[StBernard] From nola.com Q &A on the new advisories

[Westley Annis]

Dianne,

I don't think no one is concerned about St. Bernard, we just don't get the
same coverage as New Orleans or Jefferson and it is because of population.
It has always been that way and that may never change since it is a business
decision based on where businesses want to advertise.  Personally, I don't
mind since one of the good things about St. Bernard was it's small size in
comparison to the city and Jefferson.

With that said, some things do just take time, especially when you need to
rely on other people.  Everyone was waiting on FEMA to release to flood
advisories while FEMA was waiting on the Corps of Engineers to give them
information on the levees.

The Citizen's Recovery Committee has been working for several months to
formulate a plan for St. Bernard to rebuild.  They didn't just get a bunch
of guys in a cigar-smoked room to decide how to divvy up the parish, which I
could easily have seen happened after Betsy.  Instead they had public
meetings and invited everyone to give their say.  It wasn't one meeting, it
was several meetings.

Although it wasn't all the work of the CRC, we have seen two broad ideas put
out by the CRC and through the Louisiana Recovery Authority with the Duany
Plan.  Separate from that, the CRC also worked with Tulane School of
Architecture and Waggoner and Ball Architects to also draft a plan for St.
Bernard.

I was introduced to the Waggoner plan on Tuesday and I have to say it all
makes perfect sense to me and will make St. Bernard Parish outshine any
other parish in the state.  However, it will take some sacrifice from local
residents and businesses.

I realize a lot of people have a strong emotional tie to their homes,
especially if they have been there for a long time, but it is also time to
realize that it was only a building.  Home can actually be wherever you make
it.

To move St. Bernard forward, some houses and businesses will need to be
changed into green space.  Some may need to be changed into a different
usage.  As long as people are willing to bend for the greater good things
can move forward.

I just got a digital copy of some of the drawings I was shown on Tuesday and
I'll be working over the next couple of days to get them on the CRC's web
site.

Only thing I can say for now, if your house was in Old Arabi, start
repairing/rebuilding.  Old Arabi is going to be awesome in the next couple
of years if this plan is allowed to go forward.

Also, once you see the plan and it is adopted, it will be important to hold
the council and administration to it, regardless of who is in office.
Variances from building code must become the exception rather than the norm.

Westley

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

Why does it surprise you that we are still in the dark; no-one is concerned
about St. Bernard, they wish we would just go away.  If our parish was
larger like Jefferson or New Orleans they maybe concerned, but they think we
are a little fishing village.  Many people have not even heard of us, so how
could they be aware of the history in our wonderful parish.
 
The reason many of the residents are purchasing homes in other areas (myself
included) is because we are in limbo, no closure, no real insight as to
where the parish is going, I don't mean the council, I mean the whole entire
government, no one can actually tell what is going to happen.
 
Our areas maybe green space, waterway, golf courses or whatever else.  This
is OK if we only knew for sure where we stand.   It appears that everyone on
the North side of Judge Perez does not know what to do, I live in Buccaneer
North, my home is gutted and so is the one we own across the street from
ours, am I going to put any money into fixing anything at this time NO
WAY!!, if we put money into it then they say it is a definite buy out we
will never get back that money, because they will only pay a certain price.
 
THINK ABOUT IT, WE ARE ALL STILL VERY UNKNOWING AS TO WHAT TO DO.
 
Dianne