Brad V: Originally, how did you come to be involved in the Charity Hospital/LSU/VA fight?
Derrick M: I got involved because I felt that it would be easier to get Charity open after Katrina than some of the other struggles going on - because it had been cleaned out, because it had basically been readied for operation, and because of the fact that, initially, the City Council and the state legislature were asking that Charity were asking for it to be re-opened on a temporary basis. So it seemed like it would be easy to get Charity re-opened. But as it turns out, it was not that easy. It's gonna take...a lot more effort to get Charity re-opened.
Brad V: At this point - I know you've been very active in the neighborhood and in the adjoining neighborhood - what do you think of the state of affairs of the LSU/VA project today?
Derrick M: Well the LSU/VA project, right now, basically...the campaign right now is for justice for the people who were given unfair property appraisals by the LSU Board of Supervisors - to get LSU to fork over some more money for them. Also, to get the VA to do right by the adjacent neighborhood - Cleveland Avenue, Palmyra Street. Also, the effort to save McDonogh No. 11 School is uppermost in my mind. It's clear that LSU doesn't know how big this project is going to be. The whole effort now should be to save the school in light of the fact that LSU's plans are probably going to be changed. And even if they aren't changed, LSU is still only using half the area - so the school should be saved. The big thing now is to force LSU to redesign its design to save McDonogh No. 11 School.
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