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June 7, 2006
Some voices in the eye of the Kelo storm
AP, via NY Sun, Eminent Domain Protesters Finally Evicted
The city attorney plans go to court to seek removal of the remaining two families and obtain the properties in the Fort Trumbull neighborhood, a process that could take three months.
City councilman Robert Pero, who supported the effort to remove the families, noted that the issue has been through state agencies and three courts.
“This was a plan that was well thought out,” he said. “The development of this peninsula needs to move forward.”
But Charles Frink, one of the two council members who voted against the plan, said supporters should admit their mistake.
“I can’t accept a possible reduction in taxes by having neighbors thrown out of their property,” he said. “This is morally abhorrent to me. I refuse to profit from my neighbor's pain.”
LA Times, One Step Closer to Eviction
Michael Cristofaro said he woke up Tuesday morning feeling that, along with his property rights, he had just been stripped of his citizenship. Hours earlier, officials in New London, Conn., had voted to evict the Cristofaros and Susette Kelo from their homes in a waterfront area of a struggling community.
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Authorities in New London also vowed to collect back taxes and other fees from the displaced property owners. The city's action defied a recommendation by Gov. M. Jodi Rell to relocate the Fort Trumbull residents who had turned down financial settlements because they wanted to remain in a once-bustling neighborhood where many buildings dated from the mid-19th century."I remain sympathetic to the efforts of the few remaining owners," Rell wrote in a letter to New London Mayor Elizabeth Sabilia. The Republican governor proposed setting aside a small piece of land within the redevelopment area for those residents.
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Scott Bullock, an attorney for the Kelo plaintiffs, berated the council vote as "a raw exercise in power." Bullock works for the Institute for Justice, a libertarian public interest law firm in Washington.
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"The council could have treated these people with respect," he added. "They had a totally acceptable package on the table that was supported by the governor and the property owners — and that would have ended it. And they refused to do it."William Von Winkle, said he decided to accept an undisclosed settlement from the city late Monday, mostly because he was tired of what he called "harassment, threats and intimidation" by redevelopment authorities.
"I'll tell you what, I sold out," Von Winkle said Tuesday, sounding exhausted. He said the pressure to settle became too much for him, especially after his 25-year-old son was killed a week ago in an apparent robbery in nearby Groton.
Posted by lumi at June 7, 2006 8:16 AM