Local: Sen. Koehler picks an odd time to argue for property rights

I can’t find a clip on the Web, but I think I must have heard it on WCBU. State Sen. Dave Koehler attended the rally in support of turning the Kellar Branch into a walking/biking trail.

Sen. Koehler was indignant over the fact that the Surface Transportation Board wouldn’t let the City of Peoria and the Village of Peoria Heights proceed with their longstanding plan to rip out the Kellar Branch and replace it was the trail. It’s not right, Koehler said.

I’m paraphrasing, but he essentially said ‘Whatever’s happened to the rights of property owners?’

I’ve known Sen. Koehler for a long time, and I respect him. But I’m amazed he would evoke property rights.

When Dave Koeher was a member of the Peoria City Council, he was a mover and shaker for a little project that was supposed to fix a blighted neighborhood in his 3rd District. You might have heard about it. The city used eminent domain powers to buy up a bunch of homes, then turn the property over to a developer who demolished the homes — most of them perfectly habitable — and build something new on the site. That’s how millionaire developer David Joseph built Mid-Town Plaza.

I once asked Mr. Joseph why he didn’t just try to buy this land directly, rather than have the city government essentially force property owners to sell at a price they may have considered too low. His answer was that, it would take too long, cost too much, and essentially might be a waste of time if any of these property owners simply wanted to continue living in their own homes and didn’t care to take any of his money.

You know — exercise their property rights.

Koehler wasn’t around to see the the project make it all the way through the council. He decided to not run again. But his replacement, Gale Thetford, was more than happy to shepherd the project through the system. I remember Thetford congratulating Joseph with a warm hug after the vote was taken.

Here’s another thing I remember: There was a classmate of mine at Woodruff. She and her family lived on Dechman, near Nebraska. They lived there pretty much all their lives.

They didn’t want to sell. They had to. Their property rights didn’t matter much to the city or to Joseph.

In Joseph’s case, he was motivated by simple human greed. He wanted to make a buck. In the city Council’s case (and I include Dave Koehler in this), they were motivated their belief that it’s sometimes necessary to overlook the rights of individuals in order to serve a greater public good. So it was acceptable, in their minds, to toss a few individuals off the lifeboat to improve the survival chances of the others.

The fact that carving a shopping center out of the middle of an unwilling residential neighborhood was NOT a wise course of action in a battle “save” the neighborhood is and remains lost on them … but that’s the subject to another post.

My friend’s mom ended up living in a home much smaller than the one in which she raised her children, and far less beautiful. It as all she could afford. The Peoria City Council never accomplished what it hoped to accomplish — this particular part of the East Bluff has even fewer owner occupied homes than before, and the crime problem is even more pronounced.

David Joseph has moved on to other projects and no doubt continues to make a buck or two from Mid-Town. At the exact site where my friend’s house USED to stand is an empty lot. Joseph hasn’t been able to convince anyone to build there. I’m furious every time I see it.

Now, back to the idea about the government stepping on individuals’ property rights in order to provide for the public at large: The City of Peoria and the Village of Peoria Heights are in the railroad business. They are the owners of a rail line. When they bought the Kellar Branch, the thinking was that they wanted to keep the line open (that changed when the movers and shakers sniffed some cash in the form of grant money, and when developers got the idea that getting rid of the line might make them richer by promoting housing development).

But the cities also knew at the time that the railroad business is regulated by the federal government, and has been for more than 100 years. This was not something they discovered after they got the bright idea to rip out the line.

When mega-rich railroad tycoons were arguing against passage of the Hepburn Act back in 1906, used the argument that people ought be be able to use their property as they see fit. The Surface Transportation Board is a direct descendant of that act. It exists to keep railroads open as long as there’s a railroad customer who would be screwed otherwise — much like Carver Lumber was screwed when the City of Peoria and the Village of East Peoria decided to toss them over the side of the boat for the “greater good” of a walking/biking trail.

How odd that Koehler, a man who can proudly boast to have worked with Cesar Chavez of the United Farm Workers, making the same argument made by the robber barons of 100 years ago.