HumidCity

So this did not seem to make the news in the splashy way it should have. More lies and incompetence from the people who hold our lives in their hands. Maria Garzino is a hero, and should be treated as such. I encourage you to read on and see what the latest from the Corpse of Engineers holds:

WASHINGTON, DC, October 9, 2007 (ENS) -  The main pumps protecting New Orleans in the event of a major hurricane or flood are “inherently flawed” due to poor design and still have not been properly tested, according to whistleblower disclosure documents released today by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, PEER.

The top U.S. Army Corps of Engineers specialist assigned to oversee the city’s new pumping system says that key safeguards were circumvented and “there is an erroneous assumption that…hydraulic pumps are fully operational, and hence, the risk to the public remains high,” in the words of the U.S. Office of Special Counsel.

Maria Garzino, a veteran Corps civil engineer, who was the team leader of pumping systems installation for New Orleans, has filed for federal whistleblower status with the U.S. Office of Special Counsel, OSC.

In a September 21 letter, the OSC notified Defense Secretary Robert Gates that it found Garzino’s charges credible.

Writing from the OSC’s office, Scott Bloch informed the defense secretary, “I have concluded that there is a substantial likelihood that the information she provided to the Office of Special Counsel discloses violations of law, rule or regulation, gross mismanagement, a gross waste of funds, and a substantial and specific danger to public health.”

By law, Secretary Gates must respond within 60 days.

Bloch’s letter states, “My office has received serious allegations which cast doubt on the integrity of costly pumping equipment installed in three main structures by the USACE and its ability to protect New Orleans from further flooding.”

The three structures are located at 17th Street, Orleans Avenue, and London Avenue.

Read the rest at the original Environment News Service Article!

If my lunch hour were not dwindling so rapidly I would write more. Watch for future posts!

ICF, International, the company which won the contract from the state to implement the Road Home program is being sued in the 19^th Judicial District Court in Baton Rouge. The petitioners are requesting a class action. The lawsuit, which is being handled by members of the Couhig Partners lawfirm and Rob Couhig (a former member of the firm and candidate for Mayor of New Orleans in the last Mayoral election) names Don Massey as lead plaintiff. It alleges mismanagement, negligence and misrepresentation and requests injunctive relief and damages.

According to LA NewsLink:

The petition alleges that Massey has been subjected to negligence by ICF that includes lost records, repetitive assessments, delays, and obfuscations.

It further alleges that ICF has engaged in a pattern of delay, bad faith, and conduct designed to impede, delay, and deny the delivery of grants to applicants.

We can only hope. This will be one of those cases which demonstrate whether there is justice in the system or if it is just us in the system.

EDIT: I had listed Adams and Reese as the representing lawfirm in the original version of this post. That was incorrect. Communication with Don Massey has revealed that the Couhig Partners firm is his actual legal representation, and I have amended the text to reflect this. I apologize for the prior error.

I do not have much time to write before leaving to go to work, but there are two issues that I ran across this morning that almost made me choke on my coffee. Acording to the Daily Advertiser our illustrious House of Representatives has voted for a bill authorizing raises for the Gov. and various other State Gov. officials. Have these lackwits earned a raise? In the Governor’s case a 40K raise pushing the job 10K above the national average for State Governors?

When the bill came up for a second vote Wednesday, 22 lawmakers who voted against it or were absent in May switched their votes and supported it 57-42. Another 13 who voted for it or were absent last month voted against the proposal.

The vote exchange puzzled even Speaker of the House Joe Salter, D-Florien, who said, “I can’t explain it.”"I don’t think some people knew what they were voting on,” said Rep. Monica Walker, D-Marksville, who with Rep. Kay Katz, R-Monroe, voted against the raise both times.

Katz agreed “some people weren’t paying attention.”

The bill, which now goes to the Senate for consideration, seeks to increase the governor’s salary from $95,000 to $135,000 and the salary of the lieutenant governor, secretary of state, treasurer, attorney general, commissioner of insurance and commissioner of agriculture from $85,000 to $115,000.

Does this seem like a well deserved raise? Does this seem like people who are supposed to be steering the state (HA!) were paying attention? Does it seem like a bad acid flashback? Is there any sanity left in Louisiana?Was there any to begin with? And what about Naomi?

So as I’m choking on my coffee reading this I get another jolt. I wish I could say it was a shock, but it was not. More like getting confirmation from your doctor that you have cancer…

The Corps. Deception. Corruption. Reckless endangerment of every life in New Orleans. Hardly new news, but the scope of things as revealed by their own internal investigation is something out of a delusional paranoid’s fantay world. The unfortunate thing is that it is not. I have leave and go t a contract job so I will steer you over to Fix The Pumps to get all the gory details from an actual engineer.

Top points
The Corps New Orleans District has lied to New Orleans and the nation for over a year.

• The pumps are far from ready.
• Millions of taxpayer dollars have been misspent or are unaccounted for.
• Multiple cover-ups have taken place.
• New Orleans remains nearly as vulnerable to flooding as it was immediately following Katrina.

His article includes excellent documentation and reasoning as well as a link to the Corps Report itself. Prepare to become nauseous as you read.

Big Hat Tip to Greg at Suspect Device for the info on the raises. Huge bow on bended knee to Matt at Fix The Pumps, our very own homegrown NOLA Sperhero!

Xposted on  the Livejournal New Orleans Community

It was an email from Ohio that made me realize just how much this blog has been neglected for the past few weeks. The subject line, “You’re Fired,” made me sit up and take notice. Things here have been spinning wildly, and I do apologize for not providing my usual daily portion of drivel for those of you who read this.

Part of it has been the extraordinary amount of chaos and strangeness going on with my family. From missing persons reports to hospitalizations its been a thrill. The other part of it has been that I just cannot decide what to write about. So much has occurred since my Jazz Fest contract.

Should I write about Jerry Falwell? About how respect for the dead should be like respect for the living, earned. It pains me to say this of anyone, but the world will be far better off without him.

Should I write about the fact that Hurricane Season looms in about a week? I’m sure I could squeeze out quite a few familiar sounding paragraphs about fear, unease, and rising water.

Should I write about how much I will miss Alvin Batiste? The world of jazz has taken a serious blow. He will be missed.

Non functioning pumps, La Nina, The Road Home……

Too much material for little old me. I’m just going to start off by saying, “I’m back!” Stay tuned.