Little Pink House_ A True Story of Defiance and Courage - Jeff Benedict [101]
When Bullock arrived back in Fort Trumbull, Susette and the coalition felt like the cavalry had arrived. He informed them that for now, Beyer’s house would remain standing. Although minor and perhaps temporary, the good news felt like a huge victory.
“Thank God,” Susette said.
Fulfilled, Kramer didn’t bother taking a hot shower or getting into a fresh change of clothes. Instead, he remained in his winter gear for the flight back to Washington. Later that night, he had dinner with his wife and two young children. One of them asked where he had been the previous night. Kramer’s answer didn’t make sense to his son, who wanted to know why he would bother sleeping in a vacant house.
Kramer referred to his favorite movie, It’s a Wonderful Life, in which occurs a similar conversation between a father and his inquiring son, George, who didn’t understand why his father invested so much time and energy in a profitless bank offering small loans to first-time home buyers. “You know, George,” Peter Bailey says, “I feel that in a small way we are doing something important, satisfying a fundamental urge. It’s deep in the race for a man to want his own roof and walls and fireplace, and we’re helping him get those things in our shabby little office.”
“I’m trying to secure that for these good people in New London,” Kramer explained. “It’s the right to have a home and to be safe and secure within those four walls.”
February 21, 2001
Tom Londregan didn’t want to give an inch when it came to Scott Bullock’s requests. But what Londregan wanted most was a speedy trial. The longer the case dragged out, the longer it would be before the city could start developing the waterfront area. He showed up at Judge Martin’s chambers prepared to strike a deal.
With Martin running the meeting, Bullock and Londregan pounded out an agreement. Bullock promised not to amend his complaint and Londregan agreed not to raise any special defenses, both tactics that would have drawn out the trial.
Londregan reluctantly offered to forego the rents, which would have gone to the NLDC not to the city, anyway, in exchange for a commitment from Bullock that the trial could be held within six months. It took another round of negotiations before the NLDC would also agree to Bullock’s demand on the rent, but ultimately it did.
Bullock agreed to a shortened discovery period and to complete all depositions by April 27, with a trial date set for May 21.
In return, the city and the NLDC promised to forego any demolitions and abstain from physically ejecting or evicting homeowners or tenants from the properties until the outcome of the trial. The agreement also enabled Von Winkle to continue collecting rent from his tenants.
The compromise was a victory for the homeowners on the main points, while it protected the city’s interest in speeding things along. But to the NLDC, it was a major setback. Dave Goebel had been pushing hard to force Susette and her neighbors out. To the NLDC, Susette and her neighbors were breaking the law by refusing to vacate. Now the holdouts had court approval to stay put until the trial ended.
For Goebel, the bad news came at a bad time. The night before Bullock and Londregan reached a pretrial agreement, Goebel had taken a tongue-lashing from the city council. Filling in for Claire, he had appeared before the council to offer a progress report but had ended up on the defensive. The council felt the NLDC had gotten too far out in front of the local political leaders. The harshest criticism had come from some of Claire’s staunchest supporters.
Fed up, Goebel e-mailed Claire:
Claire: