Washington DC came to our little hamlet today. Specifically, our Congressman Jim Gerlach, and F. James Sensenbrenner, Congressman and Chairman, Committee on the Judiciary. This proves the little irony that the little guy matters.

Congressman Sensenbrenner came to town to discuss eminent domain, and quite frankly, help the Save Ardmore Coalition and the eminent domain targeted merchants of Ardmore, PA.

How about them apples? One of the most powerful men on Capitol Hill believes in us, had time for our merchants. The sum end of the day: local government might say eminent domain for private gain in Redevelopment Plan B is ok, but folks, the Federal Government apparently has a different perspective.

We started our afternoon in our own Hu Nan Restaurant. We were all so appreciative that Betty and Dr. E Ni Foo were so gracious to host us!

Congressman Sensenbrenner was a warm, friendly, affable and down to earth guy. He spoke to everyone, and we think he appreciated Dr. Foo’s paintings which line the walls of the restaurant.

Who else was there? Who wasn’t? Pretty much every media outlet, including the A.P. It was so much fun! If we were snow boarders we would have to say we were stoked!

Citizens from Ardmore, business owners, representative of regional business associations, our membership, and many of the other great community activists from all over the region. We were pleased to open our doors to Rosemary Cubas of North Philadelphia, Mary Cortes of Cramer Hill Camden, the Sahas of Chester County, and Stan Cramer of Harrisburg.

There we were, the extended family of grass roots activism against eminent domain abuse in the same room with one of the ultimate movers and shakers from Washington D.C.

Congressman Sensenbrenner spoke about the Kelo decision and how it motivated him to write HR 4128, the Private Property Rights Protection Act. His bill will help people in this country. The bill is currently before the Senate, and he urged everyone to contact our Senator, Arlen Specter http://specter.senate.gov/ , to ensure Specter understands how important this bill is to every American. Some of our membership smiled at that because we have been contacting Specter for over a year, and none of us have ever received anything more than an auto generated dear occupant acknowledgment e-mail.

The floor was opened up to the public and media after Congressman Gerlach and Sensenbrenner had concluded their opening remarks. Our own Scott Mahan, the new President of The Save Ardmore Coalition and targeted business owner, was right up there at the head table along with our esteemed guests. We thought he looked very congressional himself. We told Congressman Sensenbrenner our Ardmore story, and our guest activists told their eminent domain stories and struggles.

Congressman Gerlach assured the audience that our township would NOT lose the federal funding if they dumped plan B and eminent domain. We could tell easily enough that both Congressman thought that was a silly assumption for our local government to float. We could also tell that they got what it was like for us to fight this, and how much eminent domain costs in human terms. Washington DC gets the human component. Washington DC gets that eminent domain and the threat of eminent domain is class warfare and economic segregation. We also know that they noticed that only one member of local government came to our meeting, although our doors were open to all. The one commissioner who came, and stayed, and contributed? Scott Zelov. Now we know of others who told us well in advance that they had conflicts, but isn’t it ironic that none of the leadership of the Lower Merion Township Board of Commissioners came at least to pay their respects to our guests, nor did past leadership, one of whom is the GOP party boss of Montgomery County? But hey, they missed out. Today was a rare opportunity to talk to someone who writes the laws that govern us in this country.

After the question and answers and the television interviews, we took Congressman Sensenbrenner on a tour of our “blighted” businesses. He said about a thousand times we weren’t blighted. Congressman Sensenbrenner went into many of our businesses and talked to the owners, employees, and shoppers.

Folks, check KYW- 3 and CN8 for the most in depth reporting on our day of excitement and promise.

In conclusion, we have to say today was a triumph. Congressman Sensenbrenner paid us an honor with his visit. And Congressman Gerlach just continues to support us. We are grateful to both of these men and their tireless staff for coming to Ardmore to listen, talk, and try to help us. We can’t say thank you enough. Tonight, we go home to our families with a really great feeling.

We leave you with this thought: if Washington, DC gets us, why can’t Lower Merion, and to some extent, Harrisburg? Well maybe they will now. Even they can’t put their heads in the sand and ignore this.

www.saveardmorecoalition.org

http://www.house.gov/sensenbrenner/

http://www.sensenbrenner.org/

http://gerlach.house.gov/

http://www.jimgerlachforcongress.com/