'Not in my back yard' cry holding up FEMA trailers

NOLA ^ | 12/26/05 | Rob Nelson

[Pikamax]

'Not in my back yard' cry holding up FEMA trailers Emotional tone of opposition hints at role of stereotypes of race, class Monday, December 26, 2005 By Rob Nelson and James Varney%%par%%Staff writers As officials desperately seek temporary housing locations for New Orleans families whose homes were shattered months ago by Hurricane Katrina, the best site in the minds of many residents is clear: somewhere else.

In one of the post-Katrina era's ironic role reversals, the same local officials and residents who once screamed at FEMA to get trailers to New Orleans quickly are now fending off the 17,777 trailers that FEMA has on hand in Louisiana and says it can deliver immediately.

[The Worthless Miracle]

I wouldn't want them in my "back yard" either, especially since there are 2000 sex offenders among them...

[jude24]

So, because there are a few sex offenders amongst those displaced by Katrina, you want the rest to remain homeless?

[BenLurkin]

And drug addicts, gangbangers, welfare queens.

[stopem]

N.O. doesn't even want them in their back yard but Perry takes 400,000 of them. Hope Perry does NOT get reelected!!

[John Jorsett]

When we screamed "SEND TRAILERS!" we didn't mean to our immediate vicinity.

[confederate_infidel]

Look, I understand these people have to have a place to go, but I sure would not want them living 'in my backyard' either. You can say what you want, but a LOT of these people come from the ghettos and slums of New Orleans. One of the many students who came to our school from New Orleans, she was a prime example who you do NOT want living near you. She happily recounted her (several) adventures to jail, (only once for stabbing someone). I am not really sure if she was kidding about the stabbing thing, but she definately wasn't kidding about the rest.

[w1andsodidwe]

I saw one TV spot a couple weeks ago, where the spokesman was saying that they didn't want FEMA trailors and that they had another source for them. I immediately wonder which relative of his was set to provide them.

[CajunConservative]

*Louisiana Ping List

If you would like on or off the Louisiana Ping list please FReepmail me and your name will be added or taken off of the list.

[Westlander]

Read some articles on the increase in crime in Houston.

[John Jorsett]

The alternative:

[cmsgop]

NO FEMA TRAILERS FOR OIL !!

[freedumb2003]

"My concern was strangers coming into my neighborhood that I knew nothing about," said Dianne Galatas,

Buahahahahaha! So, Dianne, do you get a perp sheet on everyone who moves into every house or apartment in your neighborhood?

[Paul C. Jesup]

'Not in my back yard' cry holding up FEMA trailers

Well considering trailer houses drop property values near where they are parked and the trailer houses may violate local Housing Covenants/Agreements, I can see that the homeowners have a leg to stand on this issue.

[teenyelliott]

I want the rest to get a job and pay their own way.

Crazy, I know.

[teenyelliott]

Considering that all the people who are contributing members of society, those who already own property and businesses, and those who have jobs, are already back living in NO, I wouldn't want the rest of the folks living in my backyard either.

The people who are months later still living off of the gubmint teet are not going to make any neighborhood better.

Whatever happened to pulling yourself up and taking care of your own problems?

[H. Paul Pressler IV]

So there are no sex offenders in your neighborhood?

[Galveston Grl]

Oh, man! Federally imposed low income housing headed someone's way to wreck their lives and their housing values. Why would they object? (sarcasm) Houston has it's share of more than it can handle.

[H. Paul Pressler IV]

Considering that all the people who are contributing members of society, those who already own property and businesses, and those who have jobs, are already back living in NO, I wouldn't want the rest of the folks living in my backyard either.

Apparently, you have not spent much time in New Orleans since Katrina. But, perhaps you could explain to me how all the home owners of Lakeview, Mid City, the 9th Ward and large area of Uptown are living in their flooded homes.

Where did you get the idea that all "contributing members of society" in New Orleans have a place to live?

[caryatid]

The top trailer contract for a Louisiana company is held by Bourget's of the South, a custom motorcycle shop in River Ridge that is owned by two sons of the treasurer of the state Democratic Party who are also the father and an uncle of state Rep. Gary Smith, D-Norco. Bourget's currently has FEMA contracts valued at more than $107 million to deliver more than 6,300 trailers in Louisiana and Alabama, records show.

[...] State records show Disaster Recovery incorporated on Sept. 22, nearly a month after Katrina struck the Gulf Coast.

The absence of a Louisiana license to sell new trailers did not prevent Disaster Recovery from landing a contract Oct. 17 to sell 394 trailers to the Federal Emergency Management Agency in a deal valued at $7.683 million, a FEMA contract list shows. A state commission staffer in Baton Rouge said last week that, on the date listed by FEMA, Disaster Recovery did not possess a valid dealer's license to sell new recreational vehicles in Louisiana, as required by state law.

The Times-Picayune, Wednesday, December 07, 2005: Complaint filed against firm with trailer deal. It got $7.6 million contract without having a state license.]

Wednesday, December 07, 2005