Here's someone with a $15 Trillion stimulus plan for the American domestic economy.
Of course, reverse engineer this idea, and you'll find that most of that money is currently going into the hands of
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Showing posts with label local politics. Show all posts
Showing posts with label local politics. Show all posts
Keep Your Money At Home
But not under the mattress.
Here's someone with a $15 Trillion stimulus plan for the American domestic economy.
Of course, reverse engineer this idea, and you'll find that most of that money is currently going into the hands ofprofessional gamblers Wall Street financial planners, corporate interests that aren't creating jobs, and real estate oversupply. Is it any wonder why the current American economy is unsustainable and stagnant?
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Here's someone with a $15 Trillion stimulus plan for the American domestic economy.
Of course, reverse engineer this idea, and you'll find that most of that money is currently going into the hands of
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Development & Density?
No thanks. By failing to approve a new mixed use, high density urban development, the "preservationists" would rather keep Canal Street's "historical character" of boarded up buildings, shut down hotels, shoe shops, and faux-voodoo tourist kitsch.
That's a shame for a streetscape that should be one of the bustling, dynamic, walkable commerical avenues of the Southeastern United States.
Wide streets can be fronted by tall buildings, that's one of the way urban design is supposed to work. I find the complaints of this building's height to be baseless. There are plenty of other buildings on that streetscape of that height, and they work because they front Canal.
Historical character? The building design does look "modern" in the aspect that it appears to use state of the art building design and materials. While this may not fit perfectly with the rest of the street towards the river, it isn't like this is some concrete-block monstrosity or post-modern experiment going in on that street.
As for the building it is replacing, it is a ramshackle low rise with a boarded up first floor covered in graffiti and posters. There is a need here to balance historical character with needed economic expansion. You'll be more able to preserve the historical character of other buildings and this part of the city as a whole if it is part of a working, dynamic downtown economy.
In other words, the Saenger Theatre, the Lowe's Theatre, and the Broadway South concept for that intersection isn't going to work if the theatres have no economic support nearby. If the University Medical Center ever does get built, people who work there could live in this building and walk to work, increasing the value of properties between this location going up Canal Street - an area that desperately needs commerical dollars.
And the folks making these decisions need to look up the definition of "leverage." They have some leverage in that a location like this on Canal Street should be quite valuable. But that knowledge needs to temptered with the reality that a location like this on Canal Street currently isn't as valuable as it could be, because of a lack of developers willing to take a risk of locating there.
Because, while the location has the potential to be very valuable based on the proximity of planned theatres and hospitals, those planned theatres and hospitals aren't yet done deals. Going ahead with developments of this nature assist the critical mass required for those projects to be successful. Otherwise, you'll end up stuck with the street the way it is now.
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That's a shame for a streetscape that should be one of the bustling, dynamic, walkable commerical avenues of the Southeastern United States.
Wide streets can be fronted by tall buildings, that's one of the way urban design is supposed to work. I find the complaints of this building's height to be baseless. There are plenty of other buildings on that streetscape of that height, and they work because they front Canal.
Historical character? The building design does look "modern" in the aspect that it appears to use state of the art building design and materials. While this may not fit perfectly with the rest of the street towards the river, it isn't like this is some concrete-block monstrosity or post-modern experiment going in on that street.
As for the building it is replacing, it is a ramshackle low rise with a boarded up first floor covered in graffiti and posters. There is a need here to balance historical character with needed economic expansion. You'll be more able to preserve the historical character of other buildings and this part of the city as a whole if it is part of a working, dynamic downtown economy.
In other words, the Saenger Theatre, the Lowe's Theatre, and the Broadway South concept for that intersection isn't going to work if the theatres have no economic support nearby. If the University Medical Center ever does get built, people who work there could live in this building and walk to work, increasing the value of properties between this location going up Canal Street - an area that desperately needs commerical dollars.
And the folks making these decisions need to look up the definition of "leverage." They have some leverage in that a location like this on Canal Street should be quite valuable. But that knowledge needs to temptered with the reality that a location like this on Canal Street currently isn't as valuable as it could be, because of a lack of developers willing to take a risk of locating there.
Because, while the location has the potential to be very valuable based on the proximity of planned theatres and hospitals, those planned theatres and hospitals aren't yet done deals. Going ahead with developments of this nature assist the critical mass required for those projects to be successful. Otherwise, you'll end up stuck with the street the way it is now.
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Why We Can't Have Nice Things
Mayor Landrieu makes the case for building the University Medical Center in New Olreans. This is a response to those who would seek to take the knees out from under the project and benefit their special interests under the cloak of "fiscal conservatism." All at the last minute, once an entire neighborhood has been destroyed and families have been uprooted.
In the larger context, Landrieu's rebuttal exposes the way individuals who play "conservative" on television willingly misrepresent tax figures as a means of providing for their own pork projects and protecting their own clients' subsidies.
For those of you who live in more progress-prone parts of the nation, you may be scratching your head wondering why this has been so difficult for New Orleans. Jeffery puts it in local context:
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In the larger context, Landrieu's rebuttal exposes the way individuals who play "conservative" on television willingly misrepresent tax figures as a means of providing for their own pork projects and protecting their own clients' subsidies.
For those of you who live in more progress-prone parts of the nation, you may be scratching your head wondering why this has been so difficult for New Orleans. Jeffery puts it in local context:
Ever content to remain the richest club in a poor and shrinking city, New Orleans' socialites resist any and every effort to grow the economy. They dress this conservative agenda up as "preservation" but it's better described as ossification. What gets "preserved" are old buildings, staid pageantry, anything that might make easy packaging for a hotelier or a filmmaker to sell.
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How Not to Build Stuff
Maybe they should have thought of this, or something like it BEFORE they declared imminent domain and bulldozed the neighborhood that existed there before. You want to talk about government waste?
Step 1: Your city has a teaching hospital run by the public state university that treats a high volume of at-risk patients. The system has big problems, but the building is solid and would be viable given some serious renovations.
Step 2: Man-made disaster seriously damages the teaching hospital.
Step 3: Agents of the government attempt to repair the teaching hospital. It is a hospital in the middle of a disaster area. Such facilities tend to be useful.
Step 4: Agents of the public state university allegedly stop repairs and close the teaching hospital. They want to declare the old hospital a loss, collect insurance money, collect national disaster money and build a new teaching hospital.
Step 5A: Powers that be know where they would put a new hospital. Friends, family, and connections begin buying cheap land in and around that area. These properties are left to moulder because they'll all get torn down when the new teaching hospital gets built.
Step 5B: Regular citizens who live in that area move back into their homes, and use what little insurance and government disaster aid they can apply for to renovate their homes. They aren't informed by the powers that be that all of their properties will be seized by imminent domain and torn down to make way for a new teaching hospital.
Step 6: Argue in public over the option to renovate the old teaching hospital (for $600 million) or build a new teaching hospital (for $1.2 billion). Ignore homeowners and businesses and other government agencies who have sunk money into properties that will be demolished. Let several years go by without much action, because who really needs a public hospital in the middle of a disaster area to serve at-risk populations?
Step 7: Convince the US Department of Veterans Affairs that the new teaching hospital is a done deal, and that they should start building their new hospital nearby.
Step 8: Convince developers and investors that the new teaching hospital is a done deal, and that they should start building new retail and residential use facilities as if the new hospital is guaranteed to be built.
(Seriously, I have a friend in another city, and some NOLA booster organization gave them a sales pitch that this hospital would be ready to open this fall or winter, with 5,000 new professional jobs coming to town.)
Step 9: Win the argument despite divisive local opionion and viable, cheaper alternatives. A Shiny New Hospital Will Be Built! Begin declaring eminent domain and bulldozing buildings. Move a few historical buildings to shut up the most agitating homeowners and preservationists. Clear dozens of city blocks of structures.
Step 10: Have state and federal officials representing competing intereststs attempt to derail the project at the last minute under the name ofhostage taking fiscal conservatism.
Because if you think anything above describes fiscal conservatism (or fiscal liberalism, for that matter) you watch too much cable network news and don't understand the definition.
As a whole, words just fail.
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Step 1: Your city has a teaching hospital run by the public state university that treats a high volume of at-risk patients. The system has big problems, but the building is solid and would be viable given some serious renovations.
Step 2: Man-made disaster seriously damages the teaching hospital.
Step 3: Agents of the government attempt to repair the teaching hospital. It is a hospital in the middle of a disaster area. Such facilities tend to be useful.
Step 4: Agents of the public state university allegedly stop repairs and close the teaching hospital. They want to declare the old hospital a loss, collect insurance money, collect national disaster money and build a new teaching hospital.
Step 5A: Powers that be know where they would put a new hospital. Friends, family, and connections begin buying cheap land in and around that area. These properties are left to moulder because they'll all get torn down when the new teaching hospital gets built.
Step 5B: Regular citizens who live in that area move back into their homes, and use what little insurance and government disaster aid they can apply for to renovate their homes. They aren't informed by the powers that be that all of their properties will be seized by imminent domain and torn down to make way for a new teaching hospital.
Step 6: Argue in public over the option to renovate the old teaching hospital (for $600 million) or build a new teaching hospital (for $1.2 billion). Ignore homeowners and businesses and other government agencies who have sunk money into properties that will be demolished. Let several years go by without much action, because who really needs a public hospital in the middle of a disaster area to serve at-risk populations?
Step 7: Convince the US Department of Veterans Affairs that the new teaching hospital is a done deal, and that they should start building their new hospital nearby.
Step 8: Convince developers and investors that the new teaching hospital is a done deal, and that they should start building new retail and residential use facilities as if the new hospital is guaranteed to be built.
(Seriously, I have a friend in another city, and some NOLA booster organization gave them a sales pitch that this hospital would be ready to open this fall or winter, with 5,000 new professional jobs coming to town.)
Step 9: Win the argument despite divisive local opionion and viable, cheaper alternatives. A Shiny New Hospital Will Be Built! Begin declaring eminent domain and bulldozing buildings. Move a few historical buildings to shut up the most agitating homeowners and preservationists. Clear dozens of city blocks of structures.
Step 10: Have state and federal officials representing competing intereststs attempt to derail the project at the last minute under the name of
Because if you think anything above describes fiscal conservatism (or fiscal liberalism, for that matter) you watch too much cable network news and don't understand the definition.
As a whole, words just fail.
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Streetcars & Cash Money
Owen Courreges at Uptown Messenger seems to think New Orleans is making unsound financial sense and living in the past by building new streetcars.
He uses Houston, TX as an example of how investing in light rail hasn't made a return on investment. Since folks who live in New Orleans seem almost contractually obligated to compare NOLA's decision making processes to those in Houston or Atlanta, I'll go with the devil I know and bring up the ATL. Here's part of my comment:
You know what transportation budgets are often first to see the axe? Mass transit. You know what happens when you cut access to mass transit? Low ridership and less return on investment. The thing I don't understand is cutting back on transit precisely at the time it is needed most by American commuters.
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He uses Houston, TX as an example of how investing in light rail hasn't made a return on investment. Since folks who live in New Orleans seem almost contractually obligated to compare NOLA's decision making processes to those in Houston or Atlanta, I'll go with the devil I know and bring up the ATL. Here's part of my comment:
But when it comes to the capital costs of building and maintaining roads vs. streetcar lines, let us not kid ourselves – the fantasy land cost-benefit analyses come into play with roads.
Y’all may not be used to it in New Orleans, but I come from a place where no one ever saw a road project they didn’t like. In this land of massive concrete projects the pitiance of the gasoline tax doesn’t make a dent in the DOT budget – when a gasoline tax exists at all.
As far as streetcars are concerned, they will really provide the return on investment when gasoline runs up over $5 per gallon, and people are looking for alternatives.
Mass transit ridership increased 14% even in auto centric Atlanta the last time gas was over $4 a gallon. As prices continue to rise due to increased demand, you can expect more folks to ride transit, and buses to cost more.
You can also expect the politicians, fearing voter backlash over high gasoline prices, to gut road and transportation budgets as they fall over themselves lowering gas taxes so they can appear to be doing something about a problem they cannot control.
We can invest now and benefit, or we can invest later when it costs far more to do so.
You know what transportation budgets are often first to see the axe? Mass transit. You know what happens when you cut access to mass transit? Low ridership and less return on investment. The thing I don't understand is cutting back on transit precisely at the time it is needed most by American commuters.
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Small Government at Work
You know why I don't trust the "Small Government" concept of political management? Contractors. If you operate on the premise that you can "run government like a business" and that "government can't manage things correctly," then it makes sense that one of the ways you deliver public services to the community is to set out a bid for a contract, and go with the lowest bidder for the services.
On its face, this appears to shrink the government and save the taxpayers money.
In practice, however, it leads to nonsense like New Orleans' traffic camera fiasco.*
In this case, an external entity has convinced a government officials to purchase their services in an effort to raise revenue for the government budget under the guise of increasing safety. This is an incredibly unpopular program that would likely be voted down if offered up on a referendum, and has been the subject of many lawsuits. To legally administer the program while protecting the city from litigation raised by the program requires measures that have led to the suspensions of high level police officials who were part of the "clean up corruption" regime.
This happens because the program is ripe for corruption, and even the most above-board administration appears dirty when you've got this much money made from a low political risk program that delivers nearly unchallengeable verdicts regarding an almost indefensible crime. (Disclaimer: I've been caught by one of these cameras.)
My problem is that the city shouldn't be making money in this way, and shouldn't be depending on revenue generated. As Mark points out:
If the program's big proponents are defending it because the city will lose money if it is terminated, then you see the only reason we have this program. And it ain't public safety. It is about a snake-oil solution to a problem no one wants to face politically.
The better idea, it seems to me, is for this city to fix its incredible revenue problems as well as the city's unbelievable spending problems. Because, like most governments, this city has both problems in abundance.
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* Which is not to be confused with the non-revenue generating New Orleans crime camera fiasco. That wasn't about public safety, either.
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On its face, this appears to shrink the government and save the taxpayers money.
In practice, however, it leads to nonsense like New Orleans' traffic camera fiasco.*
In this case, an external entity has convinced a government officials to purchase their services in an effort to raise revenue for the government budget under the guise of increasing safety. This is an incredibly unpopular program that would likely be voted down if offered up on a referendum, and has been the subject of many lawsuits. To legally administer the program while protecting the city from litigation raised by the program requires measures that have led to the suspensions of high level police officials who were part of the "clean up corruption" regime.
This happens because the program is ripe for corruption, and even the most above-board administration appears dirty when you've got this much money made from a low political risk program that delivers nearly unchallengeable verdicts regarding an almost indefensible crime. (Disclaimer: I've been caught by one of these cameras.)
My problem is that the city shouldn't be making money in this way, and shouldn't be depending on revenue generated. As Mark points out:
Even if you buy into the idea that the cameras are more about safety than revenues, it still doesn’t make sense for a city to rely on revenues from scofflaws. If the cameras DO actually change driving behavior, as proponents suggest, then these traffic camera revenues will decline over time anyway, as people drive more safely. That creates an incentive for the city to install ever more cameras to overcome the decline in ticket funds.
If the program's big proponents are defending it because the city will lose money if it is terminated, then you see the only reason we have this program. And it ain't public safety. It is about a snake-oil solution to a problem no one wants to face politically.
The better idea, it seems to me, is for this city to fix its incredible revenue problems as well as the city's unbelievable spending problems. Because, like most governments, this city has both problems in abundance.
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* Which is not to be confused with the non-revenue generating New Orleans crime camera fiasco. That wasn't about public safety, either.
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Sound Familiar?
Atlanta has a problem with their city streets.
So, when a private utility company, private contractor, or ineffective city department incorrectly repairs a street - and doesn't report it - the city ends up having to clean up after them. Taxpayers subsidize private business and ineffective government yet again, and it works because - who do you call if no one knows who made the hole? It creates a zero accountability system for those doing the damage.
How about this: rasie the hell out of the franchise fees, require everyone tearing up a street to report it to Public Works, and then use the increased franchise fees to support Public Works' budget to fix the streets. Any street cuts get made, Public Works fixes the street. That way, any time there is a street torn up somewhere, everyone knows who is responsible for it. Accountability.
Bet that could work in some other Southern cities who have pothole and street problems...
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In Atlanta, like other major cities, utility companies — cable, telecommunications, power and gas — pay franchise fees to be able to do regular work beneath the city’s streets. Developers and contractors are granted work permits. All are supposed to restore the streets to their original conditions, or close to it.
In one of the most egregious acts, Ward said auditors identified 26 random street cuts on 10 streets. Nobody in the Department of Public Works could verify when the cuts were made, or by whom. She said in another instance, she and her staff found 22 plates on streets near City Hall, and none of them had an identifiable marker on them to say to whom they belonged.
So, when a private utility company, private contractor, or ineffective city department incorrectly repairs a street - and doesn't report it - the city ends up having to clean up after them. Taxpayers subsidize private business and ineffective government yet again, and it works because - who do you call if no one knows who made the hole? It creates a zero accountability system for those doing the damage.
How about this: rasie the hell out of the franchise fees, require everyone tearing up a street to report it to Public Works, and then use the increased franchise fees to support Public Works' budget to fix the streets. Any street cuts get made, Public Works fixes the street. That way, any time there is a street torn up somewhere, everyone knows who is responsible for it. Accountability.
Bet that could work in some other Southern cities who have pothole and street problems...
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The Teacher's Fault?
Low performing schools are obviously the fault of public schoolteachers and their lousy unions because there are never political externalities that affect a public school's funding base.
< / narrative >
Public school reform will enter a new phase when local voters realize their local governments and states often make the decisions that pick which schools lose resources and gain risk and which schools gain resources while shedding risk. Often, it is a legislative committee that decides which public schools fail and which pulbic schools prosper.
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< / narrative >
Public school reform will enter a new phase when local voters realize their local governments and states often make the decisions that pick which schools lose resources and gain risk and which schools gain resources while shedding risk. Often, it is a legislative committee that decides which public schools fail and which pulbic schools prosper.
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The Lawyers Went Down to Georgia (Updated)
I guess by writing about this on Facebook and Blogspot, I'm part of the "firestorm in the blogosphere and elsewhere" described by Judge Amanda William's libel suit against Ira Glass and This American Life.
I'm honored to have, in some small way, participated in an actual, legally described "firestorm." I think it might be my first.
Of course, Glass' lawyers responded with quite a smackdown.
(HT: Alli)
Update: Maybe some of the Georgia press will actually start paying attention to all this. Atlanta's Creative Loafing has a report. The Tribune-Georgian out of Camden County (also under Judge Williams' jurisdiction) also ran a story.
But here's the thing, the original story in This American Life didn't actually get much media attention. By pursuing legal action against a nationally recognized radio personality and program, and by submitting documents on the legal record exposing how her court works, won't this only raise the profile of the report?
Looks to me like it already has.
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I'm honored to have, in some small way, participated in an actual, legally described "firestorm." I think it might be my first.
Of course, Glass' lawyers responded with quite a smackdown.
(HT: Alli)
Update: Maybe some of the Georgia press will actually start paying attention to all this. Atlanta's Creative Loafing has a report. The Tribune-Georgian out of Camden County (also under Judge Williams' jurisdiction) also ran a story.
But here's the thing, the original story in This American Life didn't actually get much media attention. By pursuing legal action against a nationally recognized radio personality and program, and by submitting documents on the legal record exposing how her court works, won't this only raise the profile of the report?
Looks to me like it already has.
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Power to Fire Elected Officials
Umm. I really would like to hear one of you conservatives explain what all this is about.
Because, after all the talk about tyranny and fascism for the past couple years, that might appear to be at least a tad bit disingenuous.
(HT: First-Draft.
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Gov. Snyder’s extraordinary law became all too real this week when Emergency Financial Manager, Joseph Harris, appointed by the Governor to take charge of Benton Harbor, Michigan, issued an order which took away all powers of the city’s elected officials.
Yes, this has really happened right here in the United States of America.
Because, after all the talk about tyranny and fascism for the past couple years, that might appear to be at least a tad bit disingenuous.
(HT: First-Draft.
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Where Are the Jobs? (Updated)
For a generation, the GOP (and a bunch of Democrats) has been telling us that the way to stimulate economic growth is to cut taxes. And people love to pay less and get more - our entire consumer economy is based on that idea - so it is usually a political winner to talk about tax cuts. These low taxes would put money in the hands of the taxpayers, which they would in turn spend, increasing demand for goods, increasing the economy, and generating more revenue through sales tax.
Just like a perpetual motion machine!
So, for the last generation, the nation and the states have cut taxes, and cut taxes, and cut taxes, and cut taxes. The last President to nominally raise taxes was George H. W. Bush, and he lost his reelection bid because of it.
Based on the bill of goods we've been sold, where are the jobs? Where is the economic growth and dynamism that is supposed to come with low, low taxes? Why does it feel like we are closer to 1929 than 1999?
And you can't tell me "it's because we're spending too much money." Even if our government has to borrow money to pay for programs that were already put in place through the process of lawmaking, how does that affect the low taxes that are supposed to be putting more money in the hands and increasing the buying power and economic participation of the consumer?
It doesn't. And it wasn't supposed to.
The plan was that the low taxes would lead to a hot economy that would produce more revenues through other taxes to pay for our levels of spending. Has that happened?
No.
When it comes down to it, only one - one - conservative I know has been able to explain what is going on with taxes and jobs in a way that makes sense. That's Dante. He has brought up in the past (I can't find the link) that people are being taxed somewhere else and this is affecting their buying power & participation in the economy.
I absolutely agree. They are being taxed somewhere else, especially at the state and local levels. I don't even want to get into the feudal ways property taxes are used in a certain southern city to subsidize blighted properties and land speculation.
Lagniappe "taxes" can be found elsewhere, too, as private industry colludes with government to take advantage of the extra buying power tax cuts "provide." Insurance premiums keep going up and up for home ownership, auto-ownership, and medical coverage. Working families have to pay for child care. If you live in a city without a functioning public school system (that you already pay for), you have to pay for your kids to go to private school or get extra tutoring to make up for the shortfall. Your city can pay contractors to provide public services that you can also recieve a bill for. Best of all, cities and states can offer subsidies to businesses and sports franchises to welcome or keep them in certain places, while the "jobs they create" will be taxed higher to make up for the subsidy.
And that's where your "taxes" come from. And why no jobs are created by keeping tax rates low.
Update: Weigel at Slate investigates where the "Washington doesn't have a revenue problem, it has a spending problem" narrative comes from.
Update: As if on cue, the Georgia GOP Delegation ties together their constant work towards keeping taxes low while repeating the "spending problem" meme.
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Just like a perpetual motion machine!
So, for the last generation, the nation and the states have cut taxes, and cut taxes, and cut taxes, and cut taxes. The last President to nominally raise taxes was George H. W. Bush, and he lost his reelection bid because of it.
Based on the bill of goods we've been sold, where are the jobs? Where is the economic growth and dynamism that is supposed to come with low, low taxes? Why does it feel like we are closer to 1929 than 1999?
And you can't tell me "it's because we're spending too much money." Even if our government has to borrow money to pay for programs that were already put in place through the process of lawmaking, how does that affect the low taxes that are supposed to be putting more money in the hands and increasing the buying power and economic participation of the consumer?
It doesn't. And it wasn't supposed to.
The plan was that the low taxes would lead to a hot economy that would produce more revenues through other taxes to pay for our levels of spending. Has that happened?
No.
When it comes down to it, only one - one - conservative I know has been able to explain what is going on with taxes and jobs in a way that makes sense. That's Dante. He has brought up in the past (I can't find the link) that people are being taxed somewhere else and this is affecting their buying power & participation in the economy.
I absolutely agree. They are being taxed somewhere else, especially at the state and local levels. I don't even want to get into the feudal ways property taxes are used in a certain southern city to subsidize blighted properties and land speculation.
Lagniappe "taxes" can be found elsewhere, too, as private industry colludes with government to take advantage of the extra buying power tax cuts "provide." Insurance premiums keep going up and up for home ownership, auto-ownership, and medical coverage. Working families have to pay for child care. If you live in a city without a functioning public school system (that you already pay for), you have to pay for your kids to go to private school or get extra tutoring to make up for the shortfall. Your city can pay contractors to provide public services that you can also recieve a bill for. Best of all, cities and states can offer subsidies to businesses and sports franchises to welcome or keep them in certain places, while the "jobs they create" will be taxed higher to make up for the subsidy.
And that's where your "taxes" come from. And why no jobs are created by keeping tax rates low.
Update: Weigel at Slate investigates where the "Washington doesn't have a revenue problem, it has a spending problem" narrative comes from.
Update: As if on cue, the Georgia GOP Delegation ties together their constant work towards keeping taxes low while repeating the "spending problem" meme.
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Of Heritage & Blight
So now there's one more thing New Orleans and Athens have in common: the demolition of historic structures that grace the cover of local popular culture offerings. In New Orleans, it is the Treme Shotgun Houses. In Athens, it is the Murmur Trestle.
The difference? Preservationists and conservationists have been working together in Athens for almost a decade to turn the famous bridge into a rails-to-trails project that would link East Athens and Oconee Hill with Downtown. They've even voted to increase their local sales tax to support the measure.
(That vote also included funding for a new jail, to point out another similarity.)
But in New Orleans, where sales taxes are already so high no one would vote for a voluntary increase, the Mayor made the call to go ahead and tear down the Treme Shotgun Houses - because it isn't fair to make people live in a neighborhood where that many houses are falling down.
I think that's a fair point. What isn't fair is when preservationists and private sponsors wait around for the final week to get into the house saving business. If someone had been working on those houses already, maybe they would have had the credibility to convince the city to save the structures. But as happens all to often in this city, the calls for action came too late.
Which is OK. There are plenty of blighted historic structures left around town for the preservationists and the Treme folks to invest in saving. Too bad we don't have something like this to jump start the process.
But that's the difference between "crisis-reactive" preservation and "working proactively" for preservation.
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The difference? Preservationists and conservationists have been working together in Athens for almost a decade to turn the famous bridge into a rails-to-trails project that would link East Athens and Oconee Hill with Downtown. They've even voted to increase their local sales tax to support the measure.
(That vote also included funding for a new jail, to point out another similarity.)
But in New Orleans, where sales taxes are already so high no one would vote for a voluntary increase, the Mayor made the call to go ahead and tear down the Treme Shotgun Houses - because it isn't fair to make people live in a neighborhood where that many houses are falling down.
I think that's a fair point. What isn't fair is when preservationists and private sponsors wait around for the final week to get into the house saving business. If someone had been working on those houses already, maybe they would have had the credibility to convince the city to save the structures. But as happens all to often in this city, the calls for action came too late.
Which is OK. There are plenty of blighted historic structures left around town for the preservationists and the Treme folks to invest in saving. Too bad we don't have something like this to jump start the process.
But that's the difference between "crisis-reactive" preservation and "working proactively" for preservation.
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"Who Are You Giving Money To?"
Jeffrey posted a roundup before I did.
Gulf Coast residents were arrested while trying to shakedown a BP shareholder's meeting.
I mean, this is such a big shakedown, the Mississippi Attorney General is now gettin' in on the act. You all know about those liberal, anti-business Attorneys General in Mississippi? Just following orders from the Kenyan-Anti-Colonialist In Charge, really. Shaking down the companies that create jobs.
But to answer theserf's individual's question, "Who are you giving money to?" The answer is simple: the money went to the "spillionares."
Of course it did. After the Road Home and now this, disaster affected residents of Louisiana can rest easy knowing that the levees may leak, the oil platforms may explode, but the money-traps - located between the coffers and the residents in need of aid - are working just fine. But I bet the rest of the country is going to get mad at folks down in this part of the world because, even after $20Billion in shakedown money, people down here still have the nerve to complain.
As far as the environment, the water, and the food that comes out of the water, that isn't working so well at all. A lot of right-wingers call environmentalists "tree huggers" as if humans aren't affected by crap dumped into the air, water, or food.
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Gulf Coast residents were arrested while trying to shakedown a BP shareholder's meeting.
I mean, this is such a big shakedown, the Mississippi Attorney General is now gettin' in on the act. You all know about those liberal, anti-business Attorneys General in Mississippi? Just following orders from the Kenyan-Anti-Colonialist In Charge, really. Shaking down the companies that create jobs.
But to answer the
Of course it did. After the Road Home and now this, disaster affected residents of Louisiana can rest easy knowing that the levees may leak, the oil platforms may explode, but the money-traps - located between the coffers and the residents in need of aid - are working just fine. But I bet the rest of the country is going to get mad at folks down in this part of the world because, even after $20Billion in shakedown money, people down here still have the nerve to complain.
As far as the environment, the water, and the food that comes out of the water, that isn't working so well at all. A lot of right-wingers call environmentalists "tree huggers" as if humans aren't affected by crap dumped into the air, water, or food.
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Trails
Even as New Orleans gears up for another hike down our work-in-progress Lafitte Corridor Greenway, the greenways in Athens, Georgia have been so successfully implemented that the Clark County Leisure Services offices is considering dissolving the Natural Resources Division.
Because that's how you reward success in Georgia!
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Because that's how you reward success in Georgia!
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Testing: The Education-Industrial Complex
All about profits, not about education.
This shocking expose is neither shocking, nor an expose, if you've been paying any attention at all to education "reform" in this country.
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This shocking expose is neither shocking, nor an expose, if you've been paying any attention at all to education "reform" in this country.
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"Quirky Strategies"
Continuing the New Orleans Needs a Population Explosion line of thought, Brad Vogel envisions the use of "quirky strategies" to encourage young entreprenuers to move to New Orleans.
While I agree in concept with the increased population model, I do not think New Orleans needs to "look outside the box" or develop "quirky strategies." I find that kind of thought process counterproductive, as it does not address the controllable root causes of either the blight or emigration problems. As a matter of fact, I think it covers them up in an effort to "trick" prospective residents to move here and fix up homes, going so far as to use the term "bait."
I know we live in Louisiana, and crying "Tiger Bait!" is the counterintuitive rallying cry for the local college football franchise, but "bait" is usually employed to lure some unsuspecting creature into a trap that doesn't turn out well in the end.
"Thinking outside the box" in a productive way would actually require New Orleanians to rely on significant and lasting civic reform instead of hip marketing or appearances on the Colbert Report. Just as you can't advertise BP's oil off the beaches of Mississippi (as Jeffrey spent the better part of last year reminding us), you can't advertise your way out of urban blight.
You don't "bait" new residents to move to New Orleans by offering to give away ramshackle homes in high-risk neighborhoods. If it were that easy, the city would be full already. At some point, you have to figure out that the folks who want to come here to live that "urban pioneer" lifestyle < / rolling eyes > have already done so. That type of marketing is basically preaching to the choir, and you need to expand your marketing demographic if you really want to bring in new residents.
That means you have to figure out what institutional practices are driving people out or keeping people out of New Orleans in the first place, despite the climate and culture and all the advantages of the area. You have to figure out what is keeping people who already live here from addressing these issues themselves. That involves a lot of civic introspection, and a lot of difficult political and cultural work.
It may not be as trendy as sending Wendell Pierce to the Colbert Report, but that is the only way to sustain a robust, dynamic, sustainable and realisitic population expansion.
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We need to break through the static to attract residents from around that nation and beyond. Detroit, to cite one tactic worth pondering, is basically giving away houses to attract residents. Lately, the Louisiana Land Trust is sending rafts of hundreds of blighted New Orleans houses through the demolition approval process – although these properties could instead be sold off very inexpensively to prospective residents looking for a true fixer upper. While there are daunting legal logistics to overcome, it’s time to start brainstorming about things as unorthodox as a vacant house lottery on a national television program – how about The Colbert Report — in which a well-known New Orleanian – Wendell Pierce? — who invites people to come on down not just to grab beignets at Cafe du Monde, but to fix up a camelback in St. Roch and live here, even if the living is a bit spartan at first.
While I agree in concept with the increased population model, I do not think New Orleans needs to "look outside the box" or develop "quirky strategies." I find that kind of thought process counterproductive, as it does not address the controllable root causes of either the blight or emigration problems. As a matter of fact, I think it covers them up in an effort to "trick" prospective residents to move here and fix up homes, going so far as to use the term "bait."
I know we live in Louisiana, and crying "Tiger Bait!" is the counterintuitive rallying cry for the local college football franchise, but "bait" is usually employed to lure some unsuspecting creature into a trap that doesn't turn out well in the end.
"Thinking outside the box" in a productive way would actually require New Orleanians to rely on significant and lasting civic reform instead of hip marketing or appearances on the Colbert Report. Just as you can't advertise BP's oil off the beaches of Mississippi (as Jeffrey spent the better part of last year reminding us), you can't advertise your way out of urban blight.
You don't "bait" new residents to move to New Orleans by offering to give away ramshackle homes in high-risk neighborhoods. If it were that easy, the city would be full already. At some point, you have to figure out that the folks who want to come here to live that "urban pioneer" lifestyle < / rolling eyes > have already done so. That type of marketing is basically preaching to the choir, and you need to expand your marketing demographic if you really want to bring in new residents.
That means you have to figure out what institutional practices are driving people out or keeping people out of New Orleans in the first place, despite the climate and culture and all the advantages of the area. You have to figure out what is keeping people who already live here from addressing these issues themselves. That involves a lot of civic introspection, and a lot of difficult political and cultural work.
It may not be as trendy as sending Wendell Pierce to the Colbert Report, but that is the only way to sustain a robust, dynamic, sustainable and realisitic population expansion.
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Four Articles
School systems don't just affect the students attending classes, they affect their entire communities. I think about this as New Orleans - and so many other communities in the South - attempt to reconcile our historical legacies and suburban exodus with rebuilding our cities.
Regarding that motion, I'm reading four articles right now that tie into this.
New Orleans Needs a Population Explosion
A Conversation with Edward L. Glaeser.
Athens Rising February 11
And finally, though it isn't an article per se, I'm still thinking about the panel discussion from Tuesday night, the comments here and the observations of other who were there or those following online.
All of this information has to do with the way cities interact with their populations, which inspire or stifle innovations, affecting education, which in turn affects their populations, which inspire innovations...
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Regarding that motion, I'm reading four articles right now that tie into this.
New Orleans Needs a Population Explosion
A Conversation with Edward L. Glaeser.
Athens Rising February 11
And finally, though it isn't an article per se, I'm still thinking about the panel discussion from Tuesday night, the comments here and the observations of other who were there or those following online.
All of this information has to do with the way cities interact with their populations, which inspire or stifle innovations, affecting education, which in turn affects their populations, which inspire innovations...
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5 Years Later: Liveblogging
Immediate reaction - the person on this panel the most interested in returning New Orleans public schools to local control, identifying that special needs and low performing students are under-served by the market model, and who mentioned the proposed changes to system governance was the Republican member of the Orleans Parish School Board. He was also the only individual really talking about the serious money issues and externalities faced when running a school system, and his testimony offers the first public acknowledgement of a failed charter school that I've witnessed or heard of.
Also, "blame the teachers" still rules the roost, as far as education reform is concerned. One of the most oft-mentioned advantage of charters is the ability to hire and fire, and ignore tenure laws. This made it to the point where traditional RSD schools are being "forced" to take low-performing teachers, while charters get to pick the best of the best. It makes you wonder who hires these teachers in the first place, how they become certified if they are so bad, and why no one is able to identify or develop their human resources better than this. Teachers just didn't show up one day and take over a classroom, refusing to leave.
Continued "grand opportunity," "petri dish," and "advantages of Katrina" language is pervasive. At least there was some nod to the problems that existed before the storm.
Everyone swung and missed in describing any details concerning what a successful school system looks like. I'm starting to get the idea that no one in this city really knows.
Still, nothing regarding accreditation and how it relates to New Orleans schools or the charters currently participating in this experiment.
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Last question: when the question was asked about a successful school system, nobody brought up the local universities. With the only college of education locally at UNO and having trouble, what is the role between universities and local schools.
Hancock - Loyola used to have school of education, but no longer has it. Have to do better.
Guitterrez - New Teacher Project offering alternative certification, so folks at the state level began investigating ways to offer alternative certification.
Asher - many Teach for America teachers want to continue studies and get masters' degrees and Ph.D's and there is no opportunity to do that here.
Bonin - educating our teachers needs to be a state or government priority, especially teachers that come out of private universities.
8:55
Audience member knows a principal who managed an RSD school, bitter that charters had so many advantages. Had to take bad teachers, had to take bad students, and don't have resources as charters.
Bonin - at OPSB, they've moved to a site-based model. Site based hiring and site based budgeting. Trying to take advantages of charters and move them to traditional schools.
8:50
Why have RSD schools not been as successful as successful charters you've mentioned?
Guitterrez - Charters have no adherence to tenure laws. Charters can control hiring decisions. RSD investigating becoming more charter-like in this area.
Requests for proposals for charters to help RSD's in areas of highest need. Anyone can apply for a charter, but it is a rigorous process. Since inception 60% of charter applications have been denied because they weren't high operators. Always looking for opportunities to improve public schools.
Bonin - With competition for students and test scores, a lot of students who aren't doing well are ending up in regular schools run by the RSD. Place where the market based system doesn't work. Nobody in the marketplace wants special needs kids, nobody wants poorest performing students. Need to provide incentives for charters and schools to take these students.
Some schools end up with all of these students in the bad neighborhoods, and not a lot of wealthy folks put their money into those schools. And when you shut down schools that "fail" or students that move from school to school, what happens to those students.
8:45Q&A from the audience.
RSD in the process of going through a lawsuit regarding special education students in New Orleans. What actions have been taken to address this inequity?
Guitterrez - can agree that there was an problem before the storm with over diagnosing special education needs, especially when it came to African-American males. Had to carefully diagnose or re-diagnose students. Some students just needed to be taught well, others had to receive robust services. Challenges give us the opportunity to meet the challenges head on. Got to meet needs of plaintiff families one-on-one.
Have set up 1-800 number for families to call and approach RSD regarding special needs students.
Bonin - special needs is a money issue. It costs a lot more to deal with a special needs child than the schools can get. Problematic with market-based solutions. State does not have enough money for all of them. No charter can do this individually, risk imploding financially. Heart of issue is inequality of funding. Charters have to protect themselves. Have to find a way to not have so many special needs.
8:30 What went on with the OPSB pre-Katrina?
Bonin - Same amount of money went into OPSB as went into all other city agencies combined. People were upset with the takeover, and the emotions came from shock of takeover effect.
RSD took over more than 100+ schools. The effect is renewed participation and focus on schools. Completely new OPSB, with even two Republicans. Board has made strides, but still a power complaint.
Guitterrez - Regarding governance, natural tension exists with who runs the schools. We have the traditional framework of elected officials, and over 300 volunteers sitting on charter school boards. Mass amount of individuals involved in public education.
Have to keep an eye on which schools are getting more resources than others. How do you deal with the massive amounts of philanthropy? Good problem to have. But have to make sure there is equity so every student is exposed to high quality schools.
Asher - real positives that have come out of Katrina is how many people who are involved from a governance standpoint of our schools. Represent people who weren't involved in old OPSB because of corruption, or who had children in private schools or children who had already graduated.
Bonin - Absolutely right, Board has been working, but only for a short amount of time. Point is to integrate some of the RSD reforms that work and bring that into OPSB.
Final question: What does an excellent public education system look like?
Burns - questions imply that reforms were post-Katrina. Seeds of reforms were planted pre-Katrina. Hurricane provided opportunity to accelerate reforms, but storm didn't create new ideas, they were already coming about.
New Orleans is not a "new" New Orleans, things that happened before Katrina are not irrelevant. Things that went on in the old place will determine what the new place will look like.
Main complaints about OPSB and reforms were planted before hand.
Guitterrez - successful system serves all kids to reach proficiency levels. A system where students are leaving high school with an average 20 ACT score. Have an opportunity so that students can acheive that no matter what neighborhood or family structure they come from.
Hancock - successful system is where every student has the opportunity to get a great education, and have knowledge and critical thinking skills.
Guitterrez - Emotional moment when RSD was authorizing charters and de-authorizing regular schools, when a community member stressed that "reform should be something that happens with me, not something that happens to me." That's the sweet spot where we want to get.
Bonin - We know what a good system looks like, OPSB; RSD's success, and charter schools. Question comes down to power and control, that has to be addressed. Desire a local elected board should be authority for local schools. Desire on the state level to have control, especially of low-performing schools. Hopefully there will be some middle ground. Tension comes when OPSB proves success for 5 years, and once they try to get schools back, are told that a new governance model needs to be put in place.
All learning together. Priestly charter imploded financially just recently, what happens? Does OPSB assume their debt?
Governance is elephant in the room.
Burns - education is a collective problem and needs a collective solution. Does not work when society is divided over solution. Does not work when parts of society abandon it. Can have serious problems in the future, potential for greater tension.
Wonder what will happen when this all gets put back together: RSD, OPSB, Charters.
8:20 Why have New Orleans schools traditionally struggled?
Hancock - For the same reasons most schools have struggled, especially in the South. Lack of seriousness to educate African-American youth, white flight, intense politicization of schools and school districts. Goes back 100 years in New Orleans, when schools were part of political machines. Economic mismanagement and perpetuated willful neglect.
Is this a national city trend, or is there something specific to New Orleans?
Guitterrez - Three school systems in New Orleans before storm: private schools, magnet schools and "other." Most reforms after the storm focus on the "other."
Private school system actually pre-dated public schools in New Orleans. Was confusing as parents determined what private school to sent students to. Now, system can be confusing, but now options are open to low income families.
Schools now a petri dish to figure out what works, but this isn't rocket science. The reforms driving education in the city are 3 things: kids must be aware what test scores mean, so kids can take responsibility of own education, quality of teacher, quality of leader. Movement depends on this, focusing on what we should focus on.
Bonin - completely agrees. Goes back to racism, middle class abandonment of school system. Old system imploded on itself, it went from 180,000, to 80,000 students to 40,000 after the storm. Shrinking school system with a physical maintenance of 120 schools and retirement for a much larger school system. No help from state.
Money for reforms are not pouring into everyone. Minimum funding levels from the state have not increased for three years.
Charter schools great because neighborhoods can participate, but what happens when there is a charter in a good part of the city with massive donations compared to a charter in New Orleans East or the Lower 9 where those donations may not be available.
8:15 Asher - why do you think charters are good, and are they nationally replicated? New Orleans has a tremendous opportunity with the ability to reform education. 71 percent of students in New Orleans attend charter schools, and charter schools are accountable to parents, boards, and lenders.
Charter schools are public schools free to determine curriculum, budgets, discipline and hiring teachers. Charters eliminate collective bargaining that protects teachers, and requires them to perform at highest levels. Charters are no better or worse nationally, but in New Orleans it means you have a shot of being better because you are charter. Charters have better ways to quantify if students are being successful. Needs of students come first.
Value competition between teachers and schools. Can eliminate all academically suspect schools.
Governance framework is critical to moving forward.
8:10 Hancock - Institute for Quality and Equity in Education is continuing research for both parents and systems. Primary focus moving forward is identifying factors independent of school governance that help students succeed. Still in process of building capacity to do that research.
Major concern is to provide resources to organizations and parents to help them navigate the system in its current state. Making sure people have access to data and research so they can make the right decisions.
Also providing opportunity for Loyola students to get involved with the community and engage in New Orleans. Not interested in being advocates, but ready to assist advocates and parents with research or access needs.
8:05 Mogg - how have schools improved since the storm? Improvement in school scores, and student success on standardized testing. It is hard to tell which reforms have driven improvement, from school choice to longer school days. Now that federal funding is running out, some of those reforms will have to be scaled back.
OPSB has made financial progress, RSD has started paying vendors on time.
Nature of new system, and control charters have help money get spent more effectively. "Those closer to students are know better how to spend money than those in a central office."
Pastorek and Vallas were able to get 2 billion from FEMA to address physical concerns, and 3 schools have already been completely renovated.
8 Dr. Burns, what is the most important reform? The increased attention to schools in New Orleans by large sections of the population. This is very important. Increased local participation in civic organizations and focus on schools is a good thing.
Overall concerns: When you read about New Orleans, the word that comes up most is "fragmentation." Before the storm there were ten major entities with interests in New Orleans schools (A jigsaw puzzle would see New Orleans as divided..har.)
First thing thought after the storm was happiness that old OPSB no longer running schools. Second thing is that the schools may now be more divided, based on how you look at things.
7:55 Guitterrez on the RSD. RSD has been around since 1997, was not tied to the storm or recovery, but became that after the storm and flood. Accountability organization, supposed to take over schools that have been deemed failing for four consecutive years.
Average "school performance score" has risen to "93" since 1999. A score of "93" means that at least 68% of students score "proficient or better" on tests. This of course means many students are still scoring too low.
RSD wants to get schools and students to a point where they are high-performing and sustaining that performance so they can revert to local control, charter control or state charter control. Meant to revive schools.
7:50 To Bonin, what is the role of OPSB today and in the future? OPSB is supposed to educate students in New Orleans. Since most OPSB was diminished following the storm and flood, they've been working on making sure tax dollars get where they need to go. OPSB experienced a $3M deficit in 2005, but now has the highest bond rating in the city. Trying to resurrect faith in government and the image of the OPSB.
Role is to marshal all of the talent in the city - universities, new New Orleanians, and locals. Need to channel successes of OPSB and RSD (?) to continue reforms.
They are a taxing body, and this is a heavy responsibility. Have to supply textbooks to various private high schools, and money to test and support special education.
First board to charter a majority of schools (75%). Policies to stimulate high test scores and accountability. Stay out of the news, which they have done.
7:45 I hate to be the one to bring this up, but we're discussing the New Orleans Public Schools, which serves a largely African-American population. And yet. Not one panelist is African-American.
Bonin mentions that he volunteered with the NOPD for nine years, and once he realized that coworkers who had a high school diploma sometimes could not read, he decided to run for OPSB. He is from New Orleans.
Guitterrez is also from New Orleans. Both he and Bonin mention that their formative educational experiences were in parochial, private schools. (Christian Brothers is private, correct?)
Dr. Burns is all about government and systems.
Mogg says the Cowen Institute is an action-based think tank focusing on reforming education and research. Even though Tulane University has no College of Education.
Hancock describes the mission of the Institute for Quality and Equity in Education.
Asher mentions that she is from West Virginia and graduated from Tulane, and she has served on the board of several charter schools over the years. ReNEW Charters took over several low performing schools, and have been approved to take over another school, while opening two specialized accelerated high schools to serve overage and under-credit students. 1200 students at two schools at this time, will serve 2000 students this time next year, and students are an average of 2 - 3 grade levels behind and they spend most of their time trying to catch the students up.
ReNEW does not believe that students have failed, they believe adults have failed the students.
7:40 The panel will be moderated by LSCE President Richard Tucker. Benediction by Fr. James Carter, S.J. Loyola SGA President Kate Gremillion gives the introductions all around.
7:35 Oh, we're on New Orleans time, of course. All the panelists are here and moving to the stage. Event is sponsored by the Loyola University Sociology Student Organization and Loyola Society for Civic Engagement. LSCE always puts up memorable fliers for their events, because they always feature some likeness of Stephen Colbert.
7:30 Much better crowd streaming in. Going over the program, I think about the title. "5 Years Later." As if New Orleans public schools have only been having problems for 5 years.
7:25About to kick things off. Panelists include Brett Bonin, member of the Orleans Parish School Board; Kevin Guitterrez, Deputy Superintendent of the Recovery School District; Carol Asher from ReNEW Charter Schools; Alexander Hancock from the Institute for Quality and Equity in Education at Loyola University New Orleans; Laura Mogg from the Scott Cowen Institute for Public Education Initiatives; and Dr. Peter Burns, professor of political science at Loyola.
7:20Coming to you live from Nunemaker Hall at Loyola University New Orleans. You always hope more people attend these things.
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Like Lambs to the Slaughter
Oh, isn't feudalism beautiful? In such a system, the people at fault can always reap the rewards of position, while asking those who work for them to do impossible tasks without adequate resources. And deny them those resources for years, even when told again and again what is needed to do the job right. Even evidence of these warnings seems no defense.
Then, if something happens, they fire those who work for them and flay them in the court of public opinion. Nothing is learned. The next group of workers steps up to do an impossible task without adequate resources, but the good times roll on for those at the top.
Local. Politics. Matter.
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Then, if something happens, they fire those who work for them and flay them in the court of public opinion. Nothing is learned. The next group of workers steps up to do an impossible task without adequate resources, but the good times roll on for those at the top.
Local. Politics. Matter.
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