Be Heard!
This coming week I will be interviewed on Air America about the state of New Orleans as we head into our first Post K hurricane season., I am putting out a call for input from you, our loyal readership and new friends, as to what aspects of the situation I should address.
Please leave me a comment here with your input.
Thanks, Loki
EDIT: I just found out it will be The Mike Malloy Show
EDIT: The Mike Malloy Show was this year’s winner of the A.I.R. (Achievement in Radio) Awards award for best talk radio show in NYC
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I’d bring up the many independent reports laying culpabilitiy firmly on the Army Corps designs and the ineptitude of the various jurisdictions overseeing the levees. It was a man-made disaster–so insurance companies should be paying up, pronto.
Also, the fact that the fed isn’t helping with the electrical infrastructure rebuild, leaving the residents to foot the new 300% higher power bills.
I’m sure I’ll think of other things.
I’d second the rotten Army Corps, wetlands, insurance company ripoffs and the paralysis of government at all levels to clean up NO and start rebuilding. Good luck!
When’s the show gonna air? Please supply the link when you find out. I mean, how often do I get to hear you with a soundman adjusting the volume levels?
I wrote a piece on my blog this week (Steinbeck moment is the title) about local sheltering a la fallout shelters in the 60′s. St. Tammany president was on the news today saying that that’s pretty much what they’re doing up there this year. Using schools, public buildings, churches. Why can’t we do something like that here?
Corps of Engineers is certainly the top bitch, it was they who killed our city.
Keep the ideas coming and link any relevant source material. I am working on getting my documentation together for the interview now…
Be sure to emphasize the importance of wetlands and barrier islands–not only as a drain for flood waters, but also a buffer to protect against hurricane-force winds and tidal surges.
The Army Corps of Engineers’ failure to properly build and maintain the levees should be the top gripe. Next up should be the federal government’s complicity in cutting the budget for the levees thus making the Corps’ job harder. FEMA’s continuing failure to adequately respond to the needs of the community is another aspect to mention. FEMA’s awarding of the trailer contracts to the Shaw Group reeks of something unsavory. The company has been doing a crappy job of it. If Louisiana got our fair share of oil and gas revenues, we might not have needed so much federal help. Insurance companies are screwing people right and left.
I know you probably won’t get to touch on everything that needs to be discussed, but do your best. Thanks.
Vis a vis emergency protocols for this year…is gonna be ‘mandatory’ evac for Cat 2 or Cat 3? Everybody, or just trailer dwellers? How ’bout the actual safety of the trailers…I never noticed that they were secured against wind or floods of any strength.
To Loki, The Humid Machine : What issues would I like addressed ? Simple; 1)what is the actual deal with the current state of our environment ? & 2)who do we believe when it comes to this stuff ?
For many months we have lingered in this city with scant and vague assurances that the air, the water and the neighborhoods are all safe for human beings to use and live amidst. What I have notcied is a freeze in activity and rebuilding that has occurred well before the start of hurricane season. Folks around here don’t even stress about June 1st anyway, what is happening is that people are noticing our stagnation, our problems, our tired and sick workforce, and they are pulling back ‘at least’ until after the huricane season. Let’s not forget that the hurricane season lasts until the holidays, by then I think a lot of people may choose not to come back. Right now, and I do mean right now, would be a great time and a significant time for the U.S. Govt to come in here and set up a dozen tents all in different areas all packed with dust meters, and particle filters and all sorts of environmental quality testing equipment. Lets get one thing right, at least one thing, please. Lets know. Lets know for sure. Lets know for us. Lets know for our children, our parents, neighbors….our future and the future of our city. Thanks – Lex in Pigeontown,New Orleans
BFF reminded me of this post on LJ from docbrite. I know we have issues with some of her stuff, but this was written back in March, and much of it is still painfully true. http://docbrite.livejournal.com/372229.html
.if you have the opportunity to discuss the insurance problem we are having in the Greater N.O. area… people who are rebuilding/buying have only one option in most cases: the state fair plan which is making insurance unaffordable. Here’s a news article that I think summarizes the overall real estate market well.
http://www.sptimes.com/2006/05/11/Business/Post_Katrina_housing_.shtml
From Kimfully through Loki
From Phillip Melancon (long standing Jazz Name here in the city) through Loki.
Loki: Glad to hear you will be having some airtime on Air Ameriaca, a more sensitive and creative voice would be hard to find.
Regarding issues our city faces, and there are many, too many in the wake of this emmense catastophy, I would want the world to know of the sparsity of people. In this tourist driven economy the number of displaced New ORleanians has devistated the industry. Although formow, 9 months later, we have no tourists, even the restaurants and clubs that could use workers cannot find them. THe result is that the fabric of the city has worn thin. That goes for every segment of the city’s economy. Restaurats cannot stay open, stores have to close early, libraries and hotels can’t offer the servicesand venues they once offered.
On a small scale, I need a venue for my cabaret show. What is there to offer but Le Chat? In a city the size and the cultured as New Orleans this is a gapping hole. I get off work at the Pontchartrain at about 2 am, where can I eat? Libraries are closed, schools as well so day jobs playing music are gone. Fortunately I have a secure position at the Pontchartrain, but the poor musicians who have to play the clubs are working for nothing for the number of musicians far exceeds the number of p[artrons who can attend.
This is a real and pressing problem. I can’t say I know or even begin to venture an answer, but it is there and every business owner tells the same tale. Population is a huge problem, we have about one-third of the people back and the cancer ranges thoughout all neighborhoods and economic classes.
All the best, thanks for the chance to offer my pet peeve. Good luck with the interview. Oh yes, forgive my prose, for it’s four in the morning and I’ve had a couple of scotches.
Philip Melancon
Amidst all the grim facts, don’t neglect to throw in some positive points to offset the perception that NOLA is simply a lost cause. For example there’s the LIFT project. They plan to build one of the biggest film sudios in the US right in the middle of NOLA, near the Lafitte projects. Plans include a vocational school to train people in the film arts. It is a much needed diversification of our economy beyong the tourist dollar. Note that LIFT is homegrown — not carpetbaggers! Call me if you want more details.
speaking from the point of view of being trapped in the city for 6 days, i put to you this:
1) Breakdown of the local chain of command of authority. From the Govenor to the Mayor to suddenly there’s rogue cops running wild.
2) WHEN will be getting PROPER profit sharing ala’ Texas, for off shore drilling and seafood and such. Last i heard, the govt gets all of it and we get none of it. Even if the corp budgets were cut, certainly this kind of profit could’ve benefitted our state in the past AND in the future. THIS NEEDS TO BE RECTIFIED. Our status as a state should reflect how much we contribute which was demonstrated after the storm.
3) The welfare system. I’m going to say what everyone’s afraid to say: You’re not entitled to be taken care of, you’re being offered a helping hand to become self sufficient. Where’s your pride? Where’s your self respect? The New Orleans welfare system needs a drastic overhaul to prevent people from laying about abusing a system that was designed to be humane and help a fellow man/woman. Not enable them to be leaches.
4) Pissing matches. Yes. I said it. Inner govt. pissing matches (can anyone say levee board?) and New Orleans for having to be FORCED to streamline. Can anyone just forget, just for a moment, color? It’s about running the best city you can. You’re going to live and work in it anyway regardless of your color.
5) Insurance Companies: Nothing sucks more than paying to be covered, then they don’t want to pay up. My beef is: Insurance lobbyist that have just gotten approved no coverage for hail damage. That’s just the top of the agenda. No one is going to want to relocate here, rebuild here, live here, visit here if they don’t feel safe. Like it or not, insurance is part of that, and they shouldn’t be allowed to use extortion tactics to get their way in cheating a policy holder. It’s the gamble they take for offering insurance just like the peace of mind one is SUPPOSED to get when looking at their policy.
just a thought: it’s not possible to sue the corps. something about their makeup prevents this i hear. couldn’t the govt be sued for cutting the budget of the corps? cant some sort of civil lawsuit be brought? if you knew which senators and representives and president approved such cuts and where money was spent elsewhere isn’t that some sort of liabilty? I’ve always wondered this…
tell america to do something about global warming or new orleans won’t be here very long no matter how high they build the levees!
As to being able to sue the COE….
Harry Shearer’s blog…http://www.huffingtonpost.com/harry-shearer/suing-the-corps_b_19867.html
From the T-P…http://www.nola.com/news/t-p/metro/index.ssf?/base/news-14/114603188679070.xml
(Particularly interesting…” Like two similar federal cases filed this month, the suit brought by Robinson and his fellow plaintiffs asserts that a 1928 federal law immunizing the corps from lawsuits over its flood control projects does not bar claims for damage resulting from corps navigation projects, such as MRGO.”
Not quite as encouraging from USAToday…http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2006-01-15-katrina-suits_x.htm. In particular, “The lawsuits against the Army Corps of Engineers face an uphill struggle because U.S. law gives the corps immunity from lawsuits brought for damage caused by flooding. However, Russ Herman, a trial lawyer here, says a group of 15 law firms plans to work together to try to prevail in those suits, even though efforts to sue the U.S. government on similar claims failed after Hurricane Betsy in 1965.”
This T-P article (http://www.nola.com/frontpage/t-p/index.ssf?/base/news-5/1144306231230500.xml) also talks about the 1928 immunity law, though I’m a little confused myself by what the attorney is actually saying, ” However, lawyer Mitchell Hoffman, who also has filed a lawsuit against the corps, said it could help his case, which seeks to sidestep the corps’ immunity by alleging the levee failure amounted to a massive government seizure of peoples’ homes and land.
“It [COE Chief Strock's admission that the levees had design flaws before the Senate committee] simplifies the case significantly because we don’t have to have a battle of experts,” Hoffman said. “Now the judge can say because of the enormity, it was a taking and the government needs to pay these people for their property.” ”
This Washington Post article kinda clarifies the reasoning…http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/10/30/AR2005103000838.html?nav=rss_nation/special
“As a federal agency, the Corps enjoys “sovereign immunity” that should protect it against potential lawsuits over the design or construction of its levees. But Kirwan says the immunity should not extend to a navigation canal built for purely commercial purposes.
The suit argues that the creation of the outlet amounted to a public “taking” of private property, so flooded residents should be granted compensation under the Fifth Amendment.”
Even if the COE can be sued, it won’t fix the much larger problem of political control. Too many jurisdictions from the Federal level down to umpteen parish and local groups have had their hands in this mudpie. Much much much more has to be done to fix that whole mess. But that isn’t saying that some heads out to roll.
Oh, another positive item would be the Earthlink wifi deal.
I think by now it’s quite apparent how just about everything to do with Katrina & Rita relief / rebuilding is being mis-handled. The #1 thing is getting those levees to protect us at high category storm levels. (2)We now have an opportunity to re-build ‘green’. Put solar panels on everything, especially now that utilities are stuggling and we’re paying ALOT. Use energy efficient, environmently friendly materials and designs. There are many more things but others are already mentioning them so I’ll leave my ’2 cents’ worth at that. Thanks.
To Tom Harvey–their website is still barebones, but NOLA Rising Construction is doing green work with some new technologies. http://nolarisingconstruction.com/ I absolutely agree that we have a tabula rasa of sorts with which to start, but I’m also a cynical realist—let’s at least get something going so people can move back and live in the city again. Having the population levels so low is guaranteeing failure on so many levels.
BTW, I also think it IS important to mention positive things…unfortunately, I’m having a difficult time thinking of them at the moment.
Oh..wait..idea..how ’bout putting gardens (whether vegetable/fruit or just the pretty stuff) in all the vacant lots. I think the guerilla gardening happening in London and environs could be wonderful in NOLA.
Please mention the lack of medical resources and the profound number of city dwellers who are still suffering from PTSD and other anxiety disorders that we have so few doctors here to treat those who need it. Which are in the majority. It seems the government has no interest in the medical quality or quantity for the people who live in the city and are facing hurricane season once again.
small business, potholes, increasing crime
I left South Baton Rouge 20 years ago because I detest Repiglicans who were taking over. Have you heard of Baker’s “What we couldn’t do God did”? Blanco any different? David Duke still around?
I wish I could come home but when I go down and ask for a minimum wage job they laugh at me for asking for so much money. Keep posting and tell me when voters stop voting against their best interest?
What’s the matter with Kansas,
Jeb