[StBernard] House candidates focus on recovery

[Westley Annis]

House candidates focus on recovery
by The Times-Picayune 
Friday September 28, 2007, 10:38 PM
By Bob Warren 
St. Bernard bureau 

A former St. Bernard Parish School Board member is challenging longtime
state Rep. Nita Rusich Hutter for the 104th District House of
Representatives seat. 

Stacy Riley says he can bring a new perspective to the district. Hutter
touts a list of legislative accomplishments that she says merit re-election.


The election is Oct. 20. 


The 104th District includes most of Chalmette, all of Meraux and the western
part of Violet. Representatives receive $16,800 in annual salary, plus a
$6,000 annual expense allowance, as well as per diems and office expenses. 

Nita Hutter 

Hutter, 57, who is seeking a third term, was re-elected as chair of the
Legislative Women's Caucus. She said hurricane recovery would continue to be
her priority, with flood protection and affordable insurance at the top of
the list. Hutter outlined several proposals she pushed through the
Legislature that she said provided some relief to her district. 

She said she sponsored legislation to tighten controls of fly-by-night
contractors, create a rural hospital district to help St. Bernard Parish
qualify for government hospital financing and to prohibit insurance
companies from charging homeowners to insure contents on gutted homes. She
said she also won a $140,000 state appropriation for the parish's Economic
Development Commission and $5.6 million from the state to help the School
Board finance retiree expenses. 

Hutter said she will continue to push education initiatives, particularly
programs aimed at shaping the state and region's work force. She pointed to
Nunez Community College in Chalmette as a great community resource. 

"The courage is amazing," Hutter said of St. Bernard residents. . "It's such
a great community. It's a neighborhood, family community and that's what
made us so great." Hutter has lived in a trailer since Hurricane Katrina. 

Stacy Riley 

Riley, 43, of Violet, said he has ideas that he thinks can help the district
and region rebound. "I want to change the image of Louisiana," he said. 

Riley said he wants to focus on affordable housing, insurance, drainage and
working with the state transportation department to build another evacuation
route in the parish. 

He said he would try to secure grants, as well as private and public
programs, to help provide affordable housing. 

"Maybe we can bring in investors and developers," he said. 

Riley also said the state has to entice more insurance companies to do
business here, which would bring prices down. 

"We're not the only ones to have natural disasters," he said. "But we're the
ones paying the price." 

As far as a new highway, Riley said he doesn't know where it should be
located. "We'd have to do the planning on it," he said. 

Bob Warren can be reached at bwarren at timespicayune.com or (504) 826-3363.