Links

Good posts abound.

1. Jeffrey on Blakely

This latest about charitable contributions from ordinary Americans going to pay off Blakely's university salary is beyond the pale. This ordinarily would be a HUGE story but because so much other totally objectionable and offensive stuff is going on right now... Bill Simmons of ESPN coined the term 'the Tyson Zone' to refer to when a personality or situation gets so out of control that literally nothing could happen that would shock or surprise you. New Orleans entered 'the Tyson Zone' right around the time that we learned that White is black and Head is white. Actually, to pin point a very specific event, I would say it was when the city sent out a former attorney to invoke Huey Long's ghost in his argument against Arnie Fielkow's transparency ordinance. That was in December? Who knows? Maybe we've always been in the Tyson Zone.

2. Red on Oliver Thomas and Ray Nagin

This is just really well-written and heartfelt. And totally right.

3. T-P on area politicians views on the rule of law


First of all, I have a hard time forgiving Cao for many of his votes to date, but by coming out for prosecutions of those who broke the law to authorize torture, he has shown himself at least to be honorable and human in a most basic sense. How one calls oneself a patriot, a defender of American values, while supporting unequivocal torture....

Senator Vitter, unsurprisingly, sees nothing wrong with torture. I think he's the worst Senator in America and I can't wait to kick him out of office. To simply tow the Dick Cheney line without at least demonstrating some level of introspection about American values and our supposed moral exceptionality... the man is a stooge.

If there's anything resembling fascism in America today, it's the rump of the GOP standing up enthusiastically in favor of torture. Some of these sickos don't just defend it, they celebrate it.

It makes me want to vomit.


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P.S. According to several sources, Blakely is still scheduled to be out of here by the end of June.

Bum Rush

Everybody's getting in on the act these days, huh?

Senator Landrieu has been empowered to go after the Nagin administration, and Ed Blakely in particular, it would seem.

This all stems from Lee Zurik's report on unspent HUD money from last week.

First, the threat to pull the funds:

"I would like to work with the city of New Orleans to secure an extension of the deadline by which the HOME funds must be expended, " Landrieu wrote. "However, unless the city of New Orleans can commit to working with my office to ensure that these funds are going to be spent effectively, I will be compelled to appeal to HUD to identify an alternative recipient for this funding."

Second, a big unless:

Landrieu, who sits on the powerful Senate Appropriations Committee, went on to say that the city would have to make "significant administrative changes" for her to endorse another extension. Her spokeswoman, Stephanie Allen, said Landrieu specifically wants to see improvements at the city's Affordable Housing Bureau, which is rebuilding its staff.

Think they've got someone specific in mind?

Incompetence has consequences!

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.

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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.

Friday! Blakely's turn to not answer quetions

Tough day shaping up for Ed Blakely, who is set to go in front of City Council later this morning to defend his budget and performance as head of ORDA.

Yesterday, he confirmed that one of his top lieutenants, Patricia Robinson, has left her position. She was fired, which is something we know because Blakely refused to say whether she was fired or resigned.

The Nagin administration had delegated responsibilities related to the $5 million economic development fund to Robinson. It seems clear that her departure from government is related to her performance in this regard. As you'll recall, the administration through the grants to Council for approval without basic information like cost-benefit analyses.

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Jarvis DeBerry smells blood. He's got another winning column today.

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Tell your friends, keep pushing:

Dismiss Veronica White Now

Pain is bearing witness to the Nagin administration's endless failures

Judge Martin Feldman says that the Nagin administration considers Tracie Washington and other engaged citizens to be a "pain in the behind."

But I'd say it's citizens that think the Nagin administration is a pain - and not just that of a thorn's prick.

I mean, they're tearing down people's homes in a seemingly arbitrary fashion without providing the necessary notification that would allow for appeal while other abandoned properties grow into increasing threats to public health.

That ain't no measly boo-boo. That's much closer to severed limb if we're grading on the pain scale.

Here's what Karen Gadbois has to say today:

Of course I beg to differ the City cry’s “this is hard” as an excuse for everything. They have handed over the process to a demolition contractor who would seem to have a conflict of interest.

The Demolition policy or lack there of is just a reinforcement of the disinvestment in the City that the leadership seems to embrace. I see no one in the Mayor’s office or the Office of Dr. Ed Blakley discussing what we can do to repopulate and reinvigorate the City, instead we have an ad hoc policy of incompetence and ignorance.

Here, here. Go read the rest.

Is there another city or town in America that allows accidental home demolitions?

Are They Stupid Or Do They Think We're Stupid?

I'm so confused by what's going on between Blakely, his bottle of wine, and his boss.

First, Blakely takes a new consultant job in Dubai. Then he says he misses his family and is considering leaving New Orleans. Then Ray Nagin says that Blakely is likely not going anywhere and was drunk when he suggested otherwise. Then Ray Nagin proposes a budget that writes Ed Blakely's office out of existence.

In that move to a construction-heavy phase, Nagin proposes abolishing the Office of Recovery and Development Administration in June 2009, although he mentioned nothing regarding ORDA Director Ed Blakely’s position or tenure with the city.

“I want to remind you that when we proposed the office, we said it would not be a permanent fixture in city government,” Nagin told council members.

So he's staying?

It's like some perverted Nagin-speak Abbott and Costello routine.

I think he's leaving, but who the hell cares anymore?

Forget rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic metaphor. This is more like crashing a parked '95 Saturn coupe into another parked '95 Saturn wagon.

Confused? Me too.

From the AP:

Nagin said, "I don't think this recovery would be where it is today without his great work."

Nagin, who last year said 2008 would be a tipping point in the city's recovery, said Monday he got it right: "We've tipped."

Yeah, a solid fifteen percent of the way. High fives all around!

Or was Nagin talking wine as well?

A (Planning) Lightweight

Jeffrey on Eddie B.

Life Without Blakely

So who will be directing our recovery if Ed Blakely leaves in January? Will Ray Nagin be taking a more hands-on approach in his lame duck year?

Blakely, come back!

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Celcus has a good retrospective going.

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In all seriousness, do you anticipate things will change - better or worse - over the next 14 months in the event of a Blakely exit?

Family Time!

Ed Blakely, how are we to get more Walmarts, more Home Depots, and more Lowes without you?

Jeffrey wrote, for my money, the best Blakely post ever created.

But that was way back in April.

Remember when new Recovery Czar General Doug O'Dell demolished Blakely's priorities?

Remember when I (e) proposed a Council deal wherein funding for Blakely's poorly vetted economic development projects was granted in exchange for Blakely's resignation? Is that what's actually happening? After Oyster forced Derrick Sheppard's guilty plea, the sky's the limit for nolasphere power.

How about the time Ed Blakely admitted that he had no control over his own staff because he was so often out of the office on lavish trips to Dubai and Australia?

My last wish is that every time Ed Blakely is about to be paid an extremely high income to lead an urban planning project, his employers google his name and find our blogs.

UPDATE:

Now Blakely is denying he ever said what he in fact very clearly did say.

Weekend Notes

- The T-P picks up on Blakely's sad hypocrisy. While criticizing his staff's inability to function in his absence, he continues to maintain a hectic consultant schedule after accepting a new gig in faraway Dubai. (First reported guess where)

-From the no duh dept: White candidates have benefited from the disproportionate injustice perpetrated on African Americans by governmental response to Katrina.

What annoys me about the whole electoral situation is that you'd never know there's even a 50-50 black-white split. You'd think African Americans made up just 10-30 percent of the population given how conservative our excuse for political discourse tends to be.

The hopeful element is that there is ample room for coalition building between African Americans and progressive whites. African Americans politicians are going to need to break away from traditional over-reliance on the vertical BOLDs and COUPs of the world to mimic the horizontal Obama coalition on the municipal level. White progressives need to stop simply working to deconstruct old corrupt machines that tend to divide us on racial loyalties rather than political ideology.

That's going to take a lot of time and effort to accomplish given the power of ultra-conservative and supremacist interests in the greater region.

- Colin Powell won't admit that the Iraq War was a mistake but did have the common sense to recognize the best way not to make that non-mistake again by endorsing Barack Obama. Forget the Meet the Press appearance because his mini session with the press gaggle is a much more stirring and emotional explanation of his decision:





Powell specifically references the downright scary sentiments of Congresswoman Bachman from Minnesota, which left Chris Mathews largely speechless for the first time in his life:




Also see John McCain lie through his teeth in defense of his indefensible robo-calls, a good follow-up to General Powell's repudiation of the narrow-minded 21st Century GOP:





Finally, McCain's recent equation of Barack Obama's proposed middle class tax cuts to "welfare" is absolutely revolting. As someone that has a cursory knowledge of the history of post WWII political communication in the US, there is no doubt in my mind that this construction is solely designed to incite racist emotion. Does anyone disagree with that? Admittedly, my educational interests might make my reaction to this latest BS more emotional than most. Are other people feeling dizzy from this?


UPDATE:

Oh and Lolis Eric Elie tries to trade Ray Nagin's expiring contract and finds there are no takers.

Council Meeting Devolves Into ANOTHER Circular Firing Squad

How shameful that it went down the way it did. Council fought against itself and ultimately delayed approval of the 20 economic development projects for another two months and directed Blakely to do a cost benefit analysis.

During the debate, council members tossed around terms such as "irresponsible, " "shameful, " "blackmail, " "double talk" and "an embarrassment" to describe colleagues' attitudes and actions.

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Shortly after 7 p.m., the meeting was halted for about 20 minutes after Councilwomen Cynthia Willard-Lewis and Cynthia Hedge-Morrell, soon followed by Midura, left the room without explanation, leaving the seven-member council without a quorum.

The three eventually returned, with Midura accompanied by one of her young children, after their colleagues condemned their sudden exits. Calling their absence "an embarrassment, " Councilman Arnie Fielkow said, "This is why people have no confidence in government."

Now this devolution of discourse on Council seemed absolutely unnecessary. There was an awful lot of consensus there that got warped and abused by Council's lack of imagination.

There was not one member on City Council that thought this process was conducted properly. In fact, there was universal agreement on where the blame belongs:

Much of the anger on display was directed at the Nagin administration, and especially recovery chief Ed Blakely, who was given oversight of economic development matters more than a year ago.

Some of the strongest words came from two council members who generally refrain from harsh criticism of the mayor. President Jackie Clarkson and James Carter both said they felt the administration had dumped a mess into their laps.

"I'm just fed up, " Clarkson said. "I'm resentful and very offended that we have not been held in higher regard."

"I'm really, really, really saddened and disturbed that the City Council is in this position, " Carter said. "This is absolutely ridiculous."

Now, of course Council was in that nasty position because Mayor Nagin abused his power by circumventing the advisory committee charged with selecting projects for economic development with an unchecked executive order issued during the middle of a natural disaster. One could also point to Dr. Blakely's refusal to provide a basic cost-benefit analysis or otherwise preventing the paid consultants from doing so. It is clear to everyone on Council and to the media covering this story that Blakely and Nagin gummed up this whole process for over a year and then gave it to Council and demanded they rubber stamp the thing.

The disagreement was whether or not it was worthwhile to reject or further delay the allocation of these grants to the applicants given that at least some are not blatant pet projects of the Mayor and that the applicants have been waiting for over a year.

To me, that disagreement seems relatively minor given the critical importance of addressing the first problem, on which there is absolute consensus. Why couldn't have Council reached a compromise?

I pitched one yesterday:

1. Approve all grants minus the $2.7 million giveaway to the LSU VA interest group.
Most of the grants are going to small businesses. Let's not wait any longer, they've been patient since 2007 and are counting on this money to come through. It is unlikely that Nagin and Blakely will negotiate with Council on this, so pass the grants and force them to accept the rest of the terms of the compromise. The proposed award for the hospital group seems shady since that project has faced stiff community opposition and may not get built on the current proposed site. Besides, I'm not sure it deserves our scarce economic development dollars when all the other recipient projects are small businesses.

2. Blakely's resignation effective immediately.
This would probably be in the form of some sort of resolution. That's fine. I know that Council doesn't have the authority to fire a Mayoral staffer. But it would be a powerful statement. It would threaten the Dr.'s somehow still sterling international reputation. It would be worth it. He would notice.

3. The suspension of the economic development fund for the rest of Ray Nagin's term in office.
It should be reconstituted as a program to help New Orleans entrepreneurs launch their first business - only with a transparent vetting process based on concrete and unbreakable guidelines.


My friends on City Council, listen up:

The Mayor has put you in these situations time and again. He fails to follow the law or purposely gums up procedures and time lines so that City Council is basically forced spend money on flawed plans. City Council stands in a circle with guns cocked only the real target is already back inside the saloon. Shots ring out and Council shoots itself while Mayor Nagin throws 'em back in laughter.

Stop the cycle. You are in positions of power. Start making demands of the Mayor and start punishing him if and when he fails to meet those demands. Council controls the purse. Council controls the budget.

Go on another stupid team-building retreat and when you come back y'all have better figured out who the real enemy is. Stop fighting each other and start fighting for us.

Blakely Takes Another Job?

Is his abject failure to rebuild one city making him bored?

Apparently, as Ed Blakely is now getting paid for his 'expert advice' by the Dubai Real Estate Corporation.

This is in addition to his supposedly full-time job in New Orleans and his occasional jaunts back to his regular university job in Sydney, Austrialia.

That the international consensus on Blakely is that he's an expert in spite of the local consensus that he's incompetent, unavailable, misinformed, and disengaged is not that surprising. Sometimes it takes a little while for the truth to trickle up.

What I'd like is for Blakely to just stay over in Dubai full time. I'm sure the DREC pays way better than we do.

He shouldn't feel some altruistic obligation to see through his failures to term, he's done enough for us already. He should resign from the Nagin administration to fully concentrate on his other projects. We'll even throw a parade for him.

Here's a devastatingly sad passage from a T-P article from earlier in the week:

Ed Blakely, the city's recovery director, acknowledged the city has no economic development plan, but still endorsed grants for some businesses that didn't provide basic information about what economic benefit their projects would bring.

Trust the experts, Dubai.

UPDATE:

We also now have another instance of Blakely admitting that he lacks control over his own staff.

Every hour that he is away from his desk means another hour that “nobody is working,” the jet-setting University of Sydney, Australia, professor said.

Cohen does a great job using 'jet-setting' as a modifier there. Now I don't even need to point out that maybe if Blakely spent more time at his desk, he might have more control over his staff. Also the article provides some context by recalling Blakely's embarrassing interview with the New York Times in which he complained about the insubordination on his own staff by somehow blaming it on the racial tensions of the city.

Is this the first executive job of Dr. Blakely's career?

Backed Into A Corner

Following up on yesterday's on-going conversation about the economic development fund money that Mayor Nagin is trying to hammer through City Council without cost-benefit analysis and after circumventing his own advisory committee via an executive order in the middle of a Hurricane, the City Council's Economic Development Committee voted in favor of a full vote on the projects.

However, Council remains split.

The Cynthias have indicated they will vote for approving Mayor Nagin's list of grants on the rationale that small business need immediate investments given the economic crisis and the overall delays in economic development fund distribution timeline.

It also appears that Fielkow and Midura are prepared to vote against for two general reasons. First, because the administration has failed to provide a basic cost-benefit analysis of the projects as demanded by the law. The second reason involves suspicions arising from discrepancies between projects highlighted by the consultant hired to vet the applications and what Mayor Nagin has decided to submit to Council. The firm, GCR, says that some of the groups Nagin would like to give money to did not even submit completed applications.

In trying to wrap my mind around what's going on here, I will say that I relate very sincerely to exasperation of Councilwomen Hedge-Morrell and Willard-Lewis. This money is from way back in 2007. The 2008 grants have already been approved. It does us no good to continue to sit on this money when the controls that would ensure a clean and transparent process simply do not exist or are too easily ignored by the Mayor. Certainly there are a number* of worthy grant applicants that should get paid already.

(*** THOUGH SOMEHOW, OVER HALF OF THE DEVELOPMENT DOLLARS ($2.7 million) GO TO THE DISPUTED LSU/VA PROJECT ***)

But when oh when do we get to examine the broken process that lead us to this point? Why is it that time and again we're just supposed to blindly approve spending the Mayor asks for when time and again the administration has proven incapable of avoiding waste or worse?

It's a pattern, ya dig?

The administration refuses to follow the law, withholds information, or otherwise fails to provide reasonable rationales behind whatever it is they press upon Council. Then, because this city is so desperate for infusions of cash, so desperate for construction, for ANYTHING, Council is under the most immense pressure to rubber stamp whatever it is just so that the cash gets spent. Any 'no' vote is seen as obstructionist or worse, even if 'no' means 'well at least provide us with the basics we'd need to make an informed decision.'

Take this quote from Cynthia Willard-Lewis from today's hearing:

"The process was flawed, we all admit that," Willard-Lewis added. "But today we talk about the people, who are not flawed."

On which day then, Councilwoman Willard-Lewis, do we talk about the process?

When will that day come?

Let's talk right now about why we're in such a big hurry to get these dollars out today.

After a few hundred thousand dollars of 2006 grant money disappeared literally into toilet seats, City Council required the Mayor's office to submit a complete cost-benefit analysis for each of the projects submitted to the advisory committee charged with selecting projects to send to City Council. Seems pretty reasonable, right?

Well, not only did the Mayor not provide a cost-benefit analysis, but he penned an executive order during a Hurricane to circumvent the advisory committee.

Why did he do that?

According to the Times-Pic, it was because resignations on advisory committee made it difficult to get the quorum necessary for the committee to take any definitive action. Apparently, the reason was that the Mayor had trouble finding people to appoint as replacements and this is why the projects haven't been submitted almost a year past deadline.

Well I asked around and do you know how many people the committee needed for a quorum?

Just five.

So the Nagin administration intentionally gums up the processes or is so disengaged and negligent that it fails to get things done in a viable time frame. But then when Council wants to ask for the basic documentation that might help avoid blatant waste and corruption, it is they who are delaying the process.

The other thing I'm wondering, and this may be why the LSU/VA Hospital is getting so much, is if the specific projects were invited by Blakely or his office to apply. If he did not publicize the availability of municipal development dollars, the general business population would have had no way of knowing that there were grants for which to apply.

Here's the compromise I'm proposing:

Council will approve all projects minus the LSU/VA grant. The $2.7 million saved from the exclusion of that award can go back into the general fund or directly into an account that would help impoverished families pay for winter heating costs . In exchange, Ed Blakely will tender his resignation and the economic development fund will be suspended through 2010 until it can be reconstituted by the next administration as a program to help seed the dreams of first-time entrepreneurs.

What do you think? Who will sponsor this on Council?

Burrying Blakely

Bush administration New Orleans recovery guy Gen. Douglass O'Dell is now getting specific on the ridiculousness of certain half-baked recovery projects, laying into the proposed overhaul of the criminal justice complex.

Certainly I'm not disagreeing with anything from General O'Dell here:

"It's not grounded in fiscal reality. It's not grounded in prisoner-count reality. It's not what the courts want. It's not want the sheriff wants. It's basically what Ed Blakely wants -- and his architects, " O'Dell said.

"There are facilities that could have been returned to service a year ago in that criminal justice complex, but (haven't been) because the city is stuck on this vision, and as far as they're concerned, it's not only FEMA's statutory obligation, it's their moral obligation to replace this stuff -- that's what I mean by their ethereal vision, " he said.

Gee, O'Dell's arguments about the selfish visions of media-darling "experts" and the backward prioritization of so many recovery projects sound awfully bloggy, don't they?

Yet clearly the General is not flying off the handle. These are prepared remarks, or at least there is a prepared intention behind the remarks. Mayor Nagin is a friend of the Bush administration and will likely not be criticized by Bush-appointee Doug O' Dell.

Good riddance if there is now a movement afoot to force Blakely's resignation. He has been nothing short of an abombination but let's not pretend like rearranging the deck chairs on the S.S. Nagin will make any difference in terms of the ideological framework that drives our unrecovery process. You ain't a sinking ship if you're already sunk.

New Guy Paying Some Attention

Bush Recovery Czar Doug O'Dell is going hard after Ed Blakely. He doesn't mince words.

But in several interviews, O'Dell expressed continuing frustration with Blakely, an urban planning professor from Australia who once served as deputy mayor of Oakland, Calif.

He said Blakely is often absent and unavailable and leads an office that produces "ethereal visions" of recovery that cannot be financed with federal recovery dollars.

"I'm basically asking Blakely, who's probably getting paid a whole hell of a lot more money than I am, to do his damn job," O'Dell said.

"He's there not only to plan, but to execute. Not only to manage, but lead. He's not an elected official, but as a nonelected official he wields enormous influence over the future of this city and the speed of its recovery," he continued.

"And he's failing, in my view."

These statements are significant, he's throwing Blakely under the bus. Recall that Blakely had an awfully hard time getting invited to the Excellence in Recovery Awards from last Friday. Also notice that O'Dell has nothing nice or mean to say about Ray Nagin. We know that Nagin has soured on Blakely over the last couple of months, with a lot of confirmed chaffing around outside hire Ezra Rapport, who resigned very suddenly over the summer.

O'Dell is a Bush administration official and Ray Nagin is an unofficial Bush administration pawn.

Just saying I think it's a little too soon to read O'Dell's statements as purely 'straight talk.'

The NOAH THIRTYISH AND COUNTING and Some Respectful Analysis for the Mayor [UPDATED]

According to the only information I have, since I am still waiting to get copies of actual executed contracts paid for under the Mayor's home remediation program, there were twenty contractors apparently put to work.

Remember that a previous press release from the Mayor's office announced ten contractors and we did some research based on that list.

Lee Zurik's WWL report indicated that 13 of 20 are in not in good standing with the Secretary of State.

One document that I have is printed on paper featuring the NOAH logo and lists the contractors used in 2007. Another document I have is on NOAH letterhead and lists additional contractors that do not make the other list.

The following refers to the first document listing contractors used in 2007.

1. Blue Carpentry Construction Co, Inc: NOT in good standing. This company was all clear in 2007 but is now late on its 2008 report.

2. Biagas Enterprises: NOT in good standing for 2008. Nor was it for 2007. Does not appear to be any evidence of an active form of Biagas on the SOS website, even with an expanded search.

3. General Contracting: In good standing. However, I have already described direct relationships between the Directors of General Contracting Company Inc. and city heavy hitters that call for further inquiry.

4. Myers and Sons Enterprises Inc: In good standing.

5. Moon Glo Developers: In good standing.

6. Affordable Trucking: In good standing.

7. Matthews Developers: I can't seem to verify the existence of this one within the Secretary of State's corporate database. I do have a certificate of liability insurance for a Matthews Developers based out of Algiers that was valid between December of '06 and December of '07.

8. Rotag Industrial Services LLC: good standing

9. Dominic Willard Painting: Nothing turns up in the corporate database. I have a certificate of liability insurance valid during 2007. Obvious questions arise related to family ties.

10. Gaines Heating and General Contracting: NOT in good standing. A 2007 annual report is required. (Though one NOAH document claims they were not used for the home remediation program)

11. Harris Construction and Truck Services: There is a partnership in good standing but a business corp that is not.

12. Execuservices: In good standing.

13. Carter's Renovation: This was one that we previously couldn't find anything on. Now I'm leaning to the conclusion that this refers to Norman Carter Contracting, Inc., which is NOT in god standing.

14. Iron Triangle Development: Nothing listed in the corporate database, no insurance certificate at this time.

15. Gert Town Gardening: In good standing.

16. Viking Construction Group: In good standing.

17. Training Connection Extension: In good standing.

18. E & E Home Improvement: In good standing.

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The above 18 were listed as the 2007 contractors.

I did leave one thing out, however.

Sandwiched within the list of contractor companies was the name of a church. With "volunteer group" listed below the church's name in parenthesis. One of the more disturbing rumors associated with this scandal is that NOAH sent out volunteers to gut remediation program homes in order to cover up the non-work by the people actually paid to do the job.

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The other list I have with NOAH letterhead adds a few more contractors to the list:

19. Hall Enterprises: Voluntarily not active.

20. General Contracting Co: In good standing. Flag this one for family ties.

21. Big Yellow Construction Co: NOT in good standing. Owes 2008 annual report.

22. "S & A Associates:" I think this is improperly listed in the document and meant to refer to Smith and Associates, which is in good standing.

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So what is it that we have here? Conflicting reports? Different document releases at different times to different people? General confusion?

I'm trying to figure out exactly which contractor companies received money via NOAH under the home remediation program and what exactly they were paid to do. To that end, I have requested the actual contracts signed between the agency and the contractors. I look forward to hearing from city attorney Penya Moses-Fields once she is able to collect the documents I've requested.

I have immediately flagged two contractors above for obvious political connections. Clarification is appropriate. If you click the links I've provided, you can see the names of the company proprietors. If you see a name that raises a red flag for you, throw it in the comments section.

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After watching the raw video of the Mayor's press conference last night, I can see that Mayor Nagin is very upset with this inquiry and the timing of the publication. He is worried about his credibility and perceptions of his administration while hosting Congressional leaders including the Speaker of the House.

I suggest the Mayor consider his current political situation and reassess his self-perception. I respectfully point out that the Mayor's abysmal approval rating indicates a total erosion of his base.

Because I spend so much time monitoring national media perception of New Orleans and the recovery process, I would argue that New Orleans does not need to worry about this report "hurting this recovery" or about Lee Zurik or local bloggers "hurting this recovery" or "hurting this city."

That's ridiculous.

You have hurt this recovery and hurt this city Mr. Mayor. You're a laughingstock.

And it wasn't the embarrassing soundbite gaffes that did that to you.

It was your recovery ideology. Your disengagement, your incompetence, your policies, your "experts," your administration.

Everyone knows that the number one social need in this city is housing and you have done nothing but demolish public and private housing stock. You have tried to villainize the homeless. You have stood for an ineffective police chief and an embarrassing former district attorney before your own constituents. You have opened this city up to your business friends as "an economic buffet" while the people that voted for you languish in poison trailers, tenement-style residential situations, and cities hundreds of miles away. From Alphonso Jackson to Karl Freaking Rove, you have bent over backward to accommodate evil men bent on profiting from our disaster.

That is what is unacceptable, not a reporter with the guts to call you out.

Having just spend the weekend in Austin with a group of nationally-minded progressives probably amongst the most sympathetic toward New Orleans and New Orleanians, I don't think the Nagin administration has to worry about the media damaging his reputation. It's done. Nagin's recovery has NO credibility.

This report HELPS our recovery. It proves to the rest of the country that we New Orleanians refuse to sit on our hands. It proves that we are engaged to our own recovery process. More than anything, it proves that we are not our leaders.

The Mayor's credibility and reputation are so shot to shit that it's critical WE ALL differentiate ourselves.

It wasn't your administration's power point that forced the Congressional Democrats to promise the erase the state share of levee costs. They did it in spite of you.

It was us. The people. Our determination to rebuild, our emerging determination to change our municipal leadership to reflect the love we residents have for each other.

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I look forward to hearing back from the city attorney and look forward to clearing up this NOAH mess as soon as possible so that you guys can go back to whatever it is you do.

Also, to Mr. Ed Blakely: Your reputation is finished as well. Lots of people in Austin asked me what the hell your problem is.

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AFTERNOON UPDATE:

Just received a new database of homes apparently serviced by NOAH. This list has 870 properties on it though some appear to be doubles. The list also notes which contractor was assigned to each property. There are some new names here that have not appeared on any list of contractors hired that I have seen to date. This list was furnished to me directly from city attorneys and appears to

Shall we?

23. "Central City Property": Nothing listed on the SOS. database.

24. "Pannia": Nothing specific or similar listed on the SOS database.

25. Parish Dubuclet: In good standing.

26. Doucette: It's either this one or this one. Both are in good standing.

27. Pearson Group: In good standing

28. "Packnet" or "R. Packnet": Nothing like this listed on SOS corporate database. There is a "Robert Packnett" who shows up on a search for individuals and is part of some grass cutting LLCs, NONE of which are in good standing.

29. "Payton": Could be either Payton Properties or Payton Enterprises.

30. "Brown Lawn Services": M.I.A. on the SOS database.

31. "Jenkins": No obvious hit on the database, too vaguely described on NOAH spreadsheet.

32. A-LUG-AS: In good standing.

33. Crescent City Property: In good standing.

34. "Tra": Sounds like some dude but the spreadsheet shorthand could refer to one of these companies or LLCs. Either way, "Tra" only did one house and got paid $200.

Confused? Me too.

We might be treated to some clarity if the city would cough up the actual contracts NOAH signed for the home remediation program. That would help pin down exactly how many people/contractors got paid and how much. In the mean time, we're left to wonder about "Tra."

So this actually happening

It is at these moments that I feel most feeble in my attempts to bring about positive change in my community.

The city is moving forward with their self-imposed FEMA trailer move-out deadline.

Of all the initiatives and policies and "undevelopment" schemes hatched by our municipal government, this one frustrates me the most.

In my mind, the unintended negative impacts of this policy are so obvious that they come off as very much intended.

I have, again and again, pointed out the problematic consequences of this policy.

Of course, we would like to get rid of all FEMA trailers. They are an unsightly reminder of tragedy and many have come to be rented illegally. They are not fit to withstand hurricane winds.

Most importantly, they are an immediate public health risk to all that inhabit them. They are contaminated with dangerous levels of formaldehyde.

So of course, it is important that we work to get people into permanent housing. Remaining in the trailers is not a truly viable option.

Yet look at the policy created to do that:

Trailer occupants should first contact FEMA to get the trailer removed. Then they need to file an affidavit with the city, included with the flier posted by FEMA, that certifies they asked the federal agency to remove the trailer. This affidavit also grants the city of New Orleans permission to contact the agency to request trailer removal. Filing the affidavit protects the resident if the trailer has not been taken away by July 1.

While FEMA notified trailer occupants about the return to the old city ordinance, the regulations also will apply to people who bought their own trailers after the storm, said James Ross, a Nagin spokesman.

If residents are not done rebuilding their flooded homes, they can ask the city Department of Safety & Permits for permission to continue living in the trailer. However, residents will have to show that they meet specific criteria to obtain an extension and provide the city with records that show they intend to rebuild a flooded house, according to the application. The request for an extension must be filed by July 1.

These criteria include documentation that there is ongoing litigation between a resident and insurance company or documentation that the resident applied for Road Home grants but has not received the money. Other records that may be required include loan papers or data that show repairs are ongoing and telling the city the anticipated completion date.

That's an awful lot of bureaucracy in 30 days just to keep from being kicked out of your trailer. That's an awful lot of bureaucracy for a city incapable of meeting its own notification laws for the demolition of private homes. That's too much bureaucracy for a city known to "mistakingly" tear down people's homes.

Just 30 days notification...

That's a lot to ask of the people struggling the most to rebuild. It puts all of the responsibility onto the shoulders of the victims of formaldehyde poisoning.

City policy does nothing to address the affordable housing crisis that forces many to illegally rent poisonous FEMA trailers because reasonably priced apartments are not available or forces many more to remain in their own poisonous FEMA trailers while home repairs hit bureaucratic walls of resistance.

Thus:

The 30-day notice to vacate their trailers has left a lot of people wondering what to do, said Davida Finger, an attorney handling housing cases for the Loyola Law Clinic.

"It has left people shellshocked," Finger said, noting that most of the people receiving the notices are those who have struggled the most to rebuild their damaged properties. The 30-day timeframe is simply too short, she said.

Many of the dozens of people who have called the Loyola clinic since the weekend are still wrangling with the Road Home program to receive grants to rebuild and aren't prepared to find new places to live, she said.

Finger said the city needs to give homeowners more specific information about the the extension process, such as when they can expect to hear back from the city and who will be deciding whether to grant the extensions.

Shell-shocked may be an understatement. One poor soul reached a tipping point.

I would argue that the city needs to do SOMETHING, ANYTHING to address the affordable housing crisis.

Instead the affordable housing crisis only exists when it is the federal government's policies that are negatively impacting poor New Orleanians. When it is our own policy, there is no affordable housing crisis.

Why is that?

Here is, briefly, a sketch of the We Could Be Famous policy toward FEMA trailers:

At the end of last summer, I would have realized that FEMA was not competent enough to develop a coherent trailer policy and had long abandoned their ethical obligations to address the formaldehyde allegations.

It is at this time that I would have empowered inspectors to go around and evaluate the validity of trailer occupancy, giving deadline removal notices to trailers no longer needed and calculating the affordable housing needs of those in a bad spot with their insurance company or the Road Home program.

In February, when FEMA finally admitted formaldehyde contamination, I would have filed a lawsuit on behalf of the city of New Orleans in the hopes of negotiating the procurement of federal funding for the award of tax incentives for the construction and rental of affordable units or for a two year rental subsidy program.

By March, caseworkers would be working to move trailer residents into permanent affordable housing alternatives and removing empty trailers from city streets.

By the end of May, there would be no more trailers because everyone would have gotten the necessary assistance to find permanent housing on their own.

Easier said than done, I know. But my policy was written in five minutes off the top of my head. The city's policy was a "well-studied and thoughtful discussion" that took place over the course of months and was then hastily unveiled with an immediately impending deadline and a malicious disregard for the negative consequences.

Stacy Head:

"And especially with the beginning of hurricane season, it's good to remind people that FEMA trailers are dangerous places - trailers in general are dangerous places to live - and more permanent housing is a much better long-term solution."

I'm sorry Councilwoman, but you have been one of the most hostile municipal officials toward solutions designed to alleviate the affordable housing crisis.

Extenuating Circumstances

Today's report detailing our enlightened city leadership's plan to evict FEMA trailer residents is so rife with contradictions I almost don't know where to begin.

Recovery director Ed Blakely is now defending an August 15th final deadline for the removal of FEMA trailers from Orleans Parish. extensions to be granted to allow neighbors to remain after that date will be permitted in instances of "really extenuating circumstances."

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There are many good reasons to remove the trailers as soon as possible.

They are unsightly. They crowd streets and driveways. Illegal rentals underneath the system are becoming public nuisance problems.

Most importantly, they are slowly killing the people living in them.

So the city would like to remove the trailers. But if only they knew how. If only it were so simple.

Though the formaldehyde risks were known two and a half years ago, FEMA didn't get around to admitting them until February. It was then that FEMA began a hastily-arranged emergency relocation plan for the estimated 25,000 New Orleanians living in toxic trailers. FEMA sought out cheap motels and apartments to house the thousands needing a safer place to live.

Even our own C. Ray Nagin quickly recognized how problematic FEMA's plan was, how potentially damaging it was. He wrote a letter to the President describing the issues. Here's a brief synopsis:

- There is a terrible shortage of affordable housing in New Orleans.
- This means that thousands of New Orleans FEMA trailer evacuees will have to be relocated outside of New Orleans because there are not available cheap motel and apartment units.
- That means that there would a second great displacement of working poor New Orleanians.
- This would hurt the city's economy because there is already a shortage of cheap labor and the service economy on which this city so heavily relies cannot afford to lose workers.
- It total, another major displacement of thousands of New Orleanians would represent a huge economic burden to the city and also it would be immoral and unfair to the evacuees.

Today's article wistfully recalls that letter to the President, "Blakely said Wednesday, that as far as he knows, Bush did not respond to Nagin's letter."

Nagin had called on Bush and FEMA to, instead of displacing thousands of our neighbors, provide free medical care to victims of formaldehyde exposure and rehabilitate affordable housing units to provide shelter for people right here in New Orleans.

A nice gesture by the Mayor, for sure, but not one he or anyone else expected to generate a positive response from the Bush administration. No chance in hell they'd agree to rehabilitate our affordable housing stock and provide free medical care.

So essentially, having rebuffed FEMA's disgraceful offer to displace 25,000 of our neighbors and offering an alternative plan from fantasy land that expected a do-little federal government to wave a magic wand, the city was left pretty much to its own devices.

What generally happens when the municipal government of New Orleans is responsible for something?

Nothing happens.

Thus we waited. And waited. And waited.

We waited for their strategy to provide affordable housing for those living in FEMA trailers but unable to procure Road Home money. We waited for their strategy to provide affordable housing to people scratching and clawing at minimum wage jobs to save enough money to make their own homes habitable again. We waited for the city to provide a viable strategy to get people out of these toxic trailers by summer time, when the heat increases the risks from formaldehyde.

Finally, at the end of March, Stacy Head and Ed Blakley suggested an idea: impose a deadline.

June 1st was floated as a possible date to require people to move out of their trailers. That would be plenty of time for people to either earn an exemption by proving that they were still waiting for Road Home money or to find another affordable housing option, right?

Well, no.

Stacy Head didn't even cite formaldehyde exposure as a main factor for needing to get rid of the FEMA trailers in haste. Instead, she indicated that the trailers had become eyesores, were being rented illegally, and were being inhabited as a "lifestyle choice."

There within lies the big hypocrisy of the whole recovery effort.

Not only is our city's affordable housing crisis so severe that there were not enough local options for FEMA to relocate victims of formaldehyde exposure within reasonable proximity to their jobs, but affordable housing is in such short supply that our neighbors have been reduced to actively seeking to illegally rent poisonous FEMA trailers because decent apartments are so expensive and difficult to obtain.

While city businesses yearn for a stable workforce, city government refuses to listen to calls for a reevaluation of Alphonso Jackson's plans to demolish public housing. While there are many elements to that debate, if the city was searching for emergency shelter for the estimated 20,000 people looking for relocation from FEMA trailers (or the estimated 12,000 homeless) they need look no further than Lafitte, which has just been leveled by city bulldozers.

City officials like to mention the affordable housing crisis when it is convenient for them. When FEMA's toxic trailer evacuation plan might result in a loss of workforce, we have an affordable housing crisis that makes it untenable. When the Census Bureau underestimates our population costing the city millions in federal funds, we have an affordable housing crisis that causes families to double or triple up in single units.

Other times, it is an inconvenience to city officials, something to be brushed aside as an exaggeration, as the misguided posturing of some bleeding heart. (Like when they're demolishing public housing, planning to demolish public housing, or claiming that the economic crisis does not threaten the replacement mixed income communities or other affordable housing developments waiting to be built throughout the city.)

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So now August 15th is to be a hard deadline for people to find a place to live and get out of their trailers. (Let's just forget the public heath crisis that demanded we rush to move people out before the heat of summer.) Do YOU think we'll have enough affordable housing by then? I'm skeptical. Just how will the city enforce a deadline? Will people be put out on the streets?

Today's article only raises more questions.

FEMA will be responsible for contacting trailer residents and informing them of the upcoming deadlines and working with them to find new homes. And we all have 100 percent confidence in FEMA's ability to do this)

As for the City:

Blakely said the city does not have the resources to do "individual case management," and no city money will be spent to move people out of trailers or provide new housing for them.

No case management. No new housing provided. Little affordable housing being built. Thousands of people needing to be moved out of poisonous FEMA trailers. Only so much room under the overpass at Claiborne and Canal.

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Perhaps most damning, is the comparison made in today's article detailing how the always compassionate Jefferson Parish dealt with the same problem.

In Jeff, there were 17,000 trailers in 2006 and Parish officials have been involved in expediting the removal of trailers ever since. They set a deadline for March of this year for all units no longer required by homeowners and have sent teams of inspectors to check.

The contrast is stark. Whatever the motivation of Jefferson Parish officials, they instituted a game plan over a year ago and have stuck to it, working slowly and methodically. Now there are only 600 illegal trailers remaining. In Orleans Parish, our officials sat on their hands and sat on their hands some more. Then all of a sudden, they hastily arrange short-term deadlines, provide absolutely no insight into the procedures, stand still on affordable housing issues, and claim that this has been "a well-studied and thoughtful policy discussion." No, it hasn't been. It has been a pathetic indicator of City Hall's larger inability to govern compassionately or even effectively.

You wonder if we're close to reaching a tipping point as a community. This isn't even a one-party city, it's a no-party system. Alan asks if the Democrats can save New Orleans, but I want this city to save itself. We're governed by cannibals.

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I believe I've covered the FEMA trailer deadline/formaldehyde issues diligently. For background information on this situation, please click on the 'FEMA Trailers' tag below to see a rundown of all I've written on the subject. See also 'affordable housing' and 'public housing.'

Ed Blakely, You're in Trouble

Ed Blakely is the man in charge of the recovery of the city. Mayor Nagin says so.

Last year, Mr. Blakely helped to unveil the city's target zone recovery plan. That plan proposed a series of modest investments to target areas that would help spark free market revival in those areas.

The plan called for some realistic infrastructure improvements but largely relies on tax incentives to entice private developers and entrepreneurs to do provide the observable difference.

Here is how Adam Nossiter of the New York Times covered the unveiling of the plan last year:

This latest concept, with its narrow geographical focus and limited budget, struck some planners as more realistic.

“It’s promising to see somebody who is giving us a program that’s based on a realistic assessment of potential resources,” said Janet Howard, president of the Bureau of Governmental Research, a nonprofit public-policy organization here.

The promise was that Mr. Blakely's plan was attainable and realistic. Though Mr. Blakely's "cranes on the skyline" promise has come back to haunt him because there isn't one single crane on the skyline, that comment doesn't really bother me.

The outrage is that he has been unable to deliver on his modest, attainable, realistic proposal.

I don't think anyone ever expected "cranes on the skyline." I think that's why that quote has been so abused. It's because it was immediately seen as ridiculous and silly. I can't think of anyone that read that promise and started jumping for joy that the city twas to be saved. I think people laughed because they knew it wouldn't happen.

There are some things that should have happened. We didn't even get the fresh roads. The tax incentive programs aren't even in place. Why not?

We are one year later and Adam Nossiter has written an anniversary piece that largely characterizes Mr. Blakely's plan having shown little signs of being implemented.

Mr. Blakely conceded that progress so far was “still light stuff. I think people were expecting they’d wake up one morning and it would be nirvana. But little things are happening, cleanups, fixups, and so on.”

That's so wrong, Mr. Blakely. This town has only the lowest of expectations. Our officials go to jail with regularity. This city has been experiencing an economic downturn for decades. We don't expect any kind of Nirvana. That is insane.

Blakely does preface that comment by admitting that his plan has made little progress.

Nossiter points out that Mr. Blakely is the driving force of the recovery process. He directly controls eight agencies and a staff of over 200 people. Why has there been, as Blakely admits, "only light stuff," why has there been so little progress?

There have been some uniquely New Orleans hang-ups as well, said the recovery director; “lot of tensions in the staff,” revolving around race. “Black people have a hard time taking instruction from white people,” said Mr. Blakely, who is black. There is resentment “if a white person asks them to do something. It’s really bad. I’ve never encountered anything like this.”

Um, Mr. Blakely....

That's YOUR staff.

(Which means that you, as Director of the Office of Recovery Management, give the orders.)

(Pst. Um, aren't you an African American?)

And it's almost funny that you would say something like that less than a week after you helped unveil a proposal that would set a deadline for people to move out of their FEMA trailers with Stacy Head, who said trailer residents were making a "lifestyle choice."

What do you think that policy, which disproportionately hurts African Americans pushed to rent trailers as a result of the affordable housing crisis, will do to alleviate the "really bad" racial tensions amidst YOUR staff?

And it's actually funny that you would say what you said to the New York Times the same week that this video came online. In the video, a preview for larger piece, local business owners show off what they've done to aid our recovery. They, with citizens and advocates decry the recovery process that you head for providing tax incentives for big box retailers that threaten the very local business fabric that helps to make New Orleans unique. Then the video features you, Mr. Blakely, riding a bicycle. You say this:

"...the pressure from the ordinary citizens [is] 'bring more Walmarts, bring more Lowes, bring more Home Depots'. uh and you say, 'well that's going to put these, you know, little guys out of business."

Well you obviously weren't too concerned with putting the little guys out of business because you've given the incentives to the big box retailers.

And which ordinary citizens are clamoring for more Walmarts and Lowes and Home Depots?

Was one of the ordinary citizens demanding Home Depots your boss, Mayor Nagin?
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So let me clear some things up for you Mr. Blakely.

1. We hate big box retailers and we don't want any more of them. Don't ever say that we do again.

2. We have had only the lowest expectations of you and your office. That is so we don't get our feelings hurt when you fall short of your own goals.

3. The racial tensions on your staff are your responsibility. Don't blame New Orleans for the problems you've allowed to fester in your own office amongst your own staff.

Seriously, Mr. Blakely, What is it ya do here?


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And lastly, I think there's a reason that Mr. Blakely felt so comfortable divulging the racial tensions occurring on his own staff to the New York Times' Adam Nossiter. I'll just refer you to this discussion forum and leave it at that.


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The takes of

Leigh

Maitri

Kim

are awesome and deserve your attention.

And Jeffrey lays it out in detail. Mr. Blakely has wasted our time.

Lifestyles of the Poor and the Poisoned

This one is real ugly.

Some New Orleans officials are floating June 1st as a potential deadline for people to vacate all FEMA trailers in Orleans Parish.

The article uses an estimate of 7,200 trailers in New Orleans. That's got to be 15 to 25 thousand people.

Certainly, people need to move out of FEMA trailers. They're contaminated by dangerous formaldehyde exposure and are not safe.

FEMA, after a few years of refusing to conduct tests, has finally admitted that there are significant health risks in the trailers and is moving ever so slowly to get people into safer housing.

Any trailer resident relocation plan is extremely complicated, as Mayor Nagin of all people has expressed. His accurate argument, though he doesn't have the credibility to make it, is that FEMA's relocation plans will result in another massive displacement of Gulf Coast residents because there is not enough affordable housing here in the city to accommodate another several thousand apartment hunters.

(Now of course Mayor Nagin is a hypocrite on the issue because he has ignored the existence of the affordable housing crisis during relevant debates that have occurred here municipally. see: public housing demolitions, homelessness. Try as valiantly as possible to ignore that inconvenient truth and focus instead on the fact that we do indeed have an affordable housing crisis in this city)

In other extremely related news, city officials again cited the affordable housing crisis as a major contributing factor behind the low census estimates that could cost the city millions in federal funding:

City Councilwoman Cynthia Hedge-Morrell said she suspects that the Census Bureau also failed to take into account what she called "double-up" and "triple-up" households where two and three families have been forced to live under the same roof while storm repairs drag on.

Please keep the above context in mind as you read the following passage that I will now paste from today's related article on the potential city-imposed trailer closeout deadline:

With FEMA working toward a goal of relocating all those residents by summer, the city deadline would target people who simply don't want to leave or are living in trailers illegally, [Councilwoman Stacy] Head said. She estimated that as much as 30 percent of the city's trailer stock currently is being rented, a violation of federal law, or occupied by squatters.

"At what point are we going to say New Orleans is not a place where you can live in a trailer as a lifestyle choice?" she said.

ARE YOU KIDDING ME? A LIFESTYLE CHOICE?

I want to explode.

Let's say that your estimate that 30% of Orleans Parish trailers are being illegally rented is accurate. That is about 2,500 trailers. For maybe 5,000-10,000 people.

You think that's a lifestyle choice?

You think people are happily getting fat in one room cancer boxes that they share with family?

A lifestyle choice?

It's cool to live in a FEMA trailer?

It's a status symbol?

Councilwoman Head, this is the most vile, out of touch statement you've ever made.

People are living in FEMA trailers because they have to. They're renting FEMA trailers or living in their own because WE HAVE AN AFFORDABLE HOUSING CRISIS IN THIS CITY.

Rents are still extremely high. Road Home money still flows at a trickle. Funding for new affordable housing units are in peril.

Thousands upon thousands of our neighbors still live in FEMA trailers, I doubt they're loving it.

Councilwoman Head, why don't you come up with an actual plan to help find affordable housing for the thousands of families forced to illegally rent poisonous one-room trailers?

Recover Director Ed Blakely, the other callous official from this story also comes off looking like an absolute fool just from an unedited Times-Picayune passage:

Most people still living in trailers are older than 50 and are caught in financial limbo: even with Road Home and insurance payments, they can't afford to rebuild their homes, he said.

Blakely said the city has been "putting together some lending programs to assist people with that gap."

But those programs will not be available before June.

Unbelievable. You're floating a June 1st deadline so that we don't become known as "trailer city" but you admit that most residents are economically incapable of finding new housing or rebuilding their own home enough so that it is livable by summer. Your plan to help them with lending programs will not be available by the of the deadline you're setting.

Those seniors in financial limbo that FEMA formaldehyde trailers are slowly poisoning sure are making a lifestyle choice...
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I've never been a huge fan of Councilwoman Head. I certainly have criticized her stance on public housing, which I find to be rife with conflicts of interest. But I never before thought she was a bad person. I've been appreciative of some of her efforts leading the charge to secure former DA Eddie Jordan's resignation an in other matters of ethics reform, etc. By all accounts I've heard, she's been way more responsive to the inquires of her district's residents than her predecessors.

This however, is unacceptable. Her assertion that the thousands of our neighbors stuck in FEMA trailers are making a "lifestyle choice" is not only ludicrous, it is mean-spirited and divisive.

I'd like to see a contrite apology and then I'd like to see your plan to increase the availability of affordable housing or your plan to reduce rent rates.

That's how you might start to get rid of the trailers.

As for Blakely... What is it that ya do here?