Repulsing a Rapacious Government

What does a peaceful citizen do when a predator attempts to steal his valuable property? Why, call the police, of course. Isn't that why we have government in the first place--to protect our lives and property?

So why didn't my family business seek government's help when our property was being outrageously looted? Simply because the looting was being done by the very government that owed us the duty of protection!

In 1987 the City of Lansing, Michigan, exercising its powers of eminent domain, condemned cable television wiring rights in two family-owned apartment projects with over 1500 dwelling units. The condemnation was to enable the Lansing cable television franchisee, Continental Cablevision, to wire the projects and market its cable services to our tenants. So what's wrong with providing 1500 households with access to cable TV?

Not a thing . . . except that the apartments were already served by a cable television system we provided, comparable in every way to the system offered by Continental. Our cable system gathers satellite signals from dishes and offers quality viewing to our tenants.

Before 1987, cable television was provided for our tenants at both apartment complexes by Continental. When the contract expired, we canceled it and installed our own cable TV system. Continental, having lost our lucrative business, embarked on a new strategy. Using its considerable influence with Lansing's politicians, Continental induced the city to adopt an ordinance giving the city the right to condemn easements across private property in which its cable franchisee could string its wires.

In response to Lansing's condemnation suit to acquire wiring rights to our 1500 apartment units, we asserted a legal defense arguing that there was no necessity for a duplicate cable TV system. The city acknowledged that it couldn't take our property without paying for it, and offered us $2,000. We were prepared to present expert testimony in court to the effect that the wiring rights were worth as much as $2 million.

After a lengthy and expensive condemnation battle in the circuit court, the matter was heard by a three-judge panel in the Michigan Court of Appeals, where--if you can believe it--the court unanimously concluded that the condemnation was attempted theft.

Had we finally won this battle? Not quite. We spent another couple of years in the Michigan Supreme Court, where the matter was again decided emphatically in our favor. From their reactions to the oral testimony, I had the distinct impression that the justices regarded Lansing's attempted expropriation of valuable wiring rights to be as outrageous as the appeals court did.

The legal battle was exhausting and expensive. We spent more than a million dollars (not including interest) in legal fees, appraisers, expert witnesses, court costs, and the like.

It was somewhat gratifying, though, that the courts ordered Lansing to pay us back about $840,000. Still, the net cost to us after that refund (exclusive of the years of grief and aggravation and the immense amount of company staff time the defense demanded) was over $500,000.

Lansing's arrogance and chutzpah were exceptional. In its haste to deliver a rich jackpot to Continental, it neglected to provide us any protection whatsoever from the impending plunder of our apartment communities. Continental was to be given the absolute right to enter our property at its convenience and place its wires wherever it pleased, including hanging them on the faces of the buildings, in the hallways, and on the walls of individual apartments. Continental wasn't required to give us notice; it could wire at midnight and disrupt the tenants at any hour; it could rip holes in the attic draft stops and compromise our buildings' fire safety.

In the absence of a voluntary contract between us and the cable company, the latter had no incentive to be the least considerate of our tenants or our property--especially in this situation, since we had been in a pitched battle with Continental for many years.

So, weary and punch-drunk after a decade of fending off a predacious government and a powerful corporation, I've begun to contemplate just how easy it is for governments to become despotic and abuse their authority. Arbitrary, excessive, and pointless government intervention seems to be the invidious pattern in modern America. With that thought and our own experience fresh in my mind, I have discovered a new natural law, simple but ominous: "Whatever powers government has, government will abuse."

Is there a way to confront this threat? I can think of only one: Deprive government of all powers except those absolutely essential for the protection of the life, liberty, and property of its citizens.

Sheldon Rose is general partner of Edward Rose & Sons in Farmington Hills, Michigan.