A Recovery that Doesn't Work

posted by m.d.


If there are no workers:

Thousands of blue-collar workers like Washington who never lived in publicly subsidized housing increasingly have no place to live in New Orleans. The planned demolition of 4,500 publicly subsidized apartments is less significant to the future, policy experts say, than Katrina's destruction of nearly 41,000 inexpensive rentals that once housed the city's self-sufficient working class.

With no concrete plan to replace those apartments, some say the city's economic base erodes with every blue-collar worker pushed out by higher living costs.

***

Amid predictions affordable housing could be indefinitely out of reach for blue collar workers, state and federal agencies offered landlords a subsidy to accept lower-income tenants. The effort is falling short because landlords can get high rent in the post-Katrina free market without dealing with bureaucratic red tape. To date, there are only 550 of these subsidized apartments.

Long term, the Bush administration has offered tax breaks to developers to build mixed-income housing. Two and a half years after the storm, little such construction is evident.

No apartments, but plenty of homes:

More than 8,800 houses are for sale in the New Orleans area – almost as many as were sold in the last 12 months, according to one of the city's leading real estate brokerage firms. High insurance costs and the crash in the mortgage market nationwide have slowed sales.

Thousands more damaged houses are being bought by the state of Louisiana through its Road Home program. It pays homeowners for their losses in the 2005 hurricanes. These houses will be turned over to local governments for redevelopment or resale.

Meanwhile, 27,500 families, mostly from New Orleans, are still living in tiny, tinny government-issued travel trailers across the state.

If you have been waiting for rebuilding help that never came and now you want to sell, that's tough too:

A new study of home prices around the New Orleans area shows that buyers rewarded sellers who gambled and rebuilt in devastated areas like Lakeview, eastern New Orleans and Chalmette. Renovated homes in those areas recovered much of their pre-storm value last year, while prices continued to tumble on homes that were gutted but otherwise left untouched.

Wade Ragas, the retired University of New Orleans professor who prepared the study, said buyers have gotten wise to the amount of money and drudgery it takes to bring a damaged house back from the dead. Heartsick from being displaced for two years, distrustful of contractors and insurance companies, buyers are shopping for houses that have already been repaired for them.

Tipping point? What tipping point?

[Federal coordinator for Gulf Coast rebuilding Donald] Powell disagreed with Mayor Ray Nagin’s assertion that 2008 will be a tipping point in New Orleans’ recovery from the levee breaches that put most of the city under water and left behind massive destruction.

The recovery seems to have entered a new phase, with Nagin and other local officials who had decried the pace of federal aid saying money is starting to flow more freely and that the responsibility now falls on them to put it to smart use.

I've heard that something's "getting ready to explode."

Duck.

What a Wonderful Thing to Say

posted by m.d.


Rev. Jack Battiste of the New Testament Baptist Church in the 9th Ward on why his church will make a comeback:

"The love of the city exceeds the hardship."

I just liked that. I liked it because I read it two ways. First, that the reverend's love of the city he lives in is greater than the hardships he faces. Then I looked at it again and read it as the city's love - the love the city feels for her residents - is greater than the hardships we face.

The city's love exceeds the hardships. I think that is important. The residents already love New Orleans. That's why they are here.

New Orleans must love her residents back.

The article is written by a journalist from Northern Michigan. She also maintains a blog on her newspaper's website. In it, she writes of her experience in the Lower 9th and St. Bernard Parish:

It’s hard to believe it’s been more than two years since Katrina, judging from the state of neighborhoods like these. And seeing the devastation firsthand makes it seem all the more real.

Journalists keeping having that same reaction when they come down for the first time.

I must keep reminding myself that this year is the "tipping point."

A Response Like No Other

I have worked in the TV news business for almost eight years. In that time, I have never seen a staged press conference like FEMA put on Tuesday:

FEMA announced the news conference at its Southwest Washington headquarters about 15 minutes before it was to begin Tuesday afternoon, making it unlikely that reporters could attend. Instead, FEMA set up a telephone conference line so reporters could listen.

In the briefing, parts of which were televised live by cable news channels, [FEMA's deputy administrator Harvey] Johnson stood behind a lectern, called on questioners who did not disclose that they were FEMA employees, and gave replies emphasizing that his agency's response to this week's California wildfires was far better than its response to Hurricane Katrina in August 2005.

A press conference is itself a staged event, completely controlled by the people standing behind the podium. They choose the topic, they choose who to let in, they choose who may ask questions, and they even choose which questions will be answered.

But, at least the reporters who ask questions at a press conference don’t already know the answers. They are truly seeking information they don’t have. And, as that information is revealed question by question, answer by answer, it always leads to new questions, and eventually – in theory – leads to the story which must be told.

Those FEMA employees were asking questions that *they already knew the answers to*. Despite their noble intentions, they were doing no more than acting.

Then there’s this:

FEMA employees posed as reporters while real reporters listened on a telephone conference line and were barred from asking questions.

The reporters could not ask questions on the conference call? Does FEMA’s Southwest Washington headquarters not have a speaker phone? A simple email could have gotten the same information out, without the pretend questions.

I can only assume that FEMA’s purpose for the fake press conference – you can not have a real “press” conference without the press there – was for public relations. They wanted the public to see them doing a press conference. A simple email would not have accomplished this.

Why do this? If FEMA’s purpose is to clean their reputation after a disastrous disaster response to Katrina, then an effective response to the wildfires will not do it. With all respect and due empathy to the Southern Californians whose lives have been altered by the fires, the comparisons to Katrina are cosmetic, just like FEMA’s fake press conference. The wildfires are their own disaster, not another Katrina.

The numbers just don’t reach Katrina proportions. This example does it for me: As of last night, more than 1,800 homes were destroyed by the wildfires. As of last night, more than two years after Katrina, there are still more than 1,800 hurricane-damaged homes in New Orleans yet to be demolished.

If you want to know more about FEMA's response like no other, they have a page on their website.

ADDED: While that one statistic does it for me, if you need more, the T-P has it.

The Mayor on the Pace of Recovery

Comments made yesterday by Mayor Nagin on ABC26 News, 3 minutes 11 seconds into the video:

Well, you know, on a scale of 1 to 10, I think it is a six or a seven. It’s been hard. It’s been difficult. The dollars we thought we were going to get were slow to come. A lot of businesses and projects we thought we would move were hindered by insurance costs that are here.

I think that we are seeing the corner. We just haven’t turned it yet. Because the population continues to grow, we continue to improve on certain city functions everyday, and it’s just part of this long road that we’re on.

Link to video in Windows Media Player.

Link to ABC26 News website.

Allow Someone Else to Whine

I did the whining in this previous post.

Let an independent research group whine this time:

In February 2006, the Federal Emergency Management Agency and Small Business Administration estimated Louisiana had 204,737 housing units with major and severe damage. This week's GulfGov report finds that Louisiana had 67 percent of the damaged units that are now eligible for CDBG money, but the state got only 62 percent of the block grant money.

By contrast, Mississippi's 61,386 housing units with major and severe damage represented 20 percent of FEMA and SBA estimates of storm damage -- but that state got a full third of the federal CDBG aid.

***

In all, 305,109 housing units suffered major and severe damage in Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas. If the Florida damage, mostly caused by Hurricane Wilma, is taken out of the equation, Louisiana's share of the damage jumps to 73 percent, but its share of the money increases only one percentage point, to 63 percent.

The picture becomes even more lopsided when severe damage -- units that are considered destroyed -- is given more weight. Counting the Wilma figures, Louisiana had 85 percent of all the destroyed units and Mississippi had just 12 percent.

And Louisiana had to lobby hard to get the second appropriation of CDBGs which added $4.2 billion to Louisiana’s total. And it is still not enough to fully fund our home assistance program.

This related quote by Donald Powell is interesting:

"Tell me exactly what you need, and I'm happy to sit down and listen, but the evidence has to be based upon the need, not a comparison," Powell said last month in reaction to complaints from Louisiana officials about the distribution of aid.

The need is there, and the comparison is evidence of an injustice. Either Mississippi got more than it needed, or Louisiana still needs more.

I don’t think Mississippi got more than it needed.

Allow Me to Whine

…about Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour:

During a recent meeting with the Sun Herald, Barbour went off on what he called the "whining" in Louisiana that Mississippi got too large a share.

"One of the things they used was that the number of schools in Mississippi that were still closed by December in 2005 compared to the number of schools that were closed in Louisiana was just a tiny fraction," Barbour said. "Of course it was, because we had all our schools back open. We worked our tails off. We had all our schools back open before New Orleans had one back open."

And though Mississippi schools were open, children were, and are, attending in temporary trailers used as classrooms because their schools were destroyed.

"So what's the idea? Are they supposed to punish us for getting our schools back open quickly? That's their mentality: 'Somebody do this for me,'" Barbour said. "Down here, people said, 'We're going to do this for ourselves, and we hope you'll help us,' and that's what happened."

But, Barbour said, he doesn't bear any ill will toward New Orleanians.

"New Orleans was a very important part of many people in Mississippi's lives," Barbour said, noting he "went to New Orleans seven times" during one semester of college which, "is probably why my grades weren't what they should have been."

I missed this. It was published two weeks ago. I can’t believe that two years after the storm, someone can say these things. On the anniversary, no less.

First – and I know Gov. Barbour is aware of this – Katrina’s destruction along the Mississippi coast was different from the destruction wrought in the New Orleans area. After the storm, Mississippi was faced with a recovery mission. The New Orleans area was faced with a recovery along with a repopulation mission. Due to the nature of the damage along the coast, Mississippians were able to return to their communities comparatively faster than New Orleans area residents. Mississippians were able to get their schools up and running faster because Mississippians were *there* to get their schools up and running.

I do not doubt that the good people of Mississippi “worked their tails off” to get their schools rebuilt. How blessed they were that their tails were there to be worked off.

Second, as far as the “We're going to do this for ourselves” attitude, bravo! But that’s real easy to say when your recovery plan is fully funded from the beginning. I commented on this last January:

For perspective, consider that in January 2006, one year ago, the first round of Community Development Block Grants was given out.

Mississippi received $5,058,185,000.

Louisiana received $6,210,000,000.

Mississippi got 86.8% more in that first round of CDBGs than it has paid out more than halfway through their housing plan. If we had paid out at the same rate at Mississippi’s lower average payment, we would have used up over half (61%) of our first allocation. In fact, assuming our average calculated payment remains consistent at $82,581, we will completely use up that first allocation about three quarters of the way through our total applications.

What is my point? Though Mississippi and Louisiana are using similar grant programs, their progress can not be similarly compared. Louisiana’s destruction was greater in scale and complexity and was grossly under-funded at the offset.

My point remains valid today. As of September 13, 2007, Mississippi has given out $1.1 billion in 13,837 home assistance grants, which represents 87 percent of its eligible households. That comes to about $79,500 per household. At that rate, Mississippi will need $1.26 billion to *fully fund* its home assistance program.

Mississippi received almost four times that much in January 2006. Let me repeat: Mississippi received almost four times more money than it needed to fully fund its home assistance program. That meant the state could plan to use the other $4 billion or so for other recovery projects starting in January of 2006.

As of this month, September 2007, Louisiana is still fighting to fully fund its home assistance program. Our average benefit calculated is less than Mississippi’s at $68,000 per household. And we have far, far more recovery projects to consider other than home assistance, as well as repopulation concerns.

So, the governor of Mississippi tells us that we have a “somebody do this for me” mentality. DIY, indeed:

Marty Wiseman, director of the Stennis Institute for Government, notes the irony of any state being envious of Mississippi.

"For once in Mississippi's life, I think we were in the best position to take advantage of who we are and the people we know," Wiseman said. "It was how the stars were aligned - we had as our governor the former chairman of the Republican National Committee, who has helped a number of powerful people in Washington. We had the chairman of the Appropriations Committee and a powerful former majority leader.

"For once, we were standing first in line. Gov. (Kathleen) Blanco was a Democrat coming before what was then (2005-'06) Republican-held (Congress) with a Republican president. She had to introduce herself at our family reunion."

Does this mean Mississippi had a “some politician do this for me” mentality?

$116 Billion

That’s the number I expect to hear today.

It has already been thrown about by the media:

$116 billion in recovery dollars have been earmarked for the Gulf region, almost $60 billion of it to Louisiana alone.

Of the $116 billion appropriated by Congress to Gulf Coast recovery, $34 billion has been earmarked for long-term rebuilding.

Then there is another number I’ve seen, too:

In the two years since Hurricane Katrina, the federal government has provided more than $114 billion in aid.

As I said at the beginning of the briefing, the federal government has provided $114 billion to the region, of which $96 billion has been disbursed or is available to the states. [via oyster]

Then there is the real number which, surprisingly, at least one person in the media is using:

Overall, Congress appropriated $94.6 billion for hurricane restoration.

In a former blogging life, this number was my obsession. Back then, it appeared in the form of “$110 billion.” That number was around $22 billion too much.

The new number adds $6 billion more, but is still $22 billion too much.

My break down of money Congress has allocated to the Gulf Coast recovery:

* September 2, 2005 – $10.5 billion in a disaster relief bill

* September 8, 2005 – $51.8 billion in a disaster relief bill

* December 31, 2005 – $5 billion in a spending bill (along with $24 billion diverted from already authorized funds, but not new money)

*June 15, 2006 – $19.8 billion in a spending bill

*May 24, 2007 – $6.3 billion in a spending bill

Unless I missed a major appropriation bill somewhere (and please point that out to me if I have), that adds up to around $94 billion dollars.

The WRDA bill has more appropriations authorizations in it, but it hasn’t been passed yet and Bush has threatened to veto it anyway.

So, they are still counting the $22 billion (or $23 billion – the numbers are real fuzzy when everyone starts rounding off) paid out in flood insurance claims.

In the past, I have argued that this money is not recovery money. It is money due to the people who paid to have that coverage. I am sticking to that:

You can count on your claim being paid in the event of a flood loss because NFIP flood insurance is backed by the Federal government.

That’s all.

[ADDED] The official line:

The Federal Government Has Provided More Than $114 Billion In Resources – $127 Billion Including Tax Relief – To The Gulf Region.

Personifying New Orleans

I have often personified New Orleans when speaking about her. She has been many people to me at different times, but mostly a family member whom I love and feel an intense duty to protect and fight for.

I have never thought of her as a murderer:

It has been almost eight months now since the early morning silence of the Marigny district was broken by the sound of gunfire from inside Helen Hill's tidy white house on North Rampart Street.

Eight long, frustrating months since the acclaimed Canadian filmmaker was killed by a bullet wound to the neck. No clues, no arrests and no closure for family members desperate for answers.

Still grieving, Hill's stepfather has come to his own painful conclusions.

"I felt right away that New Orleans killed Helen," says Kevin Lewis. "In my bad moods - my worst moods - I don't care if New Orleans gets flooded out again and is just plowed over." Lewis says he knows "in the long run" he can't hold the city itself culpable in the death of his daughter, but his assessment holds more than a kernel of truth.

Two years after Hurricane Katrina brought this historic city to its knees, murder is coming to define New Orleans's personality as much as jazz funerals, Mardi Gras parades and French Quarter debauchery.

The title of the article is “Did New Orleans kill Helen?”

At the risk of causing more hysteria over crime and therefore eclipsing the hysteria over more important issues, I just want to point out that there have been 25 murders in the last 25 days in the city of New Orleans, from August 4 to August 28. August has been the deadliest month in 2007 with its 25 murders, making 137 murders for the year.

Violent crime affects the recovery on a very personal level:

Dear New Orleans: I’m Leaving You

***

They don't understand that I'm in love. I talk to friends about New Orleans like a dysfunctional romance. I gush over it one day, then call up bawling and heartbroken the next. Why can't it change? Stop being self-destructive and violent? It has so much potential.

Recently, my blinders started to come off. It was building for awhile. My friend Helen Hill was murdered in her home;other friends have been mugged. We don't go out much any more...

But then there was this hot Friday night last month. I went on the perfect date with New Orleans . Saw live, local music, danced with friends on the stage, then headed home through my neighborhood of craftsman cottages and angel trumpet trees.

A block from my door, I was attacked from behind by a stranger. I escaped, with the help of my roommate. The case is moving forward, so I can't say much more than that.

Now I'm a jilted lover of the city. I'm angry and confused. Which is the real New Orleans? The one that's violent and desperate? Or the one that coos softly, and caresses me? The answer, of course, is both.

I just hauled my things out of New Orleans in a big truck. I am still in love with the city, but it's hard to trust it. Maybe we'll both heal, and the relationship will rekindle. I don't know what - or how long - that might take.

I wish that person would stay. I wish that her city loved her back. I wish that this were an isolated experience.

Once again, 25 murders in 25 days.

When do we march?