Editor,
I recently read in Hamilton County Commissioner Steve Dillinger’s Facebook post that he is committed to and understands property rights and their direct impact to quality of life.
Property rights are the most basic rights in a free society.
That must be a new revelation for Dillinger.
I say that because of what happened 14 years ago to McMillan’s Auto Care & Towing, my property at 599 Conner St., Noblesville.
Hamilton County got a wild hair to buy my three lots for more parking or for future offices.
Steve Dillinger and Steve Holt were commissioners and offered me $314,000 for the land, an appraisal that attached no worth to my business.
My property was worth five times that, at least $1.5 million, to cover cost for land and a building.
Commissioners tried to condemn my property and to take it by eminent domain, in a case filed Oct. 26, 2006.
My wife and I spent thousands of dollars in attorney’s fees. It was a nightmare.
A judge ruled July 24, 2008, that the lawsuit against my property failed to show how the property would be used or even why it was needed.
This eminent domain case illustrates that Commissioner Dillinger does not care about property rights.
In June, McMillan’s is celebrating 35 years in business and is under contract with a private developer for purchase for future development, but on my terms, this time.
And yes, I’m voting for my son, Charlie McMillan, Jr., for county commissioner on Election Day, June 2, because he understands property rights.
Chuck C. McMillan Sr.
Noblesville
