Do you recall Aaron Broussard? He was the one on Meet the Press who told a tearful, untrue tale about how the fact his colleague Thomas Rodrigue's mother drowned in a St. Bernard nursing home was the fault of the federal government. Watch the video here. She actually died immediately after the hurricane when the flooding began, not days later and after many phone calls begging for assistance as Broussard falsely claimed. (Although Broussard claimed this was a simple misunderstanding, I don't believe it. He certainly didn't misspeak, he was reading from notes. I think the time he's spent supporting the Jefferson Performing Arts Society gave him a yen to act. Combined with a national audience and a chance to blame the federal government for his shortcomings, the temptation was irresistible.)

Guess who else wants to recall Aaron Broussard? Many of the residents of Jefferson Parish. Broussard got his law degree in 1973 and immediately began his political career, finally being elected President of Jefferson Parish in 2003. He began his term in 2004. He made the decision to evacuate Jefferson Parish's pump operators and consequently an estimated $3 - 5 billion dollars worth of avoidable flooding occurred. This was unrelated to levee breaks, mostly in areas that never flooded before. After the hurricane many homeowners, while gutting their homes, left messages out on the side of the curb for Mr. Broussard. One sarcastic homeowner spray painted his discarded mattress, "Way to go, Aaron!" Another wrote on a large chunk of sheet rock, "F--- you Broussard!" In many Jefferson Parish neighborhoods there is trailer after trailer parked in the front yards of homes that had up to 3 feet of flooding. To add to the injury done these homeowners, they are now subject to unfair regulation by FEMA in the repair of their homes.

Under the National Flood Insurance Program, which FEMA administers, a home in a flood plain that sustains 50 percent damage cannot be fixed or rebuilt unless it is raised above the flood level. Many in Jefferson Parish now live in the "Aaron Broussard Flood Plain" and are being forced to raise their homes.

The Louisiana Weekly reported on November 21st that

parish officials in Jefferson have discontinued issuing all new residential construction permits to allow for implementation of a policy change that will now require most flooded homes, even those with minor flooding, to be raised by as much as four feet. In order to be exempt, the new policy states that property owners must have their house reassess which would more than likely result in higher property taxes.

Parish officials defended the move, stating that FEMA will not provide flood insurance to areas that have not made the change.

"Cut off their sewerage and power if they don't comply," a FEMA representative reportedly told parish officials, according to a Jefferson parish insider who asked not to be identified.

FEMA officials however, deny making any such statements saying that their role is only to provide advice not make mandates.

At a meeting on November 15, the head of permitting for Jefferson and Kenner-which operates semi-independently of the parish as a municipality - outlined the new requirements in some depth-claiming that they did so only at FEMA's insistence. A Mr. Rodriguez, representing Jefferson Parish, explained that at this point the public bodies are working off the FEMA flood plain map that was in force prior to the storm. They indicated that not every flooded house in Jefferson would have to be raised, just most.
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Commercial contractor Bill Carvin told The Weekly that the average cost to life a house is $35,000. FEMA is giving $20,000 grants to do the job. He wondered how people, impoverished by Katrina already, could afford the extra expense.

In theory, Parish officials could overrule FEMA's "advice", but representatives in President Aaron Broussard's office argue that these homes could not ever receive flood insurance as a result. When it was offered that this could be a stealth property tax increase as well, the Jefferson staffers who spoke to The Weekly on background, acknowledged the point, but said, "There's nothing we can do about that if people want to fix their houses."

Broussard cried about the cavalry coming to rescue his parish. What he didn't realize is that the first step of the long-term effort to rescue our parish is to remove him from office. That will not solve all our problems, but it's a good start. After he is recalled, he'll have plenty of time to focus on the ongoing investigation and federal subpoena he was issued regarding Jefferson Parish courthouse corruption just before Hurricane Katrina struck.

We're also working on recalling Governor Kathleen Blanco. I don't worry too much about her after she's unemployed, though - she can probably get a job on a decorating show. The good news is she'll have to use someone else's budget to pay for her Swedish granite.