Posted on 12/20/2013 12:17:05 PM PST by Responsibility2nd
KENNER, La. —A Louisiana homeowner watched in horror as city workers in Kenner, La. tore down the house she was rebuilding since Hurricane Katrina.
“I'm going to wind up in the loony bin. I've tried for seven years to get back home. This is my home. This is my corner. I own this piece of property, and Kenner does this to me,” said home owner Reba Tullier.
But the city of Kenner said it has a zero-tolerance policy on blighted homes.
Tullier said she had finally lined up help to fix her house, but it was too late.
“It's not fair, it's insane,” said Tullier.
Tullier and her family went from tears to screams and back again as they watched a bulldozer plow through their property Wednesday.
“I was on my way in today to do an $800 injunction -- had no clue this was happening today,” said Tullier. “I do not get a letter. I do not get a date when this is going to happen. I've called every single day to try to talk with somebody who could tell me when this was going to happen. Nobody could tell me anything because conveniently there's no one in the office.”
Tullier's house at 2001 Kentucky Ave. was damaged in Hurricane Katrina. She had to bulldoze it then.
She was rebuilding her family home while she lives in Mississippi.
The city of Kenner sent her a letter in April, saying her work permit had expired due to six months of inactivity on the property.
“All we were trying to do was come back home and they didn't want to give us time, the city just wanted this house down,” said Brittany Tullier, Reba’s daughter.
The city council voted on Oct. 17 to demolish the property after complaints from neighbors about safety and lack of activity. The city attorney said Reba Tullier did not appeal that decision but was told to get an attorney.
She said no attorney would take her case, she couldn't get a loan and a contractor ran off with her money.
But she now has a group of volunteers ready to help.
“You don't know what we've been doing. You don't know what we've been trying to do,” said Reba Tullier.
She said the house would have been done in about three months with all of the volunteer help she had lined up. Now she said she'll probably have to sell the property.
The city attorney said Kenner will put a lien on Tullier's tax bill to pay for the demolition.
“They're going to pay for this to be rebuilt. This is wrong. There is no court order filed in the system,” said Reba Tullier.
City Attorney Keith Conley told WDSU there is no court order required. A house can be demolished by council action, he said.
Conley said Tullier's house is one of 13 homes demolished in the last couple of months as part of a zero tolerance for blight policy.
She was fixin’ to get ready to do something.
That should be an indication.
If it is where I think it is, it was an ill maintained eyesore before Katrina.
You said it!
what....no pictures...
The New Orleans area is full of Democratic politicians who take it upon themselves to decide whose private property they want to destroy.
This poor woman is just another victim of Democratic Nanny State politics.
That just means she has no money.
And no case.
Article says her home was bulldozed after Katrina. That would be 8 years ago. And that the family was living in Mississippi.
What, exactly did the city bulldoze/cleanup here?
Just checked it on Google maps. You are correct.
Now what is she and her friends going to do for a shooting gallery?
Eyesore or not, corrupt New Orleans area politicians should not be able to decide whose private property should be destroyed.
12 years............hmmmmm
She had started to rebuild. But never completed it.
Didn’t Louisiana get a HUGE sum form the fed gov’t after Katrina? Didn’t Landrieu ask for something like $250 Billion? What happened to all the money?!
My Crazy Woman radar went off about 3 seconds into the video.
If she voted for them, well...
But it was her own eyesore. Her property, not the city’s nor her neighbors’.
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