Open House Preparation

Saturday, January 21, 2006

Today we started at 7:00 AM. We finished inside, set up the tent and helped set up the area were the Gumbo was being cooked.

The input approach was very well planned and the various posters very well done. They were very organized with a setup manual and a conference call in advance to cover any questions.

I am very pleased with the setup we designed. Using the space itself and the dividers, we created this maze to control the flow of people. Individuals enter in the front door and are greeted at a welcome station where they are asked to sign in and place a pin on a map to indicate where the live. They are also asked to think big – going beyond individuals needs to community needs. Then they are directed to an information station with maps and lots of information they can take with them (every time I look at the Information Station sign I want to sing the Conjunction Junction from the School House Rock snippets that appeared between the Saturday morning cartoons when I was young!).

Next they get to use dots to vote for the three most important of the 20 or so Planning Principals displayed on three posters. Around the corner they get to write key issues in each of the five areas on sticky notes and place them on the appropriate poster.

In the back room they first come upon the Tough Choices station with three posters where they get to express an opinion on questions like should the levees be rebuilt stronger if that means there is not as much money for housing and economic development projects? Next they are invited to post what they treasure about the parish. Finally they are asked to share their vision of the Parish in 5 to 10 years. As they exit the back door they are thanked and given a coupon to go get gumbo. Especially in the back room the smell of gumbo fills the air and the sound of Zydeco can be heard

Just outside the door people sit at tables under the tent eating gumbo and listening to the band playing on the corner where they attract attention from passers by. Between 10:00 AM and 4:00 PM 80 people work their way through and take one of the numbered food tickets.

[Later note: Louisiana Planning Day included open houses in all the Parishes developing a recovery plan plus in cities in and out of the state with large numbers of evacuees. There were approximately 35 events attended by a total of 3,500 – an average of 100 people per event. That Allen Parish with only 24,000 people had 80 people attend is a testament to the great job the team did.]

Open House Preparation

Monday, January 9 – Friday, January 20, 2006

Pam has done a great job getting contributions to our open house. Her mother is going to cook chicken and sausage gumbo and all the food has been donated. She also got a Zydeco band to play from Noon to 2:00. It should be a great time.

Erica has done a great job with the preparation, which is largely marketing. We have distributed thousands of flyers and put up a couple of hundred yard signs. Her real coup was getting the three major supermarkets in the parish to have their baggers place flyers in customer’s grocery bags. The Storefront Grand Opening and the upcoming Open House was the lead story of both the local weekly newspapers complete with a color photo.

All week supplies have been arriving from Baton Rouge. Terry has been tracking everything and coordinating with Erica to make sure we have everything we need. He also got a couple of tents from the National Guard to put up next to the building. And Garrick arrange for some of the “trustees” (inmates) and the prison to come and put up the tents.

Everyone was assigned a section of the parish and spent most of a day putting up posters and yard signs and delivering flyers to stores, post offices, libraries, beauty salons, etc.

And I finished my rounds of meeting all of the Mayors, the Parish President and the Sheriff.

Tonight, we basically cleared out the office, and start setting up. Ingenuity reigns. In one of the “rooms” near the bathroom door, there is a water heater. Not the professional looking site we are trying to achieve. With two Aluminum folding tables standing on end and a bit of duck-tape, the water heater disappears behind a reasonably attractive divider. We continue to set up all we can before the cleaning lady kicked us out so she could wax the floors.

The Advisory Council

Monday, January 16 � Thursday, January 19, 2006

Several teams have established steering committees and sub-committees. While I agree with this approach, I had a slightly different and very clear idea of how I wanted to structure our public participation.

This is to be the Parish community�s plan. It is not the Parish Government�s plan or the cities� plan � and it is definitely not the plan of a bunch of outside consultants. It needs to be reflective of all sectors of the community. We need to provide technical expertise and support, but in many ways we are just the scribes and the people need to create the plan.

With such a short time frame, active participation is a must. I have asked each of the now seven topical area leads to find at least 6 and hopefully more people who will serve on their advisory council work group. They are to meet with there work group at least once a week for the month of February, working through each piece of the plan as it is developed. We cannot afford the possibility of getting far off-track -- we do not have the time. It is not assumed that government will implement all of the projects. I have asked each lead to work to ensure that his or her group is representative of the parish geographically, economically, etc. � that there be elected officials, government employees, people from the not for profit and for profit sectors and some key citizens and influencers.

And I am also creating an eighth group on Government and organizational capacity. I have invited all the Mayors, the Parish President, the Chambers of Commerce and the United Way. This groups job will be to help prioritize, provide feedback to the other groups and determine if the human and financial resources exist to implement the proposed projects.

By Wednesday, over 70 people had agreed to serve on one of the eight working group. Approximately 40 people attended our first meeting Wednesday night. Officers were elected and each working group met briefly to establish a time date and location for their first meeting and to suggest additional people for the group.

A very hopeful start.

The Advisory Council

Monday, January 16 � Thursday, January 19, 2006

Several teams have established steering committees and sub-committees. While I agree with this approach, I had a slightly different and very clear idea of how I wanted to structure our public participation.

This is to be the Parish community�s plan. It is not the Parish Government�s plan or the cities� plan � and it is definitely not the plan of a bunch of outside consultants. It needs to be reflective of all sectors of the community. We need to provide technical expertise and support, but in many ways we are just the scribes and the people need to create the plan.

With such a short time frame, active participation is a must. I have asked each of the now seven topical area leads to find at least 6 and hopefully more people who will serve on their advisory council work group. They are to meet with there work group at least once a week for the month of February, working through each piece of the plan as it is developed. We cannot afford the possibility of getting far off-track -- we do not have the time. It is not assumed that government will implement all of the projects. I have asked each lead to work to ensure that his or her group is representative of the parish geographically, economically, etc. � that there be elected officials, government employees, people from the not for profit and for profit sectors and some key citizens and influencers.

And I am also creating an eighth group on Government and organizational capacity. I have invited all the Mayors, the Parish President, the Chambers of Commerce and the United Way. This groups job will be to help prioritize, provide feedback to the other groups and determine if the human and financial resources exist to implement the proposed projects.

By Wednesday, over 70 people had agreed to serve on one of the eight working group. Approximately 40 people attended our first meeting Wednesday night. Officers were elected and each working group met briefly to establish a time date and location for their first meeting and to suggest additional people for the group.

A very hopeful start.

The Advisory Council

Monday, January 16 – Thursday, January 19, 2006

Several teams have established steering committees and sub-committees. While I agree with this approach, I had a slightly different and very clear idea of how I wanted to structure our public participation.

This is to be the Parish community’s plan. It is not the Parish Government’s plan or the cities’ plan – and it is definitely not the plan of a bunch of outside consultants. It needs to be reflective of all sectors of the community. We need to provide technical expertise and support, but in many ways we are just the scribes and the people need to create the plan.

With such a short time frame, active participation is a must. I have asked each of the now seven topical area leads to find at least 6 and hopefully more people who will serve on their advisory council work group. They are to meet with there work group at least once a week for the month of February, working through each piece of the plan as it is developed. We cannot afford the possibility of getting far off-track -- we do not have the time. It is not assumed that government will implement all of the projects. I have asked each lead to work to ensure that his or her group is representative of the parish geographically, economically, etc. – that there be elected officials, government employees, people from the not for profit and for profit sectors and some key citizens and influencers.

And I am also creating an eighth group on Government and organizational capacity. I have invited all the Mayors, the Parish President, the Chambers of Commerce and the United Way. This groups job will be to help prioritize, provide feedback to the other groups and determine if the human and financial resources exist to implement the proposed projects.

By Wednesday, over 70 people had agreed to serve on one of the eight working group. Approximately 40 people attended our first meeting Wednesday night. Officers were elected and each working group met briefly to establish a time date and location for their first meeting and to suggest additional people for the group.

A very hopeful start.

Grand Opening

Friday, January 13 – Saturday, January 14, 2006

The focus of the last two days has been our Storefront Grand Opening. Some teams have put a lot of emphasis on getting officials out for this event. While we have invited many officials, it has not bee as high a priority for me. All I wanted was at least 15 people, some good photo opportunities and some good press coverage. It seems we achieved all three goals.

Mac and Erica are great additions and although more reserved, I think Nicolas will be a big help also. Erica threw herself into helping Pam with the Grand Opening preparations. Minutes before the event, Terry and Mac were up on the roof hanging the Louisiana Speaks banner over the door. The mayor of Oberlin and the President of the Parish Police Jury cut the ribbon and the cake. It was a good day.

I am impressed with Erica’s leadership ability. I asked her to take the lead on the Open House preparations next week.

Surprises

Tuesday, January 10 – Thursday, January 12, 2006

Tuesday I received an e-mail stating that some new people who had arrived last week were about to be badged and two more people would be added to my team later in the week. I was surprised since I had not asked for additional staffing thinking they would be needed elsewhere.

Over the course of the last month I had been receiving e-mails and documents describing what was expected of team leads and members, who to contact for what, when reports were due, etc. In order to get my team on the same page I had decided to prepare a field guide putting all the information I thought was important in one brief document. With new folks coming in soon, I stayed late on Tuesday to prepare the document. It would make orienting them easier.

It is definitely a small world. When I got back to my room Tuesday night, there was an e-mail from Jennifer – the woman from New York who had been the facilitator a the two government planning workshops I was part of in December. Another planner friend of hers from Florida had e-mailed her to say she had quit her job and taken a contract to work on the recovery planning and had just been told she was assigned to Allen Parish. It was nice to know that Jennifer had e-mailed her back to say how happy she was that she had been assigned to Allen and that she was sure that she would really enjoy working with me.

The next day I received a phone call officially telling me that Erica had been added to my team – along with two other people! Nicolas is an environmental engineer and Mac is a rural development specialist with the US Department of Agriculture. Soon after, I received a call from Erica. She and Mac were ready to go and would be out to the Parish in the afternoon. I had a meeting with the Tribal Council and on my way back there was a message from Nicolas. The connection was not very good and he had an accent (French?) that made it difficult to understand. Back in the office I got in touch with Nicolas. He would be out on Thursday.

Then I received another phone call from a fellow named Bob who said Steve had told him to call – a fourth person? We talked, I gave him guidance on where to stay, how to find us, etc. Only toward the end of the conversation did he say that his role was the regional lead for Vernon, Beauregard, Allen and Jefferson Davis parishes – that made more sense and I was happy to have a lead to help facilitate our needs.

When Erica and Mac arrived I gave them a quick introduction and the field guide.

Today, once Nicolas arrived (he is Haitian), we had a staff meeting. We reassigned some of the tasks. I put Erica in charge of Housing and Community Design since she has more domestic experience than Chris and so is more familiar with Community Development Block Grants, etc. I assigned Nicolas to work with Cliff and divided up Transportation & Infrastructure into Transportation and Public Buildings (Cliff’s interest) and Utilities (Nicolas’s interest). I asked Mac to work with me on Capacity and to be the liaison with State and Federal partners identifying potential funding sources for the projects we would likely be identifying. It seems like we have a great team.

The Weekend

Saturday, January 7 – Sunday, January 8, 2006

I held a long team meeting on Saturday – a mini version of the summit. We went through the Game Plan and the Playbook. The approach is to divide the issues up into five topical areas: Housing and Community Design, Economic Development, Transportation and Infrastructure, Human Services and Environment. To fully evaluate each of these areas we will need the assistance of all members of the team including the two National Guardsmen and the Administrative Assistant. I assigned the Housing and Economic Development areas to our planner Chris, Transportation and Infrastructure to our engineer Cliff, Environment to one of the National Guardsmen Terry and I split Human Services in two with the other National Guardsmen Garrick dealing with Public Health and Safety and the Administrative Assistant Pam with Education and Family Services.

We agree to a basic schedule for the Storefront Hours (Monday – Friday 8:00 AM to 6:00 PM, Saturday 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM and Sunday Noon to 4:00 PM) and the minimum hours each person will work. The three outside professionals will work at least all of the hours Monday through Saturday and then rotate Sunday afternoons (we are authorized to work up to 70 hours without additional approval). The National Guardsmen and Administrative Assistant will work approximately 40 hours per week – I ask them to establish there own schedule with the only constraint being that at least one of the three of them be in the Storefront whenever it is open. We establish a regular Friday Staff meeting and I ask that everyone try not to schedule meetings between 11:00 AM and 2:00 PM so we can have as needed staff meetings just before or after lunch.

We also created a January/February calendar. On it we write the dates of meetings with City Councils, organizations, etc. We also write the tentative dates for the major milestones on post it notes and attach them to the calendar. The Grand Opening of the Storefront will be next Saturday, the first Advisory Council meeting the following Thursday night and the Louisiana Planning Day Open house will be the following Saturday. A busy two weeks and we are ready to hit the ground running on Monday. Since the Storefront is not officially open and given the work a head of us I tell everyone to take Sunday off.

Sunday morning I slept in a bit late. I headed out mid-morning to use the golf gift certificate my mother-in-law gave me for Christmas. It is $65 for unlimited play and I hope to get 36 holes in. I don’t play enough to be at all good, but I enjoy getting outside and getting some exercise. As I head for the car the cell phone rings. It is my wife and she is upset. Given the poor cell phone connection, I tell her to call the room number and head back in.

It has snowed and it is supposed to snow some more. She has spent a lot of time trying to get fully on top of our expenses that has resulted in other things not getting done. She is unhappy about the bank fees and interest we ended up paying while waiting for the payment from my work in London. I have been gone less than a week and she is already feeling overwhelmed. We talk for about an hour. I think she feels a touch better but is far from happy.

I head out for the golf course – I need even more to clear my head. This is quite an upscale place for a public course. You pull up to the club unloading point and an attendant takes your clubs out of the trunk and places them on a cart. She then followed me to the parking lot and brought me around to the pro shop. The cart comes equipped with a computerized score card, computerized maps of the holes and a GPS system that lets you know how far from the hole you are. A few holes before the end of the round you can even order lunch and it will be waiting for you. I end up playing with a gentleman from Texas whose wife is busy in the casino. He needs to finish in time to catch the bus that will be leaving at 4:00 PM. Along the way we catch up to another single and become a threesome. He is a local. It is a very nice afternoon and I enjoy the company. They stop after 18 holes while I continue on and play another 9. After a salad in the beautiful clubhouse, I head back to the hotel ready to really get started on this project.

Team Lead Summit

Thursday, January 5 – Friday, January 6, 2006

The summit was very informative and invigorating. In a very collegial manner, the “Game Plan” (what the report will look like) and the “Play Book” (the tasks to create the report) were discussed. There were breakout sessions where we could provide input on ways to improve both documents and on the nature of and best means of promoting the planned public input session. After two long days, it was great to leave having a much clearer view of what was expected when.

It seems as though my take on things and strategy has placed my team in a good position. Some teams dashed ahead based on the early drafts of the still being designed approach. I was real clear that this was a more complex process than had ever been attempted before with over 20 recovery plans that had to be reflect the unique circumstances of the individual Parish and yet be similar in content and structure so they could be compared, contrasted and rolled up into a regional document. My typical approach was very well suited to this situation.

We spent our time setting up the office, getting our computers, etc. largely up and running. Introducing ourselves to leaders in the community and developing an extensive contact list. Not knowing exactly what the process would look like, we described our mission in general terms being careful not to set potentially false expectations. Although I personally think that shortening the target completion from the end of March to the end of February, I think that will be revisited. We are thus in a perfect position to move forward.

The teams that split their time between creating a foundation and trying to make substantive progress were the most frustrated by the summit. They are unhappy that the final product had changed over time. They are unhappy that the schedule had been changed and continued to be in a state of flux. And those who have done this before on smaller recovery efforts – one town or one or two counties – are frustrated by the project planning process required by the size of this effort. Some would prefer to just do it in a way that is familiar and get moving.

It was also great to have a chance to see many of the folks who were part of my starting “class.” I hope that we get a chance to get together again. I am really glad that I was called in that week right after Thanksgiving. It is from this class that most of the Team Leads were selected – and I am really enjoying this role and think it is how I can make my greatest contribution.

The Office Opens

Tuesday, January 3 – Wednesday, January 4, 2006

The day started in a rush. I set the clock for 6:45 am not realizing that the time on the clock was set 12 hours off. When I awoke and glanced at the clock I was stunned to see the number 8:15. I jumped out of bed quickly washed my hair and threw on some clothes. I then realized I couldn’t shave since my shaving cream was in the suitcase I had left at the office.

As I was packing my briefcase music emanated from the cell phone. Our National Guardsman Garrick was already at the storefront without keys and with the second person that had been assigned to the parish. I told him I would be there in about 15 minutes.

Downstairs I found Chris and told him I was going to simply grab a muffin and some juice and head up. He said he would follow soon.

Garrick and Terry were waiting in the beautiful sunshine next to their respective pickup trucks. Terry in camo and combat boots – not realizing that he could wear civilian clothes to this assignment.

The furniture was in place as we had sketched it out and the phones all worked. I called the IT folks and they said that they expected the DSL modem to arrive today or tomorrow and then they would come up to set things up. I then called Express Personnel. They said that our Administrative Assistants background check was completed very quickly and they would call her and tell her to report to work as soon as possible. Everything was starting off well.

We spent time putting the maps and such up on the walls. Then Pam arrived to start her new job. Her local knowledge was immediately put to work assisting us in developing the contacts database.

I had hoped to go back to the hotel at noontime with my left suitcase and shave. However, the folks in Sulfur informed me that they had received the modem and would be up within an hour. By 5:30 or so, the network, the printers, the fax machine and the three laptops in the office were all up and working. When we left after 6:00 pm it was with a feeling of solid progress.

Tuesday morning, Pam went down to Sulfur to pickup her badge, computer and cell phone. Unfortunately since Terry was a National Guardsman he had to drive all the way to Baton Rouge to get his things. Both were back shortly after noon.

Cliff arrived back mid morning and we were fully staffed. The IT folks were scheduled to come back Thursday to configure the three remaining laptops and then all we would be waiting on would be a copier.

We are already getting some walk-ins and following up on the letters sent out. Thursday and Friday there is a Parish Lead’s summit in Baton Rouge. Once that is over we can schedule the formal opening of the Store Front and the first public meeting.

One Season to the Next

January 2, 2005

Twelve hours after leaving home I reached the Best Western Hotel in Kinder. I expected that the Christmas decorations would have been taken down and the lobby would be back to “normal.’ To my surprise the tree and garland were still in place. But things had changed. The red ribbons and bows were gone, replaced with green and purple Mardi Gras equivalents, the gold balls on the tree matching the gold trim on the new accessories.

Back home the decorations had immediately shifted from Christmas and New Year’s to Valentine’s Day. Here they skipped right past Valentine’s to Mardi Gras. I will be here for the celebrations. While not as hedonistic as in New Orleans, from what I understand each town and each parish – especially in Cajun country – has a celebration.

I did reach the hotel in time to witness the disappointing second half of Notre Dame’s loss in the Fiesta Bowl and get unpacked and turn in.