Big time props to Lee Zurik his latest report. The city is apparently ready to leave millions of dollars of federal HUD money on the table after years and years of failing to spend it on its intended purpose: affordable housing.
Remember, the lack of affordable housing is the biggest obstacle preventing displaced New Orleanians from returning home. City officials, though they have failed to implement anything close to their own coherent plan for the restoration of affordable housing, have continuously harped on the ongoing affordable housing crisis as a primary impetus for increased federal funding. And this whole time Blakely has just been sitting on close to $31 million.
All of the BS that we put up with - the incompetence, the gridlock, the lack of accountability, the lack of strategic vision - it ain't just politics. It's people's lives.
--
The worst part is when Blakely tries to spoon feed us this horseshit explanation for why the money has been spent. He claims that nonprofits and contractors aren't around to apply for it.
Thankfully, Lee Zurik doesn't leave it to us to just assume that that statement is an outright lie because he finds proof.
James Perry, the head of the New Orleans Fair Housing Action Center, said he runs a non-profit that requested money.
“That’s not true,” he said in response to Blakely’s statement. “The money we applied for is combined CDBG and home funding and we were awarded the money.”
Perry said that months later he received an e-mail saying the city put the money on hold. He said many non-profits have been ready to do work since the storm, but the city won’t spend the money.
“When you drive through Lakeview or Gentilly or the Lower Ninth Ward, the thing that stands out is the housing is not there. Imagine how much housing could be back in commission with that money; it makes no sense,” Perry said.
If I saw Blakely right now I'd have a hard time not spitting right in his face.
Get the hell out of here you asshole.
Posts
