16 April 2006

louisiana eminent domain abuse

la state sen ben nevers la (right) & state rep francis c thompson

this is probably the number one story that shows louisiana good ol boy network corruption. its bold. its in your face and you're not human if you dont feel outraged at what is being perpetrated against these peaceful people of washington parish, louisiana.

it boils down to this: la state representative francis c thompson and his brother are in the reservoir building business. actually the reservoir building business is a front to what they are really up to which is building high end residential homes and subdivisions of the gated entry kind. how convenient that francis thompson is in the louisiana legislature and can pass the bills necessary to use the power of the state to first steal the land under eminent domain laws then turn right around and have his brother build the reservoirs on the very land that they are stealing in the first place.

not only are they stealing peoples property they are stealing ancient family cemeteries too. how convenient that waiting in the wings is another la state representative harold l ritchie who just happens to own SOUTHEASTERN PROPERTIES, and RITCHIE ENTERPRISES. POOLE RITCHIE FUNERAL HOME-LLC, and BOGALUSA MONUMENTS-INC may benefit from digging up graves of Cemeteries to be desecrated at Oak Grove.

but dont take our word for it you owe it to yourself to take a few hours out of your life and explore all these websites and blogs dedicated to uncovering it all. if you are reading this and you are a citizen of the usa then you owe it to yourself as well as to the people of louisiana to contact your congressional delegation and tell them NOT to send any money here. tell them louisiana right now is near hopelessly corrupt and the only people that will get relief money is the same crooks and charletans as the ones documented here not the people that are in need. tell them that these same charletans and crooks then will use the money to finance even more frauds and schemes against the people.

if you watch the waste of money movie towards the end you will see a black man address the reservoir commission. his words receive the most applause. and no we arent trying to turn this into a black white "thing" we are just saying that perhaps the good lord is using this dilemma to teach us all a good lesson. maybe that lesson is that we have to cast aside divisions racial, economic, whatever and work together black, white, rich, poor, young, old etc. our land is worth coming together and fighting for.
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this was sent in today by a reader please take a few moments and read it. thanks.

In Louisiana, private property can be taken and transferred to another owner. Louisiana calls this Expropriation, which means to take without asking. In 2001, Self-serving Legislation, House Bill 1136 by Rep. Francis C. Thompson allowed sale of land taken by Eminent Domain to Third Party without first offering to sell back to original owner. Thompson is currently selling lakefront lots for personal gain.

Thompson’s buddy, Sen. Ben Nevers creator of the Washington Parish Reservoir is proposing the taking of Cemeteries, Churches, and Ancestral homes.

Sen. Nevers also seems to be a two faced supporter of Senate Bill 1, Legislation preventing property from being taken for Economic Development, and has proposed legislation to the contrary.

Sen. Nevers is proposing Senate Bill 639 creating the Washington Parish Economic Development Commission with Expropriation Powers to take and sell property taken by his appointed members.

The broad taxing authority granted in this Legislation is essentially "taxation without representation" with an appointed commission able to obtain Millions in Bond Money.

James Moore

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Letter to the Local and Municipal Affairs Committee

Dear Senator Fields:

As a citizen of Washington Parish, I wish to let all of you know that I and many others in my parish oppose SB 639 in its current form. The abuse of Eminent Domain is alive and well in Washington Parish in regards to the Washington Parish reservoir, and the 13 other reservoir districts with expropriation powers in our state.

To create an Economic Development District with expropriation powers will only perpetuate the problem of the abuse that currently exists. I believe that economic development can occur without trampling on the property rights of our citizens.

The citizens of Washington Parish are not opposed to economic development and growth; however, we are opposed to the use of Eminent Domain for economic development, and unnecessary purposes.

Regretfully, there are those who abuse the Eminent Domain law. SB 639 in its current form will give unlimited expropriation powers to an appointed commission. SB 639 is in direct conflict with SB 1 that is currently before a committee.

The property owners of Washington Parish might as well consider themselves the same as citizens of Cuba, China or some other communist country where you can have use of your property until someone else wants to take it from you.

I promise you that the majority of the citizens of Washington Parish do not know that this bill gives expropriation powers to a commission. I'm sure Senator Nevers posted a legal notice; however, he didn't mention the use of Eminent Domain in the notice.

Please take the time to read this dangerous bill, and put yourselves in the shoes of those who it will affect. http://www.legis.state.la.us/billdata/streamdocument.asp?did=377506

I ask that you amend SB 639 by removing the expropriation powers, and to give the voters of Washington Parish the opportunity to select their own commissioners by ballot. I believe this is a reasonable request.

Respectfully Submitted,

Jalon Pittman Beech

Click to read more Louisiana Eminent Domain Abuse

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**updated 8:16 am cdt wednesday 19 april 2006**
chad over at the dead pelican (thanks chad) is running this story this morning:

NEVERS IS A "NO SHOW" AT HEARING xxxx APRIL 19, 2006 xxxx 06:48:17 CT

**EXCLUSIVE**

On on April 13, the committee on SENATE LOCAL & MUNICIPAL AFFAIRS got together to discuss SB 639. The bill was authored by Senator Ben Nevers (D- Bogalusa). The bill's purpose is to "create the Washington Parish Economic Development District." Some opponents of the bill believe that it enables elected officials to take land more easily, and attended the meeting to voice opposition to the bill.

At the center of the controversy is the Oak Grove community in Washington Parish (Nevers' district). The Oak Grove community is already in the zone of a proposed reservoir, which the members of the community have been fighting for over a year now. At last week's hearing, several residents appeared before the committee to voice opposition to the bill. They made a considerably long trek from Bogalusa, Louisiana, to Baton Rouge where the bill was being considered. Jalon Beech, whose father is one of the persons effected by Nevers' proposed reservoir, actually took vacation time from her job.

Shortly after they got there, persons at the meeting say that the chairman, Sen. Cleo Fields, called the meeting to order. Another bill was considered before SB 639 and then approved. When it came time to discuss Senator Nevers' House bill 639, the chairman repeatedly called out Sen. Nevers name for him to submit his bill. However he wasn't in the room!

Attendees at the meeting tell THE DEAD PELICAN that a 15 minute recess was called, to figure out what had happened to Nevers. It slowly became apparent that Senator Nevers would not be attending. After the recess, the official word came that Nevers was a "no show," and that the bill would be deferred to a later date. After the announcement, Jalon Beech cried "Excuse me! Mr. Nevers has 3 constituents here from Washington Parish who made the long trip to testify in opposition to SB 639." She explained that she had taken vacation time from her job and expected to testify on the matter.

"I think he (Nevers) was afraid of being embarrassed," Beech told THE DEAD PELICAN. She and some of the other residents believe that he was worried about bringing up the bill in front of opponents, major media, and possibly the governor.

Senator Fields explained that since Sen. Nevers was the author of the bill that he could defer it, pull it, etc. at whatever time he wished. At that time, she thanked the senator and handed out "anti-reservoir" brochures to the members of the media.

MORE

Some of the Oak Grove residents found it interesting that Senator Nevers chose not to attend this particular meeting. Jalon Beech, who was there, tells THE DEAD PELICAN that there was a significant media presence in the committee room: Alec Gifford of WDSU was there, along with a reporter from WAFB. The reason for the media presence was probably because of Governor Blanco, who was scheduled to testify for another bill that day, sources tell THE DEAD PELICAN.

MORE INFO: READ SB 639 HERE.

Developing...

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Filed by Chad E. Rogers
(C) THE DEAD PELICAN 2006
http://www.thedeadpelican.com for updates
[Please link to and credit THE DEAD PELICAN homepage if posted elsewhere]
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