{UAH} Dallas Wants To Destroy A Popular Small Business--And Not Pay Him A Dime - Forbes

As one of the top rankedmechanics in Dallas, Hinga Mbogo has served a wide range of clients, including a Dallas Symphony Orchestra musician, and the Dallas Police Department, by repairing their undercover cars. "When I opened this shop, I thought I had it made. I thought I had the American dream," he said.

But thanks to a little-known zoning tactic known as "amortization," the Dallas City Council is trying to remove Hinga from his own property.

Hinga is now working with the Institute for Justice to resist amortization, both for his business and for properties citywide. A Change.org petition supporting Hinga (and blasting amortization as "state-run gentrification") has earned over 5,500 signatures.

As a boy, Hinga grew up on a farm in Nairobi, Kenya. There he learned how to dismantle and repair tractors and other farm equipment, which sparked his interest in becoming a mechanic. In 1974, he and his wife immigrated to the United States, where he worked as an aviation mechanic in South Florida. A decade later, Hinga moved to Dallas and opened up his own auto body shop, Hinga's Automotive Company, on Ross Avenue in 1985. His business has stayed there ever since.

Instead of respecting the property rights of minority-owned businesses like Hinga's, the city wants "to redevelop the street—new apartment buildings, shops and restaurants—into an eastern gateway to the downtown Arts District," the Dallas Morning News explained.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/instituteforjustice/2016/04/07/dallas-wants-to-destroy-a-popular-small-business-and-not-pay-him-a-dime/?

Sincerely,

Brian M. Kwesiga