Posted on 09/12/2005 10:22:15 PM PDT by Revel
Jefferson Parish Sheriff Harry Lee commandeers Sam's Wal-Mart stores Sunday, 10:30 a.m.
Jefferson Parish Sheriff Harry Lee said he has "commandered" the Sam's and Wal-Mart stores in the parish and ordered them to open as soon as possible.
Lee said he took the action after he learned that a Wal-Mart store wanted to open recently but was told by FEMA officials that it could not.
"I am upset with FEMA and some of their regulations," Lee said.
After talking about the situation concerning the Wal-Mart on Thursday, Lee said he briefly talked to Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-New Orleans on Friday. He asked her to check on the situation and find out if there was a legitimate reason to keep the store closed.
But because of communication difficulties, he did not hear back and took the situation in his own hands.
Lee said he gave handwritten notes to Wal-Mart stores in Harvey and Kenner saying they were ordered to open as soon as possible. Lee said Parish President Aaron Broussard agreed with the decision.
Lee said anyone from FEMA who tries to close either store will be arrested by deputies.
"We're encouraging the businesses to get up and going."
On other topics, Lee said he had 40 deputies who didn't report for duty for the storm. One who tried to return was told not to waste his time.
"As far as I am concerned (he) will never get a job in law enforcement again," Lee said.
Which is totally irrelevant to this story. New Orleans isn't in Jefferson Parish. (One way to tell the difference. New Orleans is majority Black. Jefferson Parish sent David Duke to the state legislature, and a city located in that Parish reportedly blocked the bridge over the Mississippi to keep out the looters.)
Harry Lee is a great sherriff...
First read about him on FR a few months ago re: him taking his swat team out for nightly nutria hunts!
It isn't odd.
If you have trouble with a federal agency, the first place you should turn is to your Rep or Senator. A Congressional inquiry will cut through a lot of red tape.
It is sometimes a lot easier for the bureaucrats to say 'yes' to you than it is for them to put together a package to explain 'no' to the legislator.
At the very least, you ensure that your problem is looked at by someone much higer on the food chain than you can reach yourself.
How about that maybe Fema is refusing to talk to him for whatever reason. So he was hoping that she could find out from them what was going on. That is a possibility. It sounds like this sheriff may have ticked off fema to the point where they don't want to talk to him. My guess is that the sheriff is not one for taking orders, but for giving them. At times this could be a good thing, but at other times it could be a bad thing also.
It's unclear why FEMA prevented Wal-Mart from opening. Reportedly, businesses in Jefferson Parish started to operate yesterday (Monday), although not necessarily open to the public. Why would Wal-Mart be an exception? Maybe it's because of the size.
I would just love to have the inside scoop on this story from both sides.
"It is also the same parish that claimed that FEMA stole their radio antenna."
I have looked for info on this story but cannot find it for some reason. Whats the scoop on this?
Harry Lee is a great sheriff? He let his officers line up on the Crecent City Bridge and shoot at people trying to get out of New Orleans. It sounds like he's done everything he can to make the situation worse if you ask me.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9179790/
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=fema+cuts+jefferson+parish&btnG=Google+Search
Nutritious Nutria
This is from that transcript and MSNBC. Since the said person is giving praise to the gov blanco I would consider that there is some political bias in this person. I don't know if the information is accurate or not.
"MR. BROUSSARD: Sir, they were told like me, every single day, "The cavalry's coming," on a federal level, "The cavalry's coming, the cavalry's coming, the cavalry's coming." I have just begun to hear the hoofs of the cavalry. The cavalry's still not here yet, but I've begun to hear the hoofs, and we're almost a week out.
Let me give you just three quick examples. We had Wal-Mart deliver three trucks of water, trailer trucks of water. FEMA turned them back. They said we didn't need them. This was a week ago. FEMA--we had 1,000 gallons of diesel fuel on a Coast Guard vessel docked in my parish. The Coast Guard said, "Come get the fuel right away." When we got there with our trucks, they got a word. "FEMA says don't give you the fuel." Yesterday--yesterday--FEMA comes in and cuts all of our emergency communication lines. They cut them without notice. Our sheriff, Harry Lee, goes back in, he reconnects the line. He posts armed guards on our line and says, "No one is getting near these lines." Sheriff Harry Lee said that if America--American government would have responded like Wal-Mart has responded, we wouldn't be in this crisis. "
Henry Lee was on Nightline and said FEMA stole his radio antenna...
I have never seen so much blame deflected elsewhere for a place that was so unprepared.
"Henry Lee was on Nightline and said FEMA stole his radio antenna... "
Did they?
It sounds like this Sherrif was little more on top of things than most of the other officials around him. The Mayor of NO and the Governor should be brought up on charges for some of the things they did. But should one good guy suffer with the rest?
Well it would make sense for FEMA to want to use any operational radio towers in the area.
I guess what happened was they didn`t tell the sheriff when they did take the radio tower over, which would be wrong for FEMA to have done.
From reading about this sheriff, he probably didn`t want anyone taking over his radio communications from his officers on the ground at all. That would have made it hard on FEMA, and now I am starting to see the rift between these agencies.
It sounds more like a "lack of communication" than anything. : )
Until I read your post I thought there was a chance he was related to Robert E. Lee.
Nope. Bruce Lee, or Harley, and his brother Davidson
There. Fixed it for ya.
Truth of the matter is, Harry Lee is a corrupt Democrat. He was Edwin Edwards personal bodyguard when Edwards was doing all of the stuff that he's now been convicted of. And this was while Harry was sherrif of Jeff Parish.
That said, while he's corrupt, at least he's effective. Compared to the rest of the Demoncrat elected officials in LA, he's a jewel. Compared to the average citizen, he's a RICO endictment waiting to happen.
Do we want the federal government immediately squashing local authority in future emergencies?
What is the purpose of a county or parish sheriff's department if they are going to be undermined at the first sign of real trouble?
What is the definition of a habitable community following a disaster and who writes that definition?
Who has the authority to keep me from returning to my home?
Who has the authority to force a business to remain closed and under what specific law?
Jefferson Parish is where that puke Aaron Bouchard, the crier/liar, is President.
You know you can say that he kept looters out of Jefferson Parish, but he also kept innocent people that were not looters from escaping from the human garbage that were raping and killing in the city. He could have at least let women and babies out of the city.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.