President Obama's four-hour visit to New Orleans before heading to a fundraiser in San Francisco -- which one city leader compared to speed dating ("next!") -- continues to spark debate, including a flurry of media coverage of our reporting here at Facing South and the Institute on the administration's Katrina recovery policy. 
Last night on CNN's "Situation Room," Wolf Blitzer pointed to our report that asked 50 Gulf Coast leaders to grade Obama's post-Katrina recovery policy. That capped a string of stories which appeared at Time magazine's Swampland blog, CBS News, The Week and The Washington Times.
Most of the Gulf Coast leaders I've talked to welcome the debate: After going through the worst disaster in U.S. history, they believe they deserve nothing less than an honest appraisal of what's working -- and what's not working -- to rebuild and renew the region.
But it's also true that the discussion easily veers into political jabs and grandstanding. For example, when Gulf leaders see Sen. David Vitter (R-LA) -- who has relentlessly opposed proposals for expanding affordable housing and coastal land protection -- chastise Obama's brief visit, it's quickly dismissed as political hackery.
But the president's visit, of course, isn't the real issue. Far more important is the question, "what's next for Gulf recovery?"
Brentin Mock at The Root lays out a concrete, 6-point agenda which aligns closely with the demands of many faith and community leaders in the Gulf Coast, including:
* Resolving the bitter dispute over New Orleans' historic Charity Hospital, a key step to ensuring access to health care;As a group of over 50 faith leaders spelled out in a letter to President Obama upon his arrival in New Orleans:
* Ensuring that federal funds earmarked for affordable housing aren't diverted for other purposes (as Gov. Haley Barbour did in Mississippi);
* A bold new approach to levee protection and stopping coastal land loss;
* A Gulf Coast Civic Works Act to put thousands of people to work in green jobs to rebuild their communities.
We are hopeful that after hearing from local leaders and hurricane survivors during your trip, you can return to Washington with a renewed understanding of the significant gaps that remain towards fulfilling the federal government's promises of rebuilding stronger, safer and more equitable Gulf Coast communities. Four years after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita struck and the levees were breached, the slow pace of recovery, persistent poverty, climate change and coastal land loss have created a moral crisis across the region that demands a powerful response.---
Photo: President Obama campaigning at Tulane University in New Orleans in February 2008. Photo: Tulane University/Creative Commons
fyi -
Friday, October 23, 2009
Dear President Obama...Please let me tell you about my Adventures in Louisiana!
Current mood: hopeful
Category: Life
Phoenix, Arizona
22 October 2009
President Barack Obama
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20500
Dear President Obama,
I wrote you on 29 May 2009 about my issues with receiving my retroactive Social Security Administration payments and I finally received them in early July so thank you all for your help.
I post quite a bit on The Times-Picayune as burnsville1 telling my stories about working for the State of Louisiana government after Hurricane Katrina. I'm wondering this morning why The Times-Picayune is not allowing me to post links to the louisiana.gov site, though, so now I would like to tell you about my adventures working and surviving in Louisiana.
I have requested the advocacy of Louisiana politicians who came through for me, so I have a much more favourable attitude towards them than I do the actual State government employees of Louisiana. After all, politicians have to fight like hell for their jobs whereas civil servants do not – I'm sure you know what I'm talking about.
Louisiana is so entrenched, though, and I should know. I am now 54 years old and I was born there and my father was born there – the family goes back to when sailor Jacques LeBorne and his wife Genevieve Bettemont stepped ashore in New Orleans from France in 1719 – we've been around awhile.
In any case, I would like to know what you all think about how one particular State agency spends the $7 million a year that they've been getting from FEMA to "educate" people:
Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals
Agency: Florida Parishes Human Services Authority 09-301
FY 2007-2008: FPHSA met 6 out of a stated 13 goals.
Management does not deem necessary to revise their Strategic Plan. LACK OF SUCCESS IN MEETING THE AGENCY'S PERFORMANCE STANDARDS for the "Prevention" program is being addressed by "enhancements" (spending more money) to the program in FY 2009.
One FPHSA contractor gave an "anti-drug class" to some high school students who reportedly "aren't on track to receive a high school diploma." The kids "purposely skewed the results" of their test so FPHSA's answer is just not to give the class to the students anymore because the students are "at risk" anyway. So if FPHSA takes the people their programs are not working for off their list – who knows how to "skew the results?" Copies of a letter and commentary I sent to the DHH Undersecretary are enclosed.
As a State employee, I was told in February 2006 by a FPHSA Human Resources staff member that a young, professional-looking AFRICAN-AMERICAN WOMAN WAS NOT GOING TO GET THE JOB EVEN WHILE SHE WAS WAITING TO BE INTERVIEWED BY THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR! The HR staff position was filled with a Caucasian woman who had a high school education, but no college -- just like the other HR staff positions.
I am a Catholic, but I always thought it was curious that the monthly management meetings of this DHH agency included Prayer (see enclosed) – I thought there was supposed to be a separation of Church and State. Besides that, I don't believe FPHSA is too Christian with the way they treat people -- when their very existence depends on the so-called "help" that they're GETTING PAID TO GIVE disabled people -- yeah, just as long as you don't work for them!
Yes, this same EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR TERMINATED MY JOB WITHOUT WARNING on 28 April 2006 while I was out sick and under a doctor's care. The Executive Director also threatened me that I wasn't going to get unemployment insurance, and coincidentally enough, even though I APPLIED IN EARLY MAY 2006, IT TOOK THE LOUISIANA DEPARTMENT OF LABOR UNTIL LATE NOVEMBER 2006 TO SEND ME MY FIRST UNEMPLOYMENT CHECK OF $143 A WEEK.
I've filed two EEOC-ADA complaints against the State of Louisiana because I AM A DISABLED PERSON AND THE STATE KNEW IT – I signed a self-identification form that is in my personnel file!
THE NEW ORLEANS FIELD OFFICE SENT OTHER PEOPLE'S CONFIDENTIAL DOCUMENTS TO ME BY MISTAKE EVEN AFTER I WROTE THE DIRECTOR AND ASKED HIM WHAT I SHOULD DO WITH THEM. I am enclosing copies of the letters that I wrote to the other folks on 7 October 2009, copies of the EEOC letters that I sent to Stuart J. Ishimaru, EEOC Acting Director and copies of my EEOC Charges #461-2009-00885 and #461-2006-02431.
The EEOC NEW ORLEANS FIELD OFFICE – which I thought was a Federal agency – is ALSO letting THE STATE OF LOUISIANA DO EEOC'S INVESTIGATIONS FOR THEM! I'm very curious to find out if every State does its own EEOC investigations or is it just Louisiana?
Perhaps the real issue here is that the EEOC New Orleans Field Office has virtually NO POWER OVER THE STATE GOVERNMENT. If I'm wrong, I'd like to see how many workers and ex-workers of the State have successfully filed an EEOC Charge against the almighty Republic of Louisiana. I am enclosing a copy of my initial job application along with the request for information about my "ethnic origin," "race," "gender" and "date of birth" – all under the guise of complying with "federal EEO Law requirements." Since when does the EEOC require employers to provide that type of information from their job applicants? That information is supposed to be collected from EMPLOYEES, NOT JOB APPLICANTS!
Besides that, I thought some of the things they were doing LESS THAN A YEAR AFTER HURRICANE KATRINA were pretty stupid – spending time and money auditing already-unemployed workers and their own state workers who received Disaster food stamps. At that point, the trash hadn't even been picked up yet!
At another DHH agency, I knew one worker who never received all the FEMA-paid overtime she was supposed to get – HR was no help, neither was FEMA. A protest by medical workers later (for very good reasons) was quickly squelched as there is NO LABOUR BOARD FOR THE STATE WORKERS. The Executive Administrator of that agency was walked off the job not too long after that – and shifted over to another good state job. The Times-Picayune and The Advocate each ran one story (enclosed) and that was that. Why does it seem to me like negative news about goings-on in the State are being heavily censored? Perhaps because it seems like it's going on everywhere. I know a protest like that would've made front-page news in Denver, Colorado – not in New Orleans, Louisiana, though.
I have extensively documented all my experiences with the Federal agencies and the Louisiana State government. If you all can look into any of these issues, I sure would appreciate it. Thank you.
Sincerely,
Catherine A. Burns
Phoenix, Arizona 85064
encl
cc:
William T. Dawson, Attorney at Law, Denver, CO
Keith Hill, Director, EEOC New Orleans Field Office, New Orleans, LA
Stuart J. Ishimaru, Acting Chairman, EEOC, Washington, DC
Governor Bobby Jindal, State of Louisiana, Baton Rouge, LA
Senator David Vitter, Northeast Louisiana Office, Monroe, LA
11:41 PM
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October 26, 2009 8:19 AM | Reply