NEW ORLEANS (FinalCall.com) - During a press conference on March 29, New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin and city recovery director Ed Blakely unveiled a $1.1 billion plan that focuses on 17 zones throughout the city that was torn by the massive floodwaters of Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Although the funds are yet to be secured, Mayor Nagin and his team are optimistic about the timing and the blueprints.

'I think we achieved a consensus today. This plan represents what sound planning principles and science and community input can deliver at the end of the day.' �Councilwoman Cynthia Willard-Lewis

According to Mr. Blakely, the plan will zero in on areas stretching from Canal Street to the hard-hit Lower 9th Ward. He pointed out that this plan will be a major step in improving the city’s slothful recovery efforts and that he hopes this will serve as the standard for a citywide master plan. In order to protect possible changes by present and future New Orleans political leaders, he recommended that the plan be made into laws. Mr. Blakely said he envisions “cranes in the sky” by September, but Mayor Nagin cautioned against holding the city to any timelines, saying the city has had difficulty seeing big projects through. But that didn’t stop the media from pressing the issue of specific timelines.

“I don’t want to get into specific dates and specific projects with you guys because I know what you do with that: You come back later and you talk about the things that we haven’t done,” the Mayor said to news journalists.

Preparing to answer displeasures from residents about the selection process, Mr. Blakely pointed out that the selection of the zones grew out of a “scientific” evaluation of resettlement patterns, coupled with the results of planning work completed in recent months by residents, including those still displaced, and a team of professional consultants. “This is not my plan,” Mr. Blakely said. “This is not the city’s plan. It’s the people’s plan. And it will work.”

Mayor Nagin’s plan calls for $742.2 million, about 60 percent of the total, to be spent on citywide projects and programs. Mr. Blakely stated that blight removal would be a major focus of the citywide spending, though he did not give a dollar figure. He mentioned the proposed “Lot Next Door” program, which would give homeowners living next to abandoned or blighted properties the first opportunity to buy them. On the list of citywide projects were improvement of parks, streets and traffic signals, along with programs related to rent-to-own housing, neighborhood retail incentives and historic preservation incentives.

Mr. Blakely said the remaining 40 percent of the $1.1 billion would go to the 17 target zones, 14 of them located west of the Industrial Canal. The largest sum, $145 million, will go to the two hardest-hit areas: The Lower 9th Ward and a section of eastern New Orleans. Another $170.9 million would be spread in areas that need minor enhanced recovery.

City Officials and Leaders Respond

Although a collective approval is still needed, several City Council members expressed enthusiasm about the proposed plan. Councilwoman Cynthia Willard-Lewis, who represents eastern New Orleans and the Lower 9th Ward, stated “I think we achieved a consensus today. This plan represents what sound planning principles and science and community input can deliver at the end of the day.”

“You got to start somewhere,” said Councilman James Carter, who represents areas such as the French Quarters that saw limited flooding. “I hope this plan will progress in a timely fashion.”

“Look, if he’s [Blakely] going to be our czar, then we need to trust him,” Council President Oliver Thomas said. “If he makes a mistake, then we need to deal with that at that time. But right now, I trust the guy. He’s got all the credentials in the world. We just need to start turning some dirt.”

According to NOLA.com news, Vanessa Gueringer, chairwoman of Lower 9th Ward chapter of the community activist group ACORN, had trouble containing her excitement when she saw the blueprint for her ruined area. “This is awesome,” she said, adding that she planned to spend all day on the phone sharing the news with her neighbors still displaced in Houston and Atlanta. “It says to the Lower 9th Ward: You can come home!”

While speaking in Baton Rouge at a Southern University symposium the same day, Former Mayor Marc Morial expressed the importance of city officials building the people’s trust in them. “My sense is that people want to trust, but they want to see some action. If Ed Blakely says X action is going to happen July 1, and it does, then that trust will start to build.”