Fort Wayne commits ANOTHER shameful act

Mike Sylvester sent the below letter on April 8th, 2006

This email was sent to:
The City of Fort Wayne
All members of the current City Council that have an email address on the official city
website
Local news sources in Fort Wayne
Select individuals interested in property rights

Please feel free to contact me for clarification on anything in this article and please feel free to publish this article.

April 8th, 2006

The attorney’s fees associated with Fort Wayne’s misguided attempt to seize the assets of Aqua Indiana North with Eminent Domain should certainly be a matter of public record. I am currently the President of The Valley Place Neighborhood Association and I am a satisfied Aqua Indiana customer. I have filed a Freedom of Information Request with The City of Fort Wayne. I wish to review the attorney’s fees that The City of Fort Wayne has incurred trying to seize the assets of Aqua Indiana North, the company that currently provides my water service.

I read the article in The Journal Gazette entitled “secret payments to city lawyers” {<http://www.fortwayne.com/mld/journalgazette/news/editorial/14296212.htm>} on April 8th and I am completely appalled that The City of Fort Wayne is refusing to provide this information to the public. One of the keys to a successful Democracy is an open government with as much transparency as possible.

I find it particularly troubling that The City of Fort Wayne is hiding information about a case in which The City is trying to seize the assets of a PRIVATE BUSINESS. This use of Eminent Domain is shameful and unnecessary. I have spoken with several of my neighbors and none of us feel that Fort Wayne will provide us a better service then Aqua Indiana North!

I often read articles about how hard Fort Wayne is trying to attract outside investment. If I were a business owner and I was looking for a place to invest money Fort Wayne would not be on my list due to its current and past abuse of Eminent Domain. Fort Wayne has recently used Eminent Domain to take land from both business owners and homeowners. I wonder how many businesses have elected NOT to move to Fort Wayne due to fear of having its property seized through Eminent Domain.

I testified about Eminent Domain abuse in Fort Wayne earlier this year at The Statehouse. I was specifically invited to testify by the author of the bill (Rep. Wolkins) that was passed and will limit local government’s use of Eminent Domain, HB1010. I was the only private citizen invited to testify and I was specifically asked to testify about Eminent Domain abuse in Fort Wayne!

The House of Representatives was appalled by Fort Wayne’s frivolous use of Eminent Domain. Phyllis Pond spoke up after my testimony and she backed up my testimony on The House Floor. The actions of The City of Fort Wayne have identified us as a City that does not respect private property rights. This does not help Fort Wayne attract new investment.

It is unfortunate that The City of Fort Wayne continues to abuse Eminent Domain and that it is also abusing the open records law that requires government records to be reviewed by the public upon request.

Mike Sylvester
Chairman of the Libertarian Party of Allen County
President of the Valley Place Homeowners Association