By Raymond J. Keating
Spring arrives next week, and that means golf. Time to clean the clubs, get the swing back in shape and struggle with my putting.
But officials in the Village of North Hills apparently have a far more nefarious golf agenda. They are considering a government-sanctioned golf heist. They're looking to steal the Deepdale Golf Club.
Oh, come on, you say. How can a beautiful, top-ranked, 175-acre private golf course in Nassau County that is visible from the Long Island Expressway be stolen?
Easy. North Hills officials are thinking about invoking eminent domain to condemn this nice private club so that it could be used only by village residents. What a deal! Why hadn't anybody thought of this before? All the politicians have to do is get rid of those pesky people who actually own the property.
Last year, a lot of Americans finally became aware of the widespread abuse of eminent domain by state and local governments with the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Kelo v. New London, Conn. A 5-to-4 majority gave thumbs up to government's taking of homes and small businesses, and handing the property over to other private entities for commercial purposes.
The Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution allows the taking of private property, but only if it is for a "public use." "Just compensation" must be paid. Public use includes roads, prisons and schools. But that's just a little bit too constraining for politicians with big ideas for other people's property.
Private property protections have been worn down for decades by lawmakers and judges. In Kelo, the court basically allowed politicians to define "public use" however they desire. That includes golf to North Hills Mayor Marvin Natiss, who told Newsday last week: "I consider a village golf course and recreational facility for residents a public use."
I'm sure he does, but that does not make it so, or make it right.
Eminent domain abuse turns the role of government upside down. Government's first duty is to protect life and property. But now, government is the abuser. Sure, if it's your home, business or golf course being taken, eventually you get compensated. Whether you get true market value, though, is doubtful. But even if you do, the government is still taking property against the owner's will, without any substantive public use. That's theft.
A lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court last week seeks to stop any condemnation of Deepdale as a violation of the Constitution, while a suit filed in State Supreme Court wants to stop the village from using certain funds to acquire the course.
By the way, village residents should also be concerned about the potential cost of such an escapade. That golf club is valuable property, and it wouldn't come cheap. One way or another, taxpayers will foot the bill.
Today, apparently, no one is safe from eminent domain abuse. For many years, low-income and minority neighborhoods that lacked political clout were targeted for condemnation in the name of eliminating "blight." Of course, one politician's blight is another person's life and livelihood. Then came eminent domain in the name of economic development, putting more homes and small businesses at risk.
Now it goes even beyond the little guy to reach those who can pay $100,000 to join a private golf club. If Natiss and his village cohorts carry through with this scheme and get backing from the courts, think about how many private golf courses across Long Island might catch the acquisitive eye of other local politicians. Indeed, all kinds of privately owned recreational facilities could be lost to plotting pols.
The mere notion of condemning the Deepdale Golf Club serves as another example of political arrogance and manipulation on Long Island. In golf, one can count on serious players to embrace the letter and spirit of the rules. If only politicians had the same regard for the Constitution.
Copyright 2006 Newsday Inc.
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