[StBernard] St. Bernard begins process to condemn more than 7, 800 proper...

[Westley Annis]

"Can they post the list on the website as well as in the Court House?  What
about the people that are out of town, how will they know if there property
is on the list?  Will the Parish Government just take the property or what?
--Dianne"

**Ah, Diane. Should we believe that being on the short end of the stick
bothers the parish government? It should be obvious that there are going to
be a lot of liens turned over to the parish because many who have been
forced (through not direct fault of their own) to abandon their domiciles in
necessity of simply making it somehow away from the parish and state. As a
great deal of once parish residents were living from paycheck to paycheck,
it strikes a discord in the financial stability of these humbled people to
know, because of such a series of "bad breaks", that others get to move on
without them, only to watch their properties siezed at their expense.
Although (I'm sure) the parish leaders are not "mean-spirited" per se, we'd
have to realize that those who did get to stay want also to move on and we
can't deny them that opportunity to do so. But, must we be forced-fed
"demands" and "edicts" which make us sick-to-our-smomach while waiting for
the axe to fall? 

Ah, po' yoric. I know him well. I just didn't realize how little we knew our
leaders who will demand our mortgage/liened properties because we simply
either did not make the right choices, were left penniless/shortchanged, are
between a rock and a hard-luck-place or are stuggling to make it back to our
communities from out of state at a cost of over a $Grand$ a pop each time we
"need to act". Some, I fear are prepared to end it all in desperation. It's
sad but true and hastening folks to act accordingly would only hasten the
act. Will that blood possibly be a stain the government cannot wash from its
apparel?

An old addage blurted that "luck" is "preparation meeting opportunity". We
neither can afford to be prepared to do all that is expected of us at this
point, nor are we afforded the opportunity to do anything to better our
situation until we get the help we so desperately need from the
state/federal governments. So why so we feel nauseated with a notion that
the parish is playing God with our future? Who is hurt more by these actions
than the underinsured, the poor or working class citizens of our parish who
has been financially ripped to smithereens by this tragic event? To some,
their families also were ravaged by Katrina so they were not afforded the
luxury of family support.

Sadness, and it grows by the day for so many of us. Good luck, Diane. I can
empathize with you.
--jer--