New Orleans Update: Feds Seem Unwilling To Rebuild St. Bernard Parish

by Cutting Edge Subscriber Living In Area

October 14, 2005

I thought you would be interested to know that I heard Councilman Craig Tafaro of St. Bernard Parish on the radio today. He reported that St. Bernard Parish is receiving almost no federal funds and that no one in the federal government is giving the parish any answers to any of their questions. As an example, he cited the parish's inquiries to the alphabet agencies regarding wetlands/parish boundary lines and received no useful information. Additionally, he cited the question of elevation standards for new construction. The dilemma is that people of the parish cannot return and start rebuilding if they don't know what the building standards are going to be. The parish does not want to risk inviting its residents to rebuild only to be told later that the new construction does not meet code requirements. Although these new homes could possibly be grandfathered in, the increased insurance costs for non-code homes would be cost prohibitive.

The item that I personally find most disturbing, however, is the Councilman's description of the course of dealing between the parish and the feds. In this afternoon's telecon with radio broadcaster Spud McConnell (wwl.com), Tafaro revealed that the feds are withholding recovery funding, and no one knows why. The only committment St. Bernard Parish can get from them is to "review the situation every three months."

After the interview concluded, Spud McConnell and his cohost, Angela, wondered aloud about this dismal news, and there was some veiled talk of conspiracy. Although McConnell qualified his statement by saying that he could not bring himself to believe that that is what's going on, he said that what Tafaro was saying was sounding like a conspiracy because there was no other explanation for the feds' unwillingness to rebuild the parish. If only they would inform themselves of Agenda 21, the picture would come into sharper focus.

Sincerely,

Cutting Edge Subscriber