[StBernard] Today's charette meeting

[Westley Annis]

I attend the morning session of the charette in the tent and offer my
personal summary for daparish community.

The architect is a very energetic, talented guy, in my opinion. He has lots
of experience and knowledge in his field of rebuilding/replanning
communities. He's passionate about his work. We are fortunate to get his
services at no cost to us.That said, he is also very blunt. He tells you his
opinion and impressions about our parish very honestly and he listens
patiently, even when the audience gets off the topic or gets on their
personal soapboxes.  He also says that he needs facts. 
When someone said that the parish should just return to August 28th, he said
how the facts say we have lots to improve upon-like no growth in population
or rise in property values in the past few years when other areas were
booming.  He has done his homework on our parish. He also said we had too
much affordable, i.e. cheap,  housing. He mentioned that to thrive
economically you need upper,middle, and affordable housing to accommodate
all walks of life a town needs.

I made my remarks as vice-chair of the Planning Commission, and chair of its
sub-comittee on strategic land use. I said that St. Bernard has been losing
it's middle and upper middle class citizens. We were on the road to becoming
a parish of haves and have nots, and more renters/transients than homeowners
wanting to build a life in our community.  I said I hoped that next week his
team shows us a better road we can work towards to make the parish a place
where people want to live, work, play and raise a family.  I said that we
all want answers, but the course of action and decision making is not one
recipe that is right for everyone to follow. How much risk do you want to
take, how's your health, your attitude, your patience, your finances?  
While there are not a lot of answers, each month more parameters and
criteria are bubbling forth to help us make personalized decisions. ( Like
the release of the possible mitigation areas that the council made
announced.  That's a big factor just knowing what the council is thinking
about.  )

I ended by saying that the parish is not a good place to live right now. It
won't be a great place to live for maybe five years. But, each person has to
realize that it will take residents who are willing to take risks, roll up
their sleeves, invest their money, work their tails off, and volunteer to
restart our schools, churches, playgrounds, libraries, civic groups, clubs,
etc.  for us to have a great community. 
  It's a personal decision once you feel you have enough facts to make your
decision. It may be the most important decision in your life.

So folks, bottom line-
When the  homeowners ( and renters who are not just passing through because
they found cheap rent) rebuild and return, pay their taxes, spend money in
the parish, and volunteer their time, talent, and money for the good of the
community , we  will embark on the road to recovery. As that tee shirt says,
it's not a sprint, it's a marathon.

Deborah Keller