Letter: Is Oakland seizing home a model fix for crisis?

Is Oakland seizing home
a model fix for crisis?

Re: “If Oakland seizes this house, what property is safe?” (Letter to the editor, Eastbaytimes.com, Dec. 30):

The letter-writer cites the Constitution, yet his comments fly in the face of the Fifth Amendment, which grants the state the power to seize property with just compensation, a practice known as eminent domain.

What common good does the city of Oakland enjoy from a house that has stood vacant, as opposed to the gainful residency of four of its citizens? Mothers and their children now sheltered from the cold, blanketed by the security of housing, and pursuing their own right to “life, liberty, and happiness” as the letter-writer so glibly suggested.

Oakland needs innovative solutions for the housing crisis that affects all of California. I applaud the Moms 4 Housing and Councilwoman Nikki Fortunato Bas on their efforts to aid the disenfranchised, and urge the cities of the Bay Area to consider further actions such as these.

Patrick Colford
Oakland

 

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