Houston Chronicle reports hurricane rebuilding fund diversion
Mike Synder of the Houston Chronicle this weekend picked up on the story about Governor Perry’s diversion of funds awayContinue Reading
Tag: Hurricane Rita
A confession: we’ve learned firsthand the reasons for disaster rebuilding delays
I have to fess up. Having pointed out in yesterday’s blog the unacceptably slow pace of rebuilding homes destroyed inContinue Reading
A failed housing program will always come back and bite the responsible entity
One had to feel sorry for Michael Gerber Thursday morning. Appearing before a subcommittee of the Texas House Appropriations CommitteeContinue Reading
Is federal disaster assistance an entitlement?
The back-and-forth between the Texas governor and the US Secretary of Homeland Security over who will pay for the removalContinue Reading
Closer scrutiny will follow Texas expenditure of $1.3 billion in hurricane relief
HUD has allocated Texas $1.3 billion of the $2.1 billion in Community Development Block Grant funds that Congress has recentlyContinue Reading
Reforming FEMA alone won’t fix the problem
There are hopes that a structural reform and management reorganization of FEMA under the Obama Administration will solve the problemsContinue Reading
Slow expenditures, questionable priorities plague Houston and Harris County administered hurricane relief efforts
We have been critical of the decisions of the City of Houston and of Harris County so far as theirContinue Reading
Lessons from Kartina and Rita about rebuilding permanent housing for low income hurricane survivors
We learned valuable lessons from Hurricanes Katrina and Rita about providing post-disaster housing assistance to low income families. This isContinue Reading
A New Orleans obituary has lessons for Galveston
They have their hands full right now, but someday before the plans for rebuilding are set the city leaders inContinue Reading
Lingering concerns about Texas Hurricane Rita home rebuilding
I am supporting the the Texas Department of Housing & Community Affairs Round 2 plan for CDBG housing assistance forContinue Reading
National fixes for post disaster housing programs
I have posted the testimony I presented to Congress regarding how the federal government can betterprovide long-term housing disaster assistanceContinue Reading
At least we are better off than Mississippi and Alabama
Watch my testimony before the Subcommittee on Housing and Community Opportunity of the House Financial Service Committee, or, better yet,Continue Reading
Texas tempts fate and courts disaster
Is it that we Texans like living dangerously? Are we just slow to learn? Or are we the victims ofContinue Reading
FEMA and HUD: not who you would want to depend on to throw you a life preserver
The House Financial Services Committee called HUD and FEMA to testify about when the lead federal agencies for hurricane reliefContinue Reading
We have not learned the lessons of Katrina
In the wake of Hurricane Katrina we wondered what we could do to help. We settled on four things: 1)Continue Reading