[StBernard] Road Home delays may drive owners away

[Westley Annis]

Dave Cohen/ WWL News Director 
10/3
Word that only a handful of homeowners have received federal block grant
dollars has the state scrambling to assure people the cash is coming.  
 
However, some experts now say the more time that passes, the worse it may
get for the Road Home effort.  UNO Economist, Dr. Janet Speyrer tells WWL
First News,   "The reality is it's taking a very long time, people are
getting very frustrated."
 
She says it could lead to homeowners throwing their arms up and finding
somewhere else to live.  "They can only feel frustrated so long before the
say 'I'm just going to leave!' "
 
Dr. Speyrer says it could really hurt the effort to rebuild the local
economy if productive homeowners take off.  "These are not necessarily the
poor people in the economy who never produced.  Some of these are the people
who you really want to have in your economy."
 
Louisiana Recovery Authority Member Walter Leger admits it's taking too
long. "I'm not suggesting people be patient, I'm inpatient," he says,
"Unfortunately we've all learned that the government works at a slow pace.
It's not necessarily for good reasons, but there are reasons."
 
Leger says the big issue is making sure the right amount of money goes to
the right people.  "We all want it to go faster, but we also want it to be
done fairly, equitably and honestly."