Architect of Katrina housing disaster resigns amid criminal probe

U.S. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Alphonso Jackson announced today that he is stepping down to "attend more diligently to personal and family matters." The last day in office for the nation's scandal-plagued HUD secretary will be April 18.

The announcement comes just over a week after Senate Banking Committee Chairman Chris Dodd of Connecticut and Senate Appropriations Committee member Patty Murray of Washington requested Jackson's resignation, saying the various controversies engulfing the secretary were complicating efforts to address the national mortgage crisis and related recession.

A Texas native and longtime friend of President Bush, Jackson is currently under investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the HUD Inspector General, a federal grand jury and prosecutors from the Justice Department's Public Integrity Section for alleged conflicts of interest involving the controversial redevelopment of public housing in New Orleans and the Virgin Islands. In New Orleans, HUD awarded a $127 million deal to Columbia Residential, an Atlanta firm for which Jackson worked and that still owes him at least $250,000. The probe focuses on whether Jackson lied to Congress when he testified that he was not directly involved in contracting decisions.

Federal agents are also investigating whether Jackson arranged work for friends. One of them, contractor William Hairston of South Carolina, landed a profitable deal with the Housing Authority of New Orleans, which is under HUD control. The National Journal has reported that investigators are also examining financial ties between Jackson's wife and companies that did business with HANO. In addition, the Philadelphia Housing Authority has filed a lawsuit claiming Jackson took retaliatory action after the agency scrapped a deal involving his friend, former music producer-turned-developer Kenny Gamble. A 2007 probe by HUD's Inspector General found that Jackson urged his staff to favor the president's friends when awarding contracts.

But corruption and cronyism were not the only problems at HUD during Jackson's tenure: His agency also oversaw a problematic housing recovery effort on the Gulf Coast after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita that has left many disaster-displaced renters and low-income homeowners struggling to exercise their human right of return and resulted in a doubling of homelessness in New Orleans.

HUD's policies helped fulfill the prophecy Jackson made shortly after Katrina that New Orleans was "not going to be as black as it was for a long time, if ever again." Since the storm, New Orleans' black population has fallen by 57 percent, compared to 36 percent for its white population. As a result, a city that was 67 percent black before the disaster is now estimated to be only 58 percent black.

(HUD photo of Secretary Jackson and Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour in Gulfport, Miss. announcing a plan to help low-income homeowners affected by Hurricane Katrina)

FEMA added to lawsuit over formaldehyde-contaminated trailers

A group of people left homeless by Hurricane Katrina is suing the Federal Emergency Management Agency for housing them in trailers contaminated with dangerous levels of formaldehyde. Filed in federal court last week, the complaint adds FEMA to a batch of consolidated cases against manufacturers for allegedly using shoddy materials and construction methods.

After independent tests conducted by the Sierra Club in early 2006 revealed dangerously high levels of formaldehyde, FEMA was slow to respond. In fact, more than a year after the environmental group released its results, FEMA Administrator R. David Paulison told a House committee he was unaware the trailers posed a health threat. The agency was also accused of suppressing health warnings due to liability concerns and meddling into the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's study assessing the trailers' risks, though it insists it's done nothing wrong.

In the end, though, the CDC study confirmed serious problems with the trailers' air quality and sparked a mass relocation of trailer dwellers, with all FEMA-managed group trailer sites to be closed by June 1.

Nagin continues to stonewall press on questionable business deal

Yesterday New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin lashed out at the Times-Picayune newspaper for reporting on a deal landed by his family's company to install countertops for a Central City Home Depot at the same time the store was negotiating tax breaks and other assistance from the city. He complained that the paper's stories were part of a larger pattern of coverage that was unfair to him:

"It's unfortunate that we have to continue to get to this point where minor things are being blown out of proportion," he said. "My sons have followed every rule. I told them going into the business that they couldn't do any city contracts or anything close to a city contract, and the store in question is not one of the stores they're doing business with. So, you know, it's just typical, unfortunately, of what I have to go through."

But Nagin still refused to disclose any details on his involvement in the firm, saying only that he serves as a financier and owns "less than a majority" of the company. When asked for the precise percentage, he said he's "not getting into that." Louisiana ethics laws prohibit city officials from being paid by entities that have or are seeking business or financial relationships with the city. That prohibition would be triggered if Nagin owns 25 percent or more of the firm.

Deal between Home Depot, Nagin family business sparks ethics questions

From the New Orleans Times-Picayune:

Nearly a year ago, Mayor Ray Nagin headed up a team of city leaders to celebrate the breaking of ground on a new Home Depot store at the corner of Calliope Street and South Claiborne Avenue.

The ceremony marked a coup of sorts for New Orleans: The retailer, America's second-largest, was the first to commit to building a big new store in the inner city after Hurricane Katrina.

With tens of thousands of renovations occurring all over town, the opening of a Central City Home Depot promised to help New Orleans capture millions of dollars in sales taxes from Jefferson Parish. Additionally, the store was to be located in an area considered an economic wasteland.

In negotiating with Home Depot, the city relied on a tool similar to those often used to woo big-box stores: The retailer was approved for a long-term property tax reduction. In addition, the city agreed to sell the streets under the site for a price well below the appraised value.

But few at the ceremony knew that a month before, Stone Age LLC, a granite and marble business founded in early 2005 by the mayor and his two sons, had landed a deal with Home Depot under which Stone Age would be cutting and installing all granite countertops purchased at four of the giant retailer's other local outposts.

The arrangement would violate Louisiana ethics laws if Nagin's stake in the company is 25 percent or more, but it's not clear how involved he is. Official paperwork lists him as a vice president and one of three members, along with his two sons -- but Nagin declined to answer reporters' questions about his role, according to the paper.

The Times-Picayune also revealed that the mayor's 2007 daily planner shows a meeting with "Home Depot" on Feb. 1 at the offices of Stone Age, which landed the deal two months later. Last month Nagin lashed out at WWL-TV for a report about his work habits based on an analysis of his daily planner; he charged that making his personal schedule public put him and his family at risk.

More than toxic trailers: Investigation examines broader problems at federal health agency

Those of us following the disaster on the Gulf Coast know the Federal Emergency Management Agency gave hurricane-displaced families temporary housing that was later found to be contaminated with hazardous formaldehyde. We also know the federal Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, a division of the Atlanta-based Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, dragged its feet before finally studying the trailer contamination and complied with FEMA's demands not to consider long-term impacts like cancer.

Well, it turns out the toxic trailer debacle is part of a bigger story about the ATSDR's failure to protect public health.

The Washington Independent just published a two-part investigation examining what it calls the agency's "questionable approaches" to communities with environmental health concerns. The first installment posted last week examined evidence of cover-ups in ATSDR's health studies of the Great Lakes region (initially uncovered by the Center for Public Integrity) and an eastern Pennsylvania community with unusually high rates of a rare blood cancer. (I've also been covering the Pennsylvania study on my Hometown Hazards blog.)

This week's installment looks at the agency's actions in two Southern communities -- Midlothian, Tx., and Athens, Ga. In Midlothian, the ATSDR considered health effects of air pollution from several industrial facilities at the request of local residents concerned about the rate of birth defects. The agency came up with "indeterminate" findings, but critics of the study -- among them a former CDC epidemiologist -- say the agency used faulty monitoring data from the state and failed to consider key pollutants.

The Athens case involves a health study requested by resident Jill McElheney, who was living across the street from a petroleum tank farm when her 4-year-old son was diagnosed with leukemia; subsequent lab tests found their well was contaminated with toxic chemicals linked to the cancer. The ATSDR also came up with inconclusive findings in that study -- but failed to consider a facility less than 200 yards from the sick child's home, ignored air emissions, and declined to talk with the families of five other local children with leukemia who McElheney knew.

The series' conclusion?

The ATSDR's approach to public health studies of environmental sources has proven negligent in all the cases investigated by The Washington Independent. Some members of the local communities say the agency expends energy to make sure no health problem is found.

"Like pigs in a cage": Katrina guest workers fight 21st century slavery in Mississippi

More than 100 guest workers carrying signs that said "I Am a Man" and "Dignity" walked off the job at a Mississippi shipyard last week to protest conditions they liken to slavery.

The shipyard workers, who are from India, have filed a class-action lawsuit [PDF] against Pascagoula, Miss.-based Signal International, one of the largest marine and fabrication companies in the Gulf of Mexico. The suit also targets recruiters in the U.S., India and United Arab Emirates, as well as New Orleans immigration attorney Malvern Burnett and the Gulf Coast Immigration Law Center.

Filed in U.S. District Court in the Eastern District of Louisiana, where many of the defendants are based, the suit says that in the wake of Hurricane Katrina more than 500 Indian men were trafficked into the United States through the federal H2B guest worker program to work for Signal at shipyards in Pascagoula and Orange, Texas. Lured by promises of permanent work and a chance at legal immigration, the men gave up their jobs in India and went into debt to finance fees as high as $20,000 each. They then allegedly had their passports and visas held by recruiters who told them that changing their minds about working for Signal could bring legal action and even physical harm.

Once in the United States, the men were forced to live in guarded, overcrowded and isolated labor camps, the suit charges. After several of the plaintiffs spoke out against conditions in the Pascagoula camp, Signal security guards allegedly tried to forcibly deport them. One of the workers -- Sabulal Vijayan -- became so distraught by the threat of deportation that he attempted suicide and had to be hospitalized. The guards locked three of the other men in a room for several hours, refusing to provide them with water or bathroom access. The abuse left Signal's immigrant workers terrorized, the suit says:

Deeply fearful, isolated, disoriented, and unfamiliar with their rights under United States law, these workers felt compelled to continue working for Signal.

Filed by the Louisiana Justice Institute, Southern Poverty Law Center and the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund, the suit charges the defendants with violating the Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act, the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, the Civil Rights Act of 1866, and the Ku Klux Klan Act of 1871, among other laws. Five of the plaintiffs are also bringing individual claims of false imprisonment, assault, battery, and infliction of emotional distress. The workers are also asking the Department of Justice to investigate. Signal says the charges are untrue and that most of its guest workers are satisfied with their living conditions.

During last Thursday's walkout, the workers threw their hardhats over the fence in protest as they left the shipyard and sang "We Shall Overcome." Saket Soni of the New Orleans Workers' Center for Racial Justice, who served as an interpreter, said the workers talked of living "like pigs in a cage."

"The U.S. State Department calls it 'a repulsive crime' when recruiters and employers in other parts of the world bind guest workers with crushing debts and threats of deportation," Soni says. "This is precisely what is happening on the Gulf Coast."

(Photo by Ted Quant courtesy of neworleans.indymedia.org. To see more images from the protest, click on the previous link or the photo above.)

Survey to assess health impacts of Katrina and Rita

People whose health was directly affected by hurricanes Katrina and Rita -- whether as evacuees, displaced persons, rescue and recovery workers, or volunteers -- are invited to participate in a groundbreaking national survey that will assess the storms' impact on mental and physical well-being. The survey's sponsors, the Louisiana Environmental Action Network and Partners Publishing, explain their aims:

The primary purpose of the survey is to identify the current health status of individuals whose physical and psychological health remains negatively impacted from exposures to flood waters, hurricane sediment, water-damaged buildings, mold, formaldehyde and/or mold in FEMA-provided trailers, mobile homes, or park models, and/or other contaminants incurred during and/or after Hurricane Katrina, Hurricane Rita, and/or from other contaminant-laden post-hurricane housing. The secondary purpose of the survey is to identify the total number of people who have become physically and/or psychologically ill since hurricanes Katrina and Rita to assist in identifying health trends, patterns of illnesses, and geographic clusters of increased levels of illnesses.

The The 2008 Nationwide Katrina and Rita Health Survey will be available online during an eight-week period that began yesterday and ends May 7. Results will be compiled by town, parish and state. Information on preliminary data will be released midway through the survey period, with a full report set for its conclusion. A Spanish version of the survey will be available by March 24, organizers say.

Blanco gave controversial Road Home contractor a secret raise

While former Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco is making the most of her time out of office delivering speeches and writing a book, there's more trouble brewing for her back in the capital. From today's New Orleans Times-Picayune:

In the final weeks of Gov. Kathleen Blanco's administration, state officials quietly increased the size of the Road Home management contract from $756 million to $912 million, rewarding a contractor the Legislature wanted to fire, auditors questioned and thousands of homeowner applicants cursed.

The Blanco administration never told the public about the 25 percent compensation increase for ICF International that was added to the three-year Road Home contract Dec. 7. The Times-Picayune discovered the change this week during a review of the program's latest budget estimates, in which the Louisiana Recovery Authority shows it's setting aside enough to pay the full $156 million increase.

The story goes on to note that Blanco's administration approved the raise without notifying the legislature, which is supposed to review large recovery contracts. State officials presented a Road Home budget update to a legislative budget committee a week after the decision but did not mention the raise.

New Louisiana Recovery Authority Director Paul Rainwater, who was appointed by Gov. Bobby Jindal and given greater control over Road Home, said a raise was needed but questioned the amount and the process. He said he has contacted the legislative auditor to investigate and promised to make the findings public.

Earlier this week, ICF International released its fourth-quarter earnings, reporting revenues of $186.4 million -- "substantially above the $113.9 million reported for last year's fourth quarter." The Road Home contract accounted for the bulk of that revenue, totaling $108.8 million in the 2007 fourth quarter compared to $60.5 million in the fourth quarter of 2006. In the earnings release, company officials said the Road Home raise was needed to cover increased program management costs resulting from the receipt of about 50 percent more applications than originally estimated.

The ICF's dealings in Louisiana have raised ethical questions before. The company first got involved in the post-hurricane rebuilding effort when its Emergency Management Services subsidiary won a $900,000 contract to help the state decided how to spend federal grant money, helping develop what would eventually become the Road Home program. At the same time it was carrying out that work, ICF decided to seek the lucrative administration contract.

While it was pursing that deal, the formerly private company filed paperwork for an initial public offering of stock. It went ahead with that offering in October 2006 -- shortly after winning the contract from Louisiana. That same year, ICF paid its executives bonuses about five times higher than the previous year.

Clearly, the Road Home has been very good for ICF. But with more than 50,000 grant applicants still waiting for payments more than two and a half years after the storm, there are some Louisianans who don't think ICF has been very good for the Road Home -- and who rightly question whether it deserves such generous backroom rewards.

Blanco speaks on Katrina's lessons at UNC

Former Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco is on the lecture circuit these days talking about lessons learned from Hurricane Katrina. She gave her first speech as a former governor outside her home state last month at the University of Arkansas Clinton School of Public Service, and last night she delivered the annual Charleston Area Alumni Lecture in Southern Affairs at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Blanco, a Democrat, chose not to run for re-election and left office in January. She was succeeded by Republican Bobby Jindal, who she had defeated four years earlier. She described leaving as a "blessed ending" and said she "can't stop smiling from ear to ear" to have her life back.

Noting that any community can be turned upside down in an instant, she emphasized that emergency planning must not be an afterthought. Blanco offered four key things Katrina taught her:

1. "You cannot coordinate if you cannot communicate," she said.

Blanco recounted the complete collapse of Louisiana's communications infrastructure in the wake of the storm, as winds knocked over cell phone towers and floodwaters inundated BellSouth's facilities. She told of National Guard officers being forced to deliver important messages by bicycle.

"Communities should invest in communications systems that can withstand hell or high water," she said.

2. "Be prepared to be on your own for the first 72 hours after a disaster," she advised.

Blanco pointed to the federal government's well-documented failure to respond to the Katrina disaster in a timely way, with the Bush administration not dispatching the Army to Louisiana until five days after the storm. She thanked North Carolina for promptly sending National Guard troops -- and for taking in some 6,000 displaced persons.

3. "You cannot meet unlimited needs with limited resources," she observed, urging the formation of compacts between states to help each other in the event of a major disaster.

Blanco pointed to other instances where greater coordination and planning was needed. For example, nursing homes that arranged for buses to rescue residents sometimes ended up contracting for the same buses. Commercial airlines concerned about the cost of flying into New Orleans with empty planes canceled flights, which meant that tourists had to be evacuated under duress. And the Army Corps of Engineers based its plan for distributing commodities on the assumption that people would be able to drive to pick them up -- even though many of those who stayed behind didn't have cars or lost them in the flood.

4. "When systems go down, paranoia sets in, and the media cycle spins out of control," she warned.

Blanco noted that news outlets reported horrific stories of violence in the storm's aftermath that were later found to be exaggerated or wholly inaccurate. She pointed to the problems that can arise when hordes of reporters descend on a disaster area, calling it "unconscionable" to give reporters space on rescue boats or helicopters when people still need to be saved.

The former governor had strong criticism for the Bush administration, which she blasted not only for failing to promptly help the storm's victims but also for trying to shift the blame for its failed response to state officials. That in turn threatened to create other problems, as Blanco's staff got sidetracked trying to correct the record.

"I ordered my staff to quit trying to defend me against the game of gotcha," she said.

In closing, Blanco had effusive praise for the response of the American people, and for the numerous organizations and individuals that have come to the Gulf Coast and turned New Orleans into a laboratory for public service.

"Ten years from now, Louisiana will surpass our dreams," she predicted. "Its robust economy will be a source of pride for the South."

Following the hour-long talk, Blanco answered questions for about half an hour, addressing the rebuilding of the levees, the misinformation spread about the actions she took in advance of the storm, her controversial shoot-to-kill order (which she said came only to quell the fear of violence that was paralyzing rescue efforts), and the urgent need to reform the federal Stafford Act governing disaster response.

In the final question of the night, she was asked whether she has any plans to re-enter politics.

"I'm planning to write my book to tell my story," she said to enthusiastic applause.

Welcome to New Orlanta

With the third anniversary of Hurricane Katrina approaching, it's becoming clear that many New Orleans residents displaced by the disaster won't be coming home any time soon. As Bill Quigley recently reported, half of the city's displaced working poor, elderly and disabled residents still have not returned, and demolition of the city's public housing stock continues despite the protests of international human rights officials.

Given that harsh reality, some of Katrina's displaced are stepping up organizing efforts in the communities where they live now. In Atlanta, for example, they recently created Network New Orlanta, a social networking community with a mission to connect the people of New Orleans who are now living in Georgia's biggest city:

The goal of the social network is to pool and identify financial resources, job placement and business opportunities, mental healthcare access and educational advancement programs that will assist in stabilizing families [affected] by Hurricane Katrina. Network New Orlanta further plans to serve as a watchdog organization that will advocate, lobby and demand accountability of elected officials and agencies fundraising on behalf of Hurricane Katrina families. Organizers are all natives and supporters of New Orleans who are dedicated to the rebuilding progress and process and the quality of life for those who remain displaced.

The first Network NewOrlanta mixer will take place on March 15 at Blaxx Entertainment Complex, 1245 Fowler St., from 9 p.m. to 1 a.m. and will feature traditional New Orleans food and cocktails. Says ChiQ Simms, a publicist who's one of the event's organizers:

"It is important that we gather more frequently to effect change for ourselves. It is vital that we posture ourselves to be a part of the solution. Our message is about prioritizing New Orleans people, not the politics."

For more information about Network New Orlanta and the upcoming mixer, contact Sandy at sugathesoutherndiva [at] gmail.com. To make a financial or in-kind donation, call the group's offices at 404-816-6000 or e-mail divadend [at] bellsouth.net.

Mississippi lawmakers hold hearing on post-Katrina housing crisis

March 15 is the deadline for Mississippi residents displaced by Hurricane Katrina to apply for assistance for a home rebuilding and replacement program. But at a legislative hearing today in Jackson, some testified that the program denies aid to homeowners who need help the most.

Held by the state Senate Housing Committee, the hearing included testimony from advocacy groups including the NAACP, Oxfam American and the Mississippi Interfaith Disaster Task Force. The Associated Press reports:

John Joplin of the Mississippi Center for Justice Katrina Recovery Office said estimates show 18,000 storm-damaged homes aren't eligible for any of the federally funded programs being administered by the Mississippi Development Authority.

"It is very apparent the goal of affordable housing remains a distant mirage," Joplin said.

The program's first phase provided up to $150,000 each to homeowners who lived outside the federal flood plain. The second phase offers up to $100,000 for low-income homeowners who had storm surge damage, regardless of whether they were insured or whether the property was in a flood zone.

But homeowners who had wind damage don't qualify for either phase -- one of the concerns raised at the hearing. The advocacy groups asked the state to develop an assistance program to help homeowners with wind damage. However, Gov. Haley Barbour's administration is reluctant to do that since Congress didn't provide funds for wind damage, and since such damage extended far beyond the state's hardest-hit coastal communities.

Half New Orleans poor permanently displaced: Failure or success?

By Bill Quigley
Guest Contributor

Government reports confirm that half of the working poor, elderly and disabled who lived in New Orleans before Katrina have not returned. Because of critical shortages in low cost housing, few now expect tens of thousands of poor and working people to ever be able to return home.

The Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals (DHH) reports Medicaid, medical assistance for aged, blind, disabled and low-wage working families, is down 46% from pre-Katrina levels. DHH reports before Katrina there were 134,249 people in New Orleans on Medicaid. February 2008 reports show participation down to 72,211 (a loss of 62,038 since Katrina). Medicaid is down dramatically in every category: by 50% for the aged, 53% for blind, 48% for the disabled and 52% for children.

The Social Security Administration documents that fewer than half the elderly are back. New Orleans was home to 37,805 retired workers who received Social Security before Katrina, now there are 18,940 – a 50% reduction. Before Katrina, there were 12,870 disabled workers receiving Social Security Disability in New Orleans, now there are 5350 – 59% less. Before there were 9425 widowers in New Orleans receiving Social Security survivor’s benefits, now there are less than half, 4140.

Children of working class families have not returned. Public school enrollment in New Orleans was 66,372 before Katrina. Latest figures are 32,149 – a 52% reduction.

Public transit numbers are down 75% since Katrina. Prior to Katrina there were frequently over 3 million rides per month. In January 2008, there were 732,000 rides. The Regional Transit Authority says the reduction reflects that New Orleans has far fewer poorer, transit dependent residents.

Figures from the Louisiana Department of Social Services show the number of families receiving food stamps in New Orleans has dropped from 46,551 in June of 2005 to 22,768 in January 2008. Welfare numbers are also down. The Louisiana Families Independence Temporary Assistance Program was down from 5764 recipients (mostly children) in July 2005 to 1412 in the latest report.

While there are no precise figures on the racial breakdown of the poor and working people still displaced, indications strongly suggest they are overwhelmingly African American. The black population of New Orleans has plummeted by 57 percent, while white population fell 36 percent, according to census data. The areas which are fully recovering are more affluent and predominately white. New Orleans, which was 67 percent black before Katrina, is estimated to be no higher than 58 percent black now.

The reduction in poor and low-wage workers in New Orleans is no surprise to social workers. Don Everard, director of social service agency Hope House, says New Orleans is a much tougher town for poor people than before Katrina.

“Housing costs a lot more and there is much less of it,” says Everard. “The job market is also very unstable. The rise in wages after Katrina has mostly fallen backwards and people are not getting enough hours of work on a regular basis.”

The displacement of tens of thousands of people is now expected to be permanent because there is both a current shortage of affordable housing and no plan to create affordable rental housing for tens of thousands of the displaced.

In the most blatant sign of government action to reduce the numbers of poor people in New Orleans, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is demolishing thousands of intact public housing apartments. HUD is spending nearly a billion dollars with questionable developers to end up with much less affordable housing. Right after Katrina, HUD Secretary Alphonso Jackson predicted New Orleans was “not going to be as black as it was for a long time, if ever again.” He then worked to make that prediction true.

According to Policy Link, a national research institute, the crisis in affordable housing means barely 2 in 5 renters in Louisiana can return to affordable homes. In New Orleans, all the funds currently approved by HUD and other government agencies (not spent, only approved) for housing for low-income renters will only rebuild one-third of the pre-Katrina affordable rental housing stock.

Hope House sees four to five hundred needy people a month. “Most of the people we see are working people facing eviction, utility cutoffs, or they are already homeless” reports Everard. The New Orleans homeless population has already doubled from pre-Katrina numbers to approximately 12,000 people.

Everard noted that because of FEMA’s recent announcement that it was closing 35,000 still occupied trailers across the gulf, homelessness is likely to get a lot worse.

United Nations officials recently called for an immediate halt to the demolitions of public housing in New Orleans saying demolition is a violation of human rights and will force predominately black residents into homelessness.

"The spiraling costs of private housing and rental units, and in particular the demolition of public housing, puts these communities in further distress, increasing poverty and homelessness," said a joint statement by UN experts in housing and minority issues. "We therefore call on the Federal Government and State and local authorities to immediately halt the demolitions of public housing in New Orleans." Similar calls have been made by Senators Clinton and Obama. Despite these calls, the demolitions continue.

The rebuilding has gone as many planned. Right after Katrina, one wealthy businessman told the Wall Street Journal, "Those who want to see this city rebuilt want to see it done in a completely different way: demographically, geographically and politically." Elected officials, from national officials like President Bush and HUD Secretary Jackson to local city council members, who are presumably sleeping in their own beds, apparently concur.

Policies put in place so far do not appear overly concerned about the tens of thousands of working poor, the elderly and the disabled who are not able to come home.

The political implications of a dramatic reduction in poor and working mostly African American people in New Orleans are straightforward. The reduction directly helps Republicans who have fought for years to reduce the impact of the overwhelmingly Democratic New Orleans on state-wide politics in Louisiana.

In the jargon of political experts, Louisiana, before Katrina, was a “pink state.” The state went for Clinton twice and then for Bush twice, with U.S. Senators from each party. The forced relocation of hundreds of thousands, mostly lower income and African-American, could alter the balance between the two major parties in Louisiana and the opportunities for black elected officials in New Orleans.

Given the political and governmental officials and policies in place now, one of the major casualties of Katrina will be the permanent displacement of tens of thousands of African Americans, the working poor, their children, the elderly, and the disabled.

Those who wanted a different New Orleans rebuilt probably see the concentrated displacement as a success. However, if the test of a society is how it treats its weakest and most vulnerable members, the aftermath of Katrina earns all of us a failing grade.

Bill Quigley is a human rights lawyer and law professor at Loyola University College of Law in New Orleans. He can be reached at quigley77@gmail.com Interested persons can contact Hope House through Don Everard at deverard@bellsouth.net