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I have been following this thread for a while to see how Freepers handled this question.

imho this has been one of the most negative and nonproductive threads I have seen in a long time.

You offered us a chance to show you how to win and what you get back is a bunch of "you can't fight city hall" and "get an appraisal".

If this is how folks plan to campaign against Hillary's carpet munchers in the coming years we better start packing now for the affirmative action re-education centers.

Here is the deal, Unsinkable.

You can win.

You will win if you want to win bad enough--more than your opponents do.

Here in CT they have been trying to build a beltway around Hartford for fifty years. They got it built in the poor and blue collar sections--but they have ramps going to nowhere as they tried to enter the neighborhoods of the rich and determined residents of Avon.

People there have an "attitude" which was very simple--no f(*&^ing way--no way.

They were prepared (and did) band together and spend as much time and effort and money as it took to defeat the highway.

They have won for fifty years--and at this point no politician will even discuss the possiblity of building a highway anywhere near that town even though it has been on the drawing boards for over fifty years.

So how do you get your area to be Avon?

(1)

Make a list and check it twice. Visit every single house that will be subject to the eminent domain. Introduce yourself to your neighbors. Shake their hands, look them in the eye, and ask for their support. Tell them you don't want anything from them now except their name, address, and phone number and info on whether they can help with time, skills, money, or whatever.

Then go on to the next neighbor.

(2) I don't get to tell you (2).

You see, when you are talking to all your neighbors they will have a lot of ideas. You will listen and you will learn and together you will create step (2)

The key is don't take "no" for an answer. Don't listen to the naysayers.

Envision victory, work for victory, and your greatly increase your odds for victory.

I have just one other suggestion. You really need to visit your local newspaper and talk to the editors and educate them about the situation. Probably it would best to do this with a few neighbors in tow.

Ask for the newspaper's support.

Ask for coverage.

Ask them what you need to do to get their coverage if they are giving you a hard time.

Promise them press releases once a month, or if you can handle it, once a week.

Promise them protests to cover, if your neighbors agree to that.

And yes, pursue all legal actions.

You will win if the local officials find it easier to surrender than to continue.

You need to create enough heat that they just want you to go away.

In New London, CT where the eminent domain jerks ultimately won in the Supreme Court, the resisters won many victories large and small. Most importantly, they exposed the New London politicians to the world as a bunch of corrupt clowns in the pockets of a big corporation.

Is that the fate your local pols want?

They have it good so far--obscure politicians in a sleepy town with sweetheart deals noone knows about that keep their family and mistress in grand style.

Are they ready for the media coverage?

Are they ready for the public scrutiny?

Are they ready for thousands of emails and hundreds of calls?

Or do they have better things to do with their lives?

Get it?

If you are a big enough nuisance you can win this thing.

P.S.

How do you declare victory when you have won?

Either you or one of your neighbors runs for local office on a "never again" platform.

And, yes, you win.

:-)

Thanks for the email, unsinkable.

I am posting this both for your benefit and the naysayers on this thread.

The "former" governor of CT, the "former" mayor of Bridgeport, CT, and now we find out the current mayor of Hartford, CT all did the same corrupt stupid thing.

So maybe your pols did the same stupid thing as well.

Since it is relatively easy to check here is what to look for:

Each of these politicians had the power to award construction contracts on a no bid basis "in the case of emergency". Each consistently awarded these contracts to one or two major companies. It turns out that these companies paid off the politician by doing free work at their primary or vacation homes.

So, you need to do the following to see if your pols have made this stupid greedy blunder:

(1) If possible find one of your neighbors "on the team" who is an architect or a construction person, so they know what they are doing.

(2) Have them go to the city/town halls and look at the plans of the various politician's homes. They should look for building permits for additions or enhancements, and also should note the square feet of the house and its condition (for step 3).

(3) They need to visit each of these houses. You can get pretty gutsy here, with fake service calls from utilities, etc., but if the town isn't that big you may know people who have seen the exterior and interior of their houses and talk to those folks.

(4) Compare what you have on (2) and (3). Do the plans with the town match the real situation with these houses?

The Mayor of Hartford thought he wouldn't get caught because he didn't get a building permit for his major addition. Unfortunately for him at least one of his election opponents knew about steps (2) and (3) and nailed his sorry butt.

(4) OK, you caught them. They are getting kickbacks from a local contractor. What do you do next? Simultaneously you have:

(a)one member of your team visit the FBI. They have a local corruption unit (because the Feds have learned not to trust state officials in these matters) and they love these kinds of cases. They are easy to solve, get the FBI and the US Attorney lots of great free publicity--win, win.

(b)Hold a press conference. You invite all the media--print, radio, tv from the nearest big city, bloggers, everybody. Announce what you have found.

Now the FBI guys won't be real thrilled that you did this--but if you do it _simultaneously_ then they can't stop you.

You are fighting to win, so you can't wait for the nine month old FBI investigation "baby" to be born.

:-)

(Nothing in this post should be construed as encouraging anyone to break the law. If in doubt on what you can and cannot do legally in your jurisdiction you should consult an attorney.)