Katrina Networking

I am using my networking and marketing skills to pass along vital information to organizations, volunteers and survivors of the 2005 hurricane season. Grants, networking, advocating, assistance resources, articles and more. Updated regularly to better assist you.

Tuesday, February 19, 2008

Feb 19 Think NOLA Update

Think New Orleans
RSD Facilities Planning / BarCampNOLA / City Breaks Its Own Laws /
RSD Facilities Planning: The Latest Joke In Civic Participation
Slated for both discussion and demolition: Lockett Elementary by Karen Gadbois.In this inaugural Think New Orleans video cast, bobble-head Alan talks about the School Facilities Master Plan.
Why are we sitting in circles and sharing our feelings about public school facilities while the Recovery School District has their demolition permits in hand? Isn’t this yet another pointless diversion and flagrant waste of our time?
Read the article Have You Heard the Latest Joke In Civic Paricipation? Planning the Future of School Facilities as They Are Demolished and watch the vidcast at Think New Orleans.

BarCampNOLA Hack Day: The New Orleans Hackers Get Organized
Catered by Linda Green (504 891 4478) the crab meat and shrimp dressing was the main event at BarCampNOLA. Photo by Brian Oberkirch.Last weekend was the first BarCampNOLA held at the offices of Voodoo Ventures down on St Charles. The turn out was surprising. I didn’t know there were that many software folks in New Orleans. It was a fun confab and a productive one too.
BarCampNOLA is an technology unconference. You’ve heard me talk about unconferences before. Think New Orleans has hosted two civic unconferences, one on the Road Home Program and one on the New Orleans Redevelopment Authority.
BarCamp doesn’t really have to do with drinking. The first BarCamp was a response to an invitation only and pricey event called FooCamp. BarCamps are free and open. The words “foo” and “bar” are often used in programming examples. Too much to explain, probably.
The second day of BarCamp was Hack Day. A dozen people worked with me to update the website of the Bayou Boogaloo.
You can read more about BarCampNOLA at Think New Orleans under the posts BarCampNOLA Hack Day: Clever Hacks for the Neighborhoods New Orleans and BarCampNOLA Hack Day: The 3rd Annual Bayou Boogaloo Website.

How Many Ways Can a City Violate Its Own Laws? – Matt McBride

“Imminent Health Threat” demolitions along historic, oak lined Bienville Avenue by Karen Gadbios. (I think I see a pattern.)How many ways can a city violate its own laws? A small committee inside New Orleans’ city government appears to be trying to answer that question.
First some fundamentals. The Housing Conservation District Review Committee (HCDRC) is the body charged with reviewing demolition applications in historic neighborhoods outside the city’s local historic districts. That geographic area – called the Housing Conservation District – is roughly south of I-610 on the east bank and also includes a small area near Algiers Point on the west bank.

The agenda for the HCDRC’s bi-weekly meetings is compiled by the city’s Safety & Permits department, which accepts demolition permit applications. Safety & Permits also chairs the committee, which is made up of mostly mid-level city bureaucrats and has no staff. The Committee meets in the offices of Safety & Permits. In effect, the committee is a wing of Safety & Permits, and has historically done that agency’s will, which is tilted toward approval of demolition permits.

One can find the laws governing HCDRC’s operation online at municode.com. They are in sections 26-3 through 26-10. Those laws are not particularly long or complicated; they take up less than four pages. Yet the committee and Safety & Permits have somehow managed to display a stunning degree of ignorance of those rules (twice in the last two months it has been citizens informing city employees of the applicable laws), except where it was more advantageous to exploit them. In fact, it is difficult to find a law relating to HCDRC not ignored or exploited by Safety & Permits or the Committee over the past two years.
Continue reading How Many Ways Can a City Violate It’s Own Laws? at Think New Orleans.

Politics with a Punch
On Thursday night February 21 there will be another special edition of Politics with a Punch at the Cricket Club, 2040 St. Charles Avenue, New Orleans the new location for the event. Many of you will remember it as the Eiffel Tower Restaurant or the Red Room, so you know it is an exquisite facility, one of the most unique in New Orleans.
For this show, they are opening the doors early, at 6 p.m. for a Punch Happy Hour and Dinner. The Cricket Club bar and kitchen will be open and a delicious menu will be offered for Punch patrons.
As usual, we are pleased to have an outstanding panel of celebrities:
Kevin Belton, N.O. School of Cooking, Comedian, Human Taxidermist
Brad Edelman, Famous Photographer, Artist & former N.O. Saint
Gio, Burlesque Queen of N.O., Star of “Stripper,” Marriage Counselor
Nick Lopez, Comedian, Actor, Improviser and Filmmaker
Rob Masson, News Reporter, Fox-8 WVUE-TV
Scott Ritter, Former U.N. Weapons Inspector, Author, National Speaker
Buddy Roemer, Former Gov. of LA, McCain Campaign Representative
Tickets are only $15.00 per person/$25.00 per couple.
If you would like to take advantage of this opportunity, please RSVP by sending an e-mail reply to Jeff Croure. You can also purchase tickets in advance on-line at the website: Ringside Politics with a Punch.

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