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A day after watching former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani talk about how his city has changed in the five years since 9/11, it was fascinating for me to watch another mayor talk about the changes his city has undergone since its disaster.
Today, New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin held a long-anticipated news conference to update citizens on the progress of his "100-day plan." Mr. Nagin made a major pledge upon his re-election to improve the city's quality of life within his first 100 days. But over the past few months, columnists, radio talk show hosts and citizens have taken the mayor to task for not defining his vision for the city's recovery.
The mayor and his administration answered back with a slick color handout, a slide show chock full of statistics and a panel of civic leaders who detailed all that's been accomplished. The information is too dense to report here, but in brief, the mayor reports plenty of progress: Tons of debris have been removed, the city's fractured water system has been rebuilt, abandoned homes have been cited for future demolition, neighborhoods are being re-planned, some schools have reopened and yes, even crime is being tackled.
Photo caption: New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin discusses his accomplishments and plans for the city after 100 days of his second term. Photo by Lee Celano, REUTERS.
But still, Nagin acknowledges "the city isn't where it should be." He says that will take years. It seems no one disagrees with him on either point. But it will be interesting to see how his critics and even his supporters will judge him over the next 265 days and the three following years of his term. Though no one used the word in the news conference today, outside City Hall, it seems that every question comes back to how he leads the city versus how he manages it.
Giuliani faced similar questions prior to 9/11. As a former New Yorker, I know Giuliani was a polarizing figure. Like Nagin, he was known to speak his mind and to occasionally make a remark that divided people. Giuliani, like Nagin, proposed some controversial policies. And Giuliani, also like Nagin, sometimes had a less-than-cordial relationship with the news media.
But some have said that 9/11 indelibly stamped the positive attributes of Rudy into the minds of the public. He was decisive, calm under pressure, and communicated a clear vision of what he intended to do.
Katrina and its aftermath have yet to do the same for Mayor Nagin. He is indeed, charismatic, honest and determined. But today, as on many other days, he was asked by the media whether he can communicate a vision to New Orleanians of what their city will look like. He declined. To be fair, Nagin explained that he wants citizens to plan their neighborhoods first and the market economy to drive the recovery.
That may be the right answer. Only time will tell. But unfortunately, it's not the answer many citizens say they want to hear right now. In every neighborhood we visit, residents pepper us with questions: "Do we know when their debris will be picked up? Do we know anyone at City Hall who can help them with a rat problem? Have we heard whether there are plans to rebuild the rental apartments down the block?"
We can't answer all their questions. And Nagin cannot. Just as Mr. Giuliani couldn't answer questions after 9/11 about destroyed apartments near the World Trade Center, about whether small businesses would return to downtown Manhattan and even when redevelopment would begin at ground zero.
100 days of progress may be a tough thing for Nagin to sell to his citizens. Perhaps, it will take five years after Katrina for history to judge his decisions fairly. However, it didn't take Giuliani that long to inspire a feeling of confidence in his leadership after 9/11. He accomplished that in the few months he had left in his second term. Nagin still has time to do the same: 1,360 days by my count (4 years minus 100 days).
Read more from NBC's Gulf Coast recovery files, Steve Majors
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THE DAY AFTER
One of the biggest disgraces is FEMA refusing to pay the flood insurance to the homeowners who have made the premium payments as a requirement of having a mortgage. FEMA is the only game in town for flood insurance. I'm sure the list of injustices go on and on.
Barbara, Tullahoma, TN (Sent Sep 14, 2006 8:59:34 PM)
Missy--thanks for detailing Mayor Nagin's 100-day plan as described in the Times-Picayune. I was glad to read what has been accomplished and guess he is doing the best with what he has to work with. (I've read in BayouBuzz.com that New Orleans is trying to make due on limited revenues.) And I hope he's able to soon get done what's still to come, which sounds like a lot.
Isn't it sad how many people far from the storm zone see how slowly rebuilding is coming along and seem to think that people in Louisiana and Mississippi are just sitting around waiting for the government when they really are struggling valiantly to rebuild, with the help of private individuals? But private individuals and groups can only do so much with their relatively limited resources--like it or not, government has to help out for the job to be complete. What do we pay taxes for?.
Not to mention the rebuilding aid that's tied up in red tape. I previously mentioned that--but I'll add that the fact that such aid isn't in a timely manner reaching people eligible for it, who've paid federal taxes into the pot, sometimes for years and years, is truly a scandal and the news media (is anybody listening, NBC Nightly?) really ought to look into it.
Olivia Elizabeth Burdon, Peoria, Ill. (Sent Sep 14, 2006 5:01:46 PM)
For the record..the people of the Gulf Coast and New Orleans are working hard to rebuild our states and city. Much of what has been done has been done through help of individuals coming here, NOT the government. Not one check has been issued in either Mississippi or Louisiana to help rebuild. The dates continue to be pushed back as to when this will take place.
Steve..you talked about Nagin's 100 day plan. I wanted to let those on the blog know exactly what he laid out.
Taken from the Times Picayune..9-13-06
Accomplishments:
-Improved trash pickup (wasn't great before Katrina)
-Restoration of water pressure
-Improved law enforcement presence via National Guard and State Police.
-Agreement from FEMA to cover additional cost, (such as tree removal)
-Repairs to potholes, streetlights, storm drains
-Removal of abandoned cars, concurrent with state contract (this was a haven for crime in itself)
-Release of 2500 blighted and abandoned properties for redevelopment
-Better coordination among criminal justice agencies.
-Preservation and recovery of evidence stored by the clerk of courts (the judicial system is very damaged)
-Improved city bond rating.
Still to come:
-A plan to keep Entergy solvent and utility rates reasonable. (there are still many area without electricity, water and everyday essentials in NO..many still have frequent blackouts)
-A plan to attract major retailers.
-Naming of a recovery director and a redevelopment authority director
-Finalizing neighborhood plans
-Awarding automated trash pickup contract
The words in parathesis are mine not The Times. Just an opinion..I believe Nagin is doing the best with what he has to work with. I also believe that the recovery directors are way to late in being named...This should have been done within months of the storm. Just an opinion.
Missy, Slidell, LA (Sent Sep 14, 2006 12:17:42 AM)
What New Orleans, the rest of Louisiana's storm-ravaged parishes, the Mississippi Gulf coast, and the rest of the storm zone need is a Marshall Plan.
Obviously the communities there can't rebuild and repair their infrastructure on their own--the storms did too much damage for them to do so.
And (in response to anonymous post) New Orleans may not have been KATRINA'S Ground Zero (which I know was the Mississippi Gulf Coast) but her levees did fail in a big way (which made her "Ground Zero" of a massive manmade disaster) flooding 80% of the city.
The Bush Administration's priorities are screwed up. It seems to think $110 billion (part of which went towards such temporary things as FEMA trailers, the rest of which is tied up in red tape (funds for Louisiana's "Road Home" program and a similar program in Mississippi) should be enough.
No, it isn't. And while the storm zone needs more help, or at least for red tape to be cut so money in the pipeline is released, Bush is throwing $230 million at Lebanon like so many Mardi Gras beads--money that would better be used at home in Louisiana and Mississippi.
Olivia Elizabeth Burdon, Peoria, Ill. (Sent Sep 13, 2006 5:23:11 PM)
During this past year, the federal government and private insurance companies have done very little to help with rebuilding of the Gulf Coast. On the other hand, I have seen volunteers accomplish much. I have seen well-meaning people shot at and robbed of heavy equipment and supplies needed for this effort. I have no doubt that Haliburton has made zillions of dollars on this tragedy. Our church filled two 18-wheelers with donated supplies to take to the coast. They were warned not to travel at night, because trucks were being hijacked.
Houston, TX opened its arms and hearts to help the victims of this tragedy, and a year later the city is awash in crime. The evacuees represents 6% of the population and 59% of the increase in crime. When Nagin was asked how he felt about those statistics, he answered: Houston must be stricter than New Orleans is.
At the end of the day, New Orleans is going to have to save itself, unless they want to sit and wait forever for help that is not going to arrive.
The other Gulf cities have moved on and started the cleanup/fixup. Remember New Orleans was not ground zero.
(Sent Sep 13, 2006 3:47:20 PM)
Steve, Good to hear from you again. I have missed your post. I listened the same way everyone else did down here to Nagin's words today with slighty a skeptical view point. I don't think people will define their own neighboorhood, if that were the case things would be going in that direction already. And frankly, I simply expected more. Maybe those of us who live here are expecting too much. It just seems that things should be future along than what they are.
Missy, Slidell, LA (Sent Sep 13, 2006 12:50:14 AM)
From what I hear, the people of Houston, TX will be glad to see New Orleans rebuilt so their "guests" can go home.
Former Texan (Sent Sep 12, 2006 10:38:30 PM)
I strongly agree with Ms. Burdon. I love my home city of New York as well as the country thaat the terrorists meant to hurt by the 9-11 attacks. Howeve, we still have our great city. Having seen it in August, 2006, I have to say that New Orleans' residents have been robbed of much of their city---and need not have been, if we had had a real Chief Executive in charge of the country.
Norma J. Hart, Psy.D., New York, NY (Sent Sep 12, 2006 8:03:32 PM)
Kudos to another first-rate post! That must be interesting--having lived in New York in 2001 so you're able to compare how Mayor Giuliani so heroically handled the trauma of 9/11 and the aftermath, with how Mayor Nagin handles New Orleans' recovery.
I think, however, that once the dust settled and the "footprint" was cleaned up Mayor Giuliani had the easier job because there was an acreage to fill. I know this must sound somewhat odd since those having to decide what goes in that space still haven't agreed on something appropriate to fill it with.
But that would still be simpler than the Herculean task Mayor Nagin has to do--bringing back an entire city or almost-entire city that current residents and evacuees who want to move back are anxious to see cleaned up and her infrastructure restored so she's livable. Including having enough hospitals, schools, justice system, and all those other things people expect to find in a fully functioning city up and running so they can support her population.
I've read about how one reason it's been so hard to get New Orleans' recovery on track and why as Mayor Nagin says New Orleans isn't where she should be has been the fact that different groups in the city have divergent visions of her future and it's hard to get city government, city planners and developers, neighborhood groups, business organizations, and so forth to agree on a plan. I also understand that New Orleans is cash-strapped.
I hope they agree on something soon, though and somehow find the funding needed to bring everything back--I'm worried that otherwise, on Aug. 29, 2010, we'll be seeing Brian interviewing Mayor Magin on why large stretches of New Orleans have still not been rebuilt.
Olivia Elizabeth Burdon, Peoria, Ill. (Sent Sep 12, 2006 5:07:16 PM)
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