[StBernard] Duany meeting

[Westley Annis]

I totally have to disagree with your comment about the Duany meeting being a
joke.  
 
The whole meeting was about planning for the future - a revitalization of
the parish - what St. Bernard could be.  As we stand now, the parish sits in
ruins.  Thousands of people have moved out and aren't planning on coming
back, and it's not only because their home was destroyed by Katrina.  As Mr.
Duany stated, the parish has not grown in TEN years.  It pretty much as been
falling into disrepair, and if we don't try to fix our problems, this area
will turn into the lower ninth ward.  Katina has provided the opportunity
for many who had been thinking of moving on even before the hurricane due to
the stagnation of the parish to actually do so.
 
This is a chance to right our wrongs.  This parish has a building code that
hasn't been updated in 40 years!
 
< div>If you would have stayed long enough, you would have had the
opportunity to see (many sketches) how this area could potentially be
developed.  It's amazing.  One could pretty much guarantee that if a plan
such as this is developed, St. Bernard would boom not only in population but
also boom financially, and those who invest in homes would see property
values increase dramatically.  
 
We can point fingers and blame the government all we want until the day we
die with regard to the levees and MRGO, but we can't blame them for the
stagnation of the parish.  This planning session was the view from a third
party - an outsider, which was a good thing.  A chance to "expose" all of
our flaws as a parish without sugarcoating anything.  We have to be open to
change.  Nothing will ever be the same again - we can't go back to the way
things were.
 
As he said, there are billion s of dollars in grant money waiting to be
distributed to parishes with a solid long term rebuilding plan.  From what
I've witnessed since the hurricane, it seems this is the only solid plan
anyone has come up with.
 
Jennifer 
 
	-----------------------------------------------------
	
	Deborah,
	
	I must commend you for staying as long as you did. I stayed for 30
minutes.
	My opinion in a nut shell ...I think this is a joke. 
	
	Only on perhaps two or three occasions have we ever had water as
high as the
	curb in our streets in the 32 years we lived in St. Bernard Parish.
It is
	ludicrous for parish officials or anyone else, to begin to think
that
	residents with slab homes should comply to such a plan. Further
adding
	insult to injury inferring that perhaps if you do not comply you may
not be
	able to buy insurance coverage for your home.
	
	Of course this takes the focus off of what should be done in the
very first
	place, BUILD BETTER LEVEES,CLOSE THE MRGO,BUILD A BETTER PROTECTION
SYSTEM,< BR>and REPLANT THE WETLANDS that were destroyed by all of the
overbuilding to
	begin with.
	
	These people are definitely taking the focus off of the GOVERNMENT'S
	responsibility. BUILDING A SAFER LEVEE PROTECTION SYSTEM for their
own
	CITIZENS!
	
	The responsibility is now placed on the hard working citizens of St.
Bernard
	Parish, with costs that will be astronomical. Those citizens who had
no
	insurance or those underinsured will not be able to afford the cost
of
	raising their homes.
	
	Many citizens will have to move elsewhere because they will fear
going
	through this again.
	
	These proposals "PLANS" are taking our eyes off the real focus here.
The
	responsibility of the GOVERNMENT for not providing the protection to
our
	citizens that is deserved in the first place.
	
	Now they are turning the focus and responsibility on to the
	citizens....making the citizens responsible...at a very high
cost...of
	either paying for raising our hom es ...how many thousands of homes
need to
	be raised...and at what costs...to each citizen...making others rich
or
	richer...or not being able to buy insurance...with the risk of
continuing to
	live in an area in which the GOVERNMENT refuses to take
responsibility for
	doing their job...of building CAT 5 levee protection...CLOSING THE
	MRGO...ETC...ETC... 
	
	We try to teach our children at a very young age about
responsibility...and
	that they are responsible for their actions...well here we are with
the
	"Katrina" situation THE RESPONSIBILITY clearly lies with those
people in
	charge of protecting their citizens from harm...and we had a lesson
with
	Betsy...where was the lesson learned here? 
	
	How do we teach our children to be responsible when we have a
government who
	is now shifting their responsibility onto the citizens of St.
Bernard?
	
	As far as FEMA...FEMA is really a very bad joke... 
	
	CLM