Crony Capitalism and Abuse of Power in Hurst

Crony Capitalism and Abuse of Power in Hurst

By

James Scott Trimm

I am writing today about something that actually occurred many years ago in Hurst.  Why am I writing about it now?  For several reasons:

1. This event first made me personally examine that our City Council was not following the conservative principles of limited government, personal freedom and individual determination which were held by the conservative majority of our citizens. 

2.  Many of those that where on the council then, are still on the council now. 

3.  The big government that prevails in our council with its lack of respect for personal freedom and self-determination (and therefore property rights) has not changed.

4.  The negative economic impact of this event on south east Hurst is still being felt today.

Back in the late 1990’s our city council was responsible for one of the most egregious abuses of the eminent domain power in the history of the United States. 

The power of eminent domain is a power that government has, that allows it to force the sale of private property.  The intent of this power was to provide for situations where the overriding interests of the community require such a sale.  For example, if a new school or fire house is needed in a community, and the property can not be reasonably obtained by any other means.  This power was used to make the railroad and interstate highway system possible. 

This power was never intended to be used (or should I say, abused) the way the City of Hurst abused it.  The City of Hurst forced over a hundred home owners to sell their property,  (whether they wanted to or not), not for a new school or fire house, but to expand a mall and build an adjacent shopping center!

That’s right, they sold out the very voters who put them in office as they plunged neck deep into crony capitalism. 

Let me make it clear that there was no overriding need in the community for added retail space, to the contrary, there was vacant retail space at shopping strips just across the street from this proposed development.

This villainous abuse of the power of eminent domain was so egregious that it led to a new state law in 2005 limiting the use of this power in the future,   If they did today, what they did then, it would violate the law, but at the time, it was simply an abuse of power.

It was this abuse of government power that first got my own attention as to the level to which our city government had become totally out of tune with the conservative values of the majority of our citizens.

This was not limited government, it was not personal freedom and self determination, it was instead the most vile disregard for property rights and the worst kind of crony capitalism.

Not only did our city government sell its own citizens down the river, it also chose the winners and losers, engaging in crony capitalism that has had a positive effect on south west Hurst at the expense of south east Hurst.

The conversion of a large residential area into a large shopping strip full of new stores created an economic vacuum that sucked the economic vitality right out of shopping strips and businesses further east down Pipeline Road, creating a “low rent” district in south east Hurst. 

Yes the loss of economic vitality in south east Hurst today is due in part to the crony capitalism through which our city council sold its own residents down the river.  That’s right, I said it!

You may recall that I said that many of those that were on the council then are still on the council now.  One of these is Henry Wilson, who was quoted at the time as saying:  "We're doing something neat for all of the citizens of Hurst." (Dallas Morning News; April 13, 1997)

Of course not everyone was a loser.  I myself was a winner.  I live in south west Hurst, and this event drew economic vitality to my neck of the woods… interestingly a number of our city council (then and now, some which have been on the council since that time) live in south west Hurst, but I do not believe any lived in south east Hurst (I am open to correction on that point, if any lived in south east Hurst.). 

Now the council talks about restoring the economic vitality of south east Hurst, when they were in fact the ones that have destroyed it in the first place. 

Conservatives in Hurst are finally waking up and change is coming!

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