[StBernard] House Committee Passes "Gulf Coast Recovery Act"

[Westley Annis]

John,

I think you are correct in your assessments.

I believe the parish is working to install a new communications system and I
have heard rumors of an ambitious plan to have all debris picked up in three
months.

I'm not sure exactly where these plans stand at the moment, but when dealing
with the Federal Government, and especially FEMA, you have to be sure that
all your ducks are in a row before you make any announcements.

What truly baffles me is that you hear FEMA approved or rejected this or
that.  FEMA didn't do squat.  FEMA is an organization, it cannot make
decisions.  I want to know who the real, supposively warm-bodied person is
that is stamping approve or reject on different proposals.  Who is this
person and how did they receive this power?  Who is double-checking their
decisions?

Westley

-----Original Message-----


Westley:
 
In plain English, am I correct in reading that:
 
(1)  The Federal government is covering 100% of the base and overtime pay
for St. Bernard deputies, fireman, and public works employees.
 
(2)  The Federal government is covering 100% of the expenses associated with
the removal of debris throughout St. Bernard parish, retroactively to August
29th, therefore there is no reason that the parish officials cannot utilize
every possible resource to clean-up the parish before it becomes overrun
with rats, mice, etc. 
 
(3)  The Federal government is covering 100% of the Hazard Mitigation costs,
so the excuse that the parish does not have the money previously needed to
cover its 25% share of Hazard Mitigation costs no longer exists, and we can
expect to see the parish immediately move forward with their Hazard
Mitigation Plan (assuming that we ever developed one). 
 
(4)  The Federal Government has authorized funding through the Stafford Act
to improve our emergency communications network, again assuming that we have
determined exactly what our needs are.  This should be fairly easy knowing
what communication obstacles the parish experienced during and after
Hurricane Katrina. 
 
If I correctly understand the above points of the Gulf Coast Recovery Plan,
we should quickly see information on the parish web-site advising residents
of what actions we can expect to see our elected officials take, along with
a time table of when each will occur.  This information will be invaluable
to all parish residents, and should provide a bit of encouragement for those
of us wanting to return. 
 
It appears that the ball is now in our hands; how we handle things may very
well determine the future of St. Bernard Parish.