Fighting for Justice in St. Louis: Jim Roos

Jim Roos, 63, has long been concerned with issues of justice. So when the St. Louis city government snatched a whopping 24 of his real estate company's properties to put up quarter-million-dollar homes in their place, he decided to roll up his sleeves and fight back.

"I've been a victim of serial eminent domain abuse," he says.

What's worse is that Roos was not the only one victimized by the government's seizure of two dozen of his properties—because his real estate company, Neighborhood Enterprises, is a housing ministry that aims to provide decent, affordable rental housing for low-income residents of St. Louis, and has rejuvenated many neighborhoods in the process.

"I've spent my whole life making a living in a way that brings justice to the community," says Roos, who established the company in 1970 after he graduated from St. Louis' Concordia Seminary. Roos was rewarded for his entrepreneurial ministry efforts, however, with case after case of eminent domain abuse.

"No good deed goes unpunished," he joked.

Some politicians behind the eminent domain cases called the properties "blighted."

"That's a blatant lie," Roos says. "It's not defensible." In fact, Roos' buildings routinely pass city inspections, and tenants often refer their families and friends.

"Eminent domain is a big problem because it's the power of politicians and the power of developers up against the power of everyday citizens," Roos says.

Roos, however, is proving that everyday citizens can take on the government and succeed. When the government tried to take a twenty-fifth property from Roos, he commissioned a 24-foot mural on the affected building, condemning the government's use of eminent domain. He didn't stop there, either—he organized protests at city council meetings, demonstrated at the home of one of the aldermen, and got the attention of the local news media. In the end, the city backed off.

"I'm a celebrity," he says of the vast support he has received from citizens. "People are just delighted that someone has taken on this issue. They'll say to me, 'I didn't know you could fight the government!'"

Roos encourages citizens to do the same in their own communities by recalling elected officials who abuse eminent domain or by pursuing legislation to protect private property in the future.

Now, Roos, coordinator for the Missouri Eminent Domain Abuse Coalition, is working with Missouri Citizens for Property Rights to solve the problem of eminent domain abuse in Missouri for the long term. The group is collecting signatures to put an initiative on the November 2008 ballot that would change the Missouri Constitution and return eminent domain to its original framework—to be used for legitimate public purposes, like schools, hospitals, and roads.

Until then, however, bureaucrats will be watching out for Jim Roos.

To learn more about the fight against eminent domain abuse in Missouri, click here and here.