[StBernard] Sean Reilly was hero in La. housing aid

[Westley Annis]

Washington Watch for March 26

Sean Reilly was hero in La. housing aid

By GERARD SHIELDS
Advocate Washington bureau 
Published: Mar 26, 2006 

   
 
Walter Isaacson doesn't want a column written about him. Nope. The vice
chairman of the Louisiana Recovery Authority doesn't want you to know how he
bounced around Washington like a pinball trying to secure funding for
Louisiana's hurricane-damaged housing.

Isaacson said the true hero in the $4.2 billion housing money story is Sean
Reilly.

It was Reilly who flew to Amarillo, Texas, earlier this year to do
statistical battle with Donald Powell, federal coordinator for Gulf Coast
recovery. The authority's consulting company, McKinsey & Co., armed Reilly
with the numbers necessary to convince Powell to support the recovery
package.

Powell and President Bush had abandoned a bill by U.S. Rep. Richard Baker,
R-Baton Rouge, to use at least $20 billion in U.S. Treasury bonds to buy
damaged homes and repackage the parcels for redevelopment. Powell and Bush
wanted the housing plan to be a state entity and not a federal arm.

And so, for hours Reilly and Powell wrestled with the numbers in
negotiations that Powell simply described as "tense." Back in Baton Rouge,
LRA Executive Director Andy Kopplin was fueling the negotiations late into
the night by relaying data to Reilly.

"This was a tough, white-knuckle negotiation," Reilly said.

Each side had to give. Powell was able to eliminate businesses from the
recovery plan, leaving it strictly for housing. Reilly was able to include
housing in the flood plain, initially rebuked by the White House.

"We did have good data, so as we walked through policy choices, we could see
how much it cost," Reilly said.

The two men drew out the plan on a paper tablecloth. It was a far cry from
the sniping that had taken place weeks earlier when the White House rejected
the Baker plan.

"There was a lot of consternation," Reilly said of the earlier talks. "There
were conflicting headlines and a lot of discussion in the press but not
behind the scenes."

Reilly, the president and CEO of Lamar Advertising Inc. in Baton Rouge,
became involved in the process through a mutual friend of Kopplin's. Public
service wasn't new to Reilly, who served two terms in the state Legislature
beginning in 1988. He filled the seat held by his father, Kevin, for 16
years.

So when he got the call to join the authority, he jumped at it.

"I said 'I'd love to help,'" Reilly said.

The third of four children, Reilly attended Episcopal High School before
earning a degree in government from Harvard University. He also studied two
years of law there before returning to take over his dad's business, the
third-largest billboard company in the nation.

Though President Bush marked the $4.2 billion in Community Development Block
Grant money for Louisiana, the House recently stripped the earmark, leaving
it open for other states.

Reilly, however, isn't worried about the money since the Bush administration
will be issuing it.

Attempts to grab some of the money or totally eliminate it were beaten back
in the House.

"You can't let your guard down," Reilly said. "But I feel very good about
the way the actions took place on the House floor and I think it will play
well in the Senate."

Reilly, a father of three, said health care will be the next issue up,
namely how hospitals can handle the uninsured and underinsured.

"Our private hospitals are hemorrhaging money," Reilly said. "We should take
the opportunity to look at that situation and probably rethink it."

Funding for damaged electric utilities is also something the authority was
unable to include in the block grant package, Reilly said. Money for
governments to pay services such as fire and police is also a necessity, he
said.

Powell believes the fruitful negotiations with Reilly on housing will help
as the authority and White House attempt to tackle other issues.

"He brings a unique perspective to the table, given his background as both a
local businessman as well as a former legislator," Powell said of Reilly. "I
also greatly admire his 'get her done' spirit - which is probably why we hit
if off when we met each other last year."