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'Unified Plan' to Call for Funding of Recovery Priorities for Rebuilding New Orleans
January 11, 2007; Press Release
Source: Unified New Orleans Plan
Displaced Residents in Atlanta, Dallas and Houston to Join Historic New Orleans Town Hall Meeting to Review Elements of Final Plan
NEW ORLEANS, Jan. 11 /PRNewswire/ -- Recommendations for rebuilding New Orleans that will ultimately comprise the city's "unified plan" will be presented for final review and comment at town meetings in Atlanta, Dallas, Houston and New Orleans on Saturday, January 20.
The Unified New Orleans Plan (UNOP) -- which was created this summer out of an agreement by the Mayor, City Council and City Planning Commission -- will unify the City of New Orleans behind a common set of priorities. The plan will be used to solicit the recovery dollars needed to address the substantial needs for rebuilding the city. The Louisiana Recovery Authority, federal government, philanthropic and private funds will be used to finance the largest recovery effort in U.S. history.
"The city's planning process is coming to a close and we can begin to move forward with implementing a truly comprehensive citywide recovery plan," commented New Orleans Mayor C. Ray Nagin. "I encourage all New Orleanians to participate in this final planning meeting and have their voices heard. It is only with the input of all of our citizens that we can rebuild One New Orleans."
Hurricane Katrina, the costliest natural disaster in American history, struck Louisiana and Mississippi on August 29, 2005. In the wake of the storm, 80 percent of New Orleans was flooded when critical levees protecting the city failed. The unprecedented destruction of Katrina soon led to a recovery process of historic proportions. Since the flood waters receded, New Orleanians have been planning for how their city should best be rebuilt.
Public review and comment on the UNOP plan will occur at a third and final citywide town-hall meeting known as Community Congress III on January 20. Citizens who have returned home, as well as those still displaced in Atlanta, Baton Rouge, Dallas and Houston, will have a chance to review the major elements of the plan and provide feedback about what they like and what they believe needs to be changed.
In New Orleans, attendees will gather at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm (Central Standard Time). Meeting locations in Dallas, Atlanta and Houston will be linked to New Orleans via the Internet. Displaced residents in Baton Rouge interested in participating will be provided transportation to New Orleans. Ideas and priorities that emerge from discussions in each of the cities will be collected through computers and sent to planners in New Orleans.
"I urge everyone to attend this final Community Congress meeting," said Dr. Norman C. Francis, Chairman of the Louisiana Recovery Authority. "As this planning process draws to an end, we will begin to see a vision that reflects the hopes, dreams and aspirations of every New Orleanian. Once completed, this comprehensive plan will allow us to speak to the nation with one voice and express our shared priorities for the continued recovery and rebuilding of the great city of New Orleans."
The unified plan will be the product of one of the most extensive public processes ever convened in the United States. In December, UNOP convened over 2,500 New Orleans citizens scattered across 21 cities throughout the country for an unprecedented town hall meeting. Using keypad polling and interactive television, the collective priorities of all New Orleanians were compiled and presented simultaneously.
"This plan represents the collective efforts and thoughts of all New Orleanians," said Community Support Organization (CSO) Chairperson Vera Triplett; the CSO is a nine-member advisory committee created to guide the UNOP Recovery Plan planning process. "In a fairly condensed time frame, the UNOP process has engaged thousands of New Orleans citizens to construct a comprehensive recovery plan for the entire community. This plan will provide a vehicle for us to pursue the funding our city needs to make a meaningful recovery."
Community Congress III is being organized and facilitated by UNOP in partnership with AmericaSpeaks, the non-profit organization that has orchestrated dozens of large-scale town meetings across the country, including a 5,000-person meeting in New York City to enlist citizen input for redeveloping the World Trade Center site after 9/11.
The UNOP process is funded by The Rockefeller Foundation, The Greater New Orleans Foundation and the Bush-Clinton Katrina Fund. Additional funding for public outreach and engagement has been provided by: the Case Foundation, the Carnegie Foundation, the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, the Ford Foundation, the Louisiana Disaster Recovery Foundation, the Louisiana Recovery Authority, Mary Reynolds Babcock Foundation, The Rockefeller Brothers Fund, the Rockefeller Foundation, and the Surdna Foundation.
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