Issues

Property Rights & Eminent Domain

“Government is instituted to protect property of every sort; as well that which lies in the various rights of individuals, as that which the term particularly expresses. This being the end of government, that alone is a just government, which impartially secures to every man, whatever is his own.”

That statement is as true today as when Founding Father James Madison wrote it in 1792. Government exists to secure a citizen’s right to own private property. When government seizes property from its rightful owner and awards it to someone else – regardless of how lofty the goal -- that is theft and a grave abuse of the legitimate power of eminent domain.

The U.S. Supreme Court’s Kelo decision has freed local governments to do just that – but I am determined that shall never happen in the City of Anaheim. 

Long before the Kelo decision, the Anaheim City Council had made it policy that eminent domain would not be used to seize land when the sole “public purpose” was transferring it to another private entity in the hopes of greater tax revenue.

This is wise policy, but it can be reversed by a future city council on a simple majority vote.  That why my fellow councilmembers and I have placed a charter amendment on the November 2006 ballot that will forever prohibit Kelo-type eminent domain abuse in Anaheim.

Gambling

When revenue streams tightens, local government cast about for new revenues sources to fund city services. Here in Anaheim, we have pursued a freedom friendly policy of cutting tax, regulatory and bureaucratic obstacles to growth -- resulting in a renaissance of new business formation and economic growth.

However, legalized gambling’s promise of quick and easy tax revenues is tempting to strapped city governments and have led other cities to try and bring gambling into their communities.

I am totally opposed to importing gambling – and the problems that can follow in its wake – into Anaheim. It is inconsistent with the family-friendly character of our neighborhoods and our status as a family vacation destination.

In order to ensure a future council is never faced with the temptation to reach for the easy money fix of legalized gambling, I am working to have a charter amendment place before Anaheim voters this November that will permanently prohibit gambling establishments in our city.