Little Pink House

Living here in Groton, Ct, has given me on site knowledge of the events that lead to the infamous US Supreme Court decision on Kelo v. City of New London. Now we have a book by Jeff Benedict entitled Little Pink House, A true story of Defiance and Courage. I had enjoyed Benedict's previous book Without Reservation which was the tale of how Foxwoods Casino came to be, and looked forward to reading this latest book.

Benedict's sympathies lie with Kelo and the other plaintiffs. This is evident in the fact that some of the more embarrassing episodes are glossed over or not discussed at all. No mention of the infamous Christmas card with the little pink house on its cover or the curse that is leveled against all that were in favor of eminent domain. Also not mentioned are the on going complaints of one of the plaintiffs who felt they were short changed when final payouts were revealed.

But what really bothers me in this whole saga, is how unnecessary it all was. The New London Development Corporation had alternative development plans that could have spared the homes. Also one of the plaintiffs wanted $700,000 for his properties and would have never been involved if he had gotten it. He ended up the $1.8 million. The NLDC had $70 million in state money to start off with, they could have bought up the property from those willing to sell, gone with a development plan that would have left those who wanted to stay alone, and New London could be enjoying the higher tax base that they were looking for.

That is the big problem with New London, CT, no real leadership that puts the interests of the city and its people first. Where I grew up, Harrisburg, PA, we had the same kind of economic problems, nobody wanted to live there and people moved out as soon as they got their degrees. Then a mayor was elected named Stephen Reed who transformed Harrisburg, brought in businesses and attractions that revitalized the city. And nobody had their property taken away.

Benedict wrote a very good book and really shows how stupid and useless this whole mess was.