JeffArnold @ Sun, 2005-11-27 15:37
The following are just three of the reasons why I voted the way I did. I will always vote with an informed conscience and not with an uninformed (can't report the whole truth) media (Times Picayune) or a public that might blindly follow them.
READ THE BILL as it came to the House (reengrossed version)! http://www.legis.state.la.us/billdata/streamdocument.asp?did=328040
A shorter read is the Bill Digest at:
http://www.legis.state.la.us/billdata/streamdocument.asp?did=328066
First, despite what was reported, the vote that was taken was NOT a vote of yes or no on the merits of bill. It was a vote to bypass the rules of the House of Representative. I voted no.
Second, Did you know that the bill kept the New Orleans levee board intact and only created a oversight board. And, the only oversight the board would have over the New Orleans levee board is for flooding. The bill as it came from the Senate did not take control of the "money" issues from Orleans, including the Lakefront Airport, harbors and police department. If true reform is what we are after then a full takeover is what is needed.
Third, Algiers should not be included in the same super board as the rest of the city (West Jefferson Levee District was taken out of the bill). Our flooding potential does not come from Lake Pontchartrain or Lake Borne, our biggest threat comes from the Barataria Bay and surges from the Gulf of Mexico, west of the Mississippi river. We should be a part of the West Jefferson Levee district or a new super board for the west bank or one board that includes equal representation from the westbank.
