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| January 17, 2007 |
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| Mayor Nagin Seeks Funding For Recovery From Private Sector |
NEW ORLEANS - January 17, 2007. As part of his redevelopment efforts for the City of New Orleans, Mayor C. Ray Nagin, along with Executive Director of Recovery Management Dr. Edward Blakely, Director of Finance Reginald Zeno and other city administrators began a series of meetings today with members of the Wall Street community to discuss the city's financial needs and to pursue alternative sources of funding in the private sector.
The trip is part of Mayor Nagin's commitment to continue the city's rebuilding despite delays in receiving funds that have been obligated to the city from Federal Emergency Management Agency and other sources. The meetings will continue through Friday.
"It is essential that we do everything within our control to move forward with our recovery," said Mayor Nagin. "We will continue to pursue money that we deserve and need from higher levels of government, but we can't wait for that to continue our work to get our city back on track."
New Orleans officials will meet with top banking officials and foundation leaders to discuss both grants and long-term loans that could help to stabilize the city's finances and fund the redevelopment of infrastructure, city buildings and other critical needs. Mayor Nagin has identified the construction of a new criminal justice building as a major priority.
As of January 10, FEMA had obligated $283 million; the city had received $142 million of that amount.
In his 2007 Budget Address, Mayor Nagin listed acceleration of recovery and infrastructure restoration as priorities. He is fulfilling this goal partly through the establishment of the new Office of Recovery. The city also is using its annual allocation of Community Development Block Grants (CDBG), HOME and NHIF funds to gut and board up to 5,000 homes and demolish 10,000 homes by the end of the year.
Source: Mayor's Press Office |
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