Does the City of Blaine abuse Eminent Domain?
“This is where we question the appropriate use or the threat of eminent domain by the City of Blaine on the Martin family property. Can the City of Blaine legally use eminent domain to take a swath of the Martin family property for a sewer line and other infrastructure needs for the proposed 1000 home development next door? Probably they could. The bigger question is this appropriate? Just because it is “legal” doesn’t necessarily make it right. Should the City of Blaine even be involved in this process when the developer should be paying for the cost of this anyway? The City of Blaine is no stranger to debates about eminent domain. In fact, why is this developer able to convince the City of Blaine to do his work for him?
It turns out that Mr. Hertz, who was in vacation in Mexico at the time of the writing of this article, is not just an average developer. He is the former mayor of Bellingham for 8 years and former director of the Whatcom County Parks System for 10 years. Additionally, he is a major donor to Democrat politicians (according to the PDC) and a major donor to a variety of environmental groups. He even has a trail in Whatcom County named after him. He was also chosen by the Bellingham/Whatcom Chamber of Commerce as the man of the year for 2012. As the former Executive Director of Trillium, he is exceptionally experienced with major developments from Bellingham’s Bellis Fair Mall to hundreds of others both inside and outside the United States. This is a politically powerful and experienced developer who can insulate himself from critiques from the environmental industrial complex with his financial donations to these groups, and he clearly has political clout.”
Morgan, Glen. Freedom Foundation Citizen Action Network 21 March 2013.