Ozark, Mo. – Part 2

When Castle Coalition members hear the words “City Council,” they most likely flash to images of tax-hungry bureaucrats scheming to take their homes and small businesses for someone else’s private gain. Ask virtually any property owner who has been threatened or intimidated with the use of eminent domain, and their image of their own city council or other local government agencies is almost never a positive one.

In February 2004, voters in Ozark, Mo., approved the creation of a Land Clearance for Redevelopment Authority (“LCRA”). The voters wrongfully thought they were approving an effort to clean up a local dilapidated trailer park, but in reality, they found they had swung the door wide open to eminent domain abuse.

This is the point at which most property owners wage war against their local government, fighting for what is rightfully theirs and making major efforts to stop the proposed redevelopment projects. It’s often an us-against-them proposition.

As it turns out, under state law, the LCRA is a local agency that also has the power of eminent domain, and the vote had authorized a “blight” designation not just on the trailer park but on the entire neighborhood surrounding it. This way, the City could bring in more tax revenue by enabling a massive redevelopment project to be built over the area.

This is the point at which most property owners wage war against their local government, fighting for what is rightfully theirs and making major efforts to stop the proposed redevelopment projects. It’s often an us-against-them proposition.

In the case of Ozark, Mo., the property owners were joined by—pleasant surprise—one of the board members of the LCRA.

The single, dissenting vote against the LCRA’s proposed redevelopment was Claude Kinser, who had joined the board in hopes that he would truly contribute to bettering his own community. But when the Council voted to use eminent domain to push their development agenda forward, Kinser knew something very wrong was happening.

“I suddenly had an epiphany,” said Kinser, who happens to be in the real estate business himself.[1]

Though he admits that, along with his fellow residents, he thought he was doing what was best by voting for the so-called improvements to the trailer park, his epiphany came when he realized it was merely put in place to dupe the residents into voting for eminent domain.

“It was a total stealth election,” he said. “It was ambiguous and non-descriptive on purpose. When I saw that, I became convinced that the entire thing was orchestrated.”

When Kinser flat-out told the board they were wrong in their plans to use eminent domain against the neighborhood of middle-class homes, he soon found himself fighting on the side of the homeowners.

“It was a total stealth election,” he said. “It was ambiguous and non-descriptive on purpose. When I saw that, I became convinced that the entire thing was orchestrated.”

He made friends with resident activist Jane Carpenter, who was already raising awareness and fighting the eminent domain abuse. Together, they planned events, meetings and rallies, and appeared on local media to voice their opposition to the massive redevelopment plan. Kinser even invested some of his own money in the process—toward advertising, making phone calls, booking musical acts for events and coordinating the entire neighborhood.

Even though the other members of the LCRA “ostracized” him and made him endure what he calls the worst time of his life, all the efforts and money have so far made it completely worth it to Kinser. He says it earned them lots of exposure—which resulted in at least 10 homes being protected from the government’s wrecking ball.

“It was the reason we could save the homes,” he said, proudly.

The last year may have been a difficult one for Kinser to bear as the single voice on the LCRA advocating for homeowners, but he says, “Now, I’m a hero with the general population.”

The Castle Coalition strongly admires those who stand up for what they believe is right. We can only hope that, for the sake of property owners everywhere, there are more of Claude Kinser’s kind tucked away, but speaking out on city councils and other government agencies.