Comments on: Elmer City Admonished for Land Deal http://www.grahamlawyerblog.com/2009/11/26/elmer-city-admonished-for-land-deal/ The perspective of a defense attorney Tue, 07 Feb 2012 09:58:25 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v= By: Steve Graham http://www.grahamlawyerblog.com/2009/11/26/elmer-city-admonished-for-land-deal/#comment-124 Steve Graham Fri, 04 Dec 2009 03:38:08 +0000 http://www.grahamlawyerblog.com/?p=814#comment-124 Thanks for your comment, and I agree with some of your comments. I agree the map by itself doesn't tell us much. But even if you can't site a house on the land, that doesn't mean the property doesn't have significant value for a roadside espresso or fruit stand, or for parking, or for storage units, or even for a billboard etc. I would almost invite someone to take a photograph of the site and post it. But the valuation should be done by a license appraisor, after all, rather than us. And maybe afterall the parcel is worth less than what the county assessor says it is. But I totally disagree as to what "the big picture is". The big picture is that we absolutely need checks and balances governing what happens to government property in this country. Otherwise all sorts of corruption could go on and you might as well move to [insert country of your choice]. I am not trying to pick on the employee who bought the property. There were elected officials (who the voters entrusted) that allowed the checks and balances to break down. Thanks for your comment, and I agree with some of your comments. I agree the map by itself doesn’t tell us much. But even if you can’t site a house on the land, that doesn’t mean the property doesn’t have significant value for a roadside espresso or fruit stand, or for parking, or for storage units, or even for a billboard etc. I would almost invite someone to take a photograph of the site and post it. But the valuation should be done by a license appraisor, after all, rather than us. And maybe afterall the parcel is worth less than what the county assessor says it is. But I totally disagree as to what “the big picture is”. The big picture is that we absolutely need checks and balances governing what happens to government property in this country. Otherwise all sorts of corruption could go on and you might as well move to [insert country of your choice]. I am not trying to pick on the employee who bought the property. There were elected officials (who the voters entrusted) that allowed the checks and balances to break down.

]]> By: Bill Black http://www.grahamlawyerblog.com/2009/11/26/elmer-city-admonished-for-land-deal/#comment-123 Bill Black Sat, 28 Nov 2009 06:22:18 +0000 http://www.grahamlawyerblog.com/?p=814#comment-123 What the map that you linked to does not show - nor has any or the written material related to this particular instance described, is that the piece of ground in question is a sandy hillside that abutts the highway. Whether it would be possible to build a structure on that piece of ground is seriously questionable. It is obviously difficult enough to keep that particular piece of ground maintained, if anyone has paid attention as they have driven by. (And if you HAVEN'T driven by, it might be worth your time before you comment on this matter...) We all know that there is a difference between our property's ASSESSED value (for tax purposes) and what it is actually WORTH on the real-world real estate market. I don't know that I would pay $25 dollars for a sandy hillside butting up to a highway that I couldn't build anything on.... How about you??? I am not condoning the PROCESS that occurred in this instance, as it sets a bad precedent, but if we look at this from the bigger picture point of view, it is probably a situation of "addition by subtraction" on the city's part. What the map that you linked to does not show – nor has any or the written material related to this particular instance described, is that the piece of ground in question is a sandy hillside that abutts the highway. Whether it would be possible to build a structure on that piece of ground is seriously questionable. It is obviously difficult enough to keep that particular piece of ground maintained, if anyone has paid attention as they have driven by. (And if you HAVEN’T driven by, it might be worth your time before you comment on this matter…)

We all know that there is a difference between our property’s ASSESSED value (for tax purposes) and what it is actually WORTH on the real-world real estate market.

I don’t know that I would pay $25 dollars for a sandy hillside butting up to a highway that I couldn’t build anything on….

How about you???

I am not condoning the PROCESS that occurred in this instance, as it sets a bad precedent, but if we look at this from the bigger picture point of view, it is probably a situation of “addition by subtraction” on the city’s part.

]]>