Andy Thibault

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Cool Justice
Chapters In The Book Of Stupid
By ANDY THIBAULT, Columnist
Law Tribune Newspapers
October 3, 2005

The Book of Stupid is not published anywhere. It's one of those oral histories passed down through the ages by bards entrusted with the tale. Occasionally, as history demands, chapters are added.

I first heard about The Book of Stupid, appropriately, in New London. Verses were recited to me by Harvey Mallove, the late mayor who was branded as the driver in the infamous Christmas Eve 1973 hit-and-run death that claimed the life of Mitchell College student Kevin Showalter.

"Bucko wrote The Book of Stupid," Mallove told me and a few select others charged with carrying this torch. Bucko was New London Det. Lt. K. T. Bucko, the officer in charge of the hit-and-run probe who did virtually nothing to solve the case. When state police took over the investigation and asked Bucko for key evidence, he gave them an envelope containing bathroom tiles.

Now, New London has a new chapter in The Book of Stupid.

The latest chapter was authored by the eminent domain creeps, aka the New London Development Corp. These are the people who failed to find a place for just a few local homeowners who wanted to stay in their Fort Trumbull neighborhood even as a developer would build offices, a hotel and so-called high-end housing. The NLDC's economic "cleansing" of the neighborhood still has not succeeded, despite the help of a 5-4 U.S. Supreme Court decision that radically expanded the range of eminent domain.

The clincher that gave NLDC President Michael Joplin and Chief Operating Officer David Goebel their own chapter in The Book of Stupid came after Gov. Jodi Rell pushed for mediation between the corporation and the residents. The governor had asked Joplin, Goebel and company to find a way to incorporate just a few residents into the plan.

Joplin and Goebel responded by serving eviction notices. The residents would have to pay rent and insurance to the local big  brother, the NLDC. This bonehead maneuver generated such a storm that the Legislature might actually do something about eminent domain abuse in New London.

"The city has been extremely patient," Goebel told the New London Day, "waiting for this to go through the court system." What else was this clown going to do, hire Janet Reno to send in the tanks?

Rell and her team of legal and economic beagles returned to the scene, this time with great force. They have some say over the $73 million project.

"The governor's tone may at times be restrained - that should not be misunderstood," Rell's legal counsel, Kevin Rasch told New London officials. "I don't think it can be overstated, the frustration of the governor."

Whereupon, Rell ordered the NLDC to rescind the eviction notices.

"I don't know whether it's in our purview to say no to this," Joplin told The Day. Duh.

New London has become a national poster child for eminent domain abuse. Republicans have taken the lead in righting the wrongs done in New London, clamoring for a special Legislative session. Joplin and Goebel of the NLDC have given them an early Christmas present - their entry for time immemorial in the Book of Stupid.

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