There is much talk about the Master Plan and the importance of "Citizen Participation".
There is a HUGE, long term change in Land Use in the City of New Orleans that has seen VERY LITTLE citizen participation: the proposed LSU Medical Complex (& the VA Hospital)and the abandonment of the Charity Hospital facility.
It is my opinion that IF the Master Planning Process and the Master Plan itself will mean anything long term that there must be review and citizen participation of the plans for any new Land Use and development that is proposed to essentially rezone 70 acres.
A Coalition is forming requesting some very simple things:
1. Governor Jindal to order an independent, comprehensive cost-benefit analysis of the two hospital plans.
2. The City Planning Commission and the City Council to hold public hearings on these critical planning issues.
3. The City Planning Commission and the City Council to include the hospitals in the current master-planning process.
Take a look at the Coalition's Website. And step back and think about the proposed changes and more importantly how these changes are being made.
To quote the coalition website:
"There is no reason not to rally around this effort. Whether you're pro-Charity, pro-LSU, or agnostic, everybody can agree that the time has come to honestly compare the plans side-by-side."
For more than a year, a debate has raged over the sites for new hospitals for Louisiana State University (LSU) and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). Currently, two different plans are being discussed and as recently as last week, Louisiana Secretary of Health and Hospitals Alan Levine -- the state’s point person on the hospital issue -- said that no decisions have been made and both plans were still on the table.
The proposed medical centers represent the single largest facilities project that will be undertaken in New Orleans in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. They will involve massive federal spending, a major appropriation of state funding and should be a critical component to the rebirth of New Orleans. With so many different entities involved and so much at stake, it falls to the Governor to step in and bring impartial evaluation and clarity to the process.
You can ADD YOUR VOICE by TAKING ACTION TODAY!
Urge Governor Jindal to step in and order an independent cost-benefit analysis of the competing plans by filling out and sending a message to the Governor today. Just go to the link below:
https://secure2.convio.net/nthp/site/Advocacy?id=459&pagename=homepage
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