Thread: Let evacuees rebuild New Orleans, Jackson says

http://www.montereyherald.com/mld/monte ... 868294.htm

Posted on Mon, Oct. 10, 2005

Let evacuees rebuild New Orleans, Jackson says

By Phillip O'Connor

St. Louis Post-Dispatch

(KRT) - ST. LOUIS - The Rev. Jesse Jackson called on Monday for Gulf Coast victims of Hurricane Katrina to receive priority when it comes to jobs, job training and contracts in the region's reconstruction.

He criticized the administration of President George W. Bush for failing to have a plan to help evacuees quickly return and participate in the economic opportunities now available there. Instead, that work is being awarded under no-bid contracts, he said.

"Just as there was no mass plan for rescue and there was a botched plan of radical dislocation, there's no plan to return those who have been dispersed around the country," Jackson said.

Jackson spoke after his bus caravan arrived downtown Monday morning to pick up Hurricane Katrina survivors in the area who wanted to return home to work. The trip started early Monday in Chicago with stops planned in Memphis, Jackson and Mobile before arriving in New Orleans. Jackson said he had housing and jobs lined up for 600 people.

Organizers said three people boarded the bus in St. Louis. Two spoke Spanish only.

Barry Lambert, 60, said he was eager to get back to his New Orleans home on St. Andrews Street in the Garden District. He has been living for three weeks at the Alton Mental Health Center. He knows his home is probably ruined by mold.

"I'm afraid to open the refrigerator," he said. "I had just bought five pounds of shrimp. I think I'll just wheel it straight out to the street."

As he talked in the parking lot of the Old Cathedral, Lambert held his companion of 11 years, a small black dog he called Spare Rib.

Lambert lived in New Orleans 26 years and delivered pizzas by bicycle in the French Quarter before the storm. He doesn't know what his new job will be.

He thanked Jackson for the ride home and the opportunity to work again.

"It's one way to get back and get started rebuilding," he said.

Jackson said he spoke Monday morning to New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin.

Nagin's main concern was housing. Jackson said returning residents should be given priority to live on nearby military bases and in hotels and trailers.

Jackson said there are a surplus of jobs in the Gulf Coast region. Some companies are offering bonuses to people who agree to stay a year. But in too many cases, because of the massive dispersal plan, Gulf Coast residents are stuck in evacuation centers in places such as Utah, Michigan or Illinois.

"You cannot really get from Utah to a construction job or a fast food job or a hotel job in New Orleans," Jackson said.

Bush, who was in New Orleans Monday, has acknowledged some shortcomings in the federal government's response to Katrina. The Federal Emergency Management Agency announced last week it would reopen $1.5 billion in no-bid contracts to competitive bidding. The president also called for the government to do a better job of arranging temporary housing for those displaced by the hurricane.

http://www.suntimes.com/output/hurrican ... sse11.html

Evacuees returning in search of work
October 11, 2005

BY LESLIE BALDACCI Staff Reporter Advertisement

About a dozen Hurricane Katrina evacuees boarded a bus outside Rainbow/PUSH Coalition's South Side headquarters in the pre-dawn darkness Monday and set out on the first leg of their journey home, following the lure of jobs and the Rev. Jesse Jackson's promise of a piece of the action.

"Just as there was no plan for an orderly rescue, there is no plan for an orderly relocation," Jackson said. "The displaced have a right to return, and a purpose in reconstruction. They are entitled to job training and jobs."

"I want to go home," said carpenter Roberto Soto. He and a friend, Ricardo Gonzales, were eager to ply their trade as carpenters in the reconstruction of New Orleans after a month in Chicago.

James Williams, a pipefitter from Jefferson Parish, left his wife and three sons with relatives here.

"I just want to relax, go home and get back to work," said Williams, who had been in Chicago since Sept. 7.

Kenneth Gilson of the Algiers area, a merchant seaman for 23 years, took the bus trip to "assess the property damage so I can rebuild." He and his brother have been staying at the Madden Center of the Hines Veterans Hospital in the western suburbs.

Jobs, but few places to stay



Six weeks after the hurricane sent them scattering to shelters, those who left with nothing returned with little. The bags in the cargo hold were small carry-ons. Manuel R. Justin Jr. carried a checkerboard and a Discman. All wore baseball hats and T-shirts bearing the rainbow logo of Jackson's civil rights group, and the message "A Time to Rebuild, A Time to Heal, New Orleans, 2005."

Before leaving, Jackson had the men repeat after him: "We, the people from New Orleans, have the right to return home, to reclaim our land and property, the right to reconstruction, the right to rehabilitation, the right to jobs, the right to job training, the right to contracts. We are survivors, not victims. We are citizens, not refugees."

"The right to return is a civil rights issue," Jackson said, "and now it's a struggle because the rights in question are jobs. Even while you are in exile, New Orleans is being cleaned up."

The trip itinerary called for picking up additional evacuees in East St. Louis, Memphis and Jackson, Miss., before arriving in New Orleans late today.

"More folks want to go back," Jackson said, but are afraid to leave shelters and temporary housing situations only to find themselves homeless in New Orleans.

"There is a surplus of jobs, but a hindrance of places to stay," Jackson said. He feared that people in temporary housing situations would "find a new comfort zone and turn temporary into permanent."

Don't want to overstay welcome

Just three men from a Tinley Park shelter joined the trip.

Rainbow/PUSH will set up a "Rainbow Reconstruction and Return" office, Jackson said, to link evacuees with jobs and housing. Rainbow/PUSH has about 100 addresses, most in New Orleans' 9th Ward, to check for residents who are worried about the condition of their houses. He said many people who survived the hurricane are feeling depressed and worried about wearing out their welcome with family and friends who took them in

And for once I agree with Jesse Jackson! Imagine that!

I completely agree with Jackson though why isnt he saying anything about the fact that many of the illegals are coming into the area which they arent residence of?

P