posted on March 21, 2006 07:48:22 AM new
Zitch all you want about FEMA but dont blame Nagen.. Looks to me he doesnt want his his fellow black citizens back.
Rebuild at your risk, Nagin says New Orleans' mayor airs plan to bring the city back
By KIM COBB
Copyright 2006 Houston Chronicle
NEW ORLEANS - Rebuild where you like, but rebuild at your own risk — that's the word from Mayor C. Ray Nagin after digesting the recommendations of a panel charged with planning the city's post-Katrina recovery.
Nagin set aside the toughest advice from his hand-picked "Bring New Orleans Back" commission on how best to rebuild the city — a recommendation that homeowners be allowed to rebuild in neighborhoods with a healthy chance of recovering population, schools and retail. Commission members said government had a role in protecting people's investments.
"I'm throwing out the recommendation for the moratorium on rebuilding because I'm confident that our citizens can decide for themselves where they will rebuild," Nagin said. "However, I want to caution that the Army Corp of Engineers has warned me some of our lowest-lying areas (like) the Lower 9th Ward will have some more problems with overtopping if a hurricane follows the same path."
Nagin said the land-use plan he was approving in a meeting Monday night before about 500 people put the decisions into the hands of those most affected by them. But his ruling hit some in the audience like a slap.
"I'm here to talk about what I keep hearing — rebuild at our own risk," fumed Cora Charles, a resident of the Lower 9th Ward. "That bothers me — because if you and the rest remember, the city of New Orleans flooded because of the breach in the levees."
She asked Nagin if he knew the surrounding geography.
"New Orleans is surrounded by water," Charles said. "If you go north, it's the Pontchartrain lake; if you go west, it's the Bonne Carre Spillway; to the south, it's the Mississippi River and if you go east it's Lake Bourne. So who's at risk?"
The Bring New Orleans Back Commission began meeting shortly after floodwaters receded, dividing the jobs of deciding land use, restoring education and healthcare and improving flood protection. Nagin spelled out his revisions to the commission's plans Monday, highlighting his support for a city-state school board, elaborate economic development plans, improved levees and streamlined government.
But the question of where residents will be allowed to rebuild has been by far the most controversial — dominated by racial mistrust and skepticism about the motives of the planners. Reaction to Nagin's plan Monday was no different.
New Orleans resident Kim Hutchins criticized Nagin for putting the city's resources into cleaning the more visible Canal Street before making sure all the bodies had been recovered in the Lower 9th Ward.
She urged people in the audience to vote with their conscience, not the color of their skin — a pointed reminder that Nagin, who is black, is up for re-election against 22 other candidates, most of them white.
With the exception of the predominantly white neighborhood of Lakeview, neighborhoods hardest hit by severe flooding were predominantly black.
In this stratified city, higher income and white residents tended to build on higher, more expensive ground and black residents were concentrated in areas susceptible to flooding.
New Orleans had a population of about 462,000 before the flooding, nearly 68 percent black, according to U.S. Census figures. Estimates put the current population at about 189,000, and predominantly white — raising fears among displaced black residents that the city is trying to keep them from returning.
Tempers ignited in a meeting in January when developer Joe Canizaro's group recommended a moratorium on building in any neighborhood until it could be determined the area would become viable. Experts have urged New Orleans to rebuild a smaller, stronger city on less flood-prone ground.
posted on March 21, 2006 09:46:06 AM new
What exactly is it that we are supposed to be up in arms about Bear and why are you bitchy that we are not first thing in the morning after the meeting?
Do you think we don't all already know that Nagin is a complete idiot? Is there anyone here that has ever actually stood up for ANYTHING this guy has said?
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Never ask what sort if computer a guy drives. If he's a Mac user, he'll tell you. If he's not, why embarrass him? - Tom Clancy
posted on March 21, 2006 12:18:59 PM new
Does anyone here know that Nagin has bought a large home in Dallas and his family is currently living there? And did anyone els know that Nagin is a high up CEO of Cox Cable? I think also big stock holder of that company. Has nothing to do with discussion but I don't think he will be re elected. He could care less about the people and their return from what I hear from my New Orleans sources. It is also a fact until they fix the levees there can be another flood so who in their right mind is going to rebuild in the most flood prone areas? Plus there are people back in the 9th ward living in those awful flooded homes already. No place else to go so they say, plus they are there to protect their belongings what is left of them.
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Without my ignorance, your Knowledge would be meaningless.
posted on March 21, 2006 04:51:37 PM new
No Bear - a lot of people are upset about what is going on in New Orleans, and I believe it was FOX News that was reporting about the massive waste of funds in the federally granted contracts with very little being accomplshed... You are not saying that Fox News is now "the left" are you?
Just because you are on the right, it does not mean that everything you hear that you disagree with is being said by the left. Don't forget that for about a day and a half before they found out that they were actually supposed to be supporting it, Fox News was going off on what a horrible idea the ports deal was
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Never ask what sort if computer a guy drives. If he's a Mac user, he'll tell you. If he's not, why embarrass him? - Tom Clancy
posted on March 21, 2006 06:32:26 PM new
Bear, you really just keep digging for something to pin on anyone you disagree with, without ever considering the facts. It is quite sad that you even bother making up an opinion on something as lame as this. Did you really actually read the article???
Irked claims, "Does anyone here know that Nagin has bought a large home in Dallas and his family is currently living there?"
Yes, most of us educated liberals know that Nagin purchased a home in Dallas for his family. What you fail to mention however, is that the article from The Times-Picayune on Sept 10, 2005 reported this clearer picture, "Mayor Ray Nagin has purchased a home for his family in Dallas and enrolled his young daughter in school there.
Nagin, who spoke with The Times-Picayune by telephone from Dallas, where he has been since Wednesday, said he planned to return to New Orleans on Saturday. He said he will remain in the Crescent City while his family lives for the next six months in Dallas, making occasional visits to his family when possible.
It’s not clear where Nagin will be living: His home along Bayou St. John suffered massive flooding, the mayor said, although he has not inspected it."
Irked follows up with, ""He could care less about the people and their return from what I hear from my New Orleans sources."
So, if you are going to paint a picture, we would all prefer if you finish what you start instead of leaving out important details. Your comments sound more like you get your news from FOX or Rush Limbaugh rather than based in facts. Just curious, Irked, but who are your so-called "sources"?
