Tales of lunacy and hope from New Orleans

[Fredfredson]

Tales of lunacy and hope from New Orleans

FEMA pays $60,000 USD apiece for trailers but denies homeowners the keys to use them.

Dateline: Saturday, April 01, 2006

by Bill Quigley

http://www.straightgoods.ca/ViewFeature6.cfm?REF=208

In New Orleans, seven months after Katrina, senior citizens are living in their cars. WWL-TV introduced us to Korean War veteran Paul Morris, 74, and his wife Yvonne, 66. They have been sleeping in their 2 door sedan since January. They have been waiting that long for FEMA contractors to unlock the 240 square foot trailer in their yard and connect the power so they can sleep inside it in front of their devastated home.

This tale of lunacy does not begin to stop there.



Layers of contractors reap profits from sums that would be ample to repair the destroyed houses.

Their 240 square foot trailer may well cost more than their house. While FEMA flat out refuses to say how much the government is paying for trailers, reliable estimates by the New York Times and others place the cost at over $60,000 each.

How could these tiny FEMA trailers cost so much?

Follow the money.

Circle B Enterprises of Georgia was awarded $287 million in contracts by FEMA for temporary housing. At the time, that was the seventh highest award of Katrina money in the country. According to the Washington Post, Circle B was not even being licensed to build homes in its own state of Georgia and filed for bankruptcy in 2003. The company does not even have a website.

Here is how it works. The original contractor takes their cut and subcontracts out the work of constructing the trailer to other companies. Once it is built, they subcontract out the transporting the trailers to yet other companies which pay drivers, gas, insurance and mileage. They then subcontract out the hookups of the trailers to other companies and keep taking cuts for their services. Usually none of the people who make the money are local workers.



Possibly, only white people will be able to vote on whether to rebuild the poor black neighborhoods.

With $60,000 many people could adequately repair their homes.

Why not just give the $60,000 directly to the elderly couple and let them fix up their home? Ask Congress. FEMA is not allowed to give grants of that much. Money for fixing up homes comes from somewhere else and people are still waiting for that to arrive.

While many corporations are making big money off of Katrina, Mr. and Mrs. Morris wait in their car.

Craziness continues in the area of the right to vote.

You would think that the nation that put on elections with satellite voting boxes for Iraqis and Afghanis and Haitians and many others would do the same for Katrina evacuees. Wrong. There is no satellite voting for the 230,000 citizens of New Orleans who are out of state. The NAACP Legal Defense Fund, the Advancement Project, ACORN and the People's Hurricane Relief Fund have all fought for satellite voting but Louisiana and the courts and the US Justice Department have said no.

The rule of thumb around here is that the poorer you are, the further you have been displaced. African Americans are also much more likely to be poor and renters — the people who cannot yet come back to a city where rents have doubled. They are the ones bearing the burdens of no satellite voting.

The people already back are much more affluent than the pre-Katrina New Orleans. The city is also much whiter. Many of those already back in New Orleans are not so sure that all of New Orleans should be rebuilt. The consequence of that is not everyone will be allowed to return. Planners and politicians openly suggest turning poor neighborhoods into green spaces. No one yet has said they want to turn their own neighborhood into green space — only other people's neighborhoods — usually poor peoples' neighborhoods. Those who disagree are by and large not here.

New Orleans has not been majority white for decades, but it is quite possible that a majority of those who are able to vote in the upcoming election will be white. Thus the decisions about the future of New Orleans are poised to be made by those who have been able to get back and will exclude many of those still evacuated. Guess what type of plans they will have for New Orleans?

There are many, many more tales of lunacy all over town as all systems have melted down: criminal justice, healthcare, public education, churches, electricity, water, garbage, our environment — you name it, it melted down and is not yet fully back up.

But, there are also clear signs of hope.

Across New Orleans neighborhood groups are meeting every weekend, to plan their own comebacks. People catch rides back into town and visit ruined neighborhoods and greet neighbors and together make plans to recover. Because governmental action and contractors are so slow, groups are looking to their own resources and partnering with churches and community groups and universities and businesses to fill in the gaps where the politicos have not yet been able to respond. The citizens themselves are our greatest hope.

We also have allies that give us hope.

We have been amazed and refreshed by the thousands of college students who took their spring break in New Orleans helping our elderly and uninsured families gut houses, clean up streets and advocate for justice with Common Ground Relief, the Peoples' Hurricane Relief Fund, Catholic Charities, ACORN and many other church and civic groups. Even law students! Over 1000 law students helped provide legal aid and are providing the first comprehensive documentation of abuses of local and out of town workers by businesses.

Over 100 clergy from across the US visited New Orleans with the PICO Network, as did hundreds of other people of faith with the Jeremiah community. The Protestant Women are here now and the Interfaith Worker Justice group meets here soon. Together, these groups raise the voices of their faith communities and call for justice in the rebuilding of our communities.

On the national level, we see rising support from numerous social justice groups. Several created the Katrina Information Network, an internet advocacy group that enables people across the country to take action with us to influence all levels of government in the rebuilding effort. We are inspired by the veterans and allies who marched from Florida to New Orleans to highlight the diversion of money from our cities to war efforts.

Yes, we have lunacy in New Orleans. But there are also signs of hope.

Whether lunacy or hope will triumph in New Orleans is yet to be determined. But we appreciate those of you who are working in solidarity with us to try to keep our hope alive.

Bill Quigley is a law professor at Loyola University New Orleans. His email address is below.

Please add your comments on this or any other story in this week's edition of Straight Goods in the Straight Goods Cyber Forum.

Related addresses:
eMail 1: Quigley@loyno.edu

[suedanim]

New Orleans has not been majority white for decades, but it is quite possible that a majority of those who are able to vote in the upcoming election will be white. Thus the decisions about the future of New Orleans are poised to be made by those who have been able to get back and will exclude many of those still evacuated. Guess what type of plans they will have for New Orleans?

That problem is being worked on. The displaced people should still be able to vote on what affects their homes and neighborhoods. Those fortunate enough or wealthy enough to be there should not be the ones to make all the decisions without the rest having a say.

[Pathetic]

the majority black city council made teh rules and voted to not allow voters not in new orleans to vote..

you still sure it sa white issue or are the black council members racist againts blacks?

Now the pooer balck communities were the worst damaged becasue they were in lower laying lands (I.E. the worst flooded) hense it makes sense NOT TO REBUILD THERE! Its not a black or white issue but the race baiters would like it to be one.

This is a common sense issue. I think any area that was flooded more then 3 feet should not be rebuilt at all, or the houses should be required to be built on stilts of some kind.

[thaanatos]

Possibly, only white people will be able to vote on whether to rebuild the poor black neighborhoods.

just how is this scenario supposed to come to pass?

[illini-dog]

Originally Posted by Pathetic

the majority black city council made teh rules and voted to not allow voters not in new orleans to vote..

you still sure it sa white issue or are the black council members racist againts blacks?

Now the pooer balck communities were the worst damaged becasue they were in lower laying lands (I.E. the worst flooded) hense it makes sense NOT TO REBUILD THERE! Its not a black or white issue but the race baiters would like it to be one.

This is a common sense issue. I think any area that was flooded more then 3 feet should not be rebuilt at all, or the houses should be required to be built on stilts of some kind.

Actually it was a judge that made the descion but the city council was all for it and since it was delayed twice i have to agree with him.

[suedanim]

Whatever... Who knows their reasons for wanting to get on with it... probably has nothing to do with class or race. But, I think there is movement afoot with Jesse Jackson being one of the leaders of the cause to have people whose homes are in NO and who are definitely returning being able to vote anyway... absentee ballot.

It could work.

[illini-dog]

nm

[Fredfredson]

The New Orleans Diaspora will have an impact on America for many years to come IMHO.

It crosses all racial and economic levels, the one common element is being from New Orleans.

(As far as that goes those living along the coast were equally impacted but nobody seems to be bothering with them they don't even have the benefit of a common city to hold them together)

We hear a lot about the lowest rungs of the ladder because they are the ones who ran out of resources first but there are thousands more falling off the ladder as each month goes by.

A NATIONAL DISGRACE.

F

[illini-dog]

I'm just curious as to how many voted before this since the national average is like around 40% and if the circumstances was different how many would vote now if they had the chance.

[Pathetic]

I know I will be accused of being racist...

We all know already crime rates in Houston are growing fast, but have crime rates been reduced in New Orleans?

[illini-dog]

http://www.constitutioncenter.org/ed...re/15878.shtml

Looks like 42 % last time.

[illini-dog]

Originally Posted by Pathetic

I know I will be accused of being racist...

We all know already crime rates in Houston are growing fast, but have crime rates been reduced in New Orleans?

They were but now thier on the way back up.

http://www.time.com/time/nation/arti...0.html?cnn=yes

[potter]

Originally Posted by Fredfredson

The New Orleans Diaspora will have an impact on America for many years to come IMHO.

It crosses all racial and economic levels, the one common element is being from New Orleans.

(As far as that goes those living along the coast were equally impacted but nobody seems to be bothering with them they don't even have the benefit of a common city to hold them together)

We hear a lot about the lowest rungs of the ladder because they are the ones who ran out of resources first but there are thousands more falling off the ladder as each month goes by.

A NATIONAL DISGRACE.

F

Good thought there Fred.

[gurutoo]

Bullshit. It was a natural disaster. Nothing more.

I'm so sick of people politicizing a godamn hurricane. While BLACK NO cops loot Wal-Mart boldy on camera. Every school in Houston that admitted Katrina students had severe problems with those students.

A national disgrace? Yeah it's a disgrace alright considering the millions pissed away for debit cards to dumb fucks.

[Pathetic]

Web Exclusive| Nation
Crime Returns to the Big Easy
After months of relative calm following Katrina, New Orleans' murder rate is on the rise
By AMANDA RIPLEY
SUBSCRIBE TO TIMEPRINTE-MAILMORE BY AUTHORHouston: Katrina's Latest Casualty
Rebuilding: The Big Blank Canvas

Posted Tuesday, Mar. 21, 2006


The New Orleans funeral procession that took place this past Sunday might have been a symbol of recovery, a sign that the strange, haunted habits that make New Orleans so special had returned. This particular joyful, mournful parade through town was held for a man who had died in September, back when the city was too broken for its traditional rituals. But instead it turned into a symbol of a very different, dark side of New Orleans. As the procession danced and swayed through Central City, an 18-year-old man got out of his car and sprayed the crowd with bullets, police say, shooting two men and killing one before being shot in the leg by a police officer.

The dead man, Christopher Smith, 19, had survived Hurricane Katrina—evacuating to Dallas before the storm hit—but he could not, apparently, survive the new old New Orleans. It was the second murder of the day, coming after a man was robbed and then shot in the Faubourg Marigny, a nightlife neighborhood downriver from the French Quarter.

After a precious pause following Katrina, New Orleans appears to have returned to its 2004 murder rate, according to TIME's estimate. In 2004, the last full year before the hurricane, there were 56 murders for every 100,000 people, according to the FBI. That was about eight times the murder rate in New York City. Today, there are far fewer people in New Orleans, and so fewer dead bodies in absolute numbers. But in February, seven people were murdered. The tally this month, at four murders so far, looks headed in a similar direction. At this rate, 54 people will be murdered in New Orleans this year for every 100,000 people in the city. The New Orleans Police Department claims the murder rate is actually lower than this, largely because the department relies upon a an estimated population of 190,000 for the city. TIME is using a population estimate of 155,000 released on March 15 by RAND, a nonprofit research organization that has been asked to do regular estimates by the Bring New Orleans Back Commission.

The truth is, no one knows the exact population in New Orleans right now. But the police department does not dispute the total number of murders upon which the TIME analysis was based. And the increase in bloodshed is an ominous milestone for a city desperate to rebuild and make itself stronger than it was before. "Are we back to the good old days?" wonders Peter Scharf, a criminologist at the University of New Orleans. "Are all the things that made New Orleans embarrassing before the storm coming back?"

As recently as January, there were no reported shootings at all in New Orleans. At that time, it appeared the city's murderers had regrouped in Houston, as that city's murder rate shot up 50% in January, compared with the same month the year before. Of 23 Katrina-related homicides in Houston, police linked at least nine to two gangs from New Orleans. Then, as federal subsidies ran out, more housing became available again in New Orleans and the Houston police arrested scores of Katrina evacuees in relentless sweeps, the balance shifted again.This month, Houston police reported with relief that killings are back down to pre-Katrina levels. Last month, in New Orleans, there were 12 shootings, and this month, there have been at least 15.

New Orleans' new Police Superintendent, Warren Riley, has noted that the city has a rare opportunity to reinvent its criminal-justice system. During his four months on the job, Riley has received praise for firing at least 86 officers and working to better track gangs and repeat offenders. On Monday, Riley enjoyed a moment of satisfaction after police arrested Ivory Harris, New Orleans' most-wanted murder suspect, in the neighboring town of Kenner. Harris had been bouncing back and forth between Houston and New Orleans since the storm, wreaking havoc in both cities, police say. Eight days earlier, police had arrested one of the city's other wanted men: Jerome Hampton, 23, whom Houston police have charged with killing another evacuee. Hampton was nabbed in New Orleans after an officer saw him standing on a roadway median firing a gun into the air, according to police.

In recent weeks, several members of a South American gangs have also been arrested in the area—something that was unusual before Katrina, police say. With fewer police, a decimated court system and a history of entrenched malfeasance, the city is extremely vulnerable. "The discussion I've been having with people is, "Could you end up worse off?" says Scharf, who worries not just about the absence of police but about the disruption in the lives of criminals and potential criminals themselves, the loss of family, homes, schools and other scaffolding that helped contain the mayhem.

Lives are at stake, and so is the recovery of New Orleans. If crime soars, residents will not return. If they don't return, bringing money, momentum and stability with them, crime will continue to increase. "I think [the homicide rate] will become the major issue over the next few months," says Scharf. "I hope I'm wrong."

[Fredfredson]

Guru

If a natural disaster of that magnitude hits any major metropolitan area in the USA I would expect this nation to do a hell of a lot better in managing the results.

That does not equate to "handouts" it simply means that as a nation we should be able to deal with disasters of this magnitude.

That we did not do so is indeed a disgrace and shows that this Government is simply a bloodsucking leech on the people of this country instead of the leaders and administrators they like to think they are.

IMHO of course.

It is not a racial issue, nor is it simply a case of not caring about the poor. The storms that ravaged the Gulf Coast were not choosey.

Neither will be a major quake in California or along the upper Mississippi.

F

[potter]

Great article Pathetic, would you please post a link?

[potter]

Originally Posted by Fredfredson

That does not equate to "handouts" it simply means that as a nation we should be able to deal with disasters of this magnitude.

That we did not do so is indeed a disgrace and shows that this Government is simply a bloodsucking leech on the people of this country instead of the leaders and administrators they like to think they are.

IMHO of course.

IMO as well...

[Pathetic]

its linked above...

[illini-dog]

Originally Posted by potter

Great article Pathetic, would you please post a link?

I posted it earlier in this thread so try that link.