"Really, she shouldn't take this personally. It was just business. And we made her an offer she couldn't refuse..."
Posted on 12/21/2006 8:42:35 AM PST by Graybeard58
NEW LONDON -- The woman at the center of a national battle over property rights has sent some not-so-joyous tidings to people involved in taking her house to make way for private development.
Susette Kelo's holiday cards feature a snowy image of her pink house and a message that reads, in part, "Your houses, your homes, your family, your friends. May they live in misery that never ends. I curse you all. May you rot in hell. To each of you I send this spell."
The cards were conceived and produced by a friend of Kelo's and sent to city officials and members of New London's development agency.
Kelo said she also considered sending the cards to five U.S. Supreme Court justices who ruled in June 2005 that New London had the right to take homes in the Fort Trumbull neighborhood to make way for a riverfront project slated to include condominiums, a hotel and office space.
On Wednesday, after news accounts carried details about the cards, Kelo apologized in a statement released by the Institute for Justice, which represented the homeowners in their legal battle.
"My card was meant as much in humor as it was in frustration," she said in the statement. "What I wrote shouldn't be taken as my literal wish for anyone. I'm heartbroken that this will be my last Christmas in Fort Trumbull and what I wrote rose out of that fact, but the bottom line is, it was over the top."
Kelo, one of the last holdouts, earlier this year accepted a $442,155 settlement, more than $300,000 above the appraised value of her home in 2000. Her pink cottage will be moved elsewhere in the city. She has until June 15 to move.
"It's amazing anyone could be so vindictive when they've made so much money," said Gail Schwenker-Mayer, a supporter of the development project who received one of the cards.
New London Development Corp. member Reid Burdick said he put the card on his mantel with his other Christmas greetings.
"I think the poor woman has gone around the bend," he said. "I haven't gotten any mail from her in years. I still feel bad for Susette. The sorry part of this is that the things she's angry about were not done to be mean-spirited toward her personally."
Fellow NLDC member George Milne, a former top executive at Pfizer Inc., called the card "immensely childish."
"It's sort of sad she elected to do this," Milne said. "We were trying to do things for the city. It was nothing personal."
Kelo, a nurse who handles lead paint and lead poisoning cases for the city of New London, said the card was her idea.
"This all could have been solved and ended many years ago," she said. "They didn't have to do what they did to us, and I will never forget. These people can think what they want of me. I will never, ever forget what they did."
"It's amazing anyone could be so vindictive when they've made so much money," said Gail Schwenker-Mayer, a supporter of the development project who received one of the cards.
I don't care how much she made, this lady was FORCED out of her home. It might as well have been at gunpoint.
She should have made lots more.
I hope they all rot in hell too. The damage done to the country by this one decision is enormous.
Oh, the poor thing. She has gone around the bend. We gave her so much money. It was the best thing for the community. She's so vindictive. I put her card up with all my others!
Those jerkoffs. Let's see what happens when they have their own family homestead ripped away against their will, where they have had their Thanksgiving and Christmas celebrations over the years. This pisses me off. I don't care if they gave her a million bucks.
Is that like buying a place built on an old indian burial site? Will they be haunted and have to run screaming from their pricey little condo while watching it implode into the gates of hell?
Just a thought...
I would be delighted to sell my house to the government for $300,000 above its appraised market value.
It reminds me of gang members in prison for murder who would look into the camera and say "It wasn't personal, it was just business."
"Really, she shouldn't take this personally. It was just business. And we made her an offer she couldn't refuse..."
bump
LOL. Generally I only send cards like that to the IRS. (Kidding.)
The principle is all wrong here. Why should the government be allowed to take someones home for private development? I can much better understand if it were necessary for a public works project, but never for private development. Where would it end?
Screw them!
Besides, 442,000 is not outrageous for the location.
This makes me so mad. I feel like sending the New London Development committee a few cards of my own.
I don't ordinarily like eminent domain, but it seems that she did get a fair deal -- an amount well above the appraised value, plus the house is going to be picked up and moved. I'd feel differently if the developers and the city tried to low ball her, but maybe I just can't see what she's so bitter about.
My late aunt was offered a generous amount of money for her house for a commercial development and an acesss road or two. She declined, and the development and the roads were built around her house. The house really became unliveable what with traffic, noise and what not. When my aunt died, the property was sold for practically nothing (the house was torn down). All that resistance for naught.
I do send notes to the IRS. Every year in the memo section of the check I have to send them I write "F--- you thieves!" or something equally appropriate.
They still cash it every year.
It says appraised value, not appraised market value. That was a government appraisal, the same government that wanted to kick her off her own property.
The appraisal is sickeningly low for the area, too. Therre's a damn good reason they wanted the land, because it's very valuable. I think they got screwed all the way around.
so she's making an obnoxious amount of profit to move her house, and she's still whining about the whole thing?
"Appraised value" doesn't mean it can be replaced for that amount. Criticize her for making an "obnoxious amount of profit" when the government forcibly takes your property -- not for public use as Constitutionally allowed, but to give to another private party for that private party to use to generate profits -- and offers you an amount that is completely unacceptable to you but considered an "obnoxious amount of profit" by others who didn't own the property in the first place.
In a just world, George Milne would be sent to prison for his crimes. There, his roommate/girlfriend Bubba would repeatedly sodomize him with a splintered ax handle while reminding him, "it's nothing personal."
I hope the curse works.
***"We were trying to do things for the city. It was nothing personal."***
We were trying to make a financial killing.
Thats fixes that.
How about for the exact market value? With federal marhalls ready to pull you out of your house regardless of your answer?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.