By Walter Bradley
Task Force on Eminent Domain
Since the U.S. Supreme Court's infamous Kelo v. City of New London decision last year, citizens across the nation have declared in no uncertain terms their support for private property rights and opposition to the use of eminent domain for private gain.
Eminent domain is the power of the government to take private property against the owner's wishes; both our state and federal constitutions restrict that power only to circumstances where the government is taking the private property for "public use."
In Kelo, however, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to slam the door on an expansive interpretation of "public use" that allows government to force the sale of property from an unwilling owner and hand it over to a developer in the interests of economic development and increased tax base.
Shortly before the one-year anniversary of Kelo, Gov. Bill Richardson convened a task force to study whether current law in New Mexico allows for eminent domain abuse and, if so, what could be done to fix the laws and protect property rights.
We discovered that local governments could use New Mexico's incredibly broad condemnation authority to take virtually any property in the state and hand it over to developers.
Most people recognize the need for eminent domain to accomplish traditional public uses, such as roads and utilities. But, 99 percent of the public comments to the task force made clear the overwhelmingly predominant position of citizens: New Mexico should respect the rights of individuals to keep what they have worked so hard to own, and should protect its citizens from eminent domain abuse.
New Mexicans are not alone in this situation. This fall, voters in other states passed every one of the 10 ballot propositions aimed at reforming their states' laws. All told, 34 states have seen fit to protect their citizens from abuse of eminent domain for private profit.
I am pleased to report that the majority of the task force recommended to the governor that New Mexico's Metropolitan Redevelopment Act be amended to prohibit the use of eminent domain for economic development. This is the only New Mexico law that allows use of eminent domain, and that has been used, purely for economic development purposes.
The task force also recommended:
Rewriting the New Mexico Metropolitan Redevelopment Act to remove existing language that indicates that the interests of private developers outweigh the interests of the private property owners;
Increasing notice and hearing requirements so that property owners have earlier notice and a more secure opportunity to participate in the decision-making and planning process;
Richardson has already voiced his support of our recommendations. It is my hope that the Legislature will respect the rights of New Mexico's citizens and take the opportunity the upcoming legislative session provides to ensure our citizens will be protected from eminent domain abuse in the years to come.
Walter Bradley, former lieutenant governor of New Mexico, served on the governor's Task Force on Eminent Domain.
opinion 
E-mail Story
Print Friendly
