Little Pink House_ A True Story of Defiance and Courage - Jeff Benedict [58]
Her point was simple, yet compelling.
Susette insisted she wasn’t the only one in the neighborhood determined to stay. “The people that wanted to sell have sold,” she said. “The people still here don’t want to go.”
The more she talked, the more sense she made. Susette had nothing to hide. And the resentment in her voice and on her face was raw, especially when Howard asked her about the negative perceptions about her neighborhood, such as its reputation for crime.
“The biggest crime here is what Claire has planned,” she said, insisting that Claire was using code words to hide her true intentions. “You know that ‘HIP little city?’ To me, that means Higher Income People.”
Howard left impressed by Susette’s intensity and her candor. He called the NLDC for a response to her statements.
Pat O’Neil had been in charge of public relations at the NLDC for a year. Previously a reporter at the state capitol, he had heard about the opening at the NLDC from Jay Levin, and had agreed to come on board to help defuse the Freedom of Information dispute with the Day. Right away, O’Neil ended up handling one crisis after another and working closely with Claire. But he never bought into Claire’s agenda. And he had a personal distaste for her approach. The steady sexual innuendo and the urgent Friday-night meetings got old fast, in his view. But like a good soldier, he kept his gripes to himself. It was hard to believe he had been on the job only a year; it felt more like a decade.
It fell to O’Neil to handle Howard’s questions about Susette and her insistence that the NLDC was being unfair. O’Neil told Howard that he understood where Susette was coming from. “For people who have lived in houses for a long time, it is difficult,” O’Neil said.
His honesty made an impression on Howard.
O’Neil also admitted that there were financial motives for the NLDC to act quickly in its attempt to obtain the homes in the fort area. “If you wait two years and Pfizer opens and people are desperate to move in, things like that do have an effect on the market,” he said.
After interviewing Susette and O’Neil, Howard produced a cover story titled “In The Way of a Revival” for the newspaper’s weekly real-estate section. It included color pictures of Susette’s house—freshly repainted after the fire—and of its impressive views.
The article’s slant and Susette’s tough quotes were just the kind of press the NLDC was trying to avoid. A couple of weeks after the article appeared, Dave Goebel told O’Neil he wanted to see him in his office. O’Neil figured the agency had another crisis.
“This isn’t working out,” Goebel told him. “I’m going to have to give you notice.”
Stunned, O’Neil said nothing.
“It’s unfortunate,” Goebel continued. “I feel bad about this. But we’ve got budget issues. We need project managers and engineers. It’s a problem that I have to deal with.”
O’Neil liked Goebel and had always found him to be professional. But he wasn’t buying Goebel’s explanation. He was convinced it was something else.
“I’m not sure how or why I ran afoul of Claire,” O’Neil said.
“I don’t know either,” said Goebel.
Steve and Amy Hallquist saw the feature story on Susette. It confirmed their growing reservations about Claire and the NLDC.
They decided to attend one of the public presentations Claire had scheduled.
Claire was partway through her speech when Susette suddenly stood up in the back of the room.
“This is bullshit!” she said.
All eyes shifted to Susette. Steve and Amy spotted a redhead in blue jeans and a flannel shirt. They recognized her as the woman in the newspaper.
“It’s total bullshit,” Susette repeated. “They’re down here stealing our properties. They’re trying to take our homes.”
Civility instantly left the room. People mumbled under their breath. A woman toward the back of the hall insisted people in the neighborhood hadn’t been included in the process. A man complained that Claire was messing with real