In 2006 we were totally new to blogging. Our 1st blog was essentially free. Our current blog space is sponsored by one of our board members. We have found BLOGSPOT and it is FREE. So we are moving our Blog to nwcarrollton.blogspot.com
NorthWestCarrollton.org will still be available for archives (for now)
but future posts will be on the new blogspot site.
What & Who: Councilmember Stacy Head will attend the ribbon-cutting ceremony for the Irish Channel and St. Mary Overlay Projects completion on Thursday morning. The ceremony marks the rehabiliation of 1.75 miles of roadway throughout the Irish Channel and St. Mary neighborhoods.
When: Thursday, December 11, 2008 11:00 a.m.
Where: Burke Park (Uptown) Annunciation St, between 2nd & 3rd St.
Background: As a result of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, an estimated 17,000 individual sites (roadway and sidewalks) and 6,000 blockers were damaged due to flooding in 80 percent of the City. To date, the City has completed 13 roadway and walking path projects and also completed more than 2,275 repairs to city streets and sidewalks damaged by the storms of 2005.
REALITY CHECK: Really? Oh Yeah, the flood waters were REAL DEEP in the Irish Channel and on the Isle of Denial. As a New Orleans citizen who DID have ~3 FEET of Water in the streets of her neighborhood, this is nothing short of insulting. Stacy Head does good work and I admire her, but having “recovery work” work done in the IRISH CHANNEL and having the audacity to say the damage to the road way was Katrina/Rita related is inappropriate and INSULTING to those whose neighborhoods were ravaged by flooding and postK cleanup. How much does it cost the city to plan & execute a ribbon cutting ceremony for less than 2 miles of roadway in an area of town that DID NOT FLOOD!?
We all need to keep our eyes on the recovery ball. You can’t talk about efficiency in budgeting and city services and do things like this at the same time. Focus. Focus. Focus!
Did you know the original name of Palmer Park was Hamilton Park and that the name was changed in 1902?
Hamilton Square (Later Palmer Park) An ordinance changing the Hamilton Square to Palmer Park. Location - Carrollton, Sycamore, Dublin, and Mobile Streets. 1902/07/08 1322 NCS
This holiday season “give the gift that keeps on growing” and have a tree planted in someone’s honor. For a small donation Hike for Katreena will plant a tree in New Orleans in someone’s honor and send them a card indicating a donation has been made in their name. For more information visit www.hikeforkatreena.com or call 301-5628.
Top 5 Reasons To Buy Someone This Gift:
1) It’s good to buy local
2) You don’t have to stand in line at the post office
3) One size fits all
4) Trees last longer than most fruitcakes
5) New Orleans lost over 100,000 trees–70% of the tree canopy
The Hollygrove Market and Farm (HM&F) is a non-profit retail store selling locally-grown and organic produce, as well as a training location for residents interested in organic urban farming. Centrally located in the heart of the Carrollton-Hollygrove community at 8301 Olive Street, this unique store provides healthy and affordable fruits and vegetables to residents of Hollygrove, adjoining neighborhoods, and New Orleans.
For $25 a week, box assortments of local and organic produce are available. Members are welcome to buy a box however often they like.
Departmental Budget Recommendations
1. Mayor’s Department
a. Cut $500,000 from the General Fund for excessive personnel expenses (in general).
b. Reserve $301,270,125 in LCD money until further program specificity is provided (see pg 105 of the 2009 Budget Book, Program Nos. 2106-2167).
2. CAO
a. Cut $725,522 from the General Fund for the proposed PFM increase. (see pg 118 under program name: Budget Operations & Management Division, this $725,520 increase from 2008 to 2009 is solely for PFM).
b. Cut 15%, or $840,750, for vehicle fuel. (see pg 129, program no. 2298).
c. Cut 15%, or $673,902, for vehicle maintenance. (see pg 129, program no. 2297).
d. Cut by 50%, or $1,000,000, the EMD Equipment Account (see pg 128, program no. 2299).
i. Remaining $1,000,000 allocated for first responder vehicles.
e. Cut $1,000,000 for the crime camera expansion.
i. $1,593,000 was the proposed amount; the remaining $593,000 will go to existing camera maintenance. (see pg. 121, program name: Public safety Cameras).
f. Cut $379,391 for the Office of Municipal Investigations as this department duplicates the duties/investigations of the IG’s office (see pg. 122).
g. Place $479,935 in reserves for the program titled “Departmental needs and Initiatives” (see pg.122), pending further understanding of program scope/purpose.
3. NOPD
a. Reserve 50% of the budget from the General Fund pending a report from a third party auditor that the Brown recommendations have been implemented and that supplies/equipment are available to all district precincts.
4. Sanitation
a. Cut 15%, or $6,343,605, of the department’s general fund budget for contract savings.
b. Reserve 50% of budget pending resolution of contract compliance and house-count issues.
5. Property Management
a. Reserve 50% of general funds pending answers relative to:
i. Uniform expenditures;
ii. Surplus property plan.
6. Reserves for Contingencies
a. Cut $5,000,000
7. ORDA/Neighborhood 1
a. Reserve 100% of funds pending a comprehensive report in early January 2009 regarding (in part): non-disaster CDBG, HOPWA, HOME, and demolitions.
8. NHIF Funds
a. Reserve $6,804,934
9. Juvenile Court
a. Add $97,000 for two law clerks
10. D.A.
a. Add $2,325,948 to implement D.A. diversionary programs
11. Public Defender
a. Add $350,000, this will ONLY be a one time expenditure.
b. To ensure future funds are available, aid in petitioning the state to increase the traffic ticket and red light ticket allocation.
12. Criminal Sheriff
a. Cut $2,000,000 from General Funds;
b. This cut will be allocated to fund other criminal justice programs in other departments; specifically, diversionary programs, the D.A., and the Public Defender.
13. HDLC
a. Supportive of the $2,000,000 HUD grant to aid disaster areas, but a $500,000 allocation (from a source other than the General Fund) must be allocated to non-disaster areas in District B (i.e., the Irish Channel).
14. CDL
a. $10,000,000 from CDL
Cuts - 18,463,170 + 10,000,000 from CDL = 28,463,170
Additions - 2,772,948
Total = 25,690,222
The Friends of Palmer Park (FOPP), a non-profit organization dedicated to the revitalization of Palmer Park, will host a design proposal exhibit from 10:00 a.m. until 3:00 p.m. on November 29th at the Arts Market in Palmer Park.
The exhibit will showcase a series of 28 different proposal ideas for the design of Palmer Park. The designs were developed by undergraduate students at LSU’s Robert Reich School of Landscape Architecture during a semester-long design course.
The designs range from the experimental to the traditional and are meant to foster a creative dialog about the future of Palmer Park, one of the great open spaces in New Orleans. These plans will be on display and the students will be available for questions from the hours of 10am - 3pm. FOPP encourages the public to visit the exhibit and share your opinions with the students and the community.
From: Stacy Head
Subject: Garbage
Date: Friday, November 14, 2008, 1:18 AM
Some people have had questions about the background issues here - so I wrote a synopsis. The bottom is where the most current issues are.
We bought a Rolls Royce when we could only afford a Camry.
In late 2006, during hearings for the 2007 Budget, Cm. Midura and I questioned the judgment of
entering into a solid waste contract that was double the cost of the previous contract and ore expensive than sanitation services in similar metropolitan areas. We lost that debate. The administration, through its Sanitation Director, Veronica White, defended the choice to embark on a very expensive solid waste removal program for a variety of reasons. One reason was that this new program would provide superior service because of the “automation” required under the contracts. Specifically, Ms. White testified that the automated trucks, which were “high tech,” would reduce physical stress on the sanitation workers by mechanically lifting the cans into the trucks and would also reduce trash escaping from cans during pick-up. In
addition, these contracts called for removal of “unlimited bulky waste.”
The obligations under the contract are not being met
As stated above, the city opted to engage in a very expensive solid waste removal program that required automated truck pick-up. The problem is that the automation component is not being used. The sanitation workers almost uniformly physically pick up the cans, just as they did under the prior and less expensive sanitation system. A fundamental reason for the high cost was this high-tech component. Regardless of whether the ultimate result of the collection is good, the reason for the high cost has been retroactively deleted from the contracts.
Retroactive revisions of the contracts are unfair to other potential bidders
Mandating automated collection in the public bid for solid waste collection services arguably discouraged companies from bidding on the work when the bids were published in 2006. And now, to retroactively relieve the winning contractors of this obligation is fundamentally unfair. This retroactive revision of the contracts is not limited to the automation issue. In addition, after the contracts were executed, the administration proposed an ordinance to prohibit New Orleans residents from placing bulky waste items out for collection. This was in direct conflict with terms of the contracts, which require that the contractors provide “unlimited bulky waste” removal. This onerous bulky waste requirement did, in fact, discourage several vendors from bidding (for example, SWDI and Waste Management). For the administration to retroactively remove that obligation reeks of foul play.
Ultimately, after much wrangling, the laws were changed back to allow citizens to put out for collection unlimited bulky waste. But this scenario illustrates how the entire sanitation contract bidding and management process has been flawed since 2006.
There has been no basis for payments of roughly $60,000,000 over two years
For two years, the city has paid roughly $30,000,000 per year for garbage collection and another $9,000,000 for dumping. The sanitation contracts clearly call for monthly garbage collection payments based on the actual number of “approved service locations” from which garbage was collected. Per the contracts, the lists of serviced locations were to be contained on a monthly report, in spreadsheet form, delivered to the sanitation department by the 10th of each month. Contractor payment was to be calculated by multiplying the contract fee (depending on the contractor, between $18.15 and $34.00 per month) by the “approved service locations” from which garbage was collected that month.
Instead, the city has been paying based on a set number of 106,500 households every month since the inception of the contracts in January 2007. This number, 106,500, was an arbitrary number provided in the bid documents for bid comparison only. The payments defy logic.
How can a city with a fluctuating and growing population have the exact same number of garbage collections every month since January 2007? When I learned that the basis for
the payments was not based on the actual house count, I began requesting the rational from Ms. White for the payments. My requests included any monthly invoices, house counts, monthly reports, serviced locations or the like. In response, the administration provided the following justifications for payments:
1) three notebooks full of listings of cart delivery addresses; and
2) billing records from the Sewerage and Water Board (customers receiving solid waste collection services should pay $12-24 per month on their S&WB bill).
The first basis, the cart delivery lists, was fraught with problems. For example, those lists contained only 72,132 cart delivery addresses (not 106,500). In addition, an audit of those lists showed that there were many errors and duplications (at a rate of almost 30%). And the Sewerage and Water Board records for 2007 total payments of only $9,493,669, which indicates that the actual number of households paying for services was substantially lower than
106,500.
A $250,000 audit will not solve the problems
Now, the administration has engaged a firm at a cost of $250,000 to conduct an actual house count audit. This audit ostensibly will allow the city to determine what current payments should be made, and will allow corrections in prior over or under payments. To use this audit in any meaningful way to correct prior over or underpayments will be difficult at best. How will the city use data from winter 2008 to establish what appropriate payments would have been in the spring of 2007? Moreover, the obligation to provide a monthly accurate house count was with the contractors. And their failure to do so, under the contract, is cause for termination. The sanitation department should have been receiving these monthly house count reports for two years, auditing them for accuracy all along, and requiring improvement from the contractors where needed.
Folks, This meeting is an opportunity to lift your voices and help ensure that there are DOLLARS and STAFF available for Code Enforcement here in NorthWest Carrollton. Many of the programs that could help our neighborhood are occuring in TARGET ZONES. We are not a Target Zone. So if you want Code Enforcement which directly related to REDUCED BLIGHT in our neighborhood come to the meeting outlined below!
WHAT: District “A” Town Hall Meeting to Discuss the Budget Process
And the Proposed 2009 Budget. Constituents are invited to come share their opinions.
WHO: District “A” Councilmember Shelley Midura will host the Meeting
WHEN: Wednesday, November 12, 2008 6:00 p.m.
WHERE: Grace Episcopal Church 3700 Canal St.
CONTACT: David Gavlinski
Office of District “A” Councilmember Shelley Midura
Office: (504) 658-1010
Email: dsgavlinski@cityofno.com
New Orleans City Council
The New Orleans City Council is the legislative branch of New Orleans city government. The Council considers and enacts all local laws that govern the City of New Orleans. The Council also approves the operating and capital budgets for the City, as recommended by the mayor, and continually monitors revenues and expenditures for local government operations. The City Council is also the regulatory body for public utilities. It also reviews and has final say on many land use and zoning matters, as well as considers major economic development projects for the City. As a Board of Review for Orleans Parish, the Council examines appeals of property tax assessments for real estate taxes, and certifies tax rolls to the Louisiana Tax Commission. Other responsibilities of the Council include overseeing the operation of the public access television in Orleans Parish.
The City Council is comprised of five districts and two councilmembers-at-large. Council President and Councilmember-at-Large Jacquelyn Brechtel Clarkson; Council Vice-President and Councilmember-at-Large Arnie Fielkow ; District “A” Councilmember Shelley Midura; District “B” Councilmember Stacy S. Head; District “C” Councilmember James Carter; District “D” Councilmember Cynthia Hedge-Morrell; and District “E” Councilmember Cynthia Willard-Lewis.
In addition to the Citywide Master Planning meetings, the City Planning Commission is hosting a meeting for each planning district; we urge you to come to address the issues specifically affecting your neighborhood.
The District Three (Uptown/Carrollton, including NorthWest Carrollton) meeting, will be held Monday November 10 from 6:30 to 8:30 at the Sophie B. Wright Charter School.
We strongly encourage you to extend this invitation to your neighbors in order for you all to have a voice in the future of District Three.
We hope to see you there!
We are working with Monique Pilie of Hike for KaTREEna to rebuild the tree canopy of our neighborhood. We can improve our neighborhood by adding trees to our homes, keeping our streets cool and green. Please join us in this exciting effort.
Trees can be planted on your private property or city property in front or beside your home. We only need a few things from you if you would like a tree for your home:
1) Your agreement to keep the tree/s well watered for the first year.
2) Fill out the permit application, if you want the tree(s) planted on city property (between the sidewalk and street). Trees can also be planted in your front yard or side yard as long as these trees benefit the sidewalk public area as well.
Hike for KaTREEna will provide the trees at no cost. Monique will also clear the permits with city government and work with the urban forester to determine the best tree for each location. NorthWest Carrollton will be providing volunteers to help plant the trees January 24, 2009. We hope you can help!
Stay tuned for other posts on why TREES are good for our neighborhood, your property values, your energy bills and your health and even help to fight crime.
If live in NorthWest Carrollton (bounded by Earhart-Carrollton-Claiborne-Leonidas) and you want a form to request free trees, leave a comment and we’ll get back to you!
It is the time of the year to look forward to a very joyous days. Now that the LPO at Palmer Park proved to be such a success and a wonderful event, it is time now for us to do the same for Christmas Caroling.
The first Planning session for the 2008 Christmas Caroling event will be held at Mocking Bird Cafe on Oak Street on Saturday October 18, 2008 at 2.00PM.
LPO and Palmer Park Concert
Bring a picnic and enjoy music outdoors!
SATURDAY October 11, 2008 - 5:00pm
Musical Selections
Voyages with the LPO!
Overture to HMS Pinafore
Handel/ Harty Water Music
Under the Sea from The Little Mermaid
Selections from South Pacific
Armed Forces Salute
Selections from Pirates of the Caribbean
Harry’s Wondrous World from
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone
Music from Apollo 13
Star Trek through the Years
Selections from E.T. The Extraterrestrial
Rain date: Sunday, October 12, 5:00 PM
The LPO concert in Palmer Park is made possible by
District A Councilmember Shelley Midura
and by Harrah’s Community Support Grant Program.
Folks,
Maybe you heard about Shelley Midura and Rod West going after it regarding “contract issues”. Maybe you didn’t.
EVERYONE should read Clancy Dubos on the Blog of New Orleans. Make sure you read the article AND scroll all the way down to where Clancy rebuts some of the stuff in the comments.
This is only just heating up and it will eventually hit your checking account.
If you are less than satisfied with the current Orleans Parish Schools Master Facilities Plan
you can sign this online petition to extend the public review period for the until January 1, 2009.
Saturday, September 27, 2008
8:30am to 3:00pm
Xavier University Center
1 Drexel Drive,
The William McCaffrey Ballroom, Room 308
Refreshments and lunch will be provided
• Learn about the official New Orleans Master Plan and Comprehensive Zoning Ordinance
• Work in small groups to share your vision for New Orleans’ future
• Tell us about your zoning issues
• Learn about when streets, lighting, drainage and sewer improvements will come to your neighborhood at the Rebuilding Update Fair
More information available at www.nolamasterplan.org
Paul Cramer
Assistant Planning Administrator
City Planning Commission
1340 Poydras Street # 900
New Orleans, LA 70112
(504) 658-7012, (504) 658-7032 fax
All: We are advised that the public hearing re:
the School Facilities Master Plan that is
scheduled for this 9/18/08 Thursday at 5:30 will go on as scheduled
at McDonought #35, 1331 Kerlerec. The meetings take place in the school auditorium, which is not exactly easy to find if you go in the front entrance. But there’s a large parking lot behind the school, and a ramp/stairs that lead up to a door that leads (almost) directly to the auditorium.
It would be good to have as many Priestley supporters there as possible. We are trying to get information as to what the rules/limitations may be as to public comment.
What you can do to help:
1. Come to the meeting if you can. (Note: The public hearing at the City Council chambers has been re-scheduled for 10 a.m. on Wednesday, October 1. October 1 is also now the end of the comment period.
2. Encourage any groups with whom you may be affiliated to sign-on/endorse “Bringing Priestley Home”. We will create a cover letter saying, basically, we thing the Master Plan is laudable in many of its ‘big picture’ concerns but that, in this instance, it needs greater sensitivity to its impact on neighborhoods. We hope to provide a name and contact information for each endorsing group. You can tell folks that I/we can also supply lots of other supporting data.
3. Send your own personal comment to the official spot(s) for making such comments. You can either go to the NOPS website at www.nops.k12.la.us where, on the upper right of the screen, above the picture, there’s a line that says ‘School Facilities Master Plan’ and beneath it a button to click to ‘Comment on the Master Plan.
Or you can go to the Recovery School District site at http://nolapublicschools.net where you will find an orange button (among many) on the left that says ‘Learn about the School Facilities Master Plan.’ Once you click on that, there’s a line at the upper right that says ‘If you would like to submit feedback, please email us here.’
Please pass along this request for individual comments to anyone you think might be willing to comment.
Thanks, Jerry Spier
232-1809
Yes… we here in New Orleans dodged the proverbial bullet.
Our friends in the Houma Nation did not.
Karen Gadbois, who I believe *will* singlehandedly save the world, has already been down the bayou with supplies. If you’d like to help send a donation using the above link or leave a comment here and Karen will contact you.
Thanks!
Information that may assist you in your recovery from Hurricane Gustav.
1) FEMA Disaster Assistance – Orleans Parish is included in the disaster declaration for Hurricane Gustav. In order to be eligible for disaster assistance, you must call and register at 1-800-621-FEMA or you can register online at www.fema.gov. You will be assigned a different FEMA number than the one you were assigned after Hurricane Katrina. Please make sure you keep your receipts so that you have proof of your evacuation costs.
2) Homeowners/Renters Insurance – If you have suffered damage to your home, please make sure you file a claim with your insurance company. Many policies include a “Loss of Use” clause, and will assist you with lodging and food while you are out of your home.
3) Disaster Food Stamps – The Department of Social Services is working with the USDA to activate the Disaster Food Stamp Program and to set specific program eligibility criteria and benefits. They will begin to take applications starting on Tuesday, September 9. Call 1-888-524-3578 and press option 3 to learn specific site locations as they are established. You can also find the application online at http://www.dss.louisiana.gov/.
4) Disaster Unemployment Assistance – Assistance will be available to people whose jobs have been lost or interrupted because of the disaster. Those filing new Disaster Unemployment Assistance claims should call 1-866-783-5567. The call center is open from 6:00 a.m. – 10:00 p.m. seven days a week.
5) Counseling Services – Louisiana Spirit is available to talk to those who are having a hard time dealing with Hurricane Gustav and the anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. In Orleans Parish, call 504-202-5015 to talk to someone and also to learn about additional resources that may be available to you.
6) Power Outages – as of this morning, Entergy New Orleans is reporting almost 100% of Orleans Parish residents have had power restored. If you are still having a problem with your power, please call 1-800-9-OUTAGE to report it to Entergy.
7) Volunteer Louisiana – If you are in need of volunteers, or would like to volunteer your time to assist disaster victims, please call the Volunteer Hotline at 1-866-286-3835 or visit www.volunteerlouisiana.gov.
For additional information on the recovery from Hurricane Gustav, visit emergency.louisiana.gov or you can call the state’s emergency hotline at 1-866-288-2484 to listen to a recorded message with the most up-to-date information.
Smart enough to place a generator at his new store on Claiborne & Dublin, Robert was open for business on WEDNESDAY. Thank you Marc Robert.
On Wednesday about 1/2 of the neighborhood had power. By Friday power came back on for most of the rest of the neighborhood. The street light at Walmsley/Apple & Carrollton is now working. This should prevent the accidents we saw after Katrina. The power was still out at Earhart & Carrollton.
Should we EVER have to do this again please leave your porch light on. This will allow us to drive down the streets in the neighborhood and report which blocks *look* like they have power. Even when the bulk of a neighborhood has power there can still be some houses without. IF you don’t have power when you return report the outages to Entergy at 1-800-9-outage. Entergy is working hard to get the power back up a soon as possbile. When you see the trucks - stop and tell them THANK YOU.
O.K. That’s it I’ve had it. I am tired of unthinking or flat foolish people saying things regarding our return to OUR CITY!
So let’s list it out for those who can’t think it out for themselves:
1) My job requires me to return. Yeah they can make a lot of noise about “Tier 1″, but there are MANY companies who have to know that their PEOPLE are back before we begin to get our city back (power or no power). Let’s think about who these companies are. Let’s take the example of the saints game this weekend. WHO do we neeed? Ticket takers, concession stand workers, parking lot workers, cleaning staff, building maintenenace staff, security staff. Now that you are thinking about the fact that you need your fellow citizens start thinking about other services. Do you want your gabage picked up? Do you want to be able to go to the grocery store? Do you want to be able to fill your tank? Do you think filling your tank takes place 100% withOUT people? We are all Tier 1 because without citizens there is no city.
2) My finances require me to return.
Some of us are lucky enough to have family and friends to take us in indefinately and do NOT have to return to work. Thank goodness for family and friends. Some of us have the means to fly to New York or California or Europe. Yes believe it or not some New Orleanians spent their Katrina evacuation in France. Some of us have the financial means to whip out a Credit Card and stay indefinately in a hotel. Think about the people who make up this city. REALLY think about it. Think about the state of the economy in this country and tell me that you realy believe that the bulk of the citizens of New Orleans, many who are financially strapped because of Katrina Recovery, and tell me you can’t understand why they might want to come home.
3) My house is MY HOUSE and it is MY HOME! While family and friends are great and a hotel stay may be fun, my house is my home. I want to see how it faired in the storm. If there are damages that need to be addressed I want to do it as fast as possible to prevent further damage. But more importantly ESPECIALLY POSTKATRINA! I want to be HOME, in my HOUSE, in my neighborhood! Kids want a return to normalcy. They want to go to THIER Schools with THEIR Friends and not to an “evacuation school”. People who could not go home quickly postKatrina want to come home quickly now. There is very little to prevent this.
That said there are some reasons to stay away. Let’s talk about those.
1) If you have critical medicial needs: like a requirement for oxygen (which requries power) or dialysis or ongoing speciality disease treatment that can be handled by facilities where you are, you need to stay where these services are readily available. Yes, we have hospitals. But the entire electrical transmission system (the interstate highway of power) is severely damaged. NorthWest Carrollton does not currently have power. Even if we get power as the systems are repaired there maybe temporary but significant power outages. THINK before you move if you have medical needs.
2) The entire electrical transmission system (the interstate highway of power) is severely damaged. Yes, Entergy is working diligently to repair this system, but this is NOT just a New Orleans problem this is a River Parish problem that includes Baton Rouge (and I’m not talking about the governor, I’m talking about the power grid infrastructure.) So if you want to come home KNOW that you could be in the dark and living out of an ice chest and cooking on the grill for quite some time. No power, No Air Conditioning! Can you and your family stand each other for days in the heat? Do you have a generator and the means to fill it with gas? Do you have ice chests and the means to fill them with food? Because their are few to no groceries open today. Make SURE that you have enough gas for your vehicle to get you all the way HOME. No power, no working gas pumps. THINK camping. Think October 2005. Think seriously roughing it. Make an informed decision.
IF you do return, Think traffic safety! Assume every non-functioning traffic signal is a 4 way stop. People have reverted to PostKatrina driving habits and not all of these are good. Be safe.
Make an informed decision.
The national press is finally beginning to understand that New Orleans and the surrounding areas are not just below sea level areas of the country where people just should not live. I even saw coverage that touched on the wetlands and MRGO and the damage done to the wetlands by the oil and gas companies that put fuel in the nations cars and heat homes in the northern US in the winter. So if you are able to be on line and if you have friends and family wondering what they can do for us send them this Link and have them watch this video put together by Levees.org
I hope that all my friends and neighbors are safe tonight. As I drove out on my last minute gas tank top off yesterday (8/30) around 8AM (yes it was only yesterday!) I saw people in every block putting suitcases in their cars. Many left for Hurricane Katrina. My family did not. This time we are on the NorthShore. This is the first time I have evacuated for a storm in my life. Most of the neighbors who stayed in town last time - left for Gustav. I am very proud of how the city & state have responded this time. Katrina was a permenantly life altering experience for literally millions of people. As glass is half fully kind of person what I see is better preparation and organization of public response. This time people without means to leave on their own were provided with transportation out of the city. The evacuations of almost 2 million people were well coordianted and successful. Most of Louisiana’s political leaders that I have seen on NATIONAL TV look, smart and prepared and caring. The images we are sharing to the rest of the nation are good despite the terror associated with walking away from your home and not knowing when or if you will be able to return to what you left behind. And in case anyone out there is thinking that this is a perfect time for criminals to hit the neighborhood, I also saw police and national guard on our streets and anyone doing evil is going straight to Angola State Prison.
Be Good and Stay Safe.
To whom it may concern,
I am writing at the request of Executive Director Marcia A. St. Martin to provide an update on the work at Harrell Playground. As of this morning, the Drennan Construction Company was given the order to begin the restoration project at Harrell Playground. Drennan began mobilizing equipment to the site this morning
and will start construction on tomorrow, Saturday, August 9, 2008.
Their working hours will be from 6:30am to 4:30pm each day.
Their work will consist of removing the temporary utilities and restoring the football field to its pre-Katrina condition. The new equipment that will result from this work includes the bleachers, fencing, and the football goal posts. The length of the contract is 60 calendar days pending rain days,
and the completion date is scheduled to be October 6, 2008.
If you have any questions please feel free to contact me.
Robert B. Jackson
Dir. Comm. & Intergov. Rel.
SWBNO
5042697978
(Thanks to Senator Gray’s Office for forwarding the information)
