C3 NOLA Concern, Community, and Compassion

HANO ex-consultant admits taking bribes
Company paid him $45,000, officials say

Thursday, November 16, 2006
West Bank bureau

A former consultant to the Housing Authority of New Orleans pleaded guilty to bribery, federal officials announced Wednesday.

James Lozano, 54, of Atlanta, pleaded guilty to bribery in connection with the use of federal funds, according to a press release from U.S. Attorney Jim Letten, Special Agent in Charge James Bernazzani of the New Orleans FBI office and Special Agent in Charge Thomas Luke of the Department of Housing and Urban Development's inspector general's office.

Lozano was a HANO consultant for the construction of the Fischer Senior Housing Village in Algiers. Federal officials say Lozano was paid about $45,000 in bribes to influence HANO to pay invoices to a construction company that had been in a dispute with the housing agency.

Lozano faces up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Sentencing is scheduled for Feb. 13.

November 3, 2006

Dear LRA:

This is a challenge to the proposal to count the $200 million to Entergy
towards the requirement that over 50% of CDBG funds benefit low and
moderate income people. We have no objection to the LRA giving $200
million to Entergy, just do not try to count it towards the legal
requirement that at least 50% of the CDBG funds go to low and moderate
income communities. It is unjust and illegal to bail out a large
corporation and the business community with CDBG funds and then say you are
going to count it as helping the working poor and deduct that money from
the funds that are supposed to go to the low and moderate income community.

LRA submitted Amendment 6 on October 25. It proposes to use $200 million
(of the $1.1875 billion allocated for infrastructure under the initial
Action Plan) as grants to Entergy to repair electricity and natural gas
infrastructure in New Orleans . Total estimated costs are $842 million and
estimated insurance reimbursement is $250 million.

Agencies in charge of housing New Orleans' poor prefer not to

October 30, 2006
Sara Gran

Former residents of New Orleans public housing, along with housing activists
and attorneys, have filed a lawsuit against the Housing Authority of New
Orleans and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. They've
sued for former housing project residents' right to return home.

No one thinks the projects are ideal. But rents have nearly doubled in some
parts of New Orleans since the hurricane. It's harder to get housing now,
not easier. And yet it's now, just when they're needed the most, that HANO
and HUD seem to have lost interest in low-income housing entirely.

To hear HANO's side of the story, it's doing the plaintiffs a favor by
locking them out of their homes. In the Oct. 18 Times-Picayune, HANO
described its holdings as "deteriorated, obsolete" housing located in areas

Lower 9th Plan: Start 'From Scratch'
Residents of the New Orleans neighborhood will hear results of a
consultant's study today. But it's not the only proposal in town.
By Ann M. Simmons, Times Staff Writer
September 23, 2006

NEW ORLEANS — A consulting firm hired by the New Orleans City Council to
devise a plan for the city's most storm-damaged neighborhoods will recommend
rebuilding the Lower 9th Ward — considered by many "ground zero" of the
destruction wrought by Hurricane Katrina — "from scratch."

Miami-based urban planner and housing consultant Paul Lambert, along with
other urban planning groups, met with Lower 9th Ward residents and
incorporated their ideas into a proposal to change the area's street pattern
to create a new "town center." That idea is part of a report he is to
present to residents today.

In some 300 community meetings and workshops over the last five months,

FAIR HOUSING CENTER CALLS ON ST. BERNARD PARISH TO REPEAL DISCRIMINATORY ORDINANCE; ORDINANCE MAY BAN NON-WHITE RENTERS

http://www.gnofairhousing.org/

The Greater New Orleans Fair Housing Action Center (GNOFHAC) calls on St. Bernard Parish to repeal a discriminatory ordinance recently passed by the Parish Council. According to the St. Bernard Parish website, “Except with a special permit, owners who weren’t previously renting out a single-family residence in R-1 zones will now be prohibited from doing so unless the renter is a blood relative…” www.sbpg.net/sep2006.html.

The ordinance’s blood relative requirement will prevent St. Bernard homeowners with covered residences from renting to any person not of the owner’s own race and national origin. The most recent estimates from United States Census Data indicate that whites own nearly 93% of St. Bernard Parish owner-occupied housing. As a result, in most circumstances, only whites would be able to rent most single-family housing in the Parish.

Stop the Violence Hip Hop Caucus
NEW ORLEANS ARENA
OCTOBER 21st, 2006
9:00 am - 3:30 pm
Theme: Communities in Action
Greetings,

Please join the Hip Hop Caucus for a critical phone conference aimed at focusing our work and discussion on immediate actions to stop the violence in New Orleans and in Katrina diaspora communities, as well as addressing long-term challenges in the continuing struggle for accountability and justice.

DATE: Wednesday, September 20, 2006
TIME: 5:00 p.m. EST, 4:00 CST, 3:00 MST & 2:00 PST
Please call 218-936-6666 Code 10512#

Gandhi said "Poverty is the worst form of violence." After Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast region, the truly deep and persistent poverty that exists in our country was exposed to the nation and to the rest of the world. Initially, there was unified national outcry at the shocking scenes of abandonment and failed government response. Today, however, the same people who were abandoned on rooftops and in the Superdome continue to be neglected by all levels of government and excluded in the rebuilding process. As a result, crime and violence is surging in New Orleans and in cities like Houston where large populations of Katrina survivors are living. The reality is, people are killing and people are dying because they have lost hope.

Who's scratching who's back?

From Jay:
To get campaign contributions of james carter go to:

http://www.ethics.state.la.us/cgi-bin/la98/forms/CAN990851/

hit icon and then hit "normal" where says contributions

web site for campaign contributions is
www.ethics.state.la.us

then hit "view reports"

then hit "search for a spefic electronic flier'

then just plug in name of politician you are searching for and follow above
directions

Lesson for FOLC: If they don't put it on paper, its not going to happen. St. Thomas is the perfect example of developers making promises to both the residents and the surrounding community. But once St. Thomas came down, the truth became apparent. Former residents were ignored and the neighboring properties to St. Thomas were torn apart by the "redevelopment". For developers, the dollar is the bottom line.

From the FOLC list:
The City Council is scheduled to hear Tom Bauer's request for rezoning a
group of properties in the area bounded by Basin St., N.Claiborne, Lafitte St,.
and St. Louis beginning at 11:30 am tomorrow. The parcels under consideration include land currently owned by the City that represents the footprint of the historic Carondelet Canal and that is
very important in determining how the linear park will meet up with and terminate at Basin St.

Mr. Bauer has agreed to the recommendations of the City Planning staff that the land be rezoned from Light Industrial to a mix of C1/C1A, with the riverside portion between Marais and Basin designated C1A, and the lakeside portion between Marais and N Claiborne designated C1. After hearing the concerns of members of several neighborhood groups who have met with Mr. Bauer, and considering the potential impacts of the proposed rezoning on the future of the linear park, I recommend that FOLC ask the Council tomorrow to defer approval of the change to C1 on the lakeside portion, because under the C1 designation, there is no limit to the height of residential buildings (i.e.: condo towers) that could be developed on this portion of the site, other than a Floor Area ratio of 4. While Mr. Bauer has committed on paper to working to facilitate creation of a bike path on a portion of this site, none of the design sketches he has made avaiblable indicate where this might be or

Its easy to offer a different perspective when you have no perspective. When was the last time Vitter used Charity? When was the last time any of his friends used Charity?

Rebuild Charity smaller, smarter
Wednesday, September 20, 2006
David Vitter

One of the most important discussions in the wake of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita is how to rebuild our devastated health care system. Many have argued that we must rebuild Charity Hospital pretty much as it was, and quickly.

I want to offer a very different perspective: that we should rebuild Charity in downtown New Orleans quickly but smaller, and do it in the context of more fundamental health care reform that offers the poor what the rest of us enjoy: community-based primary, preventative care and choice.

First of all, it's important to say that no serious voice on the issue contends that Charity should not be reopened -- that we can do without its downtown emergency room, Level I trauma center and teaching hub. All of that must be rebuilt and reopened, and the sooner the better. The real question is how big that should be, and what should the rest of the system look like.

Easy Answer: Re-open all public housing in New Orleans.

http://www.hssno.com/

Welcome
On September 29 and 30, 2006, the Housing Solutions Summit will be held in New Orleans at the Ernest Morial Convention Center in Hall J. The Summit will feature national and local experts who will provide detailed guidance and information regarding the regional rebuilding process. This event will be an invaluable resource to homeowners, landlords, contractors, and investors.

The Summit will be "kicked off" by Governor Kathleen Blanco, Mayor Ray Nagin, Mr. Daniel Packer, President of Entergy New Orleans, and Honorable Oliver Thomas, President of the New Orleans City Council.

Other participants will include:

• From the Louisiana Recovery Authority - Road Home Program, Executive Director Andrew Kopplin, Walter Leger (Chairman of Housing) and Donna Fraiche (Chairperson of Long Term Community Planning).

• Representatives from the IRS, HUD, and the Louisiana Department of Economic Development will describe tax credits for both consumers and developers.