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SUPPORT NEW ORLEANS RESIDENTS IN THEIR RIGHT TO RETURN TO THEIR HOMES!
DEMAND AN INVESTIGATION OF HUD’S NON$EN$E PLAN!

For all those who oppose the demolition of 5000 desperately needed, virtually undamaged apartments, demand an investigation of HUD’s non$en$e plan. The federal Office of the Investigator General is charged with addressing allegations of fraud, waste or serious mismanagement of HUD operations. You don't have to be a resident to demand accountable spending of your tax dollars! Write an email, call or fax the sample letter below to: All written comments should be sent to: - hotline@hudoig.gov -
You may also call 1-800-347-3735 or fax (202) 708-4829, but emails provide documented support!

cc: survivorsvillage@gmail.com, so we can document your support.

Save Affordable Housing in New Orleans –
No to Katrina Millions for Demolition (from www.justiceforneworleans.org)

New Orleans is in the worst affordable housing crisis since the Civil War. HUD reports that the city is 100% rented as tens of thousands of homes remain wrecked. There was a waiting list of 18,000 people for public and section 8 housing pre-Katrina. When HANO opened list for Section 8 in 2001, 19 thousand people applied.

Despite this, HUD has announced plans to demolish 4,534 apartments of public housing garden-style apartments: 1546 in BW Cooper; 723 in C.J. Peete; 1400 in St. Bernard; 865 in Lafitte.

John Fernandez, Associate Professor of Architecture at MIT, has inspected 140 of these apartments and has concluded "no structural or nonstructural damage was found that could reasonably warrant any cost-effective building demolition"Therefore, the general conclusions are: demolition of any of the buildings of these four projects is not supported by the evidence of the survey, replacement of these buildings with contemporary construction would yield buildings of lower quality and shorter lifetime duration; the original construction methods and materials of these projects are far superior in their resistance to hurricane conditions than typical new construction and with renovation and regular maintenance, the lifetimes of the buildings in all four projects promise decades of continued service that may be extended indefinitely."

HANOs own documents show that: Lafitte could be repaired for $20million, even completely overhauled for $85 million, yet estimate for demolition and rebuilding many fewer units will cost $100m; St. Bernard could be repaired for $41m, substantially modernized for $130m, demolition and rebuilding LESS UNITS will cost $197m; BW Cooper could be substantially renovated for $135 million compared to $221m to demolish and rebuild LESS UNITS; HANOs own insurance company reported that it would take less than $5000 each to repair CJ Peete apartments. The developers of these properties will get federal assistance to demolish habitable affordable housing in the following amounts: $12.8m in Go Zone tax credits for Lafitte, plus $16.3m in CDBG funds; $7.4m in Go Zone tax credits for St. Bernard plus $27m in CDBG funds; $6.9m in Go Zone tax credits for BW Cooper plus $27m in CDBG funds; $7.3m in Go Zone tax credits for CJ Peete plus $27m in CDBG funds. (www.justiceforneworleans.org)

I demand that you investigate HUD’s non$en$e plan for New Orleans public housing! HUD’s claims of severe damage constitute fraud, and their demolition plan wastes millions of tax dollars. HUD’s failure to make minor repairs and reopen public housing is serious mismanagement and has caused further loss and damage. You are charged with investigating these offenses - INVESTIGATE THE NON$EN$E!

Visit www.survivorsvillage.com or www.justiceforneworleans.org for more information.