Group vows to fight eminent domain

Eron Ben-Yehuda

After the City Council on Monday formally adopted the power of eminent

domain over Downtown residential property, a group dedicated to reversing

the council’s decision leaped into action.

Known as Huntington Beach Cares, the group must gather 10,000 signatures

by mid-November to qualify for a March ballot referendum. If passed, the

measure would stop the city from using its newly acquired authority to

purchase homes by force.

“We feel that the City Council does not represent the will of Huntington

Beach citizens,” said Bjorn Joffee, 29, one of the group’s organizers.

Before voting 4-0, the council stressed that the only properties

threatened are the nine apartments above El Don Liquor store on the 400

block of Pacific Coast Highway.

“We’re not condemning hundreds of homes where people have lived for

hundreds of years,” City Councilman Tom Harman said.

City council members Dave Garofalo and Ralph Bauer recused themselves

because they own nearby property that create potential conflicts of

interest. Councilwoman Pam Julien was absent.

El Don is part of a two-acre site where a city-backed developer plans to

build a multimillion-dollar hotel, retail and restaurant complex.

Joffee, who lives in one of the apartments above El Don, seemed unfazed

by the council’s decision even though it could result in his eviction. He

trusts residents will band together to fight the common enemy of new

development, which he said destroys Surf City’s old charm.

“It’s time for the citizens of Huntington Beach to become united and make

our desires for what the city should be like known and represented,” he

said.