Long Distance

December 27 – December 30, 2005

Each day I check the e-mails, receive updates and send out responses.

The final report wasn’t received from Baton Rouge in time to be mailed last week and so was mailed Monday night when Chris returned from San Francisco. They worked on the network and installed the phone lines on Tuesday. The DSL modem was the wrong type so they need to get a new one. One e-mail said that the furniture would be delivered in-time to open the office on Tuesday, January 10 – I couldn’t believe but counted to ten and then wrote an I am confused – this isn’t what you said last week message to logistics. Turned out it was a typo and it was supposed to say Tuesday, January 3. The furniture was delivered on time today. The IT guys are suppose to come out on Tuesday to finish hooking us all up and we will be good to go. Our logistics guy even called to thank Chris and the rest of us for being so responsive and helpful – I think that is why we are up and running while others complain.

There have also been e-mails from Baton Rouge. I have tried to be helpful and supportive, volunteering to take on what ever they need me to take on. If I am going to be away from home and working 6 days per week, I want to be as fully utilized as possible.

My paycheck never arrived. Turns out that the reason they didn’t do direct deposit is that they need a voided check and did not tell me when the form showed up without one. Then somewhere along the line this check got lost. They have cancelled it and are sending another by FedEx but it will likely arrive after I leave on Monday and some payments will need to be delayed a few days – the life of an independent contractor.

I am not getting paid while I am home but spending a half hour or so each day on work related things anyway. I am trying to get some rest but have not made it to the gym and feel like there is a lot that it would be nice to do before I leave Monday. But we have plans for New Years Eve and New Years day so if it is not done by Saturday afternoon it will not get done.

Christmas

December 23, - December 26, 2005

Friday Amanda has several house-calls to do and afternoon becomes a dad and Madeline shopping event. First a trip to Dodge Grain for food for the ducks and rabbits, and then we are off to the mall to shop for Mom and to get an outfit for Christmas. It is important together time for Madeleine and I.

We circle the mall several times. The gifts for Mom are easy, the outfit for Madeleine takes more intense shopping. And then there is the stop at the Pet shop to pet the puppies and other detours. The clothes purchased, the last thing to buy is a pair of shoes. The pants are long and require a heal. None of the stores have anything that looks good except for a store with dressy cowboy boots. That is what she wants. At first Dad says no. But they aren’t that expensive, they are on sale, they look better than anything else we have seen, she really wants them, and it is Christmas. I leave the mall with a smiling daughter and Cowboy Boots.

Saturday, Amanda has another house call and we devote the day to wrapping gifts and other chores. Madeleine and I got to midnight mass that is now held at 10:30 with a choir concert starting at 9:45. Home at 11:45, Madeleine is quickly asleep and so are we.

Although she is quickly developing into a young woman, Madeleine is still a child. She wakes up at 4:30 am and can’t go back to sleep. At 5:30 she crawls into bed with us. After a half hour of fidgeting we send her back to her room and tell her to wait until 7:00.

Stockings, breakfast and then gifts – all a great success. Then we dress and head over to my sister’s for Christmas dinner with my late mother’s second family: my stepfather, two sisters, brothers-in-law, a brother, a sister-in-law, two nephews and four nieces. We haven’t all been together in a while and this is my first time in my sister’s new home. It is Christmas and the 3-year-old twins are having a wonderful time. Everyone likes their presents. It could not have been better. Finally late afternoon we stop by the house to let the dogs out and then head down to Cambridge for an annual party with friends. More turkey, lots of good talk, a chance to relax. We get home late and sleep late – Madeleine doesn’t wake up until 10:45 this time.

Now it is off to my step-mother’s house for “Christmas” with my late father’s second family: my step mother, two sisters, two brother’s in law, two nephews and three nieces (all combined I have a large family – Amanda has but one sister, brother-in-law and nephew). We start by opening gifts, then play games and around 4:00, another turkey dinner. Our third turkey dinner in 28 hours, each different, each delicious and each made special by those we share with. We head home at about 7:00.

Christmas is over. It has been long, tiring and merry.

Changes

December 23, 2005

The morning e-mail finally brings the new “Gameplan.” The target date is now February 28 not March 31. There will be a big Parish leaders meeting / workshop / brainstorming session on January 5. There will be a new regional lead for our area. There will be more contractors coming in the first of the year. There may be some changes to the Parish Teams. Not surprising, likely for the good, it will make for an intense 60 days.

Homecoming

December 22 – December 23, 2005

As I come up the walk the door flies open and a beautiful 12 year old girl in stocking feet jumps into my arms. Madeleine was too excited to see me to go to bed. Amanda is waiting at the door and give me a quick kiss and a welcome home. She is still cleaning the house and although it is close to 11:00 pm she has more to do before she can go to bed.

It has been a tough month for the family. Although my departure was toughest on my daughter, I think the entire experience was toughest on my wife. Soon after I left there was 16 inches of snow to clear. Then there was the driving to and from Madeleine’s school – 40-minutes each way. Even with a car pool there is a lot of driving. Her veterinary business takes another chunk of time and house calls are not very efficient and are hard on the body carrying bags in and out. All this left little time for housework and almost no time for going to the gym and doing other things to take care of herself.

While it would have been nice to return to a relaxed week of R&R and TLC with the family, this was not our current reality. Instead my return brought a touch of relief that there was another pair of hands to help get things caught up before I was gone again.

A big issue for a contract consultant and especially a contract consultant’s family is the lack of financial security. This contract provides enough to cover us into April but will there be another contract in time to carry past tax day? Can we find a reasonably priced health insurance policy that covers more than what our present policy does?

Today, what I need and want are not the same as what they need, want and are capable of providing. On the other hand, I have not yet built my consulting practice up enough to provide the resources for what they want and need in order to provide what I want and need. It is not that we want something different or do not want to be there for each other. We are just not at a point this year where that is possible.

I am hopeful that the work I have done and the relationships I have built will bare fruit with a prosperous 2006. But hope is not security. And the work that people want me to do often means travel. How do you balance these needs? A regular 9:00 to 5:00 local job would provide security but not the interesting challenges and opportunity to make a difference that my current work brings. And while there would be a regular paycheck there is likely less opportunity for building some wealth. We have had to deplete some of our retirement funds to get to this point. Will next year bring more of the same or be the turning point. If I settle for less will I have changed paths just before the investment is to pay off or wil I have stopped throwing good money after bad? Only God knows. All I can do is let go and put it is his hands.

The New Dodge Charger

December 23, 2005

Yesterday, I returned the Dodge Charger to the rental company. As I related in one of my first posts, this was a free upgrade when I discovered the temporary plates on the first car they had given me had expired. Not being a car person, I was not really aware that Dodge had recently re-introduced the Charger or that it was a big deal. This amazed the young black woman at the rental agency.

About a week after I arrived a colleague and I were on the way to pick up our badges. Short on time we headed through the Burger King drive through line. A woman two cars in front of us rolled down her window and asked “is that the new charger?”

A few days later when I drove out to Allen Parish to look at storefronts with the fellow from the Government Services Administration and a woman realtor, both commented on the car.

My first Saturday in Allen Parish, I stopped at a Christmas Tree Farm in Grant. There were a group of teenage boys helping to trim, bag and load the Christmas trees cut down by the customers. As I was walking back toward the car, two had wandered over to give it a closer look. They were both leaning over to give it a side-ways glance. Their pose was right out of a car commercial. As I walked up they quietly asked if it was my car. I told them it was a rental and they responded, “how fast have you gotten it up too?”

One day, I was in the Parish Offices when the Parish Treasurer / Office Manager and the Secretary came over. She asked me if that was my car out front. I told her it was a rental and she said that she and the secretary had been admiring it and had said “wow, he gets to drive the new Charger.”

Even the young men who came by the storefront this week to string the network cables were a bit awed that I had the chance to drive such a cool car. And these were just the more memorable comments I received not to mention the many long looks as I drove by.

In all honesty, it was a pretty nice car. It was comfortable, handled well, and it was powerful. I can’t say I am really into the muscle car design and the low roof line that made me have to bend down to see stop lights was a nuisance. All in all, however, driving the “new Dodge Charger” for a month was an interesting experience. Somehow I doubt I will be driving a celebrity car next month.

Be careful what you suggest

December 22, 2005

Earlier in the week I suggested that the Parish Team leads send thank you notes with the summary documents to those who attended the workshops and send letters to those who had not attended inviting them to add their thoughts. This morning at about 9:00 am, I received an e-mail saying that the folks back in Baton Rouge think that is a grand idea and would like us to send out the letters today with a request that comments be returned by Friday, January 5.

This would be fine, except I have a plane to catch at 2:30 and the Baton Rouge airport is at least a 2-hour drive away! It is a good thing that I teach courses in how to use Microsoft Office. We have a spreadsheet with all the information we currently have on the government officials in Allen Parish and another spreadsheet with information on those who attended the meeting. I quickly prepare two mail merge letters, one linked to each spreadsheet and generate two documents – one with 13 individualized letters to those who attended the meeting and one with 58 letters to those who did not. I tell the folks in Baton Rouge to e-mail the final version of the Summary Report to Chris as soon as it is completed, leave the letters with him to print and ask him to work with Cliff to address envelopes and get them out.

At 11:00 am I head for the airport. By 1:15 I am returning my car and I even have time to pick up a personal pan Pizza on my way to the gate – the last thing of substance I will eat before I reach home at 11:00 pm by way of Chicago.

Start-up Beginning

December 21, 2005

Just as we arrived in DeRidder for the meeting, I got a call from the IT folks saying they wanted to meet me at the storefront this morning so they could string the cable for our computer network. The meeting itself was more a Holiday breakfast, information sharing event at a local restaurant. Rich was amazed that we have been as successful as we have been in making progress on opening our storefront and wondered out loud why, when his information had been submitted before ours, they were not as far along.

Upon leaving I phoned back the IT folks and finalized the time to meet. We got the keys to the storefront and guided the Chris and Ron in their stringing of cable. They were simply looking to get a head start so that things could move smoothly when the telephone folks arrive next Tuesday.

I sent out e-mails informing everyone of where things stood with regard to the storefront and who would be available on which days over the holidays – including contact information. My objective was to both keep everyone informed and to continue to prod folks to insure progress does not slow.

I also had to complete all of the weekly progress reports, timesheets, etc. since I had to leave for the airport in the morning. I am looking forward to a week with my family and friends.

Housecleaning

December 20, 2005

Today was spent finalizing the summary to our Government Planning Workshop and continuing to document Parish Government and Non-governmental leaders. Christmas is upon us, and we hope the storefront will be ready to open when we all return on January 3rd, so today is a day of tying up loose ends.

In his role as interim – acting Region Manager, Rich has called another 3 parish meeting for tomorrow morning in DeRidder.

The Police Jury Meeting

January 19, 2005

Long ago, Louisiana was divided into about a dozen counties. At some point it was felt that the counties were too large and that smaller jurisdictions were needed. There were about twice as many church parishes as counties and a decision was made to replace the counties with parishes. The elected official in each parish was the Sheriff, who as a result was more than just a police official. It was soon realized that it was to much to ask of one person so a county council was formed. Since it was a group created to assist the Sheriff it was named the Police Jury. Eventually, the Sheriff and the Police Jury became separate and the President of the Police Jury became the county leader with the Sheriff’s role limited to law enforcement.

The Allen Parish Police Jury meets twice a month: once in Oakdale – the largest town in the Parish and once at the Parish Administration Building in Oberlin. “Recognizing” me to provide an introduction to the Long Term Community Recovery Planning Program was on the Agenda for this meeting at the Administration Building.

This public meeting was unlike any I had previously attended. The first item on the printed agenda was “The Lord’s Prayer.” Everyone on the Police Jury and in the audience stood, held hands and recited the Lord’s Prayer. The second item was the Pledge of Allegiance. I was the fifth item on the agenda.

I introduced myself and provided a short summary of what we were doing. I tried to make clear the distinction between the immediate assistance that previous visitors from the state or FEMA were providing and the long-term recovery focus of our efforts. I emphasized the importance of this recovery plan being the Parish’s plan and that only by submitting a recovery plan would the Parish’s needs be considered when the State established funding priorities for the next fiscal year.

I was warmly received by the members of the Jury and asked a few pertinent questions. One member of the audience said that starting to plan the next steps now was one of the first sensible things he had heard since the hurricanes.

But the real focus of the Jury and the audience was on the issue of the FEMA trailers. Tonight was the night when the Jury was to vote on the proposed temporary trailer park sites that had been submitted by FEMA. My appearance was used as an opportunity to move that item up in the agenda. Thankfully, the gentleman from the State Department of Revenue who had made the presentation at the informational meeting the week before was present and I turned the floor over to him. The Jury voted 6 to 1 to reject all of the FEMA sites and instead suggested that the approach that would best fit the Parish’s needs would be to locate one, two or three trailers on land offered as a temporary location by individual homeowners. Once this voted was taken – to the satisfaction of seemingly everyone in the audience – over half the audience left.

Following the meeting, I went up to the outgoing and incoming Parish Presidents and thanked them for their warm reception. They invited Chris, the gentleman from the state and I to come to the small conference room behind the meeting room and join them in their holiday dinner party. This was a great opportunity to meet the individual Jury Members and listen as they told stories about each other and the Parish. Most of the members had been on the Jury for years. The only black member – the incoming President – had first been elected in 1975. One member, a retired teacher had been on the Jury for over 35 years and several of the current members had been his students.

Pleasant, open, gracious, law-abiding, gentle men, but men of a traditional, Christian perspective who believed in corporal punishment, talked of guns and hunting and did not seem aware that the way they had always done things might offend someone or violate the principle of the separation of Church and State. They were men who acted in ways that I had not personally witnessed in public life since before the changes of the 1960s.

A More Conservative Place

Sunday December 18 and Monday December 19, 2005

Today I went to Church in Oberlin. The street in front of the church is totally blocked as it has become the Church parking lot. This is a more modern building of about the same size as the Kinder Church. Other than the building itself, St. Joan of Arc, like Oberlin itself, seems to have changed less over the years than Kinder and still seems to have a strong traditional Cajun influence. I am told that many people in Allen Parish and in particular in Oberlin continue to speak French. The Pastor her is Michael J. Barras.

Again, the Deacon (one of the Parish’s two) gave the homily. He railed against the use of Happy Holidays and said that those who don’t celebrate this time of year out of devotion to the birth of Jesus should “get another day.”

Interesting that on Monday the 19, USA today had an op-ed piece by a man who used to work for Richard Cardinal Cushing, the Archbishop of Boston when I was young. He place the debate over happy holidays in the context of a historic event of which I was not aware.

Catholic interpretation of the bible used to be that if you were not Christian then you could not go to heaven. Well, the Cardinal had a brother in-law who was a devote Jew. He visited his sister’s home regularly and new how good a man his brother in law was and could not believe it in his heart that God would keep this man out of heaven. At that time there was a conservative Catholic Priest who held the traditional view and insisted on evangelizing on the Boston Common. Having a more inclusive view that was tolerant of other paths, when he would not relent the Cardinal excommunicated him for preaching doctrine inconsistent with the Cardinal’s interpretation of Jesus’ intentions. With great confidence the priest appealed his excommunication to Rome, where to his surprise, it was upheld by the Pope – thus changing official Church doctrine.

The writer believed that the Cardinal would have approved of the inclusiveness of Happy Holidays. After all you are wishing people Happy Holy Days. Somehow, I think many in this area would disagree. My hunch is that many believe that you cannot go to heaven unless you are a Catholic or at least a Christian. Many things changed in the Church in the 1960s. But in many places those changes never happened.

Changes in the Air

Saturday December 17, 2005

I got a call on Friday asking me to attend a team leader meeting on Saturday morning at the Area Field Office (AFO) near Lake Charles. This was soon followed by a call from Baton Rouge asking if I could stay after that meeting for a session on how they want the Parishes to prepare the summary report of their meetings.

So Saturday morning I had all had Cliff and Chris join me for the first meeting and then sent them off to get familiar with the Parish.

Any start-up organization has growing pains and different people with different views of how an operation like this should be run. This is even more so because this Long Term Recovery Planning has never before been done as a program unto itself and early in the year when the decision was made to do this as a separate program in the future (ESF-14), no one contemplated that the first time out they would be dealing with the most destructive disaster ever dealt with.

By necessity and circumstance it has been a bit of a one step forward two steps back process. The Governor announced the creation of the Louisiana Recovery Authority in mid-October and charged it with developing recovery plans for all the parishes within 100 days. The LRA and FEMA decided to team up and accomplish this with the technical support for the Long Term Recovery Planning Program. The goal was to have scoping meeting with local officials in November. one round of public meetings in December, a second round of public meetings in January, and reports completed by January 24 – the hundredth day.

Those who planned this schedule were overly optimistic about how quickly the people needed to achieve these goals could be mobilized. The first goal was to hire local planners to lead and largely staff the effort. But Louisiana does not have a strong history of planning, so there were not a lot of local planners available. After a few weeks this became clear and the call for planners, engineers and architects went out through the FEMA technical assistance contractors. Just before Thanksgiving people started arriving with a larger group just after Thanksgiving – including me – and still more in subsequent weeks. But valuable time had been lost.

With insufficient people to plan, promote and run the scoping meetings they were not as well attended as hoped. As I read the guide and waited for my background check, senior managers huddled upstairs with the LRA people evaluating where they stood and the best course of action to take. They, in my view wisely, concluded that local officials owning the process was critical to its success and that in most Parishes the scoping meetings had not achieved this goal. They therefore worked out a new schedule. In most parishes, the time allocated for the first public meeting would instead be used for a Planning Workshop with local government officials. The first Public meetings would then be held in January focusing on vision, needs and strategies. From this recovery strategies would be prepared for each parish as the 100 day deliverable. The second public meeting would be held in February, confirming the interpretation of comments from the first meeting and focusing on projects and priorities. From this the Recovery Strategy would be expanded into a Parrish Recovery Plan. Then the Parrish Plans would be rolled up into regional and finally statewide plans. The final draft products would be completed by the end of March.

The Parrish leads were charged with going out and securing a storefront to work from and working with logistics to get it set up. I have been in Allen Parish for a week and a half. With great assistance from a GSA person we secured a site and I have been working with the logistics folks to get the lease signed, and all the other things needed to set up an business. We are still about a week and a half away, which realistically means the first of January before we are fully functional. I would argue that given the lack of precedence for such an effort, getting three hundred professionals into approximately 20 storefronts, in a six week period while simultaneously holding dozens of public meetings in the hardest hit parishes and Government Workshops in the rest is an impressive accomplishment. But it still leaves us just opening our doors three weeks before the 100 days is up.

Now, add to this a recent change in the senior management of the program here in Louisiana. Now they need to become comfortable with both the way we are organized and the approach / schedule being pursued. There are pressures from the people and press to make some of the hard decisions sooner rather than later and accelerate the start of major actions on the ground. Finally, we are all learning as we go along.

So a new “game plan” is being developed, a new organization chart is being investigated. This afternoon there was a conference call team leader meeting with the new Chief of Staff. We were told again that they had changed there mind and were encouraging people to take off through January 2 and rest up for an intense 60 days. That everyone is being asked to commit to 60 and if anyone requires more than on four day weekend away during this period they will need to be replaced.

So what is coming? Has the end date be moved up from the end of March to the End of February – 60 days? Is the reorganization simply consolidating the reporting structure or will people be moved from Parish to Parish? They hope to let us know by mid-week. We will see.

Recording the Results

Thursday December 15 and Friday December 16, 2005

The last two days were taken up with housekeeping.

A standard template (Excel spreadsheet) was distributed to record the information from the flip charts. Chris went back to Baton Rouge for some training. Cliff and I spent Thursday morning recording our information and we were one of the first to e-mail it into Baton Rouge.

In the afternoon there was a group meeting for the three Parishes in our region. There is a person assigned to be the region leader but he seems to be one of the no-shows. The team leader for Beauregard Parish was the first person out here and did the preliminary evaluation of the three Parishes. While waiting for the regional lead, he is acting in that capacity.

This person seems competent and experienced. He worked on a FEMA long-term recovery effort in Missouri. I think that this is both a benefit and a liability. On the plus side he has set up and run a storefront before. On the negative side that was a much smaller effort requiring much less coordination and he seems to be chaffing at the way the current management is trying to organize things.

He and I have very different management styles. By his own description he is a bit cynical. My impression is that he is also demanding and more of a long ranger. I tend to be more collaborative, methodically, patiently and persistently pursuing the course I have set. I think I will do my best to keep my distance and go about my business. It seems to have worked thus far and I am more satisfied with the support I have been getting than others are. Perhaps it is that I have more realistic expectations, perhaps it is because I have quickly established more of a partnership with those involved. Whatever it is it seems to be working so if it isn’t broke, don’t fix it.

Our Workshop

Wednesday December 14, 2005

This afternoon we held our workshop. Just before we were to begin a torrential rainstorm hit. I heard later that it rained 4.5 inches in an hour. Perhaps because of the rain, more likely because an afternoon meeting doesn’t work when most government officials have a day job, attendance was less than I had hoped. I would have been happy with 20 people and was disappointed with only 13. One positive note was that the Mayor of Kinder said that if people didn’t show up it was not because they didn’t know about it since he had received the invitations and several reminders.

The program is that for the meeting in your Parish, the team registers people and observes and is not the people who actively facilitate. Should there be any strong feelings better that they are handled by someone who is only there for the day.

It was a learning experience in that this was an opportunity for us to see what the local leaders see as the problems, issues and treasurers. Other than problems created by inadequate evacuation routes, a lack of resources to quickly clear blocked roads and the byproducts of an influx of evacuees (I have heard a 10% increase in Parish population), the issues are really those you would expect in any poor rural parish seeking to increase the local standard of living without sacrificing the rural culture they love.

The Team Comes Together

Tuesday December 13, 2005

I received another phone call. The other woman who had been assigned to Allen Parish was a local who has been reassigned to a parish nearer her home. She has been replaced by Chris Corbett. A planner recently hired by CDM for this effort, Chris is now living in San Francisco and has spent many years in Dubai working for various firms on various projects.

Cliff arrived tonight and Chris will be here tomorrow in time for the Government Officials Planning Workshop in the Afternoon. I have also met with Garrick Soileau (pronounced Swallow), a sergeant with the National Guard who has been assigned to our team as the State government liaison. They have been trying to identify a second guard member, but need someone who lives close by since there is know funding for putting them up in a hotel.

This afternoon, I went to Jefferson Davis Parish to assist them with their workshop. The Workshops have two objectives. The first is to hear from local elected officials what they see as the problems caused by the hurricane, the issues they see in an eventual recovery and the things about the Parish they feel it is critical to protect or restore. The second purpose is to generate buy-in from the local officials for the planning process.

A firm from New York has been hired to organize the workshops so that all workshops follow the same format, deal with the same issues and are documented in the same manner. The goal is to be able to both easily compare and contrast the various parishes and to be able to easily roll up the results into a state-wide assessment. A woman named Jenifer is this firm’s representative at the Jefferson Davis Parish and will be he person heading out to Allen Parish. She is a very competent, professional and personable woman. It turns out she was in the Peace Corp in the Philippines and worked on developing local planning capacity in general and water and sewer planning in particular. She came to love international work and asked how I managed to find such work as an independent consultant.

Although sparsely attended, the meeting went well. I was the facilitator for one of the two tables of participants. With only four officials at each table the planned three-hour session ended about 30 minutes early.

In discussions after the meeting one of the folks relayed an interesting story. At one of the meetings held the previous day, the question of Parish Treasures was raised. The sheriff who was seated at one of the tables said that a parish treasure was the fact that there was a nativity scene on the green, an open bible on the mayor’s desk and the Ten Commandments on the wall in his office. Trying to be diplomatic, the facilitator wrote “strong religious values” on the flip chart. She was quickly corrected that it should read “strong Christian values.”

As I said, I have a lot to learn.

NO FEMA Trailers!

Monday December 12, 2005

Tonight there was a meeting at the Parish Police Jury Chambers. It was a special meeting with all the mayors invited to hear from a gentleman from the State Department of Revenue.

There are some 200,000 homes that have been destroyed or are uninhabitable. There are thousands of travel trailers that have been purchased to provide temporary (6 to 18 month) housing for folks currently living in hotels or sharing space with relatives. The problem is where to put the trailers.

FEMA did an inventory of all vacant land as close to the areas with displaced population as possible. The then eliminated the parcels that are too far away from towns, don’t have public transportation, are near overcrowded schools, or where there is inadequate utilities. About 5 sites in Allen Parish were identified as potential sites for small temporary trailer parks and were submitted to the Police Jury (aka County Council) for consideration. The gentleman from the State explained that those evacuees already living in Allen Parish would be given first preference, if there were still spots available, evacuees from adjacent parishes would be contacted next.

Knowing that it would be their “neighbors” who would be using the trailers placated some in the audience. Early news reports of trailer parks with 50 or 100 or more trailers had, however, spooked the residents of this rural parish. They wanted no part of FEMA Trailer Parks. The president of the Police Jury, quite passionately explained that the people of Allen Parish had helped evacuees and wanted to help their neighbors in any way possible, but just could not handle trailer parks. Instead he urged citizens to consider whether they had sufficient room on their property to host one, two or maybe three trailers and if they did, pleases contact the Police Jury.

Reading the papers, FEMA and the State will have a job cut out for them finding a place for these trailers and getting people out of hotel rooms. It seems most Parishes feel the same way as the people of Allen Parish – even the Parishes with significant damage.

Given the large number of house trailers in the Parish, it does not seem to be an aversion to this type of domicile. The concern seems to be the density, knowing who would be moving in, and not wanting to change the rural nature of the Parish. Outside the meeting, some citizens would quite candidly say that they do not want a large number of blacks from New Orleans moving into their community for an extended period of time and perhaps permanently.

I have seen various statistics indicating that the Parish is between a quarter and a third black. And it would appear that the black and white folks in the parish get along well and work together well. In fact as of January, the only black member of the Police Jury will become Parish President. So it seems to be a class and or cultural thing. Some folks are afraid of city people in general having a negative affect on the local community and for some black city people in particular.

I have a lot to learn about these people.

People Helping People

Sunday, December 11, 2005

There was a message on my phone last night from a gentleman named Cliff Cooper. It turns out that a planner named Pam Jolly who had been assigned to my team seems to be a no show and he has been assigned instead. Cliff is a retired civil engineers who has done a lot of road work in his career. About ten years ago he did some work for FEMA but it was relief work immediately after the disaster, not this kind of work. He hopes to be badged, have his computer, and be out here sometime on Tuesday.

I went to mass at St. Philip Niri church. The church is traditional and would hold about 500 people. Unusual for a Catholic Church, the pews are upholstered. The pastor is Hispanic – Father Carlos Garcia-Cardona. The Deacon gives the homily. It is his story. He had lived in Cameron Parish south of here along the ocean. Cameron was completely destroyed. In some towns all that was left standing was the water tower. In the months since the storm he, his wife and his grown children and their families have purchased some land in Kinder and a planning to build homes and stay.

He went to confession weeks ago and told Father Carlos that he had been ordained as a Deacon and have served at a church which had been destroyed. The father asked if he wanted to serve and was capable of preaching. His response to these questions was yes but explained that he could not right now since his vestments had been lost in the storm and with the costs of building new homes and replacing all they had lost, new vestments would have to wait.

With tears in his eyes and with his voice cracking he described how a week ago there was a knock at his door and a woman from one of the parish committees was standing there with a new set of vestments. She said Deacon these are for you – we would like you to serve our Parish.

Small Town Christmas

Saturday December 10, 2005

The day starts with paperwork. Although efforts have been made to keep it to a minimum, it is still burdensome. We have to fill out a tracking form for our Technical Assistance Coordinator that shows how many hours we worked each day and the expenses incurred, whether we have paid the bill yet for the car, hotel, etc., or not. This report covers the period from Saturday through Friday. I have to fill out a time sheet for our employer, fortunately for me they have a system where I can enter in my hours on line. Their pay periods run from Sunday through Saturday although the on line form shows Monday through Sunday. This all wouldn't matter much except that all these hours need to match. Some of the folks here work for companies that pay weekly, some bi-weekly and some monthly. Mine is bi-weekly so every two weeks I have to submit an expense report with receipts. Fortunately my contractor allows us to fax our receipts. Some require their people to FedEx their receipts. Sometimes weekly -- and the nearest FedEx office to my location is a 45 minute drive. All in all I have it easy.

With the paperwork done I set out to explore the Parish. As I am leaving, I chat with Willie Mae, the friendly round woman who cleans my room most days. She is trying to get done quickly, her young son is excited about going to the Christmas parade at 2:00. This seems to be the day for such things. The larger towns are all having their parades and some times other activities this afternoon.

I head north to Oakdale, first settled in 1860. The main street is blocked of for what like a Christmas fair of sorts. I eat at the Pizza hut across the way and don't venture into the crowd, it looks like most of the town is strolling down the closed streets.

I drive northwest through the northern part of the wildlife preserve to the town of Elizabeth, established in 1907. I circle around and find the public utilities building, but I am not sure I whether I found the downtown or not. I am told that Elizabeth was founded by New Englanders and is known for the houses with gable roofs and boasts of itself as a front porches. I missed that, all I saw were ranch houses and trailers.

Now I am traveling southwest towards Grant -- another town that seems to consist of only a post office (in a trailer) and a school. This is a rural town established in 1894 relies on farming, logging and some newer oil wells. All over the Parish I have seen signs directing people to a Christmas Tree farm in grant. I follow the signs down back roads and come to a place reminiscent to Smolack Farms back home, although not as crowded with people. The have goats including on inspecting everyone from a perch up on a tower. There are also a couple of donkeys. These are used to power an antique sugar cane press and children get to ride as the donkey pulls the end of the long poll around the press. People go on hayrides, pick out and cut their trees, sip hot cider or cocoa, load up their tress and head for home. I head south for Mittie.

Mittie seems to be just another trailer post office by the side of the road. It is a popular place for canoeing, boating and fishing with two good size rivers close by. An interesting feature of these rivers is the white sandy beaches along the riverbanks.

I try to take some back roads down to US 190 just west of Kinder. I drive along some desolate back roads. Areas that have been clear cut and the debris left burned. Here and there are groups or trailers and sometimes a house. I get turned around and end up back in Oberlin and so head south to Kinder and then west.

There are two towns west of Kinder I want to take a look at before dark. LeBlanc was established in the 1800s. It is the starting point for hunting and fishing trips and the main industries are silica sand mining and forestry. It is also so small that I passed through it with out noticing.

The last town to the west is Reeves. Another small village centered around its school, a few churches and a general store.

At this point the sun is setting and the various Christmas activities are done. As planned I am near the southwestern edge of the Parish, north of Lake Charles. It is a good size city, home to a couple of small colleges, restaurants, stores and a Bank of America bank machine. I head south for money and a change of pace in the food department.

The Same -- Just Different

Friday, December 10, 2005

Eunice, LA the Gateway to the Great Southwest Prairie. Lawrence Massachusetts, hometown of Robert Frost and Leonard Bernstein. Tipperary, You’ve come a long. long way. This year I have driven the back roads of the British Virgin Islands, Ireland and now Louisiana.

The sign as you enter my home town of Lawrence Massachusetts takes pride in the writers of poetry and music who grew up there. Many of the small towns elsewhere highlight their location, specific historical events, annual happening (Home of the ____ Festival!), or of some “famous” person. Each town is touting what is unique about them. Each trying to build civic pride and encourage development.

The sign hints at something special about this community. Then you drive through and usually find it is simply another small town or small city. Sometimes very poor – sometimes not, but rarely is the place something truly special to anyone but a local or someone with a particular interest. But what is important is that the locals see their hometown as special. That is what builds communities, builds pride, causes people to start looking out for each other and their town, and stimulates ambition in the children to do more and be more.

Today, I sent each of the government bodies reminders that we are having a Government Planning Workshop on Wednesday Afternoon. Then I drove up to Oakdale just to get a feel for the Area. It is the largest town in the Parish. There is a Wal-Mart, and a number of recognizable restaurants – more variety than Kinder or Oberlin. There is also a larger “T” shaped downtown. Like Oberlin there are a good many vacant storefronts. In that regard Kinder seems more prosperous.

School is letting out. Like in towns everywhere at this time of day, students are climbing into vehicles idling by the curb adjacent to their school. Some are public schools some are religious. Churches and religion are an important part of life here. Just looking at the distribution of churches I would guess that the southern part of the parish is largely Catholic like the Cajun dominated parishes to the south while the northern part is more protestant like its northern neighbors.

Trade Offs

Thursday, December 8, 2005

We reached agreement on the storefront this afternoon and now we have to wait for the paperwork to work its way through the system.

There are always trade-offs. The Quality Inn room in Lafayette and the Best Western Room here in Kinder cost the same. The Quality Inn had exterior entrances to each room. The Best Western has a nice lobby and interior corridors. The room at the Best Western is larger and easier to work in, but unlike the Quality Inn it does not have a refrigerator and microwave. Given the shortage of restaurants and the fact that most of them specialize in fried foods, I may have to purchase an electric cooler or something and use the microwave in the lobby.

To Allen Parish

Wednesday December 7, 2005

I have the wrong cell phone provider for this location. This morning I checked out of the Quality Inn in Lafayette and into the Best Western Hotel on the Coushatta Indian Reservation on US 165 in Allen Parish.

The Hotel is about 13 miles north of downtown Kinder, LA, population approximately 2,100 (pre Hurricane). There is a restaurant at the Coushatta Casino. In Kinder there are 4 fast food places (McDonald’s, Burger King, Subway and Sonic), a waffle place, a Chinese restaurant, a Cajun Restaurant and a Catfish hut. The nearest large store (Wal-Mart) is 20 miles up US 165 in Oakdale – I have been told that Kinder once had a Wal-Mart and that it is one of the few in the chain’s history to not make it. The nearest movie theater is a 45-minute drive to Lake Charles.

I have just about finalized discussions for a location for the Parish Store-front Recovery Center. It is a former nail salon on the main street of the Parish Seat – Oberlin. This is about a 7 miles north of the hotel. Oberlin has a population of approximately 1,850. It has one restaurant and is 7 miles closer to the Wal-Mart and further from the theater.

This is a quiet place. Oakdale is the largest of the towns along US 165. With a population of about 8,000, it is home to about 1/3rd of the Parish’s total population.

Verizon may have the “best nationwide” network but out here the answers to my repeated “do you hear me now” questions have been disappointing.

If I were selling blue tarps . . .

Tuesday December 6, 2005

Today I visited Allen Parish for the first time. It was really the first time I saw any damage from one of the hurricanes. This was one of the less damaged Parishes. Seems most of the buildings sustained some level of roof damage with at least part of each roof was covered by a large blue tarp. There seems to be a shortage of shingles.

Many of the tall pine trees along the side of the road were broken off ten or twenty feet above the ground. Many very large old oaks had been toppled, their roots pointed toward the sky. Here and there a sign was twisted or laying on the ground. Some old sheet metal buildings were partially collapsed. A tree still lay across a crushed car.

A real estate agent showed us the location of vacant storefronts in Kinder and Oberlin. Kinder is the home of the big Casino and seems most open to development with a good number of new buildings and recently upgraded properties. Oberlin is the Parish seat and looks like little has changed in decades. The storefronts are not quite as up to date – they reminded me more of the condition of my father’s corner store in Lawrence.

They are relying on my assessment of what would be in the best interest of the program. Oberlin may be a bit dated but it is more centrally located to the county population and I think being in the county seat is important.

This afternoon we had a team leaders’ meeting. I now have a much clearer idea of my role, the program and the use the storefront will be put to. Tomorrow we will look at some additional places and start that ball rolling.

Last Day of Preparation

Monday, December 5, 2005

I have had my shots, had my computer configured and started setting up actions. Tomorrow, the job really begins.

At 8:00 am I will be meeting with someone from the Government Services Administration and a Real Estate agent to look for a storefront to become our parish headquarters. I also have to coordinate with the Police Jury (aka Parish Council) secretary to set up a government stakeholders’ workshop for the 14th. I need to hit the ground running and set up to allow my team as they arrive to also do so. After more conversations today, it is less clear how many people will be on the Parish team – more than the initial 2, less than the original estimate of 14. The exact number will in part depend on what I find, the skills I think I will need and who they have coming in over the next few weeks.

I have met some really interesting people here. I am a people person. I love building interdisciplinary teams. I am at my best when I have smart people to bounce ideas of off – it improves my creativity. As an independent consultant, I spend lots of days alone in my home office, calling people, emailing people, writing reports, etc. I get lonely and begin to pace like a caged animal. Although the waiting to get started of the past week has been difficult, having folks to talk to, have lunch with, etc. has been great. Being the first out in a sparsely populated Parish will be back to being a one man-band for a time. I will be happy when we staff up a bit.

The weather turned cold for here – cold and damp, my least favorite type of weather. When I was at Georgia Tech I would wish for a few degree drop in temperature so it would snow and I would only be cold not wet. Tonight’s forecast is a low of 33°. I hear it is even colder at home and they may get some significant snow. This will be the first difficult week since I left and my thoughts are with my family.

Even though the hours have not been overly long yet, I have not been able to go to sleep early despite the alarm set for 6:00 am. The adrenaline is winding down and it has finally caught up to me. Last night I turned out the light at 9:00 and I am still tired to night.

In the morning I finally begin.

A Day of Rest

Sunday December 4, 2005

Last night I searched for a place to stay in Allen Parish. There seem to be about 3 significant small towns: Oakdale to the north, where a Federal Prison is located – the current home of Governor Edwards I am told, Kinder to the south where the state’s largest land based casino is located, and about midway between along US 165, Oberlin the Parish seat. My preference is to stay at a chain where I can be confident of the minimum quality to expect and where I can get a non-smoking room with Internet service. As might be expected, these types of places are located in Kinder near the casino and about 20 miles from Oberlin. Only one of these has a non-smoking room available from Wednesday through the Thursday before Christmas – same price as where I am staying in Lafayette. It is a handicapped room so I feel a bit guilty taking it, but I make the reservation before this last room is no longer available. Then I send off an e-mail to my employer to verify that this is OK.

Before going to sleep I turned off the alarm and looked forward to sleeping in. No such luck, I woke up at 6:00 am, seems my body has already gotten into that rhythm. Today, rather than a quick bowl of cereal, I take the time to make a waffle and have a leisurely breakfast.

It may be a day of rest but it is also the one day to take care of chores. I have already dropped off my laundry for wash/dry/fold service, stopped by the Bank of America ATM I identified on the web, went to WalMart, drove around Lafayette a bit to get a feel for the area (small university town, regional airport, nice downtown, several business strips, etc.), had a long phone conversation with my wife and read the local Sunday paper. Normally I would watch some football but none of the games I am interested in are on so I am working through a to-do list instead. But if I don’t get it all done, I don’t get it all done and that is OK – today.

A few miscellaneous thoughts now that I have time to organize my observations.

The Federal Government is not the only organization to mobilize. A property restoration company from the mid-west has leased the limited conference space in this hotel. They have an entire operation set up inside and seem to be working seven days a week not six.

I need to get some exercise. Weight rooms don’t seem to come standard around here and I am not a runner or a swimmer. It is not clear the new place will have one either. There is however a golf course. When I come back after Christmas I will bring my clubs and try to at least get some exercise on Sundays. I still hope there is a weight room – I need to loose a little.

The first few days, the weather was cool – sweater or light jacket weather. The last few have been pleasant – short sleeve weather. Tomorrow, the forecast is for much cooler weather and showers.

I am glad I have my computer and cell phone with me. Even though they have issued me a cell phone and laptop, there are strict rules on their use and while they do allow limited personal use it is restricted and they reserve the right to read your e-mail, etc. All understandable. Easier to just keep personal and work separate.

Madeleine’s play seems to be going well, she loved the flowers and started receiving the post cards I have been sending every day. Amanda’s biased opinion is that she is the best in the show. They could not get in to construct the set until the last minute so it did not get done as designed. The work I put into the set design didn’t end up being fully used. It will be interesting to see the video.

Madeleine also got into the spring junior theater production of Oliver. It was a very competitive audition and she is transitioning from the oldest year in the junior division to the youngest year in the senior division. She is in the chorus, is one of the pickpockets and is thrilled.

Most of the folks have rooms in places around Baton Rouge so it is a bit lonely being out here by myself. I think it will be better in a few weeks when we are staffed up in our parish office. Past experience indicates that a team like this will become a bit of a family. Also with little else to do the long hours will go by quickly.

Time to get back to my to-do list and rest – although truth be told I can’t wait to get back to it.

Relief

Saturday December 3, 2005

We were told that background checks were running 4 days (not including Sundays) with some 3 days and others 5. Friday was four days from when I was fingerprinted. Some had received their calls on Thursday. By Saturday morning all the folks in my group who arrived on Monday had received a call. Even some who had arrived Tuesday had received calls and few who arrived Wednesday were beginning to receive calls.

I had not received a call. Was there a problem? Why the delay?

They handed out an organization chart and a listing showing the assignments of the 150 or so people known to the managers. At least 20% of these people were not yet on site and the total was expected to double over the next few weeks. The 26 Counties (nee, Parishes – important to get that terminology down) to be served have been divided into six regions. Leads have been assigned to five of the six regions and all but three of the parishes. Anticipated staffing in each parish is based on the difference between the needs and planning capacity in the parish. Those with the most damage, primarily in the New Orleans area, will already have ten people plus or minus assigned. Some parishes don’t have anyone assigned yet.

I have given the role of Parish Lead. I am looking forward to and I am confident that I can handle that challenge. I have been assigned to Allen Parish, which is a rural area hit by Hurricane Rita in the western part of the state one or two parishes north of the coastal areas. Wind damage and damage to the economy but not the devastation of the coastal communities. My first reaction is disappointment – I was hoping to be assigned to one of the harder hit Parishes in the southeast. It seems that for the most part, due to the severity of the issues, those were assigned team leaders from the early arrivals and there was an attempt to use local people more well versed in the community and politics of the areas whenever possible. They needed me as a Parish Leader and this was where I was placed. They are still making adjustments, things may change, things may not.

After letting the assignment sink in, however, it becomes more comfortable. The population is actually about the same as the British Virgin Islands (less than the town in Massachusetts where I live) although – sight unseen – it does not seem to have the dense development of the major communities found in the BVI. In its own way my job is as challenging as that faced by folks assigned to the areas in the southeast. Eventually I will have about a dozen people working for me – right now there is one other name in our box on the chart and she has yet to arrive. Unlike the hard hit areas, it is not clear what progress if any has been made in finding and leasing a “store front recovery center.” Once Tuesday’s Parish Leaders meeting at the Headquarters in Baton Rouge is over, I will be a bit of a one man band trying to create a functioning office so new comers can hit the ground running and at the same time keeping up with the region wide schedule which calls for a workshop with government officials from throughout the Parish the following week.

As my mind wraps around the things that need to be done, I shift from disappointment to impatience wanting to get started as soon as possible. But I still do not have clearance. What if there is a problem? Will I be doing this work?

Just as we are breaking for lunch at 1:00 pm, my cell phone rings. My clearance has come through, can I go right over to the building where I was fingerprinted to get my identification badge and then to the joint field operations center to pick up a computer and cell phone. And take Ben with me – he has been cleared too. A weight has been lifted off my shoulders. Ben and I dash out, roll through a fast food place, accomplish our tasks and get back by 2:30 pm for the next briefing: south Louisiana history and culture and the predominant characteristics of each of our parishes.

As Sherlock would say, the game is now afoot.

Surprises

November 28 – December 2, 2005

The joint operations center and the Long Term Recovery Program headquarters are in the Louisiana State Capital of Baton Rouge. This is about 80 miles north west of New Orleans. Like New Orleans, Baton Rouge is on the east bank of the Mississippi River.

Monday night I left Baton Rouge after dark to head for my hotel. I have been booked at the Quality Inn in Lafayette. This is about 55 miles west-south-west of Baton Rouge on Interstate 10. I spent the trip concentrating on the road, the traffic and looking for signs for the Quality Inn since I was not sure exactly where to find it. It was a very straight road and in the darkness on either side of the highway were trees. I noticed one sign saying I was crossing Henderson Swamp and another for the Atchafalawa River.

I spotted a sign for the hotel at exit 103. Not a problem and a relatively quick ride. I checked in and was then given directions to a local WalMart where I picked up some supplies and then had dinner at a Waffle House. The last time I had eaten at a Waffle House was a few years ago in Alabama and the only problem was the smoking. I was pleasantly surprised to see the smoke free sign on the door. I am not sure if there is a smoking ban in restaurants but it looks that way.

Tuesday morning I drove back in the morning light and was amazed to discover that about half of my journey last night was on an elevated highways crossing approximately 25 miles of swamps, rivers and bayous. It was beautiful with the sun coming up over the bayou.

After spending the morning reading four of us went to lunch. About two blocks away was a comfortable place called the Buzz Café. It was a restaurant occupying the lobby of a building occupied by a legal firm. In order to reach the firm’s offices, you walked through the restaurant to the ornate staircase of this grand old building. The restaurant was furnished with old square wooden plank tables and a mixed assortment of old wooden chairs with upholstered seats and backs. The atmosphere, the service, the selection, the soup and the sandwiches were all very good. A group of us returned each day and as luck would have it the same table was the only one available each day and the same woman was our waitress. By the third day she told us what our drinks were!

Last night and tonight driving back to the hotel my nostrils were invaded by a familiar smell that brought back memories of long ago. A farmer was burning the stubs left from the crop he had harvested. Growing up in New England, it was not unusual at this time of year for people to burn leaves and to even burn their grass. They said this made the lawn grow back greener and fuller the following spring. I always like the smell of the burning leaves and grass. Until sensing that smell once again I hadn’t really noticed that it was something I rarely experienced anymore.

Not at the Show

December 2, 2005

I talked to my daughter a short time ago. She was preparing for her school production of Grease. This is the tenth production she has been in over the past three years and the first that I will miss. I have called to have flowers delivered tomorrow. She will miss me and I will miss her.

Today we were in a different building in training all day. It was good to be in a different place and to be doing something other than reading. They completed the background check on 1 of the folks who had their fingerprints done at bout the same time as me on Monday. Hopefully I will hear tonight or tomorrow. That way if I have to move I can look for a new hotel Sunday.

Someone once told me that the most important task for a consultant is doing the paperwork to make sure you get paid. That too has to be completed this weekend so I get paid for my first week and for my expenses. Then it will be every two weeks from there.

They told us today that they had just about completed their initial plan for assignments. Tomorrow (Saturday morning), they will meet with the group tomorrow morning and go over it with us. Then we can start talking with the one or two people already in our assigned parish – some permanent and some interim. They also went over the schedule. The draft plans are due the end of March – 4 months from now. We are all on 90 minimum commitments. It looks like many of us will have the option of signing on for another month if we wish. I am fairly certain that I will be offered a short contract to Facilitate the WAWI meeting the end of April or early May, and I am discussing another project for the April – September time frame. It will be interesting to see what works out and what March will look like.

But before we get to March, I need the background check approval and an assignment.

Hurricanes Katrina & Rita – meeting an incredible challenge

Thursday December 1, 2005

The logistically demands are immense. While the efforts being make by FEMA and others could not possibly satisfy the needs of millions of people, the attempt is amazing.

Today I completed reading the guidebook. The more I read, the more I talk to the people who have been here for the last month, the more impressed I become.

First there were the relief efforts. Scanning through the descriptions I was stunned by the number of people and the amount of money spent by a myriad of federal agencies, state agencies and non-profits in a very short period of time to meet the immediate needs of millions. I know there are many unhappy people that have not received the help they would have liked to receive. I am not sure that even if the money were available it would have been physically possible.

Following the hurricanes that hit Florida in 2004 it was realized that there was a need to bring together all of the stakeholders at a community, local, state and federal level and develop a long term plan for recovery that went beyond just repair things to the way they were beyond the storm. Studies show that after a major disaster, it takes 3 to 5 years to rebuild not only the structures, but also the economy and the communities. And it makes no sense not to take advantage of the opportunity to treasure the past and rebuild for the future not rebuild the past with all its warts. While it is not the federal governments role to rebuild the community, they can provide the short-term influx of professionals needed to quickly facilitate coordinated efforts and produce the community based plan needed to quickly start the recovery process. So last summer FEMA established a Long-Term Recovery Program not knowing how quickly they would have to put it in place or the magnitude at which it would have to be implemented.

So, a month ago, they started to a new phase that has never been attempted. In that short time they will go from 0 to over 150 people. Soon that will double, and storefront recovery centers will be leased, set up and staffed in about 20 parishes. Within 90 days each of these will have developed community based 5-year development plans including at least 3 major public meetings. I have managed the creation of a consulting practice and the development of a master plan for seven distinct areas. I have some idea of how long it takes and how complex this is. To try and accomplish this on this scale at this speed is an audacious thing to attempt and it is clear to me that there is the commitment to make this happen.

I hope that tomorrow, my background check will be complete and I will get my assignment so I can begin making my contribution