r u sitting in the cheap seats?
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7/30/2019 R U Sitting in the Cheap Seats?
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The ownership of propertyis one of our greatest r ightsin the United States.President Calvin Coolidgesaid property rights and
personal rights are the samething.
The power of governmentsto take that private propertyhasalways existed in the U.S.Th is power res ts with thelegislative branch of the gov-ernment and may not beexercised unless the legisla-ture has authorized its use by
s ta tu te s th at s pec if y wh omay use i t and for what pur-
poses.However, the legislature
may de leg ate th e power to private entities like publicut iliti es o r r ail roa ds , a nd eve n to in div id ua ls for th e
purpose of acquiring accessto their landlocked land. Itsuse was limited by theTakings Clause in the FifthAmendment to the U.S.Constitution in 1791, whichreads, nor shall p riva te
proper ty be taken for public
use, without just compensa-tion. The Fifth Amendmentlimited eminent domainspecifically to public use.
The U.S. Supreme Courtha s d efer re d to the r ig ht o f states to make their owndeterminations of public use.Addit ionally, the court hasheld the preferred measureo f ju st c ompe nsat io n i sfair market value.
In Ohio, the OhioSupreme Court issued alandmark decision in City of
Norwood v. Horney , on July26, 2006, reframing the stan-dards for the exercise of emi-nent domain powers in Ohio.The Ohio Supreme Court, ina unanimous decision, held itviolated Ohios constitutionto ta ke pr oper ty so le ly toachieve economic benefits.
In response, the OhioGeneral Assembly crafted Ohio Senate Bill 7 whichlaid out guidelines for municipalities on the utiliza-tion of eminent domain. Thelaw stated that eminent
domain is a matter of s ta te wi de i mp or ta nc e a nd declared their intention thatthe law be construed to applygenerally throughout Ohio.
The law declares thatpublic use does notincludeany taking that is for con-veyance to a private commer-c ia l e nt erpr is e, e co no mi cdevelopmentor solely for the
purpose of increasin g publicrevenue unless the propertyis c onveye d t o: (1) a p ublicu ti li ty, c ommo n c ar ri er o r municipal power agency; (2)a private entity that occupiesa port authority transporta-tion facil ity or an incidentalarea within a publicly owned and occupied project; or (3)
a private entity when theagency that takes the proper-ty establ ishes, by a prepon-derance of the evidence, thatthe pr oper ty is a blighted
parce l or is in a blighted area. In addition, thebill pro-hibits any taking of real
proper ty by an agency unlessit establishes, by preponder-ance of the evidence, that thetaking is necessary and for a
public use.The law also establishes a
series of procedural changes,
designed to afford propertyown er s mo re p ro te ctio n.These procedures have the
potent ial to make eminen tdomain actions more costlyand t ime consuming for theappropriating authority. For example:
Either a property owner or an agency may request tha tth e is su e o f t he va lu e o f th e
pro per ty be submitte d tononbinding mediation. Theagency must pay the cost of t he med ia ti on . A p ro pe rt yowner has a right to an
immedia te appeal i f a courtorder isin favor of the appro-
priating agency. Grants theowner of property appropri-ated byan agencythe right torep urch ase t he p ro pe rt y i f the agency decides not to usethe property for the purposesta ted in the appropria tion
petition unless the right isext inguished for speci f ied reasons. Also, the propertyowner can receive attorneyand appra isal fees throughthe process.
In thepast locally, eminentd omai n h as t yp ic al ly o nly
been imposed in the moresev ere n ee ds . An e xa mp lewould be when major h igh-ways have been constructed.When Interstate 75 was built,there were numerous proper-
ties that needed to be pur-chased from privatelandowners in order to build such a massive highwaythrough downtown Dayton.
Ultimately, just becauseg over nmen t c an d o s ome -thing, does not always meani t sho ul d. Whe neve r u sin geminent domain, governmentmust be careful, and only useth is to ol spa ri ng ly a nd for the right purpose.
Rob Scott is a practicing attorney at Oldham &
Deitering, LLC. Scott is theChairman of the
Montgomer y Coun ty Repu blica n Party and the founder of the Dayton Tea Party. He can be contacted at [email protected] www.gemcitylaw.com
OPINION Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abspeech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a re- The First Amendment to the United States Constitution4 Thursday, November 8, 2012 Springboro Sun
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Letter to the Editor Policy
Its getting to be that even the cheap seatsin pro footballare no longeraffordable.For afamily of four in Texas to see the Cowboys
play in their billion dollar stadium it costs$786 (cheap seats). Then theres up close
parking, $35; ice cold beer (12 ounces) for Dad,$8;hot dogs,$5; soft drinks, $5; andonandon. Soundsto me like a $1,000spectac-ular weekend vacation in some fancy resort,not a three-hour footballgame.
Wait a minute, didnt the Romans do thistypeof thing back inthedayof the coliseum?Only the wealthy could afford the ticketswhich didnt feature football games. Arentwesupposed to learn from history, or maybethatdoesnt apply nowadaysin this hightechknow-it-all age. It looks like pee wee,junior.high and high school football venues aregoing to be the only affordable ones for afamily of four in the middle class.
Even collegiate football tickets arentcheap, with million dollar salariesfor coach-es and the talent searches across the countryto bring in only the best and then pay their full tuition, which exceeds $100,000 per
player. Our oldest son spent his first twoyears at Baylor University in Waco, Texas.Dorm, meal ticket for two meals a day and tuition was $4,000 a year back in 1986.Today, the price for tuition is $40,000 a year.How did all this come tobe in such a shortspan in time?
When I have to start paying to watchsports on TV for a fee like $50 per game(thatll be the next big money grab), Ill
become a disenchanted sports fan, pack mycanoe with a picnic lunch andspend Sundayafternoon on the Little Miami river enjoyinglife the way itwas meantto be.Yeah, I know,
therell be a river access fee, a clean-up taxfor the idiots that dump their garbage in theriver, security fee for cameras making sureIm not boarded by river pirates, a WiFi feein case I need internet access for my water-
proof laptop, smart phone water proof caserental fee, a no texting feeto pay fordamageto mycanoe if a text-ercollides with me and a fee for animal rights to make sure I dontrun over or accidentlyinjurean errant beaver,reckless frog, or other wildlife. Total river fees fora family of four forthree hours (twocanoes): just $279. Several float thru fastfood restaurants will provide food and rest-rooms at reasonable pricing. You know, onsecond thought sitting on the patio reading agood book andwatching the sunsetsounds alot better.
Got to give a shout out to head coachRyan Wilhite and the Springboro Panther footballteamfor an extraordinary season thisyear. Guys, you were all terrific, giving 100
percent and more. Taking us to the playoffsfor thefirst time wasamazing.The prayersof this whole community have been with yousince early last Thursday morning whenShaun losthis life. GodBless theSpringboro
Panthers and our greatcommunity.The 26th annual Christmas in Springboro
Festival star ts at 6 p.m. one week fromtomorrow on Friday, Nov. 16 on South MainStreet in thehistoric district. South Main willclose to trafficaround 4 p.m. and reopen onSunday evening. This years festival promis-es to be bigger and better than ever. A 5K Walk/Runstarts at 9 a.m.Saturdayin thehis-toric district. The big one-hour parade startsat noon featuring the high school marching
band, numerous floats, groups, clubs, per-formers, horse pulled carriages and, yes,Santa and Mrs. Claus. Great food vendors,entertainment, holiday items for sale, and somuch moreitll takeyou alldayto seeevery-thing. Dont miss it.
Im writing this column from northwestOhio. Our31st trip heresince February help-ing Lucys mom and sister recover and get
back to normal from their individual coloncancer surgeries in March and July.Halloween was Moms 95th birthday, being
born on Oct. 31,1917. She has never missed getting dressed up for a Halloween celebra-tion.Today shes dressedas LittleRed RidingHoodand hasbeen working allmorning vac-uuming and dusting to make sure the houselooks great for her party. Twenty-someguests will be arriving around 2 p.m. to getthe party started and, yes, shell be dancing,as always. She whispered to me earlier thatshewants it to be Gangnam style, like thathit record thats playing right now. Lucy hasredone herentire homesince February andis
puttingthe finishingtouches on severalareasas I write. Before and after pictures would totally amaze you.
R U sitting in the cheap seats?MERGE WRIGHT
By Don Wright
TimesColumnist
Every couple of years I address this gripe in a column and get oneof two responses from readers. The first response is that the reader ishappy somebody finally addressed this issue. The other response sug-gests Im heartless, petty and cheap. Well its that time again and Ieagerly await your comments. Im talking about the pleas for help for any number of groups in open and often embarrassing settings.
I went to the store this past weekend. On the way in I was asked if I wanted to donate to the area food basket. At the checkout I wasasked, in a loud shrill voice, if I wanted to donate a dollar to helpneedy children. That putsme in two very interesting
positions as other cus-tomers are in the same area,as if waiting to hear if I real-ly care or not. My responseto both was to say no.
Kathy and I are excep-tionally generous with whoand what we help. I wontget into dollar amounts
because I dont talk about that publicly but I will tell you there are sev-eral organizations to which we contribute, many connected to our church. I believe what any of us give is a personal number. Thegroups/causes that get our money have been thoroughly checked outand we are comfortable with where our money goes.
Theres another factor these days. I cant tell you how long its beensince Ive had a dollar bill in my pocket. I dont carry cash at all. Mydebit card is accepted everywhere and it also gives me a record of alltransactions Im involved in. I have no need for cash.
I dont know a thing about the table set up at the entrance of thestore, or at the checkout lane as were leaving. They could very well
be a great operation or one where the administration rakes off as muchof the money as the recipients. There are groups out there that con-tribute to multiple causes not mentioned on their homemade signs.
For decades I worked in settings where companies wanted a 100% participation to that best known united pledging organization. Ialways said no. There were groups receiving assistance that I just did-nt agree with at all. As an example, I would never give to any organ-ization that shared a dime with Planned Parenthood. When I would refuse to give I had supervisors who, after arguing with me, said theywould put the money in using my name so they could show full coop-eration. I told them they were NOT to donate in my name under anycircumstances.
I want to know the percentage that goes to the cause to which weare contributing and how that money is used. When those answers sat-isfy me, they get our money. There are no groups that will ever get our money trying to get it by humiliation in a checkout line.
You cant be too careful today on who or what youre funding. Itmust work because there seems to be more tables set up every year.But if you want a dime from us, give us time to think about it and investigate and dont put me on the spot. It is the season of giving. Illdecide who benefits from our giving though, thank you.
Mike Scinto is a 35-year veteran talk show host serving locally, statewide and nationally behind the microphone. For the past dozen years he has authored this award-winning column. You may have also seen him offering his unique insights of Fox News Channel. Friend Mike at http://www.facebook.com/mikescintoshow or visit http://mikescintocolumns.blogspot.com and with your morning Javaor evening reading check out, comment on and subscribe to the best 60 seconds of your day http://www.youtube.com/InaScintoMinute.
Of course I
want to helpstarvingchildren!
COMMENTARYBy Mike
Scinto
TimesColumnist
Just about everyone recognizes the fiscalcliff that we could drop off of in a few weeks.Even if it all goes away in a frenzy of biparti-sanship, the problems of Social Security and Medicare will remain a different cliff, but
part of the national drift even harder to stop.To their credit the politicians have taken
some tentative stabs at doing something. Rep.Paul Ryan has outlined several reform possi-
bilities in the past year for Social Secujrity and Medicare. Democrats at first were gleeful thatRyan touched the so-called third rail of poli-tics, but backed away when public opinionseemed ready to at least discuss changes if notactually try some. Even so, we saw ads accus-ing the GOP of abandoning seniors.
Todays seniors, many of them drawingmore out of the SS nest egg than they paid in,are considered safe for the next few years. Butas their ranks grow so that fewer and fewer workers are supporting the system, the struc-ture essentially goes bankrupt and becomes
part of the already overloaded federal budget.Folks 55 and under have to wonder whether there will be any security left to go with thesocial.
The problem for reform is that it needscomplete bipartisanship or you get reactions
like the howl over the 47 percent remark byMitt Romney. What that meant was not dis-dain but problems as the welfare entitlementspiral grows. More and more people movefrom the private to public payrolls and
become resistant to any change. Europe is inthe throes of just that. Is there any way tochange it?
Well, yes, if we all follow the Swedishmodel.
In the 60s and 70s Swedens entitlementsociety increased the tax burden from justover 25 percent to 47.5 percent. By the 1990sit was over 52 percent. The result was thatSweden went from a vibrant economy second only to Japans in 1970 to the second worst by1990 in the 34-nation Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.
(For obvious reasons that cumbersome nameis usually seen just as OECD.) Companieswere failing. Jobs were departing. (One recentdour comment was that Sweden looked likeCalifornia does today.)
Swedish voters ousted the ruling SocialDemocrats in favor of reform. Things wentslowly and the Social Democrats came back to power in the mid-90s but had learned alesson. Reform continued. Individuals caninvest part of their SS tax in private funds,
payments go down (not stay the same) inrecession, and the retirement age is under review. While Europe frets about raising theretirement age from 60 to 62, the Swedishcentrist government is suggesting people mayneed to work until 75.
All of this has been made possible becauseSwedish politicians agreed that they would tryto build voter confidence for the long termrather than use fear of change for short-term
political gains. Swedens social security sys-tem is solvent for years to come and the coun-trys economy has responded as a result, inmarked contrast to much of the rest of Europe.
Is it possible that the U.S. is close to such a point? Our growing entitlement society needsto make up its mind.
Medicare problems will remainCOMMENTARY
By William H.
Wild
TimesColumnist
Exploring eminent domain in OhioCOMMENTARY
By Rob
Scott
TimesColumnist