Wednesday, March 14, 2007

Letter from an exile

This comes from www.unifiedneworleansplan.com


March 13th, 2007

Monday, March 12, 2007

Re: “N.O. recovery plan called a muddle: Watchdog group urges fresh analysis,” Page 1, March 6.

Why does the Bureau for Governmental Research think that the leadership required to make difficult decisions should come from a planning group?

The Unified New Orleans Plan created a successful process for citizen input and priority-setting not achieved through any of the prior efforts. Perhaps citizens did not specifically prioritize infrastructure because they assumed government would at least undertake that responsibility.

Citizens focused, very reasonably, on the issues that affect their daily lives. To have to tell government to fix infrastructure is the saddest comment on the level of citizen expectations I’ve ever heard.

UNOP has created a body of information and thoughts of citizens, previously lacking, upon which elected officials and their staff (CPC) can make the tough choices they are charged to make; and do so with some degree of citizen input by which to support those hard decisions.

I am disappointed that a group charged to promote good government failed properly to place responsibility for leadership on government officials. I am equally disappointed that the BGR chose to undermine the most valuable process of citizen input to date rather than constructively help guide the next steps in the process.

Bill Mague

New Orleans

Now in Minneapolis

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