Through My Eyes
Ron Davis
File this under the damned-if-you-do, damned-if-you-don’t category. A
Huntington Beach City Council, tired of being criticized for an apparent
lack of progress with the revitalization of the Downtown area, responded
by enacting a controversial ordinance subjecting a very narrow area of
the Downtown to the ugly power of eminent domain. After years of limited
progress in a specific Downtown area, had they not done something, much
of the community would have skewered them for their inaction, as we have
on the Huntington Center mall.
So they acted.
In the same way a match to gunpowder reacts with gunpowder, another
segment of the community exploded in protest, vehemently objecting to the
taking of their property merely to be given to another developer. It was
called ‘Un-American,’ a violation of ‘basic property rights.’
In my view, both sides had legitimate arguments.
Being a Downtown guy and having seen the positive benefits of
redevelopment in the area, I had sympathy for a council trying to finish
the job. On the other hand, I also had sympathy for those who objected to
the taking of their property and giving it to another developer, based on
someone else’s subjective belief of what’s in the best interest of the
city. A classic conflict between the interest of the many vs. individual
rights.
I had to see a doctor to get the splinters removed from my backside
from so much fence-sitting on this one.
Both sides have claimed that the other side was at fault for the lack
of progress Downtown. It was a classic chicken-and-egg, finger-pointing
contest. I’ve tried to figure out who the culprit was, but to no avail.
(I haven’t figured out the chicken-and-egg thing, either.)
The opponents of eminent domain succeeded in gathering sufficient
signatures to place the issue on a future ballot. But before the item
could be placed on the ballot, the City Council reconsidered its prior
decision.
Opponents stood before the council and requested -- no, demanded --
that the council reverse itself and withdraw the use of eminent domain
Downtown and save the city taxpayers the cost of an election.
The council responded by changing its collective mind and doing
exactly that.
But I was shocked. After the council delivered exactly what the
opponents demanded, capitulation on eminent domain, some of the opponents
complained that the council’s reversal on the subject wasn’t good enough.
Get this -- having asked the council to scuttle eminent domain, and
having their wish granted, some of the truly disgruntled objected and
criticized the reversal, claiming the City Council had deprived them of
their ultimate victory at the ballot box.
Say What?
Worse yet, they decried the action of the council as depriving them of
an opportunity to embarrass the council at what they imagined would have
been a crushing loss delivered at the hands of the electorate -- in
essence, the deprivation of the opportunity to punish the City Council.
This kind of attitude makes the worst possible statement about some of
us. It implies that those members of the council deserved punishment for
their previous actions. The apparent premise seems to be that there was
but one obvious ‘right’ decision on the subject -- theirs - and that the
City Council should be roasted at the stake for having the audacity to
hold a contrary view.
If the council’s initial decision was verifiably absurd -- like making
decisions predicated on the earth being flat, which science can verify as
inaccurate and absurd -- then I might buy into that attitude. But
questions concerning serving the greater good, can never be
scientifically determined and will always be the subject of a continuing
debate. That anyone, including our City Council, ought to be punished for
having the audacity to view the greater good differently from others is
shameful.
There was simply no ultimate right answer on this issue, only value
judgments and difficult decisions, which will continue to be debated.
Having different views of the world ought to be at least tolerated, if
not appreciated. Having the guts to change one’s mind from time to time
should never be suppressed with punishment, but encouraged through
celebration.
In my view, this was one of those events.
* RON DAVIS is a private attorney who lives in Huntington Beach. He
can be reached by e-mail at o7 ronscolumn@worldnet.att.netf7 .
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