city’s most effective, legally permissible tool to obtain fee title ownership of land at a fair price equal to the land’s appraised fair market value.”
Jordan’s conclusion didn’t change the Gloria’s administration position. Elo-Rivera hasn’t backed down on his, either.
23, 2024
During a July 22 City Council meeting where city officials laid out the upcoming shelter closures and considered the mega-shelter lease, Elo-Rivera noted that the city pursued eminent domain to secure property for the Coastal Rail Trail bike lane project in the La Jolla area, a plan the City Council received updates on the week before.
“There were six properties that the eminent domain process was utilized for, four of them were completed in the first year of engagement,” Elo-Rivera said. “Why are we willing to pursue this option for bike lanes but not for homelessness shelter?”
“I understand,” replied Kohta Zaiser, the mayor’s City Council liaison. “It still took three years to embark on that process for the remaining properties as well.”
“But two of them, the offer was accepted immediately and the other two were accepted within that calendar year,” Elo-Rivera said. “So why would we at least not try?”
Zaiser said Gloria’s office saw eminent domain as a long, drawn-out legal process.
The mayor’s deputy chief of staff reiterated that position in emails with Voice of San Diego.
Deputy Chief of Staff Nick Serrano wrote that the formal eminent domain process ultimately wasn’t necessary for four property owners along the bike path and that negotiations with the other two were continuing. Serrano also made a distinction between eminent domain projects on vacant land and those with existing structures “that may already be underutilized, blighted, or fraught with penalties due to public health and safety.”
Serrano argued issues tied to those properties would only prolong the process to open new shelters.
“Using eminent domain to acquire the property can be a long process in and of itself (keep in mind any legal challenges that arise from doing so), but so will the subsequent processes for environmental mitigation, rehabilitation, and reconstruction,” Serrano wrote. “Then we will have to go through a process to program the space, secure a lease, procure goods and services, and conduct public outreach.”
He also cited the city’s years-long battle with a downtown cigar store owner in a past eminent domain case as evidence. Notably, the city then used eminent domain to try to replace the cigar shop with a hotel.
Elo-Rivera isn’t convinced of the Gloria team’s argument. He thinks the city should be doing all it can to find new shelter sites – and that eminent domain should be seriously considered.
“It is a tool that the city can use to acquire property and by not utilizing that tool, not only are we limiting our options, we are potentially reducing our leverage in negotiations for every property because the (party on the) other side of the table knows we’re not using all the tools at our disposal to increase the number of options that we have,” Elo-Rivera told Voice. “Just like any negotiation, the number of options the other side has as at its disposal plays an important factor in determining how much leverage each side of the negotiating table has.”
He reiterated this position in another memo late last week.
This whole concept is immoral, should be illegal and id just plain bad. The bill should include a provision that 50% of the units will be built in ELO-Rivera’s home district, preferably across the street from his house.