[StBernard] Condemned

[Westley Annis]

Mr. Jochum:
 
I respect your opinion as I would expect you to respect mine.  I did not
wait for the politicians to tell me what to do.  Instead, I endured the
frustration of trying to find out what I could do, and believe me, if it
were not for this site and the information provided by Westley and Craig,
every decision I made would have been based on what little information I
could obtain.  
 
I have spent virtually every free minute of my time working to clean and
rebuild my home, while at the same time, attempting to find work.  Believe
me, it has taken its toll, both mentally and physically.  When I look across
the street or over the fence and I see homes that are just sitting there
because the owners have informed me that they have no interest in spending
time or money to clean-up a property that they no longer care about, I can't
help but pray for a deadline to enforce a clean-up of their property.  Once
properties are identified and owners face fines, I fully expect that these
individuals will take some form of action, while those without the means
(the elderly, the handicapped, single mothers, etc.) should be able to look
to the parish government for assistance in cleaning their properties. 
 
Unless I missed something along the way, which is quite possible given that
I had to commute from Chattanooga every other week for five months, I never
once saw where anyone said to "get on the list and everything will be
honkey-dorey".  If this was, in fact, communicated, then the person
responsible should be held accountable. 
 
In any case, there is an element of personal responsibility that we must all
accept.   I firmly believe that the deadline is more than generous, but at
the same time, I also believe that exceptions must be made based upon
individual circumstances, in a fair, impartial manner. I don't agree that we
should act in the same manner as New Orleans.  We have different situations,
and tighter controls.  There is NO reason that we cannot work with our
elected officials to make decisions that work best for the majority of
people. 
 
There is no right or wrong here.  We are all simply trying to make the most
of a horrendous situation.  As a community, we need to work together to
rebuild St. Bernard.
_______________
John Richardson