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New Orleans plan allows rebuilding in all neighborhoods

NEW ORLEANS - Mayor Ray Nagin finished work Monday on a plan to rebuild New Orleans, endorsing a proposal that would allow all residents to rebuild their homes in neighborhoods shattered by Hurricane Katrina.

The mayor's advisory commission, formed after Katrina struck Aug. 29, recommended in January that some flooded neighborhoods be replaced with parks and that the city take a go-slow attitude in rebuilding low-lying areas. But that suggestion was greeted with jeers and outrage at public meetings.

Nagin, who is running for re-election on April 22, distanced himself from that plan, which included a moratorium on building permits in some neighborhoods.

On Monday, he offered to let residents rebuild anywhere, but warned that homeowners in flood-prone areas would do so at their own risk. "I'm confident that the citizens can decide intelligently for themselves," the mayor said.

The report also recommended a host of other ideas, from revamping schools to consolidating some city offices. The wish list included new light-rail systems, new riverfront development and better flood protection.

"We have worked tirelessly," Nagin told hundreds of residents who gathered to hear about the plan. "It has been controversial in some respects, but I am pleased by the results."

Ron Forman, a mayoral candidate and prominent businessman, applauded the commission's work and the breadth of the report. But he said it is still short on specifics.

"The only problem I see with the plan is that I don't see an implementation plan, an action plan, based on dates on when we can expect to be done," Forman said.

Critics said that plan gives short shrift to poor victims, focusing too much on bailing out homeowners and encouraging high-end development at the expense of low-income renters.

If a White House proposal is approved by Congress, the bulk of Louisiana's reconstruction would be funded with $9.2-billion in federal grants using a plan by Gov. Kathleen Blanco.

Typically, 70 percent of such grant money is given to projects that help poor and middle-income residents. But the government is allowing Louisiana to reduce that figure to 50 percent or less.

The NAACP, the Advancement Project, the New Orleans-based People's Hurricane Relief Fund and other groups said in a letter to Blanco's administration that the 50 percent share is too little.

[Last modified March 21, 2006, 02:30:40]