[StBernard] New York Times in Favor of Baker Plan

[Westley Annis]

Hard Decisions for New Orleans 
<"http://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/14/opinion/14sat1.html?pagewanted=print">

It would be nice to believe that New Orleans could be made whole, exactly as
it was before Hurricane Katrina devastated it. But that kind of wishful
thinking, apparently prevalent among some New Orleanians and encouraged by
some city leaders, will only stymie the reconstruction process. The nation
cannot rebuild everywhere in New Orleans, nor should it. 

The city's rebuilding commission took an important step this week when it
recommended that only the areas that could muster sufficient population
should be rebuilt. Not surprisingly, that announcement drew the ire of
residents of some neighborhoods where generations have lived on the same
plots of land. While that is an ideal that should be protected wherever
possible, it cannot define the rebuilding process.

The lowest-lying, hardest-hit areas, like parts of New Orleans East, the
Lower Ninth Ward and Lakeview, are also the most vulnerable to future
hurricanes and flooding. Some of the blocks farthest below sea level should
be turned into parks to allow better drainage, as recommended by the Urban
Land Institute, a nonprofit research group - even though that will be
difficult to say to the residents of those areas.

Even with a commitment from Washington to build optimal protection against
the fiercest Category 5 storms - which hasn't happened yet - the work would
take years to complete. Residents should not be encouraged to gamble with
their insurance checks for political or emotional reasons.

It is not a coincidence that many of those hard-hit, low-lying areas have
had poor and predominantly African-American residents. That injustice needs
to be corrected, not recreated. Whether owners or renters, the people from
less-protected areas should be compensated so they have enough money to live
somewhere else in town. The answer is not to thrust people back into harm's
way, especially when it's unclear how much hurricane protection the city
will really have in the coming years.

Rosy predictions do not help the city's most vulnerable displaced residents.
The city government has to be straight with its constituents. For the
foreseeable future, New Orleans will be a smaller city with a smaller
population and a smaller tax base. If local leaders proffer unrealistic
solutions, they will only strengthen the hand of those opposed to a real
rebuilding commitment for New Orleans.

President Bush sounded out of touch as usual this week when he called the
still-ravaged city "a heck of a place to bring your family." Rather than
conjuring up memories of Michael Brown, the erstwhile head of the Federal
Emergency Management Agency, Mr. Bush could better spend his time increasing
the pressure on Congress to act on some version of Representative Richard
Baker's federal buyout legislation. Lawmakers in Washington should take up
the bill.