Well played, Byker

In all the hubbub last night about Transportation Secretary Conti's apparent revocation of a deed of easement given by SDD to the state i neglected to pay my compliments to Patrick Byker, from K&L Gates, attorney for the developers.

Gotta admit, the idea of disenfranchising a whole group of homeowners from participating in the rezoning process by giving away a 41 foot strip of land and thereby pushing them out of the 100 foot proximity zone in which petitioners must own property was genius. Topping that off by waiting 10 days, until the close of business on the Friday afternoon just prior to the big vote on the project was the sour cherry on top of a very large sundae.

This is the kind of legal maneuvering that keeps people who write lawyer jokes for a living employed, and given today's economy, any job kept is a good one, right?

So keep it up, Mr. Byker. I'm sure that County Attorney Lowell Siler will also be appreciative of your assistance as he searches desperately for a way to find that Secretary Conti's action yesterday is somehow not legally binding. If anyone can do that, it's you.