BLANCO ADMITS 'FAILURES AT EVERY LEVEL'

by Laura Maggi

Governor, like Bush, takes responsibility for missteps

September 15, 2005, NOLA.com

BATON ROUGE - Acknowledging that state errors contributed to the suffering in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, Gov. Kathleen Blanco told state lawmakers Wednesday night that "there were failures at every level of government" and pledged to examine the missteps that crippled the response to the storm.

Echoing President Bush's acceptance of accountability from a day earlier, Blanco told a rare out-of-session meeting of the Legislature that "the buck stops here, and as your governor, I take full responsibility."

The governor has taken some heat about the speed and depth of her response to Hurricane Katrina, the subsequent flooding and civil unrest. She did not deal directly with that criticism, but used her speech to articulate her commitment to the New Orleans area, which is the primary economic engine of the state of Louisiana, but whose citizens are now scattered throughout the country.

"To anyone who even suggests that this great city should not be rebuilt, hear this and hear it well: We will rebuild," Blanco said, who added that as with the 9-11 tragedy the federal government should foot the bill for 100 percent of the costs from the disaster.

For the state's part, Blanco said she would issue an executive order directing agencies to limit spending, while also saying she would appoint an outside adviser to work with state officials to ensure that all of the federal money that flows into state coffers is properly spent.

Blanco did not give many specifics of the congressional package that would help encourage people and businesses to return to the area, but said that she expected it would include an extension of unemployment benefits, "significant financial help" to rebuild homes, and business tax relief.

Along with the congressional package, which Blanco said will be steered by Sens. Mary Landrieu and David Vitter, the governor said that federal authorities need to direct more energy revenue to the state to help rebuild the levees and restore the state's dwindling coastline.

The governor said more than 1 million people have been uprooted from their homes and scattered around the state and country, saying that she wanted to encourage them to come "back home." The state would help put these people back to work, Blanco said, citing recent efforts to create temporary housing at the state's refineries to help the plants get back up and running.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency, which has already let several no-bid contracts to deal with cleaning up the New Orleans area and housing evacuees, should make sure that Louisiana companies are participating in the reconstruction projects, Blanco said.

With hundreds of thousands of people living in shelters, Blanco said that these buildings must be improved to make them more community spaces that can help people get back on their feet. As officials try to move these people into temporary housing, Blanco said that she has asked the American Red Cross and Federal Emergency Management Agency to revamp the existing shelters.

Blanco offered only a few specifics to her vision of rebuilding the New Orleans area, saying that they would make a "historic effort" to revamp the city's troubled public education system. She also pledged to restructure the state's instutionalized health care system, offering "primary care" to people in the neighborhoods they live in.

Blanco has continued to spar with FEMA this week, criticizing the pace of providing shelter residents with better housing and saying the department should have stepped up the efforts to recover the corpses of people who died during the storm.

But in her speech, Blanco praised Bush, saying "I want the people of Louisiana to know that we have a friend and partner in President George W. Bush."

About three-fourths of the Legislature was in attendance. Lawmakers punctuated Blanco's 18-minute speech with the occasional standing ovation, including when she recognized the police, firefighters and other first responders at the side of the room.

Blanco said that although it's "impossible to name every group involved" in the rescue effort, she singled out several police officers, doctors, National Guard soldiers Coast Guard members and state Fish and Wildlife agents for praise.

"They were joined by an unprecedented brigade of ordinary citizens who drove a fleet of school buses we commandeered, steered hundreds of private boats down flooded streets and toiled without pause to rescue at least 70,000 people."

Blanco said one of the lessons to be learned from the storm is that all levels of governments must work together.

"To the legislators here tonight, I ask you to join me in this endeavor. We need your courage and your energy to restore and reinvigorate our damaged communities and economies."

Lawmakers are expected to in the next few months to consider legislation to deal with the impact the storm will have on the state's budget and other changes in state law needed to cope with the disaster.

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