Healing Charlottesville
Bern Ewert Responds to Urban Renewal Association - HealingCharlottesville Stands Firm and Connects Renewal to Fifth AmendmentBlair,What a strange letter and comments from you. I had nothing to do with urban renewal. It occurred before I came. I also had nothing to do with Garrett Square and in fact opposed the clearance which occurred after I left. My work has always been in housing rehab and saving as many houses as possible and comprehensively rebuilding neighborhoods.
Bern Ewert [email protected]
Thank you for responding. I will post these letters on my website shortly as a bandaid. Like the holocaust, urban renewal really did happen. This conversation is the healing we need. I refer you to The Daily Progress archives and microfiche at Alderman Library and special collections. Bob Gibson covered the story. WINA should have archives. Albemarle Historical Society has a few items. Check CBS news. Too many people know about it to deny it ever happened. Transcripts of the Democratic Nomination speeches will be posted in a few days. This convention will be remembered as the one where the Democrats said they want more urban renewal. They talked about affordable housing, low-rent housing, neighborhood revitalization. No one mentioned affordable property. The word property was not spoken in two hours of 18 speeches. The property issue is so controversial for Democrats that they can't say the word. I expect at least one lawsuit before too long to test the Fifth Amendment in Charlottesville. The argument might go like this: I let the city take my property without a court order because they said public use. They did not use the property. They have sold the property to a different private owner. The city has not met its legal obligation. The Fifth Amendment prohibits government from taking property for someone else to own. If the court agrees, the court will decide a legal remedy. Charlottesville will not recover from urban renewal without outside help. The loss of population, failing economy and public safety will not improve without assurance that property is safe. A higher authority must reassure everyone in the nation that, if they invest in cheap blighted property in Charlottesville, the city will not take that property except by due process or public use. We continue to have an uncertain business environment. Thomas Jefferson , James Madison and James Monroe supported the Fifth Amendment because they knew that the British Crown had created generations of discontent by taking private property to give as political favors. They included it in the Bill of Rights so the rule would apply to Charlottesville as well. In the year 2002, the Charlottesville Democratic party believes the solution to race problems today is the same solution as a generation ago. Urban renewal will never be successful on any scale or by any name. Thanks again for entertaing an idea that explains more problems than any other. Blair Hawkins 2-26-2002
Five
Letters Endorse Bern Ewert's Urban Renewal Involvement.
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