Were faulty design renovations a contributor to the K failure?

The 17th Street canal had just been renovated when Katrina hit. The renovation took several years and was done by the ACE.

I didn’t see anything wrong with it after it was finished but the newly redone canal collapsed when the first hard rain hit it due to ridiculous design errors.

I had intended to post the other day about the story in the T-P on rent subsidy. It appears the Bush Administration is about to continue rental assistance for about 11,000 families still displaced by Katrina and Rita to JUNE OF 2008, fergodsakes. But I did not post about this because it would only repeat my same outrage from the last time the deadline was extended. It would seem to me that in nearly all instances, TWO YEARS after a family was displaced, they’d have been able to establish a new life, at least temporarily, elsewhere. I mean — New Orleans isn’t the only city where Section 8 vouchers exist. I assume, also, that these same individuals will also be able to continue voting in New Orleans elections even though they remain elsewhere.

This is where we are, at least in some important ways, having an artificial collectiveness imposed on us. While those of us who have made our way back have been making a collective effort to keep the good and toss the bad, our efforts are sometimes thwarted by those who used to live here but don’t anymore — but still have enough ballot power to turn an election. While I agree that those who are trying to rehabilitate their private property should indeed have a voice, too many never owned any property here to begin with.

I am not saying that only property owners should be able to vote in municipal elections. What I AM saying is a voter’s physical residence should be within the city. If the Doe family has been living in Houston since Sept. 1, 2005, Houston is their home if they want it to be or not. They don’t live here right now. They are not part of our collective effort for the time being — and they are diluting the voices of those of us who DO live here. It occurs to me that collective responsibility should indeed imbue us all with a sense of guilt, concern or what have you — but addressing our needs should be the responsibility solely of those who live here — not those who have spent nearly two years living not only outside Orleans Parish but over one or two (or more) state lines.