Property Rights vs. Public Improvements

by Timothy Sandefur

The Arizona Republic has this article on Proposition 207's progress since its passage. The article is, sadly, heavily biased against property owners, claiming that the Initiative had "little to do" with eminent domain–which is obviously untrue–and that it interfers with bureaucrats' abilities to take away people's property for the allegedly greater good. (Aww, poor bureaucrats!) Other inaccuracies include the claim that PLF's case defending Flagstaff property owners is a challenge to the city's power to "protect buildings linked to its founders." That is absolutely not true–virtually none of the buildings in Flagstaff's so-called historic district are "linked to the founders" of Flagstaff, and in fact the district was designed to avoid including one of the oldest buildings in the neighborhood, a house that (surprise!) belongs to the government itself.

It's very sad that Arizona's homeowners not only face abuse at the hands of aggressive bureaucrats, but they also cannot get fair, or even accurate, reports in many "news" stories.