Balkinization: New Orleans Plus One

New Orleans Plus One

Anonymous

In the next week, everyone will be inundated with images and stories about New Orleans, plus one year after Katrina. President Bush has been busy already preemptively defending himself against charges that the recovery of the city has been going too slowly. The most important positive step Bush and Congress have taken so far is provide billions for a state-run program that provides a minimum amount for rebuilding for those who did not have flood insurance. But sadly, the federal government has paid too little attention to certain preconditions essential for full recovery. I’ll review those preconditions in this post, saving for another day the failures of local and state government.

In general, the problem with the national response is not enough attention to looking around corners, to anticipating problems before they occur. One doesn’t need hindsight here. All of the preconditions for recovery I mention here were fully anticipated last fall, just one or two months after the storm.

Electricity. It’s very difficult for a city to recover without reliable electrical power. But many areas of New Orleans either have no power or no reliable electrical power one year after. The local utility declared bankruptcy in late September and sent all out of state crews home, stretching the initial recovery out by months. The utility is still hoping to be bailed out by the federal government and has not yet been required to file a bankruptcy plan. Whatever the merits of a bailout, local takeover, or a takeover by the utility’s larger parent, it is long past time for the executive branch to take an interest, knock some heads together, and get this problem behind us.

Criminal Justice. It actually looks like some officials expected the normal “let’s skate by with a system that barely functions” to be adequate for recovery. Hasn’t worked out that way. Police incompetence pre-Katrina and during the storm has remained a topic unexplored in the various government investigations. The public defender system collapsed and is being rebuilt only slowly. Despite widespread public unhappiness, cooperation among the different parts of the system remains poor. Here is a system in which a relatively small amount of federal money with some accompanying performance conditions could still make a real difference.

Medical Care. More hospitals are open but the crucial supporting facilities, such as long-term care and mental health, are still doing poorly. Too many doctors, especially mental health professionals, have left town. And this is a system profoundly influenced by federal funding. This is the most obvious example of where confident, proactive federal leadership could have made a real difference to the state of the city a year later.

No one of these failures alone would be enough to suggest negligence and inattention on the part of President Bush. But collectively, they speak of a continuance of the failure of will and moral imagination that has plagued the federal effort from the moment the storm passed. Polls and anecdotal evidence suggest strongly the public still cares about the effects of Katrina and whether New Orleans recovers. But it has evidently been a low priority for political elites in Washington, and I do not except the Democrats. They have been willing to let Republicans take the blame without offering any solutions of their own.

One more point worth mentioning about the federal government. As a recent book review in The New Republic points out, Congress is one of the main culprits in the tragedy of Katrina. Congress controls the Army Corps of Engineers and it is that body that is ultimately responsible for the failure of the levees. But I don't believe we've seen any intensive investigations of Congress. . .by Congress and I don't expect we will. Our system expects the executive to execute the law. When Congress executes the law by controlling executive agencies, there's no other branch to provide oversight. It would be nice if some foundation were to exercise countervailing power to fund an inquiry, but I won't hold my breath.

Posted 10:14 PM by Anonymous [link]

Comments:

i lived in new orleans for six years, both while attending law school and afterwards. my wife an i recently returned for a visit, our first since katrina. we have had the chance to speak with friends and with residents of the city, as well as observe for ourselves.

we agree that there has been an appalling lack of urgency in governmental response, not only at the federal level, but at the state and local level as well. at the local level, there appears to have been a complete organizational breakdown. the mayor comes across as a smug, incompetent. nobody seems to be picking up the ball that he has clearly dropped.

that having been said, it seems to us that what is needed to get new orleans back on its feet is a cash infusion, and not the kind that comes from a government bailout, that is clearly not coming. what is needed is infusion from the business community on a nationwide scale. the only way new orleans will come back is if the convention center is reopened. when we were there in june, the convention center was not only closed, but looked as if there had been little or nothing done to try to get it back up and running.

new orleans is a city that the rest of the country has always wanted to come and visit. nothing about that has changed. the best way to get the rest of the country here is to fix up the convention center, and get the conventions, national seminars and business shows back. once those return, the people they attract will once again be there to infuse money into the local economy. this will feed itself until the city is back on its feet.

the caveat here is that there has to be a catalyst to make it happen. the federal government, for all its words, has shown indifference by its actions. the state government seems unable to provide what is needed, and the locals do not appear competent. as of yet, the business community, while making small gestures, does not seem to have risen to the occasion, which just adds to the shame.

# posted by

phg : 8:40 PM

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Reseller De Nature : 7:06 AM