[StBernard] Let's give citizens a voice in rebuilding

[Westley Annis]

COLUMN: Let's give citizens a voice in rebuilding 

Governor Kathleen Babineaux Blanco

We have an unprecedented opportunity in coastal Louisiana to rebuild not
just the neighborhoods of our past, but to construct the communities of our
future. It is not often that a state has the ability to start from scratch
and completely overhaul an entire segment of its infrastructure system. The
blank slate Mother Nature gave us did not come at our choosing, but it did
force an unprecedented opportunity upon us. 

For me, spring has always been a time of possibility - a time of new growth.
So it is fitting that we are in the spring of our renewal. We are beginning
to see real signs of the progress that is taking root in communities far and
wide. To put it in perspective, we have already hauled away more than 25
times the debris that was at the World Trade Center site. 

This progress, though welcome, is still not fast enough to satisfy our
desire for normalcy. I have to constantly remind myself that Rome was not
built in a day - or a week - or even a year. We are on our way, but
rebuilding better than before takes time. 


Long awaited answers and promises of funding for housing and key
infrastructure programs will soon begin to filter in from the federal
government. We finally have the advisory floodmaps for the affected
parishes. Soon funding will be available, and the signs of progress will be
all the more evident to the naked eye. 

We must be smart in the way we rebuild. Being smart means insisting that our
communities benefit from the expertise of community planners. Our citizens
must have a voice in the planning process. 

This week, I am pleased that the Rockefeller Foundation announced a grant of
$3.5 million to support key planning initiatives for New Orleans. Earlier
this month, I traveled to New York to meet with foundation leaders and
reiterate the importance of the community planning process. News that this
funding will now be available holds great promise for our communities. 

In the coming weeks, the Rockefeller grant will allow us to bring parties
together to discuss their future in some of the most devastated
neighborhoods of New Orleans. The community planning process will give
citizens access to the kind of information they need to make smart decisions
about rebuilding safely. 

Coming together in a fair and comprehensive neighborhood planning process is
one way of assuring that community voices are responsible for the long
lasting decisions that will impact their lives. Now, this will not be an
easy process. Planning meetings, in the form of "charettes," have been
ongoing in many of the affected parishes. Thoughtful and sometimes emotional
discussions have taken place. They are discussions that present creative
options for homeowners and community leaders. They are designed to increase
the opportunities for good schools, neighborhood health care, and increased
economic development. And they are discussions that will make us be as
expansive as possible in our thinking as we look build our future. 

I want to thank the Rockefeller Foundation and all of the private entities
who have stepped up to the plate to be our partner in this recovery. Our
entire state will benefit from the lasting decisions we are making today. 

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The Louisiana Disaster Recovery Foundation Louisiana's Fund for Louisiana's
People www.louisianahelp.org