We're on a Road to Nowhere ...

Just as I remember I have to update the blog, I find this on Slate.com:

Road to Nowhere

Another installment of Blake Bailey's post-K misadventures! This time dealing with the godawful "Road Home" program, which I have dissed elsewhere.

I feel great kinship with this guy, who lived in my old neighborhood, Gentilly. And who, the poor bastard, had only lived in his new house for about a month before the storm.

The DH and I have not even applied for the Road Home, figuring it was a pretty sure bet that, given our situation, we would get no money at all, and figuring it was hardly worth it to endure those endless bureaucratic hassles to get ... nothing. But a lot of other people have been hanging on in their FEMA trailers, hoping for that award money, and they are getting pretty desperate.

Last week Governor Blanco finally realized that most of South Louisiana personally blames her for the slow-motion trainwreck of the Road Home (she did insist on putting her name on it after all) and wisely bowed out of the upcoming gubernatorial race. No way on God's earth she could win. But I don't think falling on her sword will make all those trailer denizens feel any better.

100 Days

Here from the Times-Picayune is the official assessment of Mayor Nagin's "100 Days:"

Nagin says city making progress

To quote,

"While committees on topics ranging from health care to repopulation met during the past few months, neither Nagin nor any of his advisers hinted Tuesday at any major change in direction for the city. Much of the progress they touted sounded more like the return of a hobbled government to some level of functionality than the realization of a bold new vision.

As Nagin put it: 'The key question is, is New Orleans in a better position today than it was 100 days ago. And my conclusion is that we are.'"

But the things they cite as their "accomplishments" are things like the trash being picked up more frequently. Which is nice as far as it goes, but people in the devastated areas still don't have reliable electricity or phone service. People still don't have houses! And the displaced working poor are still displaced, in cities like Houston where they are rapidly wearing out their welcomes.

The whole thing has been a huge disappointment. The joke around town has been, Hey, Ray, a 100-day plan means you do stuff in the first 100 days, not take 100 days to come up with a plan. I thinks it's safe to say nothing has really been accomplished.

Not that I expected anything from him at this point, but a lot of people did.

It's a bad sign.

People are also extremely frustrated with the nightmarishly bureaucratic Road Home, to which you have to apply with an extremely long, complex and number-heavy application before you can get in to see anyone or even really talk to anyone one the phone. It turns out the "applications" people filled out online months ago were really just "registrations" and generated no useful effects except maybe to give the LRA some rough idea of the numbers of people who have been applying.

It's just all very discouraging, and I'm worried. About six months ago the scuttlebutt was about people moving back into the city: evacuees who swore they would never return coming home after all, and expatriates like Mark Folse moving home to take a stand and try to save their city.

But now, I'm starting to hear about people giving up and moving away. The rebuilding hassles, the spotty electricity, the outrageous spike in the cost of living, the rising crime rate -- some people have just had it. It's so sad. It doesn't have to be that way. Another New Orleans is possible.

There is a Recall Nagin movement afoot. I'm not sure that's the right move at this point, or in fact if it is even legally possible. But someone needs to hold his feet to the fire. 100 days of nothing still equals ... nothing.

The Road Home

Tonight I watched a show on LPB, Louisiana Public Broadcasting, about "The Road Home," the Louisiana Recovery Authority's home-rebuilding plan. Governor Blanco was on the panel, as well as Walter Leger, head of the LRA's Housing Task Force. (Here's the website to the show here.)

I'm glad I watched it because I learned that there should be assistance options even for people who think they don't qualify, because their insurance paid out fairly. Simply put, the LRA is covering people up to 150,000 dollars, minus whatever your insurance pays. So if, like me, you owned a modest house that was destroyed, even with a full insurance payout you might still earn an LRA grant to help you rebuild or relocate. There are also low-interest loans available. Once you register with the LRA, a financial counselor will call you to discuss your options. "There will be 123,000 different solutions," Walter Leger said, alluding to the 123,000 owner-occupied homes destroyed by Katrina and Rita.

So, even if you thought you wouldn't get anything, you should still register with the Louisiana Recovery Authority. You never know. The intent is to rebuild, after all.

You can register online. Here is the Road Home program's website: www.louisianarebuilds.info .