tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-70616391743006091.post6836307560940940078..comments2023-10-24T05:18:20.207-07:00Comments on There is Hope for Arizona: It's starting to sink into their heads .... Prop. 207Liberty Spudshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13636201623519833535noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-70616391743006091.post-90986276155705926452007-09-01T06:49:00.000-07:002007-09-01T06:49:00.000-07:00The battle wages on....Fighting Goliath Pittsburgh...The battle wages on....<BR/><BR/>Fighting Goliath <BR/>Pittsburgh Tribune-Review <BR/>August 20, 2007 Monday<BR/>Every once in a great while, government, as a land-grabbing Goliath, gets thumped by the most diminutive David, especially when the former fails to follow its own policies.<BR/>That may cost Philadelphia $497,230 in damages, plus the plaintiffs' legal fees. <BR/>It began when Ed and Debbie Munoz, in pursuit of the American dream, put up their New Jersey home and borrowed $1 million to buy a grocery and garden center in Juniata Park. Afterward the couple learned -- secondhand through customers -- that their business was in the footprint of a planned housing development.<BR/>For more than two years, the Munozes sought answers from the city but said they received none. In 2004, with declining sales -- allegedly because of government's imminent land grab -- and Ed Munoz's declining health, the couple declared bankruptcy. The city picked up the property at a sheriff's sale.<BR/>The Munozes went to court. <BR/>City officials said it wasn't clear through 2004 whether the Munozes' lot would be needed. Yet an April 2003 letter from the developer asked the city's Redevelopment Authority to acquire the property.<BR/>Even the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development reportedly warned city officials in 2005 that Philadelphia violated federal relocation law.<BR/>So, all's well that ends well? Not quite. Goliath plans an appeal. <BR/>Here's hoping these Davids, and all the other Davids facing similar battles for their rights, won't give up the fight.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com