Fallen Lords of Dogtown

St. Louis Alderman Thomas Bauer has been recalled in a special election after pushing an eminent domain seizure in order to put up a gas station and convenience store in the Dogtown neighborhood. (He also tried to sue pro-recall activists for defamation.) The block Bauer had ensured was designated as "blighted" apparently was home to "half a dozen businesses, including two used car lots, a heating business and a law firm," and there were already four gas stations and a Walgreens a few blocks away. Bauer blames "hysteria over eminent domain" for the recall effort. I call it a healthy message to send: Get too enamored of your own central planning genius, and you may find citizens seizing your job for public use, to hand over to someone who can make more productive use of it.