9th Ward residents want city leaders to fight blight

By C.C. Campbell-Rock
Contributing Writer

Ninth Ward residents say enough is enough. From possums to snakes to rats and raccoons to robbers, they are battling pests, as a consequence of overgrown lots in their neighborhoods. Residents and members of A Community Voice last week demanded that local officials and candidates take action to make neighborhoods east of Canal Street livable.

In an area that has yet to fully recover from Hurricane Katrina, people in the Ninth Ward are fighting blight and the inherent problems it brings, including blocked views, safety hazards, health hazards, and jungles across from their homes.

Mae Williams, a Ninth ward resident, says she has an issue with snakes and possums. “They are so bad, I was going to church on Sunday and I saw a snake. The possums are all over the place, day and night. I’m afraid they will start to enter our homes,” she says, surrounded by fellow residents at the corner of Gallier Street and Dorgenois Street. “It’s not fair to have us with this jungle next to our houses,” says another resident.

A Community Voice sent questionnaires to local politicians and candidates asking them to sign off on a to-do list “We want them (elected officials and candidates) to look out for our areas, if they want our votes,” says Debra Campbell, chairperson of the Upper 9th Ward chapter of A Community Voice.

“These demands are designed to make systemic changes to a persistent issue that has haunted low to moderate-income residents; mostly African-American communities from before Hurricane Katrina, but has intensified with the loss of population since then.”

Another resident, Gavriel Gemma, says she’s spoken with Councilman Brossett’s office “many times.” She’s been told that her street is on a list for addressing overgrown lots. Another danger Gemma says, is the Army Corps of Engineers (ACOE). The Corps is doing a Florida road but “They are destroying our houses’ foundations. The city doesn’t need shaking homes. They’re tearing up Louisa Street, too.”

Mayoral candidate Brandon Darrington used to live near the overgrown lot. “The incumbent politicians should be ashamed of themselves. There is something the community can do to change this. We need the jobs localized in our community. They could pay the residents to cut the lots,” Darrington advises.

In addition to the blight problem, residents also cite the lack of public transportation and community schools, and lead-contaminated water, as serious problems.

Regarding blight, the group wants officials to come up with an immediate plan for cutting and clearing overgrown lots in low- to moderate-income neighborhoods; develop a hiring program for residents, with living wage salaries, to cut the lots and clean catch basins; and develop a property sales program that allows local residents to purchase properties; with a financing plan for long-term payments.

The group is taking several steps to hold officials accountable. A Community Voice is making phone calls to registered voters to let them know which candidates will do something about the blight and employment program; offering election-day rides to the polls, to ensure higher turnout for the election; and distributing flyers and holding forums and other events to fight the blight.

“The savings from the deprivatization of lawn-cutting, along with the income from property sales and taxes, could allow the city to cut the lots on a monthly basis and encourage redevelopment in the place of blight,” Campbell adds.

This article originally published in the October 9, 2017 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper.