Thanks to Karen Gadbois for today’s photo of the site.

“At the now-condemned Trinity Church on the corner, 4-year-old Art Neville played his first note on an organ.”   San Francisco Gate Article

People wonder why residents in New Orleans have become so cynical during the last few years despite the continual chant of the unique value of our brassy cultural background during the rebuilding.  I haven’t been able to post lately, trying to balance law school, NCDC, and life.  Often, I can’t help but get angry every time I leave the house, I see another f’d up empty lot. I am trying hard to focus on the future, rather than the confetti of void which dots the predial landscape.

From the start, we have seen so many projects touted as bright lights for a “new” New Orleans within the city since 2005 which have been laughably dismissed even while the ribbons were being cut at many-a-press conference. The huge Jazz Park/City Hall project was a joke from the beginning. With this always on my mind, I thought this was a good thing to revisit a small, and more viable project, which also remains stagnant, now. This in context of the new announcement of the LSU/VA project.

This historically significant church was in the process of being torn down just as Stacy Head was battling it out for her Council seat.   It became a heated argument amongst readers back in 2006 when I was covering lesser-known candidates at the time. Despite the hopes and charges and responses against “selling-out to developers” lodged against Councilwoman Head, today, it remains an empty lot.

At the end of the day, the person who initiated the online argument apologized for his comments about Councilwoman Head.  However, some answers are now worth pressing regarding this project. Councilwoman Head may be in a more prescient position to respond to concerned residents about why this project, which was very promising and had convincing building plans, and yet, nearly three years later, is stagnant.  

This is Stacy’s response at a citizen running for Council, to the comments left on MB regarding her stance supporting the demolition of Trinity Church. She supported the redevelopment of the Trinity site.   The church was taken down with meticulous care, I photographed almost compulsively, and daily. I was awaiting a happy end of the story. I am still waiting.

The project was promised to be rebuilt using the items salvaged which would actually have served as a good example for future reference, maybe justifying the demolition of historic structures.  It would have continued its duty as a historical extension from the past with a new functional use, much needed housing, at the time. It could have been something the neighborhood would be proud to support.  Unfortunately, we are entering the third year of waiting for the new development to be started. Housing is no longer an immediate need.

It’s interesting to read the comments from readers regarding the issue at that time. Comments at-large from the post regarding this issue on March 20, 2006. 

This is why those of us who have watched the debacle of planning Post-K are extremely disgusted today. We put in extra effort at a time when we were already drained. When you dare to backtrack, to see what was promised, the emptiness of all our hard work drains you and you want to hide . . . I don’t know how the Council Reps keep on going, it’s hard enough for the average citizen. Perhaps, now Councilwoman Head has the resources to encourage the dialogue between the neighborhood and the developer that she did not have when the issue first reared its hostile head.

This is Stacy’s reply to the admittedly unfair statements that Peter Athos posted.

First, actions like Peter’s — maligning a candidate’s character — are what keep good and honest people out of politics. I am running because I love this city and I have invested my heart and finances in it. I have “sold out” to no one. Rumors aboud about city council candidates — in fact, someone posted that I have a “deal” with Canizaro — I have never met the man! So, please, if you love this city, don’t discourage people who want to help make it better.

Peter e-mailed me about the Valence condo project and below is my reply. Notably, despite my offer to meet with him to discuss the issues, he never responded. I did, as I said I would, contact the CPC and my contact agreed that it would be improper for a council candidate — who very well may be the arbiter of the dispute when on the council — to form a hard and fast opinion now.

Peter,

As soon as I learned about the proposed condo project I began gathering information. So far, I have spoken to Ken Swartz, the property owner who appears to be the most effected, and several other people who live in the surrounding blocks. I am also contacting the CPC to find out what waivers or variances the developer seeks. I believe it would be imprudent for me to take a position on the project before learning more about it.

Frankly, I think this is an example of why we need: 1) a master plan for the city; and 2) an engaged and responsive council member. As a neighbor of the area of the proposed project (I live on Soniat on the other side of St. Charles), I have watched the church deteriorate for many years, and have hoped that someone would take an interest in it. So, development of the property is a positive thing — but it must be appropriate for the neighborhood. A good council member should bring all interested parties to the table to make this a win win situation. My instinct is that the developer is requesting more height and density than he needs to make this profitable — much like other negotiations, he is asking for the moon in hopes of getting something less. So, the project could potentially go forward in a way that would be only positive — less density, different facade (I agree that it’s ugly), more use of the church, lower height.

Again, as merely a council candidate, I do not have the resources to encourage a dialogue between the developer and the neighborhood. Nevertheless, in hopes that after April 22 I will be the council member with the ability to move this problem to a good solution, I am working to be well-informed. To that end, I would appreciate any additional information you have. Further, I would love the opportunity to talk to you and other interested neighbors about this and other issues of concern. If you have some time over the next 2 weeks, let me know.

Stacy Head

In order to continue to brace the public confidence of residents, it is necessary to provide real outcomes for those who have had to live in amongst hollow promises for the past three years. We have not forgotten. Instead, we are stewing on these smaller unrequited sacrificies and getting angier and more suspicious as time flows on and the promises get bigger.

In the case of the LSU/VA project, so many will now have to give up the homes which they worked so hard to renovate post-K in a vaccuum and with a complete lack of communication from the controlling entities. You need only see this to take heart in the issue: What’s at Stake

As hard as it is, I find it’s necessary to glance back at the glossy lies laid before us over the last two years and ask why, in these best case scenarios, we have nothing to show for our sacrifice and compromise? Maybe Councilwoman Head, with her newfound recources, can help the residents on Valence St. to get this modestly sad project completed?

Texture of the Bywater

One of the glass-is-half-full things about being homeless* is that we get to live in a lot of different neighborhoods. The week after next, we’re staying in the Bywater. Yesterday we walked down there from Canal Street to check it out.

My college boyfriend used to stay in the Bywater when we were students at Loyola. I was living in Gentilly and would make the drive from St. Cecilia to my Aunt Velma’s nearly every night. Velma was old, white and working class New Orleans. She warned me about the “coloreds.” She said I had to be careful.

But, yesterday, we walked up Royal Street busy with funky cafes, Ironworks and artist studios. I had to look up the term “gentrification” because I’m not exactly sure if that’s what’s happening to this neighborhood. Some parts have been cleaned up and artified. There’s still a lot of rough texture, though, abandoned buildings and senseless murders.

A lot of people that we meet encourage us to move to the Bywater when we get off the homeless boat. Many of these people are white, educated, professionals who came down here post Katrina to volunteer. They fell in love with the city and the neighborhood they were helping to rebuild and stayed. One woman told me that her windows are screwed shut. That she would love to open them during this fall weather, but she’s afraid. I wanted to tell her that we did just such a thing 20 years ago at an Uptown dinner party, and two kids came in with a gun and took our cash, our jewelry and our pecan pie. The fear can take you to horrible places.

As we walked up St. Claude Ave. after dark, I felt a little afraid. But what I felt more was a sense of freedom. There is nothing like walking through a neighborhood at night to make you feel alive. We passed some amazing locations for our film. People, mostly black people, were sitting out on their stoops, hanging around, enjoying the evening. (Here’s one difference between the blacks and the whites in New Orleans. Black people say “hello, how  you doin’?” to strangers passing by their doorstep. White people don’t.)

I’m thinking long and hard about the old fear these days. It’s not so black and white. It has something to do with freedom, but I can’t really work it out yet. It has something to do with responsibility. Since I’ve come home to New Orleans, I’ve met people of many races, many religions and of many classes. I have been treated fairly and respectfully by every one of them.

New Orleans is a lovely city without fear. But, beware that chilly side. It will seduce you too.

*Patrick has asked me to footnote any mention of our homelessness with the fact that we have been homeless by choice since July 23, 2008. It is a somewhat experimental lifestyle, one of the aims of which is to limit our impact on the environment.

Bruce Alpert at the Picayune has written a completely speculative article (framed as “news”) about Obama’s plans to ignore Gulf Coast recovery. If you’re not up for reading the entire goddess-awful thing–and really, who could blame you?–Alpert basically says that Katrina won’t be on Obama’s list of priorities, then spends the bulk of the piece getting quotes from Bobby Jindal, Dollar Bill, Mary Landrieu, and our other hamstrung senator who’s been in hiding so long that I can’t even remember his name. Of course, there’s nothing from Obama at all, and the “writer” obviously didn’t bother to do much Googling, because if he had, he’d have stumbled across this:

As president, Barack Obama will keep the broken promises made by President Bush to rebuild New Orleans and the Gulf Coast. He and Joe Biden will take steps to ensure that the federal government will never again allow such catastrophic failures in emergency planning and response to occur.

Barack Obama swiftly responded to Hurricane Katrina. Citing the Bush administration’s “unconscionable ineptitude” in responding to Hurricane Katrina, Obama introduced legislation requiring disaster planners to take into account the specific needs of low-income hurricane victims. Obama visited thousands of Hurricane survivors in the Houston Convention Center and later took three more trips to the region. He worked with members of the Congressional Black Caucus to introduce legislation to address the immediate income, employment, business and housing needs of Gulf Coast communities.

As president, Barack Obama will partner with the people of the Gulf Coast to rebuild now, stronger than ever.

So where was that? On Change.gov, the president-elect’s official transition website that outlines his incoming agenda. You know: the agenda the reporter was criticizing? Oops.

In light of all that, the Alpert kinda comes off like Dawn French in that skit where she plays the British royal “expert” who’s got zero insider info and is clearly a total hack. You know the one I mean. (I’d insert it here if the Metblogs backend weren’t so tight about such things. Snore.)

Now, just so we’re clear: I have no problem criticizing the president. In fact, we could and should have had a LOT more of that in the early days of W’s administration. (Remember back in 2001 how excited we were that Bush could form complete sentences? And how, after September 11, questioning him was made to seem unpatriotic–nay, an act of terrorism? Who was grilling the man then?) No one is perfect, and everyone should be held to task. Everyone.

That said, at least let the man take office before you start blaming him for his failure to undo all the crap that’s been left by the previous administration. In the meantime, maybe the Picayune should try its hand at reporting, say, news.

UPDATE: Obama’s agenda is down for revisions. Good news? Bad news? Killer bees nesting in the circuitry? The breath, she is bated.

UPDATE ON THE UPDATE: Obama’s agenda is back online, with the Katrina section intact.

I’m really surprised by this one because, based on all the stuff I’m hearing on the news, the Christians have been coming out in force to vote. From the beginning, the Witnesses have been pacifists and were banned in some countries for being so. They have also been criticized for being too authoritarian with their congregation.

Yesterday, a little old lady came to the door to talk to me about the Jehovah Witnesses and Jesus. I’m OK with this as long as I can talk about politics as well. I asked the lady if she was going to vote. She said she had already voted…for Jesus. She told me that the bible told her that God is above all governments and that he would save her. I told her that old joke about the guy who was drowning in the ocean. A boat came by and asked if he needed saving. “God will save me,” he said. He told that to the next boat and the boat after. Then he drowned. When he went up to heaven, he asked God why he didn’t save him. God said “I sent you three boats. What more did you want?” “What if Obama is the boat?” I asked her. “What if the world is still messed up when he gets in?” she asked in return. Fair enough. But, I still think everyone should be voting.

I like the Quakers. Their Friends Committe on National Legislation promotes responsible, peaceful policy. They also write really good letters, which I have been know to copy full text and send to my representatives in the big house. You don’t have to be a Quaker to agree with their stand on the war (war is not the answer). Their other  remits include equality and justice for all, fulfilling every person’s potential and protecting the Earth. Oh my. They sound like socialists.

Third day at Voodoo Fest, and I am tired. I know the drill now, and I think the thrill is gone. We go in through the secret enterance, get a smoothie and head back stage for the first interview with The Blind Boys of Alabama and the Preservation Hall Band. Since I’m cynical after three days of trudging around with equipment, I get caught off guard when they start to sing “Amazing Grace.” It brings tears to my eyes, and I remind myself how lucky I am.

While we’re waiting to interview the blind boys, Patrick gets to chatting with the security guard about politics. He is a moderate Muslim and is extremely well informed on all of the issues. Patrick asks if he’s going to vote. “You’re too late, brother,” he says. “I’ve already voted.” This dude is the first Muslim we’ve met here. Back in the UK there is a large moderate Muslim population, and one of our best mates from film school is Muslim. (I’m sure that by writing this, I will be put on some list that will prevent me from flying, buying groceries or voting in future elections.)

We get to interview the lovely guys from the New Orleans Bingo Show, and catch a bit of their third show. Then we rush off to catch a bit of Cowboy Mouth and interview Fred LeBlanc and Regina Zernay. They are  hilarious and have a lot of fun with the interview. It doesn’t occur to me later that I met LeBlanc back in 1984 when we were both youngsters. I had gone to see Dash Rip Rock at Jimmy’s. It was still a young band, so they mingled with the crowd after.

Lastly, we barely catch Irma Thomas’ last song. After, she does a great interview. She looks awesome, “sweat and all.”

Our day is finished, and we should try to see the last of the bands. But we are so exhausted that all we can do is abuse the free PlayStation games and drink the free booze in the VIP Lounge.

Somehow managed to wrangle VIP passes to the Voodoo Fest, so yesterday was pretty awesome. We arrived at around 1 p.m. via the secret entrance from the secret parking area. Went back stage to see Big Blue Marble and Joseph Arthur and the Lonely Astronauts and then interviewed them after. Both bands were very funny and quick with the improv. They were also polite, cool and professional.

Hung out in the Loa Lounge for a bit to chill. It’s sponsored by PlayStation, so it feels like some one’s pimped out living room. Free drinks, but no Doritos. I was really surprised at the amount of children hanging out in the VIP areas, but I guess rock stars have kids too.

Wandered over to see Mirva Wright and the BMWs and Joss Stone. Both of these women have amazing, powerful voices. Wright’s “Katrina Blues” really resonated with the crowd, but she followed up with “Ain’t got no Drawers On” to avoid feelings of Katrina fatigue.

The back stage thing is cool because I want to be right up there with the artist, but, at my age ya’ll, I can’t handle the crowds. And, there is a different crowd backstage. Everyone is cool with each other. No one copping a tude. Especially back stage with the New Orleans Bingo Show. Lloyd was feeding me free American Spirits…actually, come to think of it, everyone was being very free with the American Spirits. I later found out that you could get three free packs in the Smoker’s Lounge.

Finished up with the Stone Temple Pilots. What can I say? They really rocked.

After, in the Loa Lounge, I ended up hanging out with the Big Blue Marble for a little while. And my friend Gerrish was back there, so I spent a lot of time chewing the fat, which is my absolute favorite thing to do.

I think I’m gonna try the massage tent today.

Come find me and say hello if you’re there.

Reigning Miss Louisiana Teen USA Lindsey Evans has been stripped of her crown after being arrested for marijuana possession and skipping out on a restaurant tab….

Evans, 18, and three of her friends walked out on a $46.07 bill at the Posados Café in Bossier City, La., on Saturday night. But Evans made a crucial misstep — she left her purse behind.

Police were called, and according to them, they found not only her driver’s license, but also a bag of marijuana in her purse.

Evans and her friends — Jordan James, 18, Jennifer Martin, 22, and Morgan Goleman, 18 — returned to the restaurant to retrieve the purse, just as officers were about to leave the scene….

[T]he women admitted that they purposely left without paying their bill, though at least one of the women blamed the restaurant.

“The service was so slow, we just said, ‘Screw it,’ and left,” Martin told the New York Post….

–full story at MSN.com, via BlogOfNewOrleans.com [emphasis totally mine]

I met Miss Hilda when the Vieux Maison Francaise asked the HFTA organization to identify some homeowners who needed money to fix their homes from Hurrican Katrina back in 2006. They gave us 10K. However, upon going into Miss Hilda’s house, we found horrendous termite damage. In order to do the job right, we had to get more money. So I set about applying for the Historic Rebuilding Grants offered by the state at the time. I wrote about this as we began the project at 1226 Treme St. back in 2006. After Hilda got the HBR grant, I helped her apply for Rebuilding Together to come in and do the finish work.

This past spring, the work was finally done, she sent me a lovely thank-you note.

Sunday, October 5th, Miss Hilda passed at Oschner Hospital. She was 92 and sharp as a tack. I keep thinking of our last visit, when she showed me her completed project and I brought her a vase of daisies. I also think about the time I was there with her neighbor, Vanessa, and she was vomiting and very sick. I was very worried. I thought about how much I didn’t want to be 91 yrs old. I went and got her some 7-Up upon request and after a short stint in the hospital, she got through that episode of flu by some miracle. I was so worried. I thought she’d never see her house finished.

Her husband passed some 20+ yrs ago and she’d been all alone since but she was always so content and we both talked about the benefits of having sole control of the remote and the thermostat. She was the kind of person that left you with a strong calm feeling long after your visit.

I went to her funeral in Treme last Saturday, I know she didn’t have much family but there were a good 50 people there and they obviously loved her as much as I did. Miss Hilda had an immediate effect on people. It was important for me to go to tell her family how much she had touched my heart. At the Holy Faith Temple Baptist Church, they hand ring this big bell in the side yard as the procession exits the church. It was a great Baptist “Homegoing Celebration”. I always cry when the choir sings Amazing Grace. I miss her.

(I noticed that the date was wrong too, don’t mention that Saturday was the 11th. When you’re 92 you can give or take a day.)

photo: Patrick Jackson

We have two meetings today, and I am skeptical. One is in da Parish and the other is up at UNO. We board the Algiers Local at 8:30 a.m. Twenty minutes to the Ferry and across to downtown. Then it’s a short walk to Rampart St. to catch the St. Claude bus. On the way, we pass by Canal Place. Shitty music (not even good music, ya’ll, this is the birthplace of Jazz) is blasting from the outdoor speakers. Brands like Chanel and Saks have window displays that show me exactly what I can’t afford to buy. I have to remind myself that I have opted out of consumerism else I might give up my Quest and start selling crack on the street so that I can buy me a Hummer.

The bus is coming, so we sprint to the stop in the heat and humidity. I stink already, and my dress is sticking to my butt crack. What bus is it? Nobody knows because there is a political ad on the display that normally tells you which bus it is. Information is passed down the line that it’s the Jackson bus. We wait around the corner in the shade.

A fluffy girl in pink crocs is relaying a story into her cell. She was waiting for the Street Car when a group of white boys approached her and asked if she had change for a twenty. They were participating in some kind of race that involved them taking public transport. They had T-Shirts and all. She didn’t have change for a twenty. Who does? The boys asked her how much she had. Eight singles. They took the eight singles and gave her the $20 bill. Now I’m glad that the fluffy girl in the pink crocs made $12, but I’m kinda indignant that public transportation is a game for these people.

Finally, the St. Claude bus comes and we ride all the way up to the Auto Zone on St. Claude and Aycock where my sister’s man picks us up to take us to our appointment. It’s 11:05. We left ma maaama’s on the West Bank 2.5 hours ago.

After our appointment, my sister’s man drops us off: “Stand by these two benches. That’s where the bus stops.” I guess the budget for signposting went to pay for those crime cameras. Don’t bother going onto the RTA Website for the maps. They are abysmal and do not indicate where the buses actually stop. Don’t bother running around with your baby on your hip and carrying your shopping trying to find a pay phone to call the RTA to find out where the stops are. Their “ride line” is an answering machine promising to call you back, but they never do.

Our next meeting is at UNO. We get the St. Claude bus and have a chat with the bus driver while she’s waiting to take off. She tells us that there is a free white bus that goes further into Chalmette. I chuckle at the irony of her description. Finding out about this bus will be another project.

At Elysian Fields we transfer to the bus going to UNO, and the bus driver tells us that the stop is in front of the beauty parlor. We look around for it, but it’s not sign posted. I ask a neighborhood lady where the bus goes from. “Right there in front of the beauty parlor. Stand right there, baby.” So we wait there in front of the beauty parlor while she calls her friend on the cell and tells her the story about the two alabaster people in funny shoes trying to get the bus from her block.

We have already spent 3.5 hours on public transport, and we have only done one of our meetings. I think every politician and RTA employee (and their families) should have to take public transportation for a month. Just to see what it’s like. I know that New Orleans is no London, but this city does aspire to be a world class city. In London, all classes of people rely on public transport: students, working class, unemployed, professionals. But, unless you live and work on a street car line, it’s just a grind here.

To wit: a few weeks ago, we waited 30 minutes for the Carrollton bus with a lovely lady who explained to us how she had a four hour a day commute on public transport from Metarie to her job at Walgreens uptown. Now I ask you: is that freedom? PJ says he can sum up American Freedom in one word: CAR.

I overheard another lady talking about how her boss got pissed off at her because she had to leave work ON TIME so that she could catch the bus to pick up her baby. “If I miss the bus,” she said “I won’t get home ’til after eight, and I don’t want to be out after dark with my baby.” I bet her boss had a car.

People should be rewarded for taking public transportation with great public transportation facilities. They are doing their bit for the environment and traffic and society. Like a lot of other things in New Orleans, public transport seems like it is DESIGNED to keep the poor in their place. How can you possibly have any job choice (read FREEDOM) if you have to spend four hours on the bus? How can you have good quality of life if you have to spend four hours on the bus. Wake up America: all this freedom that Bush and McCain and Palin are talking about you losing if you don’t elect them back into office? Ain’t dere no more. You are not free.

P.S. If you are tempted to sing that old chestnut “because of Katrina,” don’t. It’s just an excuse. Public transportation sucked before Katrina. At least now there are some new buses in the system thanks to donations from other cities that felt sorry for our asses.

I wanna know just how many 20-somethings in this city right now are spending megabucks (for them) at Whole Foods or other grocery outlets on the taxpayer dime.

We all know about the double food stamps for too many. And I know from experience what it’s like to have to hit the road with only a finite number of dollars and find those dollars quickly gone due to circumstances beyond control. And then to finally come back to town and discover your job no longer exists and to try to cobble together what you can to pay some bills and reassemble things as much as you can. You gotta be resourceful, venture into new personal territory and learn a lot of new rules in a big damn hurry. And if the state/federal folks can help, it’s appreciated. Thousands of folks are doing that very thing right now in Louisiana and especially in Texas. It’s a bitter pill to swallow, but you do what you gotta do. And you gotta claim it on your tax return too.

….but in the past couple of weeks, I’ve talked to at least a dozen 20-somethings who lost virtually nothing in the Gustav/Ike thing and are racking up bigtime on the dole. The food stamp giveaway that’s been going on rivals the $2K handouts post-Katrina — if not in dollars then certainly in the bogus claims being made to food stamp offices around the entire region. I talked to one kid today who readily admitted losing only like $100 in frozen pizza and other schlock when he bailed for a week of partying — but he qualified for, oh, $600 in food stamps when he came back to town. I’ve talked to way too many others who never left or lost income — but they qualify for at least the basic $160 or whatever even if they’d lost nothing. They’ve been standing in line and, for the most part, telling a good version of the truth. And they get food stamps just because they can. And that seems to be their reason for doing it. Just because they can.

It’s a “screw them before they screw you” mentality and it’s wrong.

…said the dinosaur.