New Orleans, LA

I couldn’t resist commenting on this news. From Workers World (tag line: Workers and Oppressed Peoples of the world unite!), comes the headline: Immigrants testify on exploitation in New Orleans. Excuse me, I have to snicker.

Ok. I’m back.

I agree that the government should have done more than it did. I agree that it is a tragedy that after two years New Orleans is in the state that it is in.

But, oppressed? Come on. Exploited? Please. Let’s get the ACLU and the NAACP and the Rev Sharpton to cry me a river.

Later, after he got out of the situation, Dennis stood on the corner at a Home Depot looking for work. Managers from the store called the police on the workers and armed police arrived in five patrol cars. The workers were not only arrested, Dennis described, but police stole $200 from him. In jail, he said, the Latin@ workers were terrified.

This article boggles the mind. Some dipstick head’s to New Orleans from a foreign country expecting to gouge the locals as day laborers. And we should feel sorry for him because he did not get what he was promised?

The recruiter promised the workers a good home, with a swimming pool, a television and telephone service. “But when I arrived,” Daniel said, “the reality was totally different.”

Duh! Ya think? A large portion of the local population was living in freaking fema trailers and you expect to have a good home and a swimming pool? Who’s exploiting whom?

The ruling class has successfully managed to drive down living conditions for the most oppressed workers in a way that can make heads spin. In addition, in every single facet of life, the community of New Orleans and all the Gulf Coast is being brutally and inhumanely hit. The horror the world saw in August of 2005 continues today in the wake of “Hurricane U.S. government.”

OH MY GOD. My mom and the rest of my family must be part of the oppressed. The man is keeping them down.

Ack. I need to stay away from rags like this.

commies, socialists, stupid

Set your DVR on Thursday, September 20 at 7PM to WYES for Reshaping New Orleans. It will repeat at 9pm on Friday.

Reshaping New Orleans is a discussion amongst several knowledgeable and involved people. They will be discussing the Unified New Orleans Plan (UNOP). The Unified New Orleans Plan (UNOP) addresses specific actions necessary to facilitate the recovery and rebuilding of New Orleans. The objective of this multi-level planning process is to successfully integrate community input and a set of deliverables from the district-level and neighborhood planning processes into a Unified Recovery and Rebuilding Plan that will be submitted to the City Planning Commission, City Council, Mayors Office and State of Louisiana. The plan culminates with a city-wide plan that encompasses all districts and neighborhoods.

Is the Citywide Strategic Recovery and Redevelopment Plan more than just thoughts and words on paper? Can it really serve as a practical, workable blueprint to rebuild the city into the community that all residents and neighborhoods want?

The discussion is being led by John Snell (WVUE) and includes:

Stephen D. Villavaso, local planner who worked on Unified New Orleans Plan (UNOP); David Dixon FAIA, a Boston, MA planner who worked on the UNOP; LaToya Cantrell, President of the Broadmoor Improvement Association; David Voelker, board member on the Louisiana Recovery Authority (LRA) and a Federal Representative; Dr. Edward J. Blakely, Executive Director of the Office of Recovery Management for New Orleans and Donald E. Powell, Federal Coordinator of Gulf Coast Rebuilding. Prior to his new appointment, Mr. Powell served as the 18th Chairman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC).

Tune your radio to AM 690 WIST Thursday, September 20 at 8pm after RESHAPING NEW ORLEANS with local hosts Eric Asher and Shane Warner as they discuss the program and take calls from locals. Watch on AM 690 WIST Inside New Orleans with Eric Asher weekdays from 12-3pm and don’t miss The Shane Warner Show weekdays from 3-5pm.

new orleans, planning, katrina, rebuilding, wyes, wvue, wist, reshaping new orleans

You can hear a lot about racism in the news and when it’s in the South, the news person usually has an attitude of, “Well, the south is known to be racist.” If it’s in the north or west, everyone acts like it’s a shock.

I have lived all over the country while working as a consultant. The worst racism I ever saw was in New Haven Connecticut. Of course, not everyone was a racist, anymore than everyone in the south is a racist. I did see some very ugly stuff though.

The thing that amazed me was how secret and sneaky it was. In New Orleans, there was segregation. White lakefront and black lakefront, for example. I didn’t even realize that was weird until I was in my 20s. I thought that was just the standard. White lakefront wasn’t any better or any worse than black lakefront, it was just segregated by the Bayou St John bridge. That bridge was out of order all through my teens.

Anyway, my point is that the white people who didn’t like black people were pretty blatant and outspoken about it. The black people who didn’t like white people were just as outspoken. You knew where you stood.

In New Haven, it was sneaky. I was in an elevator with a guy I worked with. A black guy was in the elevator with us. When the black guy got off, my co-worker went off on a racist tirade that was embarrassing to watch. And the black guy hadn’t even said anything on the ride. I saw a lot of that.

Now, on to my point. I don’t really think much about racism. I try to avoid racists where I can. Color, religion, culture, etc just don’t drive my reactions. But hearing constantly about how the South was so much more racist than anywhere else has colored my views.

I had convinced myself that New Haven was an abberation and that the south really was that much worse. Turns out, that’s not true. At least not in the last and past behavior is the best indicator of future performance, as they say.

That’s why I was interested when I ran across this post on Orcinux, Truth & Reconciliation, Part II: James Loewen on Sundown Towns. I had never heard of a sundown town and that’s because it is a uniquely northern and western phenomona.

If you think the town you grew up in didn’t have a race problem because either a) it wasn’t in the South, or b) it was all white, Loewen — the author of “Sundown Towns” and an active Unitarian himself — has news for you.

“When I started researching this subject, I expected to find three types of sundown towns,” Loewen recalled. “I expected to find small towns that were all-white because they’d expelled their black populations; suburbs that were all-white because they excluded blacks (and usually Asians and Jews, as well) from the very beginning; and then a third class of places that were all-white simply because African-Americans never got around to coming there.

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Stephen Sabludowsky of the BayouBuzz got a very honest and heartfelt interview with Soledad O’Brien. I’m not sure what I expected in the interview but it was very honest and sort of moving. She made a couple of comments that would not have expected from a journalist.

You can view the videos at the bayoubuzz, Interview With Soledad O’Brien. I get the daily email from the Bayoubuzz. While I don’t always agree with the editorial viewpoint, I do like the site.

I’ve got this interview bookmarked. I’ve always liked Soledad and she makes a few comments that should be mailed to all of the politicians at all levels. “It’s about justice and fairness” should be the Rebuild New Orleans tag line.

new orleans, katrina, soledad obrien, interview, bayou buzz

Back in the beginning of August, I wrote an article about a Time Magazine article called Time: The Threatening Storm. After I wrote that, I got a comment from a reader named Corps Of Engineers Employee. Corps had this to day:

# Corps of Engineers Employee Says:
August 14th, 2007 at 9:45 am e

TIME magazine’s article, “The Threatening Storm,” undermines the real science and risk information citizens need to make informed decisions about rebuilding with its reckless disregard for the truth.

The Corps provided TIME magazine with engineering, scientific and risk information derived from the Interagency Performance Evaluation Task Force’s (IPET) study done in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. The IPET study has been independently peer reviewed by the American Society of Civil Engineers and the National Academies. TIME chose to base their article on upon technical quotes that are not supported by science-based facts or the analysis done by IPET, ASCE or the National Academies.

For more info, visit:
http://www.usace.army.mil/response.htm

I promised that I would take a look at the link and report back. I have read the information and am now reporting back.

First off, I have to admit, I am not an engineer. I’m a computer neebish, though. Anyway, I mentioned (complained?) in my original post that I would like to see where Time got their info. This page from the Corps has links to that data. This page was basically released like a press release and if you are interested, I would recommend that you read it and the links provided. I will post some, what I consider significant, information from the release here.

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From the DailyKOS on August 29, 2007:

New Orleans: Mission NOT Accomplished

The more I read about Shelley Midura, the more I like her. She is an incredible writer. In this article she skewers just about everyone that needs skewering. She also makes some very good points.

The first point is that the government in New Orleans is fairly busy right now with three primary jobs: Rebuilding the city, Reforming the city government and running the day to day operations of a fairly large city.

In other major cities, item number three is a full-time job for a fully-staffed City Hall and city officials. Imagine trying to accomplish all three of these things with half of city government laid off due to crippling budget cuts.

Keep in mind that as elected officials, we get paid to perform these tasks as we are public servants. The citizens of New Orleans however are going through this painful recovery voluntarily and doing so because of a deep love for the City of New Orleans.

I also hear, way too often, people not understanding why anyone would choose to live behind levees. Forget the fact that much of the country depends on levees to hold back rivers, but also, New Orleans is:

A city that is rebuilding not due to help from the federal government (Who, by the way, just so happens to be the designer, the builder and the owner of the levee system that failed our city), but is rebuilding in spite of government.

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Shelley Midura, New Orleans City Council member, recently posted a Katrina 2 year fact sheet. I thought this was a very informational post and wanted to pass it along. The sheet, Katrina Two Years Later Fact Sheet, covers some interesting details.

Based on this fact sheet, Shelley created an open letter to George Bush. I am including the open letter here. Check out the fact sheet also though as the information is a bit more concise. Based on what I have been hearing about Shelley Midura and this open letter, I am thinking this is a person that New Orleans needs. I am glad she is on the city council and I hope she moves on to better things (like Mayor).

Posted: 29 Aug 2007 at 11:17am

An open letter to President George W. Bush:

August 28, 2007

Dear Mr. President:

Thank you for visiting New Orleans for the second anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, the worst federal levee-failure disaster in United States history followed by the worst federal disaster response in United States history. We’re also grateful for the $116 billion federal allocation for the Gulf Coast. That $116 billion has served you well, as your spokesmen often cite it as an indicator of your dedication to our recovery. But, it hasn’t served us as well — it’s not enough, it’s been given grudgingly, and only after our elected officials have had to fight for it. So I feel I must correct the record about you and your administration’s dedication to our recovery and implore you to take action to make things better.

Indeed, you have allocated $116 billion for the Gulf Coast, but that number is misleading. According to the Brookings Institute’s most recent Katrina Index report, at least $75 billion of it was for immediate post-storm relief. Thus only 35% of the total federal dollars allocated is for actual recovery and reconstruction. And of that recovery and reconstruction allocation, only 42% has actually been spent. In fact, while your administration touts “$116 billion” as the amount you have sent to the entire area affected by Katrina and the levee failures, the actual long term recovery dollar amount is only $14.6 billion. This amount is a mere 12% of the entire federal allocation of dollars, billions of which went to corporations such as Halliburton for immediate post-storm cleanup work, instead of to local businesses. Contrast that to the $20.9 billion on infrastructure for Iraq that the Wall Street Journal reported in May 2006 that you have spent, and it’s an astonishing 42% more than you have spent on infrastructure for the post-Katrina Gulf region. The American citizens of the Gulf region do not understand why the federal obligation to rebuilding Iraq is greater than it is for America’s Gulf coast, and more specifically for New Orleans.

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By Bobby Volare:

video, new orleans, humor

I am feeling somewhat melancholy and homesick today. More so than last year. I’m not sure why. Things have gotten better in New Orleans but for some reason I am more depressed this year as the anniversary rolls around. Maybe it’s because two years later and things aren’t further along.

My mom is moving out of her trailer at the end of this month. Housing is outrageous. My nephews have jobs. I have two less siblings this year than I did two years ago. I didn’t think it was possible for New Orleans to have fewer IT jobs than it did several years ago but that is the unfortunate truth.

So, today, I will leave you with two NPR stories. You can follow the links to hear the recordings.

The first is titled: Dear New Orleans: I’m Leaving You. This is the story of a reporter, a non-native, who had adopted New Orleans as her home. A female representative of Generation K. Eve from K-Ville. Maybe that makes her a native.

The story isn’t so much about her as it is about the sadness and the crime permeating the city two years after Katrina. The big easy that is less easy. Her feelings about New Orleans seem to be a lot like mine:

They don’t understand that I’m in love. I talk to friends about New Orleans like a dysfunctional romance. I gush over it one day, then call up bawling and heartbroken the next. Why can’t it change? Stop being self-destructive and violent? It has so much potential.

I don’t live in New Orleans anymore. I don’t know if I ever will. But I am still a local. I always will be. There is something about New Orleans that forces that on you. Even through the embarrassment of re-electing Nagin, I will forever be a child born in Mercy Hospital.

The reporter, Eve, is leaving New Orleans after a friend being murdered, after friends being mugged, after being mugged herself. I wish her the best. Go to the link above and listen to the audio. It’s worth a few minutes.

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Obama’s got a plan. I’ll try not to be cynical and give him the benefit of the doubt. He’s a fairly new politician so maybe he actually means what he says.

From the NY Times, Obama’s Plan to Restore New Orleans. His planned approach is a welcome one:

The Gulf Coast restoration, Mr. Obama said, has been weighed down by red tape that has kept billions of dollars from reaching Louisiana communities. As president, he said, he would streamline the bureaucracy, strengthen law enforcement to curb a rise in crime and immediately close the Mississippi River Gulf Outlet in order to restore wetlands to protect against storms.

As is his plan to appoint a czar (let’s not call it an overseer):

Mr. Obama, according to details provided by his campaign, said he would appoint a chief coordinating officer to “cut through bureaucratic obstacles” and a chief financial officer “to minimize waste and abuse.” Only about 40 percent of the money allocated by FEMA to rebuild schools, hospitals and other infrastructure has reached Louisiana communities, he said, which could be improved upon with better coordination.

I honestly think that one is the most significant.

He also wants to start a drug enforcement agency in New Orleans and start a “Cops for Katrina” program to hire more police and prosecutors. I wonder how all of this will be paid?

LewisC

new orleans, obama, politics, katrina

As we all know, Ray Nagin believes that the New Orleans murder rate is part of the city’s “brand”.

“It’s not good for us, but it also keeps the New Orleans brand out there, and it keeps people thinking about our needs and what we need to bring this community back,” he said. “Sure it hurts, but we have to keep working every day to make the city better.”

Well, as reported as that was, what is more disturbing is how the murder rate is viewed across the world. New Orleans’ life blood is tourism and a “brand” of murder is not good for anyone. Stories are cropping up across all of the many media about the crime rate.

From MSNBC, New Orleans murder rate on the rise again:

Last year, university researchers conducted an experiment in which police fired 700 blank rounds in a New Orleans neighborhood in a single afternoon. No one called to report the gunfire.

From Medical News Today, Already High Murder Rate Increased In New Orleans After Katrina:

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On August 29, from 10am to 4pm, the convention center will be the site of an event involving prominent business, civic and entertainment organizations. The intent is to mobilize Americans in the hope that it will force the government to begin a true reconstruction along the lines of the Marshall Plan. The Marshall Plan was the US government dedicated rebuilding of Europe after WWII.

I hope it works but I don’t have much faith in the US Government doing anything for New Orleans. They are wiling to spend $1 trillion dollars (the current estimate of what the Irag war will cost us), but getting a few billion to rebuild New Orleans just seems to be out of reach.

“Enough is enough!” said Taylor, during the Essence Music Festival in New Orleans. “It’s the shame of the nation,” she said before tens of thousands gathered in the Superdome, “that the people of New Orleans and

the Gulf Coast have been abandoned and are suffering without the most basic necessary supports while our tax dollars are directed toward war.”

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Justice has been served in a racism case that was watched across the US. In 2003, incoming District Attorney Eddie Jordan, who is black, fired over 50 white employees and replaced them with black employees. In 2005, a court found the DA guilty of violating the employees’ civil rights.

Jordan appealed, and just this week, the appeals court rejected all points of the appeal and said that Jordan must pay almost US$ 4 million to the defendants and pay court costs for the appeals. The original case found that Jordan’s office must pay back pay and damages (minimal from the looks of it). With the appeal, interest has accrued and that’s bumped the dollar amount up.

Since Jordan was sued as the N.O. DA, the tax payers will have to pay the money. That part of it sucks but I am glad this instance of racism was brought to light and that the fired employees get back pay. I think they should also get their jobs back, Eddie Jordan’s replacements should be fired and Eddie impeached for racism. La doesn’t have a stellar record of keeping crooks out of office though.

Racism from the block New Orleans politicos shouldn’t surprise anyone. Nagin and his “Chocolate City” comments were the shot heard round the world. Where is Rev Jackson? Where is Sharpton? Where is the NAACP? Shouldn’t all of these “fighters for equality and justice for all” be cheering this verdict? Or are they bigots and racists?

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It’s bad enough that Katrina took away people’s homes and livelihoods but to have greedy businessmen ruin what’s left, and worse, have the local politicians ignore it, is reprehensible.

I read an entry on craigslist about a Chalmette businessman named Sidney Torres. This businessman has opened an industrial waste removal facility in a suburban neighborhood. The property is zoned as commercial but not as industrial.

According to the web site, StopSDT.org, port-a-potties and human waste removal trucks are stored right outside of people’s homes. There are photos on the site and even videos showing the waste facility in action.

Apparently, the residents of this neighborhood have even gotten a cease and desist order but local government officials refuse to enforce it.

These people do not want to live across the street from a waste center, especially human waste. Would you? Better yet, would Mr. Torres?

On a positive note, the site was updated yesterday with this information:

8/8/08 Update - Today we met with Television reporters and news cameras at our home on Virtue Street. Sidney caught wind of this and personally showed up at his waste facility. He quickly shut down the entire facility so the news cameras couldn’t catch his dump in action. Can you say “I’m GUILTY!!!”???

Go to the web site, StopSDT.org, browse around and let other people know about this.

LewisC

chalmette, new orleans, katrina, st. bernard, stopsdt.org