A true American heroine came to town last week. Susette Kelo visited Austin as part of our Policy Orientation for the Texas Legislature. She told the story in several venues – including a press conference with Governor Rick Perry – of how the city of New London, CT, took her house to make room for a development project designed to bring Pfizer and more tax revenues to town.
There was a lot of press coverage, though much of it centered on Perry and his upcoming electoral battle with Kay Bailey Hutchison. Susette was almost an afterthought. Fortunately, that hasn’t deterred her from traveling the country to help keep others from losing their property as she did.
Because she fought so hard in her losing battle, Susette actually got to keep her house-she was just forced to move it to another location. Perhaps because of her efforts here in Texas, we can end Texas eminent domain abuse, and homeowners in our state will be keep to keep their property and their homes-together.
– Bill Peacock