Posted on 09/06/2005 7:41:41 PM PDT by InvisibleChurch
Tuesday, Sept. 6, 2005 10:18 p.m. EDT Louisiana Officials in Flood-Money Scam
Nine months before the Hurricane Katrina disaster, three Louisiana Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness officials were indicted for obstructing an audit into flood prevention expenditures.
In a November 2004 press release, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of Louisiana announced:
"A federal grand jury has returned two separate indictments charging three members of the State Military Department with offenses related to the obstruction of an audit of the use of federal funds for flood mitigation activities throughout Louisiana. "The two emergency management officials were senior employees of the Louisiana Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness. Both were charged with conspiracy to obstruct a federal audit."
Gov. Kathleen Blanco told Louisiana's News-Star at the time that she was disturbed by the indictments. She said the National Guard is cooperating with the investigation "as I expect them to do."
Reports of rampant corruption among Louisiana's state and local agencies have been cited in recent days to explain why officials were so ill-prepared to deal with the Katrina disaster.
Corruption in LA politics. Whoda thunk it.
Will have to finish reading this tomorrow but from what I can gather so far , "Desire" was a company that provided low income housing in New OrleansO which relied on Federal funding (HUD). The city of NO was responsible for monitoring Desire. It was found that Desire ...
1- Failed to Adequately Administer HUD Funds
2- Expended Approximately $1.1 Million in Grant Funds without Benefiting the People Intended
3- Misused $533,604 of Program Income
It was also found that the City provided inadequate oversight of Desire. It was found that ....
. The City could not provide documentation that it reviewed Desire’s performance annually as required by HUD.16 Further, when the City determined a problem existed, it did not take sufficient action to correct the problem or limit its loss. The City did not properly monitor Desire. For instance, it appears the City knew of the lack of progress on the rehabilitation of Bayou Apartments but was unsuccessful at resolving the problems it noted. According Accordingto February 2002 correspondence, City officials knew Desire had been “struggling for several years with the redevelopment of” Bayou Apartments. According to documentation, Desire had not performed any work since at least June 2001, 8 months earlier. Considering the consistency of concerns throughout the grant, the City should have terminated Bayou Apartments sooner and reviewed all of its operations to determine if the causes were systemic. In another example, at Liberty Terrace, the City knew there was a funding flaw17 with Liberty Terrace, but took no action to reduce the funding flaw. To the contrary, the City knew the actions taken by it and Desire would only increase the funding flaw. Irrespective of Desire’s actions, the City’s inadequate oversight of Desire contributed to the delays and problems cited in both Findings 2 and 3. As the participating jurisdiction, the City is responsible for managing the day-to-day operations of its HOME Program, ensuring that HOME funds are used in accordance with all program requirements and written agreements, and taking appropriate action when performance problems arise. Further, use of Desire did not relieve the City of this responsibility.
And what did Nagin say when he criticized President Bush - he was afraid of the CIA. That was a strange thing to say, I was thinking. Why would he be afraid of the CIA?! Isn't this a free country? And God knows he's not the first official to blame Bush (for something he didn't do, I may add).
It will be very interesting to see what comes out of the investigations to follow! I'm just glad that President Bush is the one heading it up. Apparently, he lost trust after what happened with the 9/11 Commission.
Last June.....IEM, a company with Witt connections got $500,000 to develop a Hurricane plan for Louisiana
IEM to Lead Development of Hurricane Plan for Louisiana,June 9, 2004
IEM Inc., a Baton Rouge, La.-based emergency management and homeland security consultant, announced it will lead the development of a catastrophic hurricane disaster plan for Southeast Louisiana and the City of New Orleans under a more than half a million dollar contract with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security/Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).In making the announcement today on behalf of teaming partners Dewberry, URS Corporation and James Lee Witt Associates, IEM Director of Homeland Security Wayne Thomas explained that the development of a base catastrophic hurricane disaster plan has urgency due to the recent start of the annual hurricane season which runs through November. National weather experts are predicting an above normal Atlantic hurricane season with six to eight hurricanes, of which three could be categorized as major.
The IEM team will complete a functional exercise on a catastrophic hurricane strike in Southeast Louisiana and use results to develop a response and recovery plan. A catastrophic event is one that can overwhelm state, local and private capabilities so quickly that communities could be devastated without Federal assistance and multi-agency planning and preparedness.
Thomas said that the greater New Orleans area is one of the nation's most vulnerable locations for hurricane landfall.
"Given this area's vulnerability, unique geographic location and elevation, and troubled escape routes, a plan that facilitates a rapid and effective hurricane response and recovery is critical," he said. "The IEM team's approach to catastrophic planning meets the challenges associated with integrating multi-jurisdictional needs and capabilities into an effective plan for addressing catastrophic hurricane strikes, as well as man-made catastrophic events."
IEM President and CEO Madhu Beriwal is the recipient of a special merit award from the Louisiana Emergency Preparedness Association ( LEPA ) for her work in New Orleans hurricane emergency preparedness.
Reference to this originally found at Blanco hits bottom and starts digging
>>>>I read an article the other day that made reference to federal funds for levee maintenance being spent to build a casino and a private marina. Anyone have any solid info on that and a source? Thanks.
http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/cgi-bin/getcase.pl?court=5th&navby=case&no=0130728cv0
Excerpt:
With regard to the more general question of the levee district's budget, the Orleans Levee District receives very little funding from the state. The levee district generates its own revenues from the Lakefront airport, a casino, leases of property, fees from boatslips and marinas, and taxes. The district also receives income from various investment accounts currently worth $57 million. The levee board does not dispute these facts. At oral argument, counsel for the levee board pointed out that the district receives some state funds, even though they are usually in the form of capital outlays dedicated to specific projects. Because the state funds are already earmarked for other purposes, the state monies cannot be used to pay a judgment against the levee district. See Hudson, 174 F.3d at 688-89.
Interesting. Very interesting.
>>>Let's see. We have Flood-Money Scam in LA--- The Big Dig in MA... what possibly could be in common...........
Lobster Dinners with Fidel Castro....
http://canf.org/2005/1in/noticias-CANF/2005-may-12-media-advisory-louisiana-state-para-email.htm
G&F SEX Tours of New Orleans
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-backroom/1472612/posts
Corruption in LA has been a long running joke for years
Just like my home city of Philly
Everyone jokes about it .. but they never do anything about it ... until it's too late
bttt
I didn't know Landreu got in by fraud.
Oh, you're good! Its going to take me a while just to digest your digest! That, and all that googling I'm trying to learn will keep me busy for a few days.....
I'll be dipped. Curiouser and curiouser.
Where in LA???
They are building homes around my way on a toxic dump .. and those babies are going for 500-600 Thousand
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