[StBernard] Feinberg met with St. Bernard officials Friday in closed door meeting - promises new criteria to be announced

[Westley Annis]

GCCF Administrator Ken Feinberg met with St. Bernard officials Friday in
closed door meeting broadcast live in Council Chambers 

Feinberg announces new methodology being released which will determine how
final and interim payments are made

 

St. Bernard Parish President Craig P. Taffaro, Jr., and St. Bernard Parish
Council members Wayne J. Landry, Fred Everhardt Jr., Ray Lauga Jr., Kenny
Henderson, Mike Ginart and George Cavignac took part in a closed door
meeting Friday with the Administrator of the Gulf Coast Claims Facility, Ken
Feinberg. St. Bernard Parish claimants were urged to make parish officials
aware of their claims process difficulties in writing prior to the meeting.
Businesses and fishermen experiencing difficulties with their claims for
damages from the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill turned in well over 100
complaints in writing to parish officials.

 

"The council and I have been asking Mr. Feinberg to return to St. Bernard,"
St. Bernard Parish President Craig Taffaro said to residents in a public
meeting in the Council Chambers just prior to his meeting with Feinberg
Friday morning. "He made a visit a couple of weeks ago and went to Jefferson
and Houma. We again approached his office and he said he was not going to do
a town hall format. The only rationale he gave is that the town hall format
was not creating solutions to problems he was hearing about."

 

Residents' and officials' concerns focused on concerns about the payout
amounts, the length of time to get a response on claim status, and whether
fishermen were getting priority in having their claims addressed.
Additionally, when claims are denied, claimants are usually given no
information as to why their claim was denied, leaving them with little
recourse.

 

Taffaro broadcast the meeting between local officials and Feinberg live into
the chambers so the public could hear the discussion. In addition to the
local elected officials, a small handfull of local fishermen and business
owners were included to represent those affected by the disaster. 

 

"You cannot do what I'm trying to do from Washington," said Feinberg in his
opening remarks. "You have to be down here with the people. But we can do
better." Feinberg said he has processed nearly 500,000 claims and has paid
claimants over $3 billion dollars in either emergency, interim or final
claim settlements. 

 

St. Bernard Parish claimants have been paid a total over $41 million, but
approximately half of the 3,982 claimants have been denied altogether.

 

"Next Tuesday (Feb. 1) I am going to publicly announce the methodology and
criteria we will use to process final and interim payments," Feinberg said.
After taking input on the criteria that will be released, Feinberg said the
GCCF will process requests for final payments. 

 

But he said people could still opt to take interim payments instead. "If you
don't like the progress in the gulf, don't take the final payment and take
an interim payment," Feinberg said. "Many businesses face an uncertain
future.. A commercial fisherman is well advised to stay with the interim
payment rather than take a final payment."

 

Feinberg said he insisted that local officials set a closed-meeting format
because he felt recent open town hall forums weren't productive.  "I wanted
to hear the substance of these concerns from people that were focused on
these questions," Feinberg said. "I will come back for another meeting, and
I want to hear a reaction to what I am proposing regarding the methodology
that will be issued next week."

 

Councilman Wayne Landry told Feinberg he wanted someone locally appointed to
assist commercial fishermen first. "The problem seems to be, how can we get
these people consistently paid so they can feed their children and pay their
light bills?"

 

Councilman Ray Lauga agreed. "If a fisherman derives 100% of their income
from fishing, they are the priority. I would like to see priority given to
the people impacted."

 

Councilman Mike Ginart told Feinberg a common complaint from residents is
the lack of a specific reason when their claims are denied. "I think if we
can get some kind of a confirmation from you that if you deny claims,
'Here's the reason,' at least they will know what they need to do," Ginart
said.

 

Councilman Fred Everhardt said he wanted a GCCF contact for the Council to
be able to explain why some are eligible while others are not. "Although I
know Feinberg's office needs to have due diligence, the process needs to be
expedited for these people," Everhardt said. "People's livelihoods are
counting on this."

 

Councilman George Cavignac echoed their concerns. "Mr. Feinberg gave a very
nice presentation, but I do hope he is finally able to translate promise
into performance for the sake of our people," Cavignac said.

 

Taffaro returned to Council Chambers after the meeting to address residents'
concerns. Taffaro said Feinberg said he understood officials' concerns about
the need to prioritize claims, the benefits of having one case manager to
follow a person's claim from beginning to end and the importance of giving
people a reason if their claim is denied. 

 

"The real issue is follow up to this," Taffaro said. "He's made all of these
meetings, but he hasn't come through with any of the promises. We want to
make sure he fixes the process. You heard him commit that he's coming back
in a few weeks to have a face-to-face with you. .There still are people's
livelihoods hanging in the balance until we figure out what the process is."


 

Taffaro said the parish will publish methodology on government website at
www.sbpg.net as soon as Feinberg releases it. Jennifer Belsom will be the
point of contact from his office regarding claims information. Belsom will
be responsible for posting information on the parish's website to keep
residents up to date on changes in claims procedures and any other
information released by Feinberg or the GCCF. She can be reached at
jbelsom at sbpg.net or 504-444-6249.