[StBernard] Governor addresses New Orleans City Council

[Westley Annis]

Governor's address to New Orleans City Council

Governor Kathleen Babineaux Blanco
New Orleans City Council
January 5, 2006

Mr. President, council members, happy New Year to each of you. 

I am pleased to be here today to give you an update on the progress of
Louisiana's recovery and outline what the state is doing to help New
Orleans. I will also pinpoint areas of concern and offer specific
recommendations.

While we have identified problems, we must focus our attention on specific
plans for recovery to bring our people back.

That's my responsibility and yours.

On the state level, we've given you more tools to rebuild a strong, sound
community.

In the last two months, the state has created a stricter building code and
imposed tighter ethics laws. Also important to you, we have begun the
process of improving elementary and secondary education in Orleans Parish. 

I am delighted that 17 public schools with the capacity to teach 12 thousand
students are now opening. I invite the entire community to be a part of this
educational community experience. Success will not happen without each of
you.

Our Department of Economic Development has implemented an aggressive
recovery program for small businesses that we hope to enhance. With the help
of an eight billion dollar federal stimulus program, we will work tirelessly
to keep Louisiana open for business.

We, like you, reduced the size of state government by cutting the budget to
match the reality of a hurricane damaged economy. 

We also created two important vehicles which will drive vital parts of the
recovery. The first is the Louisiana Recovery Authority and the second is
the Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority.

With input from you and others across the area, the Louisiana Recovery
Authority is charged with making my vision for this recovery a reality. A
distinguished educator from this great city -- Dr. Norman Francis - is the
LRA's chairman.

The Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority is creating the state's
first uniform plan for hurricane and flood protection. It also has the power
to enforce that plan and the plan is largely focused on protecting this
great city. 

Part of this city's economic core has been the health care industry. And
that must continue. I am here to pledge that LSU's medical schools will
return. We will rebuild the city's medical system with 21st century
partnerships that will make New Orleans a major medical center once again.

We're restoring the confidence of residents and businesses in the safety of
New Orleans. Congress and President Bush provided $2.9 billion dollars to
repair and redesign the levees and canals that protect this city. 

The president made that promise the day after I reminded the House Katrina
committee -- over and over -- that the failure of the federal levee system
caused the damage that knocked New Orleans to it knees. The Congress backed
that promise with real money just days later.

The money is coming. The plans are progressing. We will armor the levees. We
will build pumping stations higher and with more capacity. And we will
install floodgates to hold back storm surges. 

That $2.9 billion dollars is a start. An important start. 

The future demands that this be done right, that's why I Ieave Monday for
the Netherlands to see firsthand how that nation has built and maintained
the world's best flood protection system.

But, without continued federal investment, families and business can't and
won't invest in their return to New Orleans.

First, we must take another important step.

Hundreds of thousands want to come back to their homes. They want to return
to rebuild. They want to come back to their jobs.

The hurricanes left more than 200,000 homes unlivable. Many are destroyed.
Others, heavily damaged. Regardless, there are too few places for our
scattered families to live.

They need homes. They need them now. 

Employers need workers and those workers need homes.

These people are vital to rebuilding and restoring this community. Teachers,
doctors, nurses, police and firefighters, people working in the skilled
trades all have jobs waiting for them ... they just need places to live.

FEMA finally has trailers ready to set up. I know a dispute is keeping most
of these temporary homes out of the city and that's keeping this recovery
from moving forward.

I come here today with respect for each of you and respect for this council.
But my respect for each of you cannot obscure my duty to do everything in my
power to help you resolve this dispute for the good of this city and its
citizens.

This disagreement over housing cannot continue. It must end and it must end
now. Like you, I want to end the impasse and get these New Orleanians home
to keep this recovery going. 

Here's how: I'm inviting you - and Mayor Nagin -- to join me tomorrow or
Saturday in Baton Rouge to sit down and work this out. We'll do it without
violating the open meeting law and we'll do it non-stop until we reach a
solution ... a solution that results in the kind of housing that we need to
get this city going again. When you come, come prepared to discuss specific
sites and come prepared to make final decisions.

We MUST find a solution. We must put people back in New Orleans. Our
families must come home. Employers must have workers. 

If we can't solve this together, I am prepared to solve it myself. We are
doing an analysis of all state properties in the city to determine
suitability of receiving trailer communities. We will do our share and have
already begun receiving trailers for SUNO, but our effort is not enough. I
need your help. 

I know there is concern about the safety of temporary trailer communities.
To alleviate those fears, I will make State Police troopers and National
Guard military police units available, if needed, to help the New Orleans
police provide law enforcement services. The state is ready to help.

Whatever it takes to keep New Orleans safe, we will do it - that is vital to
this recovery continuing.

As we sit here today, we are making good progress, nothing is moving fast
enough to satisfy me. 

Now I want to address another critical issue - perhaps the most urgent
safety issue to restoring New Orleans - that is levees and how they will be
managed by the state.

This must be about people and safety - not about politics.

I will call the Legislature into special session in the coming months. I
will ask them to pass legislation consolidating levees boards. We must take
politics out of levee management and we must do it right - taking an
approach that includes people of all parishes in this region and treating
them equally. 

Just as we worked to shrink state government to make it more affordable, New
Orleans must do the same. I will include consolidating some portions of
Orleans parish government in the call for the upcoming special session. The
times require this reform. The budget requires it and our citizens demand
it. 

We have more work to do here in Louisiana and up in Washington.

Before Congress adjourned, they approved an aid package for the Gulf Coast
area hit by Katrina. We all know it's not enough ... but we will make the
best we can with what we have received so far and keep fighting for our fair
share of the recovery dollars.

I have already moved to secure Louisiana's share of this Community Block
Development Grant money. In fact, I spoke Tuesday with U.S. Housing
Secretary Alfonso Jackson to make sure he knows we will apply for every CDBG
dollar we are eligible for - all $6.2 billion of it.

We won't wait for the Washington bureaucracy to develop it's regulations
before we develop our plan to invest that money in our recovery. I have
directed the LRA to begin implementing my plan now, starting with a request
for $100 million in business bridge loans. 

I will propose that the CDBG money be spent on programs that maximize our
resources. We must creatively leverage this money to create jobs and help
the largest number of people who want to rebuild and invest in our
collective future. That will help bring our economy and people back.

In housing, we must find ways to provide homeowners with the gap funding
they need to repair and/or rebuild new homes while protecting the equity
investments they've made in their existing homes. We're proud of the
thousands of people out there doing all they can, investing their sweat and
equity in rebuilding their homes and communities. To help them succeed, we
will create high leverage programs to bridge the gap between their needs and
what their means allow them to do on their own. We must get as many people
as possible into decent, affordable, and permanent housing. 

I will also propose spending a portion of the CDBG money on the critical
infrastructure needs of our local governments impacted by Katrina and Rita. 

Finally, I will propose spending a portion of these dollars on economic
development programs to help people restore the jobs, opportunities and
resources that will support our recovery. This will include critical
assistance to small businesses.

And, I will soon head back to Washington - not just to tell another
investigating committee how hard Louisiana worked during and just after the
Katrina - but to remind America's leaders just how much Louisiana suffered,
not just in Katrina, but in Rita too.

That second hurricane was a monster ... a monster that devastated much of
our Gulf Coast and hit this city again.

The leaders in Washington seem to forget about Rita. I will remind them.

Right after I thank them for the help they've sent so far, I will remind
them of the scope of Katrina's damage. I'll tell them that they've made a
good start helping us recover and that Louisiana deserves more.

We are Americans. We will not be treated like second-class citizens.

In this next round of telling Louisiana's story up in Washington I will call
on you and your constituents for help. 

Together. With one voice. We can make this recovery work. 


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The Louisiana Disaster Recovery Foundation (LDRF), Louisiana's fund for
Louisiana's people, has been established by Governor Kathleen Babineaux
Blanco in order to support long-term family restoration and recovery and
help provide assistance to our citizens in need through a network of
Louisiana charities and non-profit agencies.
1-877-HELPLA1 (877-435-7521) www.louisianahelp.org