Taking St. Bernard Back

In August of 2005, we all witnessed the worst thing that ever came to St. Bernard. It took our homes, it destroyed our community and caused many, to move away forever. Katrina was a force that changed the face of St. Bernard, but the will of it's people just couldn't be suppressed. No, this storm would not take us from our Parish, we would stay and fight. And so it was that the people came home. They cleaned, scrubbed, cleared and started to rebuild.

The struggle for St. Bernard was not taken lightly. Our people could have chosen to move into already complete neighborhoods in an already finished community, anywhere in the United States. But chose to deal with the hardships that St.Bernard was facing.

In those days, there was no electricity, groceries, or supplies. A handful of small businesses, were all we started the journey back to life with. We were consumed with bringing our Parish back, and would eagerly rush to windows, or tent doorways to see any auto that happened to pass by. Hoping to see the face of a family member or friend. Strangers became family and each greeted the other with hugs and words of support. There were no strangers in St. Bernard, only new friends.

We voted for change when it was time for elections, and we voted in people who we believed would respect our hardships and pain. People we honestly believed he would respect our culture and do his best to see us through this. After all, no one was untouched, damaged both financially and mentally. So we wanted a leader who would help us get past the pain and get to the healing.

That did not happen. Within weeks of the election, the first signs of trouble was already in the works. The big push to put the hospital into the Meraux Foundation's hands was begun, and no one understood why our Parish President was so strongly pushing for it to be handed over so easily, without an open bidding process that was fair. We only recently obtained a sketch that explained why that was happening. They needed to get those housing projects build, and they need the funds that would be spent on the hospital to lay the groundwork for those projects and complexes. More money on site construction means less money in the hospital it self, even knowing the other site, has between 6 and 8 million dollars of already finished, paid for infrastructure, on Parish owned property. It would seem an obvious choice.

Then, the building process started, and again, we saw difficulties. The rules changed daily and the permits began to multiply. Anyone who tried to get started, found the process as difficult to understand and comply with, as FEMA, SBA, or Road Home ever could be.

The suffering and agony was not over, or past us. As the world cried out, they were tired of hearing of the Katrina woes, the St. Bernard people struggled on, trying their best to put it behind them as well. Only to find themselves at war with their own Parish, who began to slowly become the most difficult problem to over come then the storm itself.

Many went through the process with little difficulties. Others found themselves in a sea of uncertainty and bleeding money that they no longer had. With no grant in hand yet, suddenly it seemed that if you had not built fast, you no longer were needed here. If you were caught up in the quagmire of LRH, SBA, or Fema, you were in for added problems from the place you called home.

As our people who found themselves in rented spaces in other places, the road home, got longer and harder to travel. Hundreds of people who wish to build, rebuild or return, found themselves attacked by the Parish they longed to be part of again. New businesses found it hard to get started and stay opened, the regular man, who may have lost all, in/and his home, tried to buy a better structure that had less damage to start over with.

They purchased these partially gutted homes, and got down to business while other homes were never touched. Those trying to rebuild would wake to find their nearly completed homes demolished and thousands of dollars they had spent, gone over night. People in finished or nearly finished homes, often find they return home from work to no water or sewer lines, yards dug up, or their home completely gone. The untouched houses, still untouched. Strange that they somehow got away from being demolished.

Had the people come home, or somehow found themselves in 1940's Germany. Rules they scrambled to abide by just the week before, now changed, and with a price tag to get beyond. The political mafia had moved in, and they are holding our people hostage for a ransom. And there was nothing they could do about it. Calls to Mr. Taffaro went unanswered.

Now is the time to take St. Bernard Back. Return it to it's people, allowing us to rebuild without fear. Mr. Taffero has not reinforced confidence in our people, he is not putting us on the road to recovery. He has instilled fear, and has prolonged the suffering of many of the people who have placed their lives in his hands. No, Mr. Taffaro can not be trusted. His hands are in deep with everything that our people have tried their best to vote out of office. Making the rich even richer, the middle man poor, and turning the poor into the homeless.

If you have been victimized by the Taffaro Mafia, we urge you to contact us today. Help us recall this man who is not looking out for the betterment of our Parish, but lining the pockets of already rich supporters who are trying to turn our Parish into something we do not know. Help us keep our Parish out of the hands of the Meraux foundation, and the contractors that support him. Most of us got less then we started with, while Mr. Taffaro's world has been highly improved. From a middle class home in Lexington, to a Mansion in exclusive Jumonville. We all do not have contractors we can pull off of other jobs to rebuild our homes quickly and without Parish permit woes. Stay tuned in and watch our President cover his tracks, while clearing the way for his cronies to take what is ours. Stand up, sign up, and say no to being further abused by the people who have always pulled the political strings of St. Bernard. Take St. Bernard Back!

See others dealing with this issue at: http://www.wwltv.com/video/news-index.html?nvid=332813&shu=1 or click on Title of this article for direct connect to video.