[FoCHAT] CHATNews: State Appeals Documents Withheld from Public; CHAT to be Honored in Parade

Sat Jan 23 23:50:14 CST 2010

CHATNews:  State Appeals Documents Withheld from Public-; also, CHAT to be honored in parade 
Jan. 23, 2010 
Dear CHAT Members, 
ØThe Incredible Saga of Secrecy, Public Documents, and the LRA 
  Chapter 3:  Documents provided by the in-house LRA attorney, Dan Reese,  on Mar. 2, 2009 

§  These were the first documents provided by LRA after notification that we would have to file for a court hearing because LRA was ignoring my record requests for many months 

§   Mr. Reese sent a letter on Mar. 2, 2009 to my lawyer with some of  the missing documents requested on Oct. 20, 2008 

§  His letter addressed none of the many missing documents from my records request on July 1, 2008 

§  Still I had received none of the documents requested on Dec. 15, 2008 and the letter did not even mention those requests 

§  One of the documents provided was a description I had already received about the timeline for State Appeals 

o   The State Appeal Panel is the final appeals that LRA allows applicants 
o   Mr. Rainwater and Mr. Rees failed to provide what was clearly requested, guidelines & procedures for the State Appeals Panel 
o   “Provide any and all policy, guideline, and procedure documents given to members of the State Review Panel, appeals advisors, and PALs for resolving dispute or appeals issues.” 

§  So LRA was still withholding a document with rules for how to decide applicants’ appeals about mistakes in their grants 

o   They were thereby keeping secret whether shortchanging grant calculation mistakes were considered with consistent or fair methods by State staff 

o    These mistakes averaged over $25,000 per applicant for ~7,500 applicants who managed to win appeals (see road2la.com, pipeline reports) 

o   Was there a vote by the State Appeals Panel to decide an appeal? 
o   Did it have to be unanimous for an appeal to be granted? 
o   What were the guidelines for weighing applicant evidence vs.  evidence from the notoriously mistake-prone contractor, ICF International? 

Chapters 1 & 2 in our series “The Incredible Saga of Secrecy, Public Documents, and the LRA” are posted near the top of our CHAT website 
 http://chatushome.com 

Ø CHAT will be honored at the Mardi Gras-season parade of the Krewe of Brid 
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 
Thursday, January 21, 2010 
  Contact:  Mary Hogan, High Priestess, Krewe of Brid 
kreweofbrid@ yahoo.com 
  Brid Marches as “Pothole Patrol” 
  The Krewe of Brid, Lakeview’s own carnival marching club, pays homage to the city’s streets with its 2010 theme “Pothole Patrol.” Brid will march 7:00 p.m. on Friday, January 29. The route begins on Milne at Conrad (near Mount Carmel Academy), heads south to Harrison Avenue, then turns east on Harrison Avenue to end at Gen. Haig (near the site of Hynes Elementary). 
 The krewe is named in honor of three ancient Celtic goddesses each named Brid. Three local women have been selected to represent the Three Brids: 
  Melanie Ehrlich, Brid of the Forge - Goddess of Strength & Justice  Dr. Ehrlich is a professor of genetics, whose Tulane Medical School lab does research on muscular dystrophy and cancer. She is the founder of CHAT - Citizens' Road Home Action Team. By successfully advocating for many improvements in the Road Home Program, CHAT has helped thousands of Louisianaians rebuild their homes. 
  Stephanie Bruno, Brid of the Spirit - Goddess of Arts & Letter  Stephanie is a champion of New Orleans’ neighborhoods. She writes a weekly series in the Times-Picayune spotlighting the cultural and architectural features of our neighborhoods. Stephanie has dedicated her energy and spirit to preserving our traditions for future generations. 
  Laura LeBon, Brid of the Hearth - Goddess of Home & Hearth  Laura is mother of two boys and an architect. She was caught mid-move from Old Metairie into West Lakeview when the levees failed in 2005. Laura rebuilt both homes, and volunteered for the Gulf Coast Information Center and CHAT. She is currently working on the Dream City community center, which will provide a safe environment for at-risk youth in the Greater New Orleans area to learn and play. 
  Krewe members will be dressed in construction worker outfits, each customized with a feminine flair for fun. Other groups marching with Brid this year include crowd favorites Egg Yolk Jubilee Music Band, McTeggart Irish Dancers of Louisiana, and the Big Easy RollerGirls. Special guests are the 610 Stompers – New Orleans’ newest all-male dance troupe. 
  Krewe of Brid’s third annual after party, Party with the Goddess, starts up at 9p. The party features dancing, food, and Golden Goddess cocktails and burlesque girls. Tickets are $15 at the door. 
  The Krewe of Brid honors the women of New Orleans who are using all of their talent, wisdom, love and strength to rebuild the neighborhoods of New Orleans.  For more information about the parade, the party and the krewe, check out the Krewe of Brid’s web site, www.kreweofbrid. org 
  _________________________________ 
Brid’s talented Jenny Louis and Leslie Killian designed and created by themselves my enormous, beautiful yellow cape with embroidered ” CHAT” and  “USHOME” and (for the genetics aficionados among our CHAT members) a plasmid DNA superhelix! 

Best wishes, 
Melanie Ehrlich 
Co-Chairman, Citizens’ Road Home Action Team (CHAT); http://chatushome.com 
Member, LRA Housing Task Force 

You can comment at: 
http://www.chatushome.com/blog/?page_id=70 
http://pogoblog.typepad.com/pogo/2009/09/the-far-too-long-and-winding-road-home-program.html 

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://chatushome.com/pipermail/fochat/attachments/20100123/b93ea372/attachment.html>