|
For more
information
Call Karen
Turni Bazile at 278-4280 or 874-0980
St. Bernard Parish Government
8201 West Judge Perez Drive
Chalmette, Louisiana 70043
FOR
IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May
2, 2008
CONTACT:
Karen Turni Bazile, Executive Assistant to the President
St.
Bernard Parish
504-278-4280 or
504-874-0980
NATIONAL PLANNING
EXPERTS HELPING ST. BERNARD OFFICIALS
Several visits planned over the
next six months
National experts in planning and revitalizing
distressed communities are visiting with St. Bernard Parish
officials to help with efforts to rebrand the community that was
devastated by Hurricane Katrina’s flood waters and winds. The
experts are being paid for by a $50,000 grant from the St. Bernard
Community Foundation, an offshoot of the Greater New Orleans
Foundation.
David Jon Boehlke, a community strategist nationally
known for redeveloping challenged communities, met with St. Bernard
Parish President Craig P. Taffaro Jr. last week as well as Planning
Commissioners and other parish leaders as part of the kick-off visit
in a six-month project to bring professional and technical planning
assistance to St. Bernard at no cost to parish government.
Boehlke is focusing on devising a marketing and
branding effort for the parish to reach to its own current
residents, its displaced residents and potential new residents and
businesses as well as helping leaders come up with a workable plan
for managing the land it will acquire as a result of the Road Home
and other abandoned properties.
Taffaro said he was pleased with the initial
meetings.
“This is part of the focus of the remainder of the
term since the first 100 days focused on getting the infrastructure
of government functional,” Taffaro said. “While we maintain the
momentum of the first 100 days, we can move forward to address the
overarching issues of our permanent recovery.”
Boehlke said he is satisfied with the progress he
made during his first contacts with parish leaders last week, and he
will return regularly over the next six months.
“There are practical ways to manage the
transformation” of the community, Boehlke said. The effort will
include marketing, outreach and leadership development. His focus
also will be to help manage space with zoning and how to rebuild
area real estate values.
Using the grant from the St. Bernard Community
Foundation, Boelhke is bringing in other experts during his upcoming
visits. This time he was joined by Donald Poland, who is expert on
codes and the legal and administrative issues regarding SmartCodes,
and Betty Weiss, who is known for her work to create sustainable
neighborhoods and who has helped other communities harmed by
Hurricane Katrina.
[Click here for
more in the news archive]
|
