Written by Renton’s efforts to revitalize the Renton Highlands got sidetracked by an unnecessary fight about the possible use of eminent domain, something I and the majority of the Council opposed, but the Keolker administration hung on to. This debate harkened back to an old dispute my wife and I had with the City before I was elected to council (described by this news article).
The complete court case can be found here.
Ultimately, Denis Law and I lead the passing of a motion (I moved, he seconded) which removed eminent domain from the table in the highlands. The mayor reacted by saying that it would now take years for something to happen in the highlands, and she pulled staff time away from the revitalization effort. She seemed convinced that Denis and I were just being narrow-minded, and that the eminent domain plan must be a casualty of misinformation.
State Attorney General Rob McKenna is now investigating use of eminent domain statewide, and the Renton dispute is prominent in his official files. The link below takes you to the Attorney General’s news clippings on disputed uses of eminent domain state wide. (Pages 10-30, approximately, cover the Renton dispute). Click here for Mr. McKenna’s news files on this issue.
I still insist our problem in the highlands was a result of not accepting public input when we needed to, a passionate debate I had with the mayor. Meanwhile, a Cleveland based non-partisan policy center, Lincoln Institute of Land Use Policy, has been analyzing the use of eminent domain for economic revitalization, and they have produced some interesting articles on the topic. I subscribe to their newsletter. Here is their latest:
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