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Apr 5, 2:57 PM EDT

New Orleans Mayor Blocks FEMA Trailer Park


AP Photo/BILL HABER
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NEW ORLEANS (AP) -- Mayor Ray Nagin suspended the construction of FEMA trailer parks in the city after a confrontation between federal workers and homeowners who were outraged that a government trailer park was being built inside their gated community.

With an election three weeks away, Nagin sided with the residents of Lakewood Estates, a community of spacious homes in the city's Algiers section, and suspended the nearly completed trailer project there and similar projects elsewhere in New Orleans.

The Lakewood Estates trailer park was meant to house 34 single women and their children who were left homeless by Hurricane Katrina, but area residents complained it was too close to their homes. The neighborhood association also sued the Federal Emergency Management Agency seeking a permanent injunction against the project.

FEMA officials said they were surprised by Nagin's decision, especially since he had approved the Algiers trailer site months earlier, FEMA spokesman Darryl Madden told The New York Times. All the necessary building permits had been obtained, Madden said.



The city may have to reimburse the federal government $1.6 million if FEMA is not allowed to finish building the trailer site, Madden said Tuesday.

Fights over where to put trailers for displaced residents have been a persistent problem. Disputes have erupted over whether trailers should be put on playgrounds, in parks and in historic areas, and Nagin decided that council members would be able to veto trailer locations in their districts. In December, Nagin backed away from a list of proposed sites because of protests.

The mayor said Monday he might use the impasse to push FEMA to abandon its trailer plan in favor of modular housing or investments in existing apartment buildings.

The Lakewood Estates protest Saturday started with a human and vehicular chain to block federal workers. When federal security officials threatened to arrest them, New Orleans police were called in and threatened to arrest the federal workers, residents said.

The trailers are separated from homes only by a low concrete wall, and some trailers are only a few yards from the existing homes.

"You've got a thousand locations that are better," protest leader Edward Markle told the New York Times. "I won't be able to take a bath without them seeing me."
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So the next time you hear about how long it is taking the "Bush administration" to "fix" New Orleans, remember that it is the PEOPLE OF NEW ORLEANS who are holding up the works.

What a douche.

" 34 single mothers and their children"


I shudder to think what that place would look like in a week.

Nagin. That's the same asshole that claimed how horrible the federal government's progress was.

And, now, the asshole is impeding that very progress. He can FOAD as far as I'm concerned.

I've been telling you guys this for months.

NO does not even want their own people.

Quoted: Nagin. That's the same asshole that claimed how horrible the federal government's progress was. And, now, the asshole is impeding that very progress. He can FOAD as far as I'm concerned.

Maybe they should build one of these trailer parks in Nagin's neighborhood.  Oh wait, he lives in Dallas now.  

Quoted: I've been telling you guys this for months. NO does not even want their own people.

Niether does Louisiana, hell even Detroit turned them away didn't they.

Quoted: " 34 single mothers and their children" I shudder to think what that place would look like in a week.

Exactly. Lake wood is a white, upper middle class, nice neighborhood. Nothing like having the ghetto moved within feet of your house. I mean that literally, tha savages could see in livingroom windows where they were doing this.
I would be scared to leave my wife home or let the kids play in the yard.
We just got back from the New Orleans Zoo today (Not just New Orleans...Audobon Park) and I would have sworn we were in the cages not lookin gin them. Savages everywhere. I believe a monkey cage door was left open.

Maybe Houston would want some more of them, that 32% jump in crime since Katrina can go so much higher if they really try!

We had a Planning and Zoning commission meeting last night that was in reference to rezoning a piece of property near my business.  They planned on putting 309 trailers on 48 acres, including a child care facility and a recreational area on what is now vacant land.  This is a semi-remote location with minimal traffic access and no central sewage.  Even the Sheriff and the Fire Chief stood up and said "no" to the commission.  The Sheriff said he would have to hire 9 additional deputies to cover the trailer park, and the fire chief said similar.  The fire chief said he had talked with other chiefs who now have to look after FEMA trailer parks.  On average the number of calls for a 48-trailer park went up 800 calls per month (mostly medical, ~100-150 fires).  Needless to say, it got shot down.  Woohoo!

Quoted: We had a Planning and Zoning commission meeting last night that was in reference to rezoning a piece of property near my business.  They planned on putting 309 trailers on 48 acres, including a child care facility and a recreational area on what is now vacant land.  This is a semi-remote location with minimal traffic access and no central sewage.  Even the Sheriff and the Fire Chief stood up and said "no" to the commission.  The Sheriff said he would have to hire 9 additional deputies to cover the trailer park, and the fire chief said similar.  The fire chief said he had talked with other chiefs who now have to look after FEMA trailer parks.  On average the number of calls for a 48-trailer park went up 800 calls per month (mostly medical, ~100-150 fires).  Needless to say, it got shot down.  Woohoo!

Are you sure it wasn't 800/year?  800/month ends up being .5 calls per address, per month.

Quoted: Quoted: We had a Planning and Zoning commission meeting last night that was in reference to rezoning a piece of property near my business.  They planned on putting 309 trailers on 48 acres, including a child care facility and a recreational area on what is now vacant land.  This is a semi-remote location with minimal traffic access and no central sewage.  Even the Sheriff and the Fire Chief stood up and said "no" to the commission.  The Sheriff said he would have to hire 9 additional deputies to cover the trailer park, and the fire chief said similar.  The fire chief said he had talked with other chiefs who now have to look after FEMA trailer parks.  On average the number of calls for a 48-trailer park went up 800 calls per month (mostly medical, ~100-150 fires).  Needless to say, it got shot down.  Woohoo! Are you sure it wasn't 800/year?  800/month ends up being .5 calls per address, per month.

Maybe he meant per year, but what he told the commission was per month.  Just something to consider.......they haven't had a full year to know the statistics for a year yet.  

ETA: sorry, my bad, just a clarification from talking to someone else that was at the meeting.  What the fire chief said was that if you scale up the occurences from a 48-trailer park to a 309-trailer park, he estimated 800 additional calls per month.  That means the 48-trailer park is doing about 120 calls per month extra.

Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: We had a Planning and Zoning commission meeting last night that was in reference to rezoning a piece of property near my business.  They planned on putting 309 trailers on 48 acres, including a child care facility and a recreational area on what is now vacant land.  This is a semi-remote location with minimal traffic access and no central sewage.  Even the Sheriff and the Fire Chief stood up and said "no" to the commission.  The Sheriff said he would have to hire 9 additional deputies to cover the trailer park, and the fire chief said similar.  The fire chief said he had talked with other chiefs who now have to look after FEMA trailer parks.  On average the number of calls for a 48-trailer park went up 800 calls per month (mostly medical, ~100-150 fires).  Needless to say, it got shot down.  Woohoo! Are you sure it wasn't 800/year?  800/month ends up being .5 calls per address, per month. Maybe he meant per year, but what he told the commission was per month.  Just something to consider.......they haven't had a full year to know the statistics for a year yet.   ETA: sorry, my bad, just a clarification from talking to someone else that was at the meeting.  What the fire chief said was that if you scale up the occurences from a 48-trailer park to a 309-trailer park, he estimated 800 additional calls per month.  That means the 48-trailer park is doing about 120 calls per month extra.

That's slightly more reasonable.  But jeeze.  Although half of those are proably narc seekers that can't afford the cab ride to the ED.

Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: We had a Planning and Zoning commission meeting last night that was in reference to rezoning a piece of property near my business.  They planned on putting 309 trailers on 48 acres, including a child care facility and a recreational area on what is now vacant land.  This is a semi-remote location with minimal traffic access and no central sewage.  Even the Sheriff and the Fire Chief stood up and said "no" to the commission.  The Sheriff said he would have to hire 9 additional deputies to cover the trailer park, and the fire chief said similar.  The fire chief said he had talked with other chiefs who now have to look after FEMA trailer parks.  On average the number of calls for a 48-trailer park went up 800 calls per month (mostly medical, ~100-150 fires).  Needless to say, it got shot down.  Woohoo! Are you sure it wasn't 800/year?  800/month ends up being .5 calls per address, per month. Maybe he meant per year, but what he told the commission was per month.  Just something to consider.......they haven't had a full year to know the statistics for a year yet.   ETA: sorry, my bad, just a clarification from talking to someone else that was at the meeting.  What the fire chief said was that if you scale up the occurences from a 48-trailer park to a 309-trailer park, he estimated 800 additional calls per month.  That means the 48-trailer park is doing about 120 calls per month extra.

That's 4 calls a day for 48 homes. Unbelievable.

What in the heck could they be calling in?

This is probably the best possible thing to happen to these people, overall.

Sure, it really SUCKS to be semi-homeless. But maybe it will give them the idea that they are responsible for themselves and they need get off their asses. The fact Nagin is doing this to appease a "white" nieghborhood is even richer, as he was poising himself as a champion of the black community post-Katrina. Maybe some of these people will congeal a clue and start making better choices in life.

Time to abandon that shit hole.

I wonder what's going to happen in another few weeks after the election takes place.



-K

I wouldn't want 'em in my backyard either.

sorry, guess I'm just not a very compassionate person

Sure, it really SUCKS to be semi-homeless. But maybe it will give them the idea that they are responsible for themselves and they need get off their asses. The fact Nagin is doing this to appease a "white" nieghborhood is even richer, as he was poising himself as a champion of the black community post-Katrina. Maybe some of these people will congeal a clue and start making better choices in life.

OMFG, you sir owe me a keyboard and a Coke!

I spent three weeks in LA perfroming hazardous waste cleanup in Plaquemines Parish under an EPA contract. Plaquemines Parish is basically all the land south of NO along both sides of the Mississippi. Pretty much all the small towns down there were wiped off the face of the earth, total devistation. But what did I observe? Lots of people hiking up there pants, putting there boots on, and going to work cleaning up their property and repairing their houses, if they could be repaired. My hotel was in NO. What did I see there? Lots of people doing nothing.

Also while in Plaquemines during the day I was thanked several times a day for our work. Yes there were some people that didn't want us (a few crews were threantened with firearms), but for the most part we were welcomed with open arms.  I made the mistake of wearing my shirt (it said EPA Contractor on the back) into town one night when I was picking up supplies. I have never gotten so many dirty looks in my life.

Quoted: This is probably the best possible thing to happen to these people, overall. Sure, it really SUCKS to be semi-homeless. But maybe it will give them the idea that they are responsible for themselves and they need get off their asses. The fact Nagin is doing this to appease a "white" nieghborhood is even richer, as he was poising himself as a champion of the black community post-Katrina. Maybe some of these people will congeal a clue and start making better choices in life.

They haven't done this so far, what makes you think they will start now?

Quoted: Quoted: This is probably the best possible thing to happen to these people, overall. Sure, it really SUCKS to be semi-homeless. But maybe it will give them the idea that they are responsible for themselves and they need get off their asses. The fact Nagin is doing this to appease a "white" nieghborhood is even richer, as he was poising himself as a champion of the black community post-Katrina. Maybe some of these people will congeal a clue and start making better choices in life. They haven't done this so far, what makes you think they will start now?

I'm not sure what gives me any optimism that this will happen, perhaps a belief that most people are capable of rational thought. However, I know not fixing their mistakes will sure as hell speed it up.

They won't die from this, but why make it comfortable for them to live on someone elses dime?

Quoted: you know after seeing what many of the "homeless" have done after the storm, i honestly can't say i blame those folks for not wanting it.

Nor can I, but at the same time I also hear constant news stories about how Bush isn't "doing enough" to help the people of NO.

The stories SHOULD say that Nagin and indeed NO residents are fighting with FEMA, making the process slower. People hear about "red tape" and assume it is because FEMA is incompetent, but the truth is that NO is being uncooperative. They are being real dorks about zoning laws and a whole bunch of other nitpicky stuff that is grinding things to a halt down there.

What is happening in NO is you have a fractured community with absolutely no intention of all pulling together for a common goal of rebuilding. You have political leadership that reflects this fractured public and who is parylized as a result of it.

The bottom line is that, again, NO's problems are cause by....NO. Not by Bush, FEMA, or anyone else.

But reporting that would require work and an understanding of how government functions and of course a sense of balance and proportion.....In other words, things reporters do not have...