The Centene Corporation used the local government of Clayton, Missouri to use eminent domain to take the  property of local businesses so they can build a new headquarters. Their director of corporate marketing states “”We are pleased with the Court’s decision and intend to see this through and make Centene Plaza a reality.” Translated, we did not want to pay the price to get the people to sell their land and businesses to us to build our ego headquarters, so we used the power of the state to take your land.

A judge denied a request this morning to let Clayton voters approve or reject on June 6 a city ordinance that allows a developer to use eminent domain to build the Centene Plaza World Headquarters project in the heart of downtown Clayton.

St. Louis County Presiding Judge Carolyn C. Whittington rejected the petition for a referendum from Clayton Committee to Stop the Abuse of Eminent Domain. The group represents business owners on Forsyth Boulevard in the path of the project, as well as residents opposed to eminent domain use by a private developer for a private development.

In her two-page order and judgment today, Whittington wrote that there was nothing improper in the actions by the Board of Aldermen and the mayor on Dec. 13 when the ordinance for the $190-million project was introduced and approved in multiple votes. via STLtoday

If I was doing business with Centene, I would be nervous. They have shown that they will use government to take what is good for them, and not care about the what the average man needs. With eminent domain being such a hot topic, saving a few dollars by having the state take a persons property by force is probably not the wisest business decision.

My thoughts and prayers are with the small business men and women being crushed by the corporate and political machines in Clayton. And hopefully the voters will remember this when the time comes.

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