click on the image to view at full size
When my son came back from Kuwait he couldn’t believe it. He said, “Mom, what’s going on?” And I said, well they want to get rid of us and they’re finally doing it. He was upset. He said, “I’m sorry, I’m halfway around the world to help other people and I can’t even help my own mom keep her own home.”
Bob Ewing
Big Government
3/17/2011
…For the past ten years, township officials in Mount Holly have been destroying a close-knit community called the Gardens. They’ve been recklessly bulldozing select individual row-houses — even when they are attached to occupied homes — to make way for fancier homes for richer people. The current owners have never been offered a place in the new redevelopment, or enough money to buy comparable home nearby.
A new Institute for Justice study, available here, shows that this redevelopment project may result in a loss of one million dollars every year, one tenth of the township’s budget.
Despite these terrible conditions, the community never gave up hope. They continued to fight against all odds for their cherished neighborhood. And on Wednesday, a federal court came to their defense.
The Third Circuit issued a ruling that prohibits the city from moving forward with eminent domain against the homeowners involved in the lawsuit until they have a chance to let their voice be heard in court. The ruling likely means that the neighborhood has another year to fight for and save their community.
Without this ruling, the neighborhood would have likely been completely destroyed before the end of the month.
Activism expert Christina Walsh of the Institute for Justice has been working with the homeowners in their grassroots fight. They launched a major billboard campaign (see above), generated positive local media coverage, ran full-page ads, held events, and more…
The article, with video, can be read in full at BigGovernment.com
