Kelo News London Post-Eviction Vote Update, Part 2 — Commentary Roundup

A fair amount of commentary has come in during the week following New London City Council’s 5-2 vote to evict Susette Kelo and the Cristafaros, the two remaining Fort Trumbull holdouts. Here is a sampling of some of the best columns, some of which contain facts about the situation that should not be forgotten. Go to the links in question to read the entire offerings. Bolds are mine in all pieces excerpted.

“Not Blighted”

John Hall of Washington Dateline had an important reminder his June 11 column (”Evict Homeowners or Politicians?”) that the New London situation doesn’t even carry the one traditional eminent-domain excuse that has some public sympathy:

What made the New London case different was that the area in question was not blighted. The whole region was economically stressed because of the closing of the naval base. But the Supreme Court said there was no showing that the people whose homes were slated for seizure had failed to keep up their property.

“Fixation on a Tarnished Trophy”

A passionate June 8 editorial in Investors Business Daily (”Kicked To The Curb”) sees the city’s obsession with “victory” for what it is:

Is this really happening in America?

It is. New London’s City Council voted 5-2 Monday to begin evicting the two remaining homeowners in the Fort Trumbull neighborhood who have refused to give in to the city’s abusive exercise of the power of eminent domain.

….. And did we mention that New London also tried to squeeze $1 million in back rent from the homeowners? City hall asserts that it has actually owned the houses since 2000. While it might hold the deeds, it does not have the moral authority to take what it wants simply because it follows a “legal” process.

But acting morally is not on the council’s agenda. The city’s fixation with throwing out residents for a tarnished trophy that it thinks will save the town has blinded its judgment.

….. Not everyone in New London government believes in plunder. Charles Frink, one of two council members who oppose the city’s plan to take the properties, refuses to act like a Third World dictator by seizing citizens’ private property.

“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.”

Would that Frink’s colleagues had held themselves to that same standard instead of taking the shameful course they have.

Reason Online: Time Has Passed the City’s Plans By

Tim Cavanaugh’s June 8 piece at Reason Online (”Endgame In New London”) sees the New London situation as a case study in the futility of government involvement in development:

To understand why the last two homeowners in the Fort Trumbull neighborhood of New London, CT are now in the process of being evicted from their homes, consider this: More than half the property in New London generates no tax revenue for the city because it’s owned by several colleges (including Connecticut College, the Coast Guard Academy, and Mitchell College), by churches, hospitals, or by the city itself.

….. And the only project the New London Development Corporation is currently working on is a National Coast Guard Museum—a public building that will pay no taxes to the city.

….. If you want another example (beyond the intrusion on individual rights) of why eminent domain abuse needs to be stopped, New London is in the process of providing it. The city is in the final stages of removing private property owners in the name of a development plan that is nearly ten years old, drafted in an era of post-cold-war base closings, soaring profits for pharmaceutical companies, and a depressed real estate market.

….. economic circumstances can change radically in a relatively brief period of time, and while private companies are capable of adapting, governments (and in particular “private-public partnerships”) are not. Governments can react, however, as the NLDC is also finding out. The brutality with which the Fort Trumbull residents were removed has shocked the nation, and Connecticut Gov. Jodi M. Rell, a wavering supporter of the homeowners, has a strong disincentive to sink more money—beyond the $15 million that’s already going to the Coast Guard museum—into the town of 25,000.

Property values have increased in New London, as they have almost everywhere in the country. How to capitalize on that? (Holdout Mike) Cristofaro has an idea.

….. “I’m sure I could convert my house into the Eminent Domain Museum and I’d get more visitors.”

Civil Disobedience: It Could Happen

The Christian Science Monitor’s well-done June 8 story on the situation (”Last stand for property-rights activists”) is notable for the fact that it raises a legitimate possibility of civil disobedience:

Ms. Kelo’s pink cottage at 8 East Street and Mr. Cristofaro’s house a few blocks away have become symbols of defiance for property rights activists nationwide. And it is unclear what might happen should bulldozers suddenly arrive in the neighborhood.

“If I have to handcuff myself to the house I am willing to do that,” says Mr. Cristofaro. “My father is 81 years old and he says he will cuff himself to the house.”

Supporters have been phoning nonstop from around the country, Cristofaro says. Some are pledging to form a protective human chain around his home, if necessary.

Notable Quotes in an LA Times Story

The Los Angeles Times even-handed June 7 story (hey, it sometimes happens) reported the reactions and feelings of many of the participants in this drama, with indications of the psychological toll the ordeal has taken on the holdouts:

Michael Cristofaro said he woke up Tuesday morning feeling that, along with his property rights, he had just been stripped of his citizenship.

….. “I don’t feel like an American citizen today at all,” Cristofaro said Tuesday. “I feel like my rights have been totally violated.”

….. “We’ve got a city of a little over 25,000 people,” she (Mayor Beth Sabilia) said. “We are a distressed community, under any objective measure. The city of New London is 6 square miles, 50% of which is tax-exempt. This is a small whaling city, hard up by the sea. We don’t have spare land to access in order to increase our tax base.” (Playing a pretend-blight card that doesn’t exist. See the first item in this post. — Ed.)

….. 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.

“I have been to many disgusting City Council meetings, but this has to have been ranked at the apex,” Bullock said. “This City Council has done something that defies logic, common sense and morality.”

“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.

“Finally, I’d had enough,” he said. “In the beginning, they took possession of the property — kicked the doors in and kicked my tenants out. They put barricades in the street, and they did everything possible to harass me, to make me sell.”

I have to wonder when those incidents took place, and how widely they were reported.

Nearby Rhode Islander Rips New London Voters and Government

In a June 12 letter to The New London Day, Phillip Gingerella of Westerly, RI wrote:

New Londoners have only themselves to blame for the eminent domain mess they find themselves in.

For years they have voted at the local, state and federal level for liberal politicians who believe that it’s the people’s duty to serve government instead of government’s duty to serve the people. These politicians have appointed activist judges who think they have a right to interpret the law based on their personal beliefs, instead of interpreting the Constitution.

Does anyone really think that anyone except New London’s municipal employees will benefit from the revenue generated by the seizure of the property in the Fort Trumbull area? Does anyone think this is the end of seizures of prime residential property in New London to benefit the “greater good”?

New Londoners have finally gotten exactly what they voted for. In the end, you always do.

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UPDATE: Since I’m not a wheel reinventer, I will refer you to the awesome Castle Coalition project of The Institute for Justice, which has, among other things:

• A legislative center where you can get an updated status list of federal, state, and local legislative efforts.
• Model statutes and state constitutional amendments that can be starting points for tangible action.
• An exhaustive list of current controversies.