Activists urged residents meeting in the
St. Dominic
School gym to get involved with committees working
on issues ranging from restoration of utilities to
managing greenspace.
"We are on the
way back," said Freddy Yoder, chairman of the
Rebuild New Orleans District 5 Lake Area
Infrastructure Committee. "Don't wait on the
government to do it for you. If you have the
financial resources, take action, and get on with
it."
Yoder gently
urged the audience to complete house-gutting, saying
government-financed pickup of debris material "is
not going to go on forever."
In addition,
Yoder said building permits issued since Katrina in
the city's Planning District 5, which includes about
11,500 homes in Lakeview, Lake Vista, Country Club
Gardens and other enclaves, have escalated in the
last few months.
Offering
cumulative figures, he said there were 166 permits
issued as of March 10; 2,783 permits by March 29;
and 7,768 permits by April 30. In some cases, as
many as three permits may be issued for a single
house to cover different types of repair or
construction, he said.
"That means there
are about 3,000 homes where people are moving
ahead," Yoder told about 300 residents at the
meeting, called by the Lakeview Civic Improvement
Association. "That's good news to me."
Civic association
board member Kelly Alfortish said that among
Lakeview residents responding to a recent survey, 75
percent said they are returning, 11 percent said
they are not returning and 14 percent are undecided.
The survey response rate wasn't immediately
available.
Group members
said they are heartened by the reopening of a few
banks, restaurants, doctors' offices and a
veterinary clinic, among other businesses. One
office building on Robert E. Lee Boulevard has 13
active tenants and there are several businesses open
on Harrison Avenue, leaders said.
Civic association
President Jeb Bruneau provided fresh details about
repairs to the levee system and the condition of
utilities, and urged residents to get involved in
one of the group's 72 subcommittees.
The meeting
included appearances by several runoff candidates in
the District A and at-large City Council races.
State Rep. Emile "Peppi" Bruneau, R-New Orleans,
father of the civic group's president and a
well-known Lakeview figure, took the microphone to
announce his endorsement for Lt. Gov. Mitch Landrieu
in the mayor's race.
Bruneau, who
backed unsuccessful mayoral candidate Ron Forman in
the primary, said that in the runoff "you have to
pick from the gene pool available. There is a fine
young man available, and he is not the mayor."
Incumbent Mayor
Ray Nagin, Landrieu's opponent, wasn't represented
at the meeting.
Bruneau said it
is wrong there are still abandoned cars and lack of
proper garbage pickup eight months after the
hurricane.
"I'm tired of
Lakeview being a forgotten part of the city," he
said. "It's not about ideology anymore. It's about
practicality."
Lakeview Civic
Improvement Association officials said volunteers
are staffing a community information center Monday
through Saturday at the Gulf Coast Bank & Trust
office on Harrison Avenue. The group also is
sponsoring a neutral-ground cleanup from 8 a.m. to 1
p.m. on May 21, using the corner of Harrison and
Canal Boulevard as a staging point. More information
is available at www.lakeviewcivic.org.
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