Crooks in the Cloak Room

I got an interesting e-mail from some friends in Freeport, Texas. If you read my last article ( linked via title bar) you were aware that during the special legislative session called by Governor Perry, one of the issues to be addressed was an emergency piece to fill in the loop holes of our current Eminent Domain land grab. I wrote that in spite of the efforts being extended by the legislature Freeport City Manager Ron Bottoms felt that their attempts to steal some land would not be hampered.

“Freeport City Manager Ron Bottoms said he isn't sure whether Janek's bill would halt the city's plans, noting that "we're well into the process."

I now find that Ron Bottoms has an inside helper, someone who is as determined to bypass all efforts to hold these scumbags accountable and prevent them from stealing the land they think is already in the bag.

Here is an amendment added, one that would in essence exempt the City of Freeport from any new Eminent Domain legislation and give them a pass to continue in their underhanded theft of private property, working directly in opposition to the purpose of the proposed legislation, at least as it pertains to their desires to have a neat looking Yacht Club facility at the expense of other citizens privately owned property. Ron Bottoms says the land has already been condemned, that it’s too late to change, that it’s already a done deal. It looks like he will have his way unless we smoke out the rat (s) who snuck in the following provision.

"SECTION 4. Chapter 2206, Government Code, as added by this Act, applies only to the taking of private property by eminent domain for which a condemnation petition is filed on or after the effective date of this Act. A taking for which a condemnation petition is filed before the effective date of this Act is governed by the law in effect immediately before that date, and that law is continued in effect for that purpose."

I tried to find out the names of members working on this particular piece of legislation and was told that those names have not been released. It would appear that the rats have gotten into the storehouse; business as usual in the Great State of Texas.