New London - The city's law director and a former mayor agreed Wednesday that if they could have a “do-over” for the past 10 years, they would not relinquish the powers of eminent domain to an unelected body that is not accountable to the voters.

”Never, ever delegate the powers of eminent domain,'' said Beth Sabilia, who was mayor more than three years ago when the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the city's powers of eminent domain to take private property in the city's Fort Trumbull neighborhood for economic development.

”We should have retained local control,'' Attorney Thomas Londregan added.

The two were part of a four-member panel that met in a lecture hall at New London High School Wednesday night to discuss the Kelo v. New London court case and its aftermath.

Hosted by The Day, the forum also featured author Jeff Benedict, who five weeks ago published a book - “Little Pink House: A True Story of Defiance and Courage'' - on the subject.

In 2000, the City Council gave the New London Development Corp. the power to use eminent domain to implement a $70 million state-funded overhaul of Fort Trumbull.

More than three years after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the city was justified in taking the Fort Trumbull property for economic development, there is no new construction on the 90-acre site, and the wounds from the battle still run deep.

”What bothers me, is that on a local level, it was neighbor against neighbor. There is a breach there that still has not been healed,'' said Kathleen Mitchell, a vocal advocate for the people who lived in Fort Trumbull and lost their homes.

“There are so many decent people in New London,” she said. “Even those that supported taking the homes thought it was the right thing to do.”

Mitchell was among about 170 people who crammed into the lecture hall for the forum.

Sabilia, who said she received 4,000 e-mail death threats the summer following the Supreme Court decision, also said the state was in charge of the project and she often fielded calls from state officials telling her what do and threatening to cut off funding if the city did not comply.

”My lesson is, if the state offers you $70 million, say 'no thank you','' she said. “Yes, the city won, but no one in the City of New London really won. In New London we are all connected. I don't care if you live in a lean-to or a 4,000-square-foot house. It's where we all take our babies home.”

Benedict, one of the four panel members, said there are plenty of colorful characters in the 10-year saga that pitted seven resolute families in Fort Trumbull who refused to give up their homes against a distressed city looking to boost its tax base.

”But there are no villains in this fight,'' he said. “There weren't any bad guys in the story.'' City officials had the best interest of its citizens in mind when it approved a municipal development plan in 2000 that called for redevelopment of Fort Trumbull, he said.

The city won the case and had the full backing of the law, but it could have made room in the project for those who did not want to leave, Benedict said. The city chose not to and forced everyone out. Now, three years later ,with the old neighborhood removed and nothing new in its place, it's time to admit mistakes were made, he said.

”This was a political fight more than anything else,'' he said. “Saying I'm sorry can go a long way.''

The panel on stage also included Dana Berliner, a lawyer for the Institute For Justice, which represented the property owners. Susette Kelo, the lead plaintiff in the lawsuit and the main character in Benedict's book, had been invited to participate in the panel but did not. After the two-hour forum, she appeared in the hallway and signed books with Benedict.

Among the interesting tidbits that emerged during the two-hour discussion was that Claire Gaudiani, former president of the NLDC, referred to Reid MacCluggage, the former publisher of The Day, as Darth Vader, according to Benedict. He also said in 2005, Gaudiani was walking with a limp and with the aid of a cane after a meeting in a New York City restaurant. He did not recognize her when he first saw her.

”I thought, three years ago she was on top of the world,'' Benedict said. “Now, here was someone who had come a long way from that.''

He added that the human toll from the saga was immense.

”A lot of people's lives were turned upside down,'' he said.

Berliner, who argued the property owners' side, said that while the court decision upheld the city's legal right to take the property, she said she knew there would be a backlash.

An online poll the day after the Supreme Court's decision showed that 99 percent of the 100,000 people who voted disagreed with the high court's ruling.

”Everyone was appalled,'' she said.

Since that time, Berliner said, 43 states have changed their eminent domain laws. She praised the property owners for staying in the fight.

”They lost their homes,'' she said. “But ultimately they were a catalyst for change.”

K.EDGECOMB@THEDAY.COM

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