Posted on 10/02/2005 10:43:28 AM PDT by Ellesu
A state official says that if the Superdome is to be used again as a shelter, the federal government needs to help make it hurricane-proof. Tim Coulon, chairman of the Louisiana Stadium & Expedition District, said he hopes state officials can persuade the Federal Emergency Management Agency and insurance adjusters to pay for things such as enlarged concourses and new restrooms to make the Dome more suitable for evacuations, the New Orleans Times-Picayune reported.
The building suffered millions of dollars in damage from Hurricane Katrina and the 25,000 evacuees who sought shelter there for days after the storm passed.
It would be foolish on our part not to look at the building with the need to modify it as a shelter, Coulon told the newspaper. "Obviously, if we don't consider the use of the Dome as a shelter then we shouldn't use it at all.
The Superdome has been declared a refuge of last resort and used as a shelter three times in its 30-year history.
more $ ping.
New taxpayer soaking developing...
Wouldn't it be cheaper to just fire up the school busses next time?
What a joke! No, the Feds should not pay for the rebuild of their football stadium or shelters. Next time execute your evacuation plan. What? Is the government going to go around the country and build in each city a shelter that is hurricane-proof, flood-proof, tornado-proof, earthquake-proof, alien attack-proof???? Hey Blanco, F off.
Tell the two losers to call Kennedy, Kerry etc etc.
Sounds like the state continues to not have a clue what FEMA is for.
Only from Huey Long's state would you get such a brazen request.
Houston managed to evacuate without having to use the Astrodome as a "shelter of last resort." Why does New Orleans need to? This is just pork.
Let's put it this way,
WHAT doesn't this state want FEMA to fix and have taxpayers fund?
ANYTHING?
Lots of cities in the 1950s and 1960s had nuke-proof shelters. But they hardened them themselves out of existing structures (usually basements).
Randi Rhodes on Air America Radio actually demanded that they rebuild the slums as slums so that the city's demographics won't change. She insisted that there MUST be poor people there.
The corruption endemic to the Louisiana Democrat machine?
Allowing dead people to vote
The superdome wasn't meant as a shelter before - it shouldn't be thought of as one now. The proper procedure is to bypass the superdome and get people out of town.
Are they kidding. Look where it's located. Just like everything else in NO.....Not Built To Withstand A Hurricane
Jefferson Parish President Tim Coulon to Join Adams and Reese as Lobbyist - Son Chris Coulon to Accompany Father
10/29/2003
New Orleans, LA —Adams and Reese, the largest law firm in Louisiana, Alabama and Mississippi, announces that Tim P. Coulon, outgoing President of Jefferson Parish, will join the firm’s governmental relations division, effective January 6, 2004. Also joining the firm is his son, Christopher “Chris” Coulon, president of The Coulon Group, a statewide lobbying firm in Louisiana.
Adams and Reese, which also has offices in Baton Rouge, LA; Birmingham and Mobile, AL; Jackson, MS; Houston, TX; and Washington, D.C., is a multidisciplinary law firm with over 260 attorneys.
According to Adams and Reese’s Managing Partner, Charles “Chuck” P. Adams, Jr., “Tim’s 27 year history in parish government and reputation for building coalitions across parish lines have made him one of the most respected and popular leaders in the state. His astute business mind as well as his record of accomplishments will enhance our firm’s governmental relations team.”
E. L. “Bubba” Henry, special counsel with Adams and Reese and former speaker of the Louisiana House of Representatives, adds, “As a member of the governmental relations team, Tim will provide Adams and Reese with an even stronger ability to help our clients achieve their public policy goals.”
About Chris Coulon he adds, “Chris grew up with politics, having served in the State Capitol first as a student. Like his father, he chose a political career path and founded his own lobbying firm in 1999. Anyone who has ever worked with Chris recognizes that his strong work ethic combined with his affable personality contribute to getting the job done. We consider Chris to be one of the bright stars in Louisiana.”
Tim Coulon, who consistently polls as one of the most popular public officials in Jefferson Parish, is now completing his second term as Parish President. Under his leadership, Jefferson Parish, which boasts the greatest number of businesses in LA, embarked on the most aggressive capital improvement initiative in its history, began a diversified crime protection program and established the Community Justice Agency to monitor and coordinate all court related programs.
Tim Coulon consistently demonstrated his commitment to regionalism as co-chairman of MetroVision and as board member of the Regional Planning Commission.
A life long resident of the West Bank, Tim Coulon attended Holy Cross High School and is a graduate of the University of Southwest Louisiana.
Chris Coulon, a registered lobbyist for LA since 1996, founded The Coulon Group, a lobbying firm, in 1999. It serves a variety of clients, such as municipalities, in the State Legislature.
After eight years as Parish President, Coulon wanted to continue working in the political sector and he explored various opportunities. One of the most publicized of those was CEO of Greater New Orleans Inc., the new entity resulting from the merging of MetroVision and the Greater New Orleans Chamber of Commerce. But why did he choose Adams and Reese?
He explains, “Throughout my years in the public sector, it was prudent for me to take note-to be aware-of who was making things happen. Every time there was an important issue in Louisiana, Adams and Reese was in the forefront. When I looked around and saw who the political players were in the State, there was one firm that stood out, and that was Adams and Reese.
“Adams and Reese will allow me to use my political experience as well as the contacts I have cultivated throughout the state and region to assist the firm’s clients in achieving their goals.
“I look forward to being a part of this well reputed team and in furthering the successes of the governmental relations practice at such a well respected firm.”
Political leaders are no strangers to Adams and Reese. The Coulons join several Adams and Reese attorneys who previously held or currently hold public office: James “Jimmy” A. Hayes, former U.S. Congressman, is in the Washington, D.C. office; E. L. “Bubba” Henry, former Speaker of the LA House of Representatives, is in the Baton Rouge office; Ronald J. Sholes, former District Court Judge in Civil District Court for the Parish of Orleans, is in the New Orleans office; and Bradley R. Byrne, former member of the Alabama State Board of Education and an Alabama State Senator, is in the Mobile office.
Other notables previously associated with the firm are Paul Pastorek, President of the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education, now serving as General Counsel to NASA, Sam A. LeBlanc III, former member of the LA State Legislature, who is now serving in the Peace Corps in Romania, and Marc H. Morial, former Mayor of New Orleans, who is now serving as president of the National Urban League.
Photos here...
http://tinyurl.com/d3wn7
The Astrodome couldn't be used as a shelter of last resort because of the glass roof I think. It was more of a safety/liability thing. It isn't safe in a major hurricane.
Well since they can't win they can stay in San Antonio.
Tim Coulon, chairman of the Superdome Commission and the lead negotiator for Gov. Kathleen Blanco
When the Saints held a press conference in the auditorium of their headquarters last month, rolling out their vision for the team´s future in New Orleans, it was a spit-and-polish affair. After nearly an hour of testimony and well-burnished plans, Benson returned to the stage and cut right to the point:
"Let me make this clear," he said. "I don´t want to move, and I don´t want to sell. We have three choices: We can build a new stadium, renovate the Superdome, or tell us to leave."
The state owes the Saints $15 million next July 5. The annual payment increases to $23.5 million by 2009.
Louisiana rated low in economic ´report card´
Louisiana´s economy again received low marks in an annual report by a national study group that said the rating masked some improvements in the situation faced by workers in the state.
But the Washington-based Corporation for Enterprise Development said Louisiana has lost ground in its ability to get small businesses to start and grow in the state.
CFED, an economic think tank, put Louisiana at the bottom or just above the bottom of three major ratings used to measure state economies:
Using a scale of A to F, Louisiana scored:
• F in economic performance, which included such measures as employment growth, the unemployment rate, mass layoffs, pay, health coverage, the poverty and crime rates and environmental measurements.
• D in business vitality. The state was ranked third in manufacturing investment, but its rating for entrepreneurial businesses fell during 2004.
• F in development capacity, which measures the quality of workers through education, financial resources available for businesses and such factors as the number of doctoral scientists and engineers, households with computers, university research and patents issued to inventors in the state.
Dan Juneau, president of the Louisiana Association of Business and Industry, the state´s major business lobby, said he did not put much stock in the report, questioning the methodology used to compile the ratings.
Let all the NFL Gallionaires kick in and fix it
The Lousyana state motto: "Be Gimme Dat."
OMG...ROTFLMAO It's a good thing I turned my head or you'd owe me a new keyboard (mouthfull of water). Only a liberal could get away with being "stuck on stupid" like this.
Nor here either:
FEMA Approves $4 Million For Berm
"Dauphin Island -- besieged again this year by beach erosion during Hurricanes Katrina and Rita -- will receive $4 million in federal dollars to rebuild the sand berm intended to help protect homes, officials said Tuesday."
Mayor Jeff Collier said he is under the impression that newly announced money is in addition to the $4 million the Federal Emergency Management Agency already had promised after Hurricane Ivan."
The idiots that chose not to evacuate the people (Nagin,Blanco) should use some of that illegally gained money and do it their damn selves.
FEMA should be doing management rather than signing purchase orders. If they are doing preparation they should change their name to Federal Emergency Preparation Agency. FEPA. But, straying into gray areas seems to be the trend for gov't agencies.
Forget it, that's up to the locals' bank accounts. That goes for alligator farms and all the other rigmarole the LA senators have cobbled together.
Good! We could not afford them before Katrina either.
Publicly, he wants "enlarged concourses and new restrooms".
We won't hear about the new luxury suites until the "financing" has been arranged, if then.
There's no way New Orleans can be rebuilt by those now in charge. It is a mathematical impossibility.
They are unable to see past their own greed and artifice. It has been bred too deeply into them to ever change. A Darwinian process has been applied over tens of decades, until only the most corrupt seek office or have a chance of being elected.
Any and all money they are given now or in the future will be used for their own personal gain, and New Orleans will be consumed by mold and more mold until a responsible authority is given financial oversight.
Weren't they claiming it was hurricane-proof before Katrina, while they were advising everyone to go there? That claim was correct, there weren't any Superdome injuries or deaths from the weather. The problems were the local politicians and their welfare state slaves. Making the dome liberal-proof will take more than money.
At least she's being honest. The Dims need to maintain a large population of poor in need of government handouts. That, and the anti-american lunatic fringe, is their base.
http://www.louisianaweekly.com/weekly/news/articlegate.pl?20021111h
Inside Track
By Michael O'Leary
November 11, 2002
Coulon In Trouble
Many Jefferson Parish Republicans were shocked when Parish President Tim Coulon endorsed Senator Mary Landrieu. One member of the legislature called the GOP Chief Executive's decision to break party ranks, "treason."
As this State Representative, who asked not to be named, stated, "This is about control of the United States Senate. It's not some local election. It is about the future of the country. To endorse Mary Landrieu is treason."
The legislator also revealed that he and several of his colleagues planned a retaliatory action against Coulon and that this action will be directed at, of all people, his son.
Chris Coulon has his eyes on the State Representative seat currently held by Jennifer Sneed. The Old Metairie and Bucktown district is a prefect fit for a scion of a prominent Republican, and since Ms. Sneed intends to run for the Jefferson Parish Council, vacating the post, a Coulon victory seemed likely.
This has all changed however with the elder Coulon's endorsement of Landrieu. A group of Jefferson GOPers is planning a direct mail piece, which will read, "Like father, like son. The father supported Landrieu. Will the son support her policies?"
Coulon friend Hippo Katz defends the Jefferson Parish president by saying, "Tim was grateful to Landrieu for the drainage money that she provided. He wanted to thank her. He was not concerned by the politics. It is just not who Tim is."
Katz continued, "I don't think Chris will ultimately run. He is looking at other jobs right now."
Pro sports teams should pay for building,maintaining and refurb of their stadiums. Not the taxpayer!
Repair to republican officials offices.
So Louisiana is trying to sucker the feds into giving them more money? I guess they have to have something to pay for those Vegas vacations.
Yes they were, just imagine what would have happened if it had been hit harder.
One day in the House of Representatives, a bill was taken up appropriating money for the benefit of a widow of a distinguished naval officer. Several beautiful speeches had been made in its support. The Speaker was just about to put the question when Crockett arose:
"Mr. Speaker--I have as much respect for the memory of the deceased, and as much sympathy for the sufferings of the living, if suffering there be, as any man in this House, but we must not permit our respect for the dead or our sympathy for a part of the living to lead us into an act of injustice to the balance of the living. I will not go into an argument to prove that Congress has no power to appropriate this money as an act of charity. Every member upon this floor knows it. We have the right, as individuals, to give away as much of our own money as we please in charity; but as members of Congress we have no right so to appropriate a dollar of the public money. Some eloquent appeals have been made to us upon the ground that it is a debt due the deceased. Mr. Speaker, the deceased lived long after the close of the war; he was in office to the day of his death, and I have never heard that the government was in arrears to him.
Every man in this House knows it is not a debt. We cannot, without the grossest corruption, appropriate this money as the payment of a debt. We have not the semblance of authority to appropriate it as a charity. Mr. Speaker, I have said we have the right to give as much money of our own as we please. I am the poorest man on this floor. I cannot vote for this bill, but I will give one week's pay to the object, and if every member of Congress will do the same, it will amount to more than the bill asks."
He took his seat. Nobody replied. The bill was put upon its passage, and, instead of passing unanimously, as was generally supposed, and as, no doubt, it would, but for that speech, it received but few votes, and, of course, was lost.
Later, when asked by a friend why he had opposed the appropriation, Crockett gave this explanation:
"Several years ago I was one evening standing on the steps of the Capitol with some other members of Congress, when our attention was attracted by a great light over in Georgetown. It was evidently a large fire. We jumped into a hack and drove over as fast as we could. In spite of all that could be done, many houses were burned and many families made homeless, and, besides, some of them had lost all but the clothes they had on. The weather was very cold, and when I saw so many women and children suffering, I felt that something ought to be done for them. The next morning a bill was introduced appropriating $20,000 for their relief. We put aside all other business and rushed it through as soon as it could be done.
"The next summer, when it began to be time to think about the election, I concluded I would take a scout around among the boys of my district. I had no opposition there, but, as the election was some time off, I did not know what might turn up. When riding one day in a part of my district in which I was more of a stranger than any other, I saw a man in a field plowing and coming toward the road. I gauged my gait so that we should meet as he came to the fence. As he came up, I spoke to the man. He replied politely, but, as I thought, rather coldly.
"I began: 'Well, friend, I am one of those unfortunate beings called candidates, and--'
"'Yes, I know you; you are Colonel Crockett, I have seen you once before, and voted for you the last time you were elected. I suppose you are out electioneering now, but you had better not waste your time or mine. I shall not vote for you again.'
"This was a sockdolager . . . I begged him to tell me what was the matter.
"'Well, Colonel, it is hardly worth-while to waste time or words upon it. I do not see how it can be mended, but you gave a vote last winter which shows that either you have not capacity to understand the Constitution, or that you are wanting in the honesty and firmness to be guided by it. In either case you are not the man to represent me. But I beg your pardon for expressing it in that way. I did not intend to avail myself of the privilege of the constituent to speak plainly to a candidate for the purpose of insulting or wounding you. I intend by it only to say that your understanding of the Constitution is very different from mine; and I will say to you what, but for my rudeness, I should not have said, that I believe you to be honest. . . . But an understanding of the Constitution different from mine I cannot overlook, because the Constitution, to be worth anything, must be held sacred, and rigidly observed in all its provisions. The man who wields power and misinterprets it is the more dangerous the more honest he is.'
"'I admit the truth of all you say, but there must be some mistake about it, for I do not remember that I gave any vote last winter upon any constitutional question.'
"'No, Colonel, there's no mistake. Though I live here in the backwoods and seldom go from home, I take the papers from Washington and read very carefully all the proceedings of Congress. My papers say that last winter you voted for a bill to appropriate $20,000 to some sufferers by a fire in Georgetown. Is that true?'
"'Well, my friend; I may as well own up. You have got me there. But certainly nobody will complain that a great and rich country like ours should give the insignificant sum of $20,000 to relieve its suffering women and children, particularly with a full and overflowing Treasury, and I am sure, if you had been there, you would have done just as I did.'
"'It is not the amount, Colonel, that I complain of; it is the principle. In the first place, the government ought to have in the Treasury no more than enough for its legitimate purposes. But that has nothing to do with the question. The power of collecting and disbursing money at pleasure is the most dangerous power that can be intrusted to man, particularly under our system of collecting revenue by a tariff, which reaches every man in the country, no matter how poor he may be, and the poorer he is the more he pays in proportion to his means. What is worse, it presses upon him without his knowledge where the weight centers, for there is not a man in the United States who can ever guess how much he pays to the government. So you see, that while you are contributing to relieve one, you are drawing it from thousands who are even worse off than he. If you had the right to give anything, the amount was simply a matter of discretion with you, and you had as much right to give $20,000,000 as $20,000. If you have the right to give to one, you have the right to give to all; and, as the Constitution neither defines charity nor stipulates the amount, you are at liberty to give to any and everything which you may believe, or profess to believe, is a charity, and to any amount you may think proper. You will very easily perceive what a wide door this would open for fraud and corruption and favoritism, on the one hand, and for robbing the people on the other. No, Colonel, Congress has no right to give charity. Individual members may give as much of their own money as they please, but they have no right to touch a dollar of the public money for that purpose. If twice as many houses had been burned in this county as in Georgetown, neither you nor any other member of Congress would have thought of appropriating a dollar for our relief. There are about two hundred and forty members of Congress. If they had shown their sympathy for the sufferers by contributing each one week's pay, it would have made over $13,000. There are plenty of wealthy men in and around Washington who could have given $20,000 without depriving themselves of even a luxury of life. The congressmen chose to keep their own money, which, if reports be true, some of them spend not very creditably; and the people about Washington, no doubt, applauded you for relieving them from the necessity of giving by giving what was not yours to give. The people have delegated to Congress, by the Constitution, the power to do certain things. To do these, it is authorized to collect and pay moneys, and for nothing else. Everything beyond this is usurpation, and a violation of the Constitution.
"'So you see, Colonel, you have violated the Constitution in what I consider a vital point. It is a precedent fraught with danger to the country, for when Congress once begins to stretch its power beyond the limits of the Constitution, there is no limit to it, and no security for the people. I have no doubt you acted honestly, but that does not make it any better, except as far as you are personally concerned, and you see that I cannot vote for you.'
"I tell you I felt streaked. I saw if I should have opposition, and this man should go to talking, he would set others to talking, and in that district I was a gone fawn-skin. I could not answer him, and the fact is, I was so fully convinced that he was right, I did not want to. But I must satisfy him, and I said to him:
"'Well, my friend, you hit the nail upon the head when you said I had not sense enough to understand the Constitution. I intended to be guided by it, and thought I had studied it fully. I have heard many speeches in Congress about the powers of Congress, but what you have said here at your plow has got more hard, sound sense in it than all the fine speeches I ever heard. If I had ever taken the view of it that you have, I would have put my head into the fire before I would have given that vote; and if you will forgive me and vote for me again, if I ever vote for another unconstitutional law I wish I may be shot.'
"He laughingly replied: 'Yes, Colonel, you have sworn to that once before, but I will trust you again upon one condition. You say that you are convinced that your vote was wrong. Your acknowledgment of it will do more good than beating you for it. If, as you go around the district, you will tell people about this vote, and that you are satisfied it was wrong, I will not only vote for you, but will do what I can to keep down opposition, and, perhaps, I may exert some little influence in that way.'
"'If I don't,' said I, 'I wish I may be shot; and to convince you that I am in earnest in what I say I will come back this way in a week or ten days, and if you will get up a gathering of the people, I will make a speech to them. Get up a barbecue, and I will pay for it.'
"'No, Colonel, we are not rich people in this section, but we have plenty of provisions to contribute for a barbecue, and some to spare for those who have none. The push of crops will be over in a few days, and we can then afford a day for a barbecue. This is Thursday; I will see to getting it up on Saturday week. Come to my house on Friday, and we will go together, and I promise you a very respectable crowd to see and hear you.'
"'Well, I will be here. But one thing more before I say good-by. I must know your name.'
"'My name is Bunce.'
"'Not Horatio Bunce?'
"'Yes.'
"'Well, Mr. Bunce, I never saw you before, though you say you have seen me, but I know you very well. I am glad I have met you, and very proud that I may hope to have you for my friend.'
"It was one of the luckiest hits of my life that I met him. He mingled but little with the public, but was widely known for his remarkable intelligence and incorruptible integrity, and for a heart brimful and running over with kindness and benevolence, which showed themselves not only in words but in acts. He was the oracle of the whole country around him, and his fame had extended far beyond the circle of his immediate acquaintance. Though I had never met him before, I had heard much of him, and but for this meeting it is very likely I should have had opposition, and had been beaten. One thing is very certain, no man could now stand up in that district under such a vote.
"At the appointed time I was at his house, having told our conversation to every crowd I had met, and to every man I stayed all night with, and I found that it gave the people an interest and a confidence in me stronger than I had every seen manifested before.
"Though I was considerably fatigued when I reached his house, and, under ordinary circumstances, should have gone early to bed, I kept him up until midnight, talking about the principles and affairs of government, and got more real, true knowledge of them than I had got all my life before.
"I have known and seen much of him since, for I respect him--no, that is not the word--I reverence and love him more than any living man, and I go to see him two or three times every year; and I will tell you, sir, if every one who professes to be a Christian lived and acted and enjoyed it as he does, the religion of Christ would take the world by storm.
"But to return to my story. The next morning we went to the barbecue, and, to my surprise, found about a thousand men there. I met a good many whom I had not known before, and they and my friend introduced me around until I had got pretty well acquainted--at least, they all knew me.
"In due time notice was given that I would speak to them. They gathered up around a stand that had been erected. I opened my speech by saying:
"'Fellow-citizens--I present myself before you today feeling like a new man. My eyes have lately been opened to truths which ignorance or prejudice, or both, had heretofore hidden from my view. I feel that I can today offer you the ability to render you more valuable service than I have ever been able to render before. I am here today more for the purpose of acknowledging my error than to seek your votes. That I should make this acknowledgment is due to myself as well as to you. Whether you will vote for me is a matter for your consideration only.'
"I went on to tell them about the fire and my vote for the appropriation and then told them why I was satisfied it was wrong. I closed by saying:
"'And now, fellow-citizens, it remains only for me to tell you that the most of the speech you have listened to with so much interest was simply a repetition of the arguments by which your neighbor, Mr. Bunce, convinced me of my error.
"'It is the best speech I ever made in my life, but he is entitled to the credit for it. And now I hope he is satisfied with his convert and that he will get up here and tell you so.'
"He came upon the stand and said:
"'Fellow-citizens--It affords me great pleasure to comply with the request of Colonel Crockett. I have always considered him a thoroughly honest man, and I am satisfied that he will faithfully perform all that he has promised you today.'
"He went down, and there went up from that crowd such a shout for Davy Crockett as his name never called forth before.
"I am not much given to tears, but I was taken with a choking then and felt some big drops rolling down my cheeks. And I tell you now that the remembrance of those few words spoken by such a man, and the honest, hearty shout they produced, is worth more to me than all the honors I have received and all the reputation I have ever made, or ever shall make, as a member of Congress.
"Now, sir," concluded Crockett, "you know why I made that speech yesterday.
"There is one thing now to which I will call your attention. You remember that I proposed to give a week's pay. There are in that House many very wealthy men--men who think nothing of spending a week's pay, or a dozen of them, for a dinner or a wine party when they have something to accomplish by it. Some of those same men made beautiful speeches upon the great debt of gratitude which the country owed the deceased--a debt which could not be paid by money--and the insignificance and worthlessness of money, particularly so insignificant a sum as $10,000, when weighted against the honor of the nation. Yet not one of them responded to my proposition. Money with them is nothing but trash when it is to come out of the people. But it is the one great thing for which most of them are striving, and many of them sacrifice honor, integrity, and justice to obtain it."
Since when did providing evac shelters become a federal responsibility?
Agreed - Mold, Formosa termites and apparently lots of maggots...
Many news stories abound regarding one time residents coming to collect what's left and swearing never to return
Answer: Since Katrina hit New Orleans - we already know it was the Feds full responsibility to send in hundreds of air conditioned buses to remove citizens ahead of the storm
Total demolition of the Superdome is the only option in my book. All things considered, this is probably a rhetorical question, but who in their right mind would ever want to re-enter a building that the entire world knows was the site of deaths, crimes and overflowing rivers of contamination?
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