Little Pink House_ A True Story of Defiance and Courage - Jeff Benedict [65]
Mitchell lashed out at the coalition. “We have been playing too nice,” she shouted. “We are playing by the rules of the politicians and the others in charge. We’re not going to get anywhere using these methods.”
All along, Mitchell had been pushing for a more aggressive, confrontational approach. John and Sarah Steffian agreed; the coalition needed to play hardball. But some members feared such an approach would alienate them from the rest of the public and the press, both of which were behind the Fort Trumbull residents. The meeting degenerated into an argument and ended without any resolution on the next steps.
Discouraged and convinced the NLDC would get her house, Susette walked out in silence. The pain in Susette’s expression tugged at Paxton. He had pledged to do all he could to help her, yet nothing he had tried seemed to work. He had let her down. He also felt he was taking a big personal risk by opposing Claire. Some colleagues had started to shun him. Some blamed him for undermining the school’s reputation.
But unbeknownst to Paxton, while he had been publicly squaring off with Claire over Fort Trumbull, a small group of faculty at the college had been quietly looking into the finances of the school. One of them contacted Paxton and asked him to attend a private meeting with a college administrator who had firsthand knowledge of the school’s accounting records.
Paxton reluctantly agreed. When he arrived at the meeting, the faculty administrator distributed some documents. “Here’s the financial status of the college,” the administrator said.
While Paxton and his colleagues looked at the numbers, the administrator painted the picture for them. It was not pretty. The school’s operating budget had shortfalls and warnings of a hiring freeze and possible cutbacks had reached the faculty. Two dining areas had been closed; hours at the athletic center had been cut back; and campus health service fees had gone up nearly tenfold. The school had also inexplicably run out of money while building some dormitories.
The group determined that something had to be done—fast. Talk ultimately turned to Claire. Paxton left the meeting feeling ill. He was in enough hot water with Claire over Fort Trumbull. The other professors understood that Paxton didn’t want to be involved. But the others organized a private meeting off campus and invited senior, tenured faculty. The school’s finances weren’t the only thing driving the organizers. Some faculty had been at odds with Claire on a variety of issues. And personal gripes and personal offenses came into play too. All of this added up to momentum to orchestrate a change at the top.
April 6, 2000
“Damn.”
Mayor Beachy tossed aside a legal notice prepared by the city’s Building Division. It indicated the NLDC had obtained permits to demolish a slew of buildings in the Fort Trumbull neighborhood, including the house right next door to Susette’s place and three other homes on East Street. The city council had barely voted to support the plan and the NLDC had already moved to exercise its power to knock down the buildings.
Beachy sent an urgent e-mail to the Coalition to Save Fort Trumbull Neighborhood, alerting them to the impending demolitions. “We must stop this project,” Beachy wrote. “Step forward and fight.”
A chill ran down Susette’s spine when she read the e-mail. She called Mitchell, who had already read it. To Mitchell it was a long overdue call to arms.
Reinvigorated by news that the NLDC planned to start knocking down homes, the coalition reconvened to map out ideas to stop it. John Steffian insisted the time had come to take the fight out of the political process and into the courtroom.
Steve and Amy Hallquist agreed. “We have to get real,” Steve said. “Real