A way to support greater legislative oversight of the UMC

Sign the petition in support of HCR-59 here.

As I noted earlier, this measure would be a positive step forward.

HCR-59 was scheduled for floor debate today in the Louisiana House of Representatives, but it's not clear from the website that the measure has been acted on at this point.

Contact your LA State Representative Today

Tell your representative to support Representative Henry's HCR-59, which will likely come up on the floor of the Louisiana House tomorrow.

The measure would require greater oversight of the UMC hospital project by requiring full legislative approval before the project could move forward given the ongoing lack of a business plan and the uncertainty over $400 million in financing necessary for completion of the project.

If ever there was a project in need of greater oversight to protect taxpayers from a major boondoggle, this is it.

CityBusiness on HCR-59

Here's the abbreviated version of the AP report from today's committee meeting up in Baton Rouge.

Note how the report labels it a "roadblock" and a "hurdle" rather than a good government measure that keeps the taxpayers of the state from being saddled with a boondoggle.

HCR-59 Passes out of House Appropriations Committee

After about an hour of debate and public comment, the measure, which would require full legislative approval of various aspects of the UMC project, most notably related to financing, passed 12-11.

Here's the AP report on the committtee move from The Advocate's blog.

Opponents of the measure kept saying at the meeting that the resolution would delay the project - and touted the level of oversight over the project.  I really don't buy that argument; this project needs a lot more oversight given the uncertainty that continues to swirl around it.

In the legislature tomorrow

HCR-59 will be considered by the House Appropriations Committee.

Here's the operative language - it's an attempt by legislators to require greater legislative oversight of the UMC and the financing that attends it:

A picayune for your thoughts

The Times-Picayune assesses the Vitter-Kennedy-Tucker UMC alternative.

It's called a "long shot" in the print version's interior cut headline...but I don't know that it is so far-fetched.  The reason that the project seems ready to roll is because the state artificially created a sense of momentum and inevitability by demolishing most of the site and holding a faux groundbreaking.

That's all meaningless if there's no money to complete the facility...and if the legislature still holds the strings on the plan.

BOMBSHELL: Vitter, Kennedy, and Tucker Send Alternative UMC Plan to Jindal

This is big:

Obtained by The Associated Press, the letter proposes buying a share of Tulane University's New Orleans hospital and a Jefferson Parish hospital. Combined with a new facility smaller than the 424-bed hospital proposed by Jindal, the three would make up University Medical Center.


The plan envisions costs well below the $1.2 billion current price tag and would be achieved with dollars already in hand.

Here are the provisions of the suggested alternate plan from the letter:

Back in force

SaveCharityHospital.com has been firing away lately:

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Jerry Jones suddenly backtracks on UMC delay

So...now construction ostensibly won't be delayed due to the action by the Ways and Means Committee of the Louisiana House of Representatives earlier today:

The governor's top construction adviser, Jerry Jones, initially told the committee the change would push back the hospital construction. He reversed his position later in the day, saying he was incorrect in his first interpretation.


Through a spokesman, Jones, head of the state Office of Facility Planning and Control, said the borrowing doesn't need to be approved though the construction budget and instead only needs approval from the State Bond Commission and the joint House and Senate budget committee.

Earlier in the day, he was saying this, repeating several times that the committee's action would cause delay:

"You'll delay the project substantially, and it's already been delayed," said Jones, head of the state Office of Facility Planning and Control.

The Big News

From the AP: Lawmakers strip money for Charity Hospital replacement

As a friend noted: "Ruh roh"

ADDED: This comment on the piece was too good to pass up:

ElCidDeEspana May 23, 2011 at 3:49PM


Ok, let's count it up:


1. It's 6 years since the storm and we don't have a hospital.


2. We torn down a historic neighborhood and a large swath of mid-city without trying to determine what caused its downfall.


3. We drove out thousands of citizens from their home and took property from those who had invested in the city.


4. Many connected people bought property on the cheap and then sold to make a quick, very nice and quiet profit.


5. WE STILL WON'T HAVE A HOSPITAL until at least 2016, 11 years post-storm, right?


6. Old Charity is still just sitting there, empty.


Really great going guys.


What a boondoggle.

BioDistrict bill before legislative committee tomorrow

HB 576, by Representative Leger, will be heard tomorrow by the Committee on Municipal, Parochial and Cultural Affairs.

Among other things, the bill renames "GNOBEDD" something far more in line with what its more commonly known as - BioDistrict New Orleans.

There's been some discussion by folks in the know here in New Orleans about other aspects of the bill and what they will ultimately mean for the city and for the historic neighborhoods that stand to be impacted by the district.

For one, I'll note that the BioDistrict has attempted to mollify critics by providing some neighborhood representative seats.  That sounds nice, but the new representatives would not be on the Board of the BioDistrict itself...rather, they're seats on an advisory committee... that is clearly heavily controlled by parties favorable to the Board.  Additionally, the new reps must be appointed by the mayor - and the current mayor has shown he's bought the BioDistrict hook line and sinker.  Furthermore, those two reps come from a list submitted by the local legislators...who are all in the bag as well when it comes to setting up and supporting the BioDistrict.

So, the supposed injection of resident input is mere window dressing - not substantive change that gives meaningful representation to the thousands of people who will be affected by the district. Resident input is mediated and muted at least three different ways by the provision as written.

"All of this is confusing. None of it follows a path of logic. None of it follows a business plan."

Several news stories have already covered this.  But here's video of the legislative committee hearing from Monday where the state's Office of Facilities and Planning Control made a presentation to legislators on the proposed UMC hospital:

Part 1

Part 2

A few quick items that can be gleaned from the presentation itself:

- The construction manager at risk may still find the project will cost more than budgeted, then the state will work to fit the project into the budget.  In other words, the overall quality of the facility and its offerings may yet be compromised.
- Despite claims of synergy between the two hospitals, Mr. Jerry Jones states clearly that the UMC is directly "in competition with the VA" for construction workers and that such competition is driving the excessively rapid timeline for the site.
- The City of New Orleans has apparently agreed to donate property in the 2900 block of Tulane Avenue to receive the McDonogh No. 11 School, which the state still proposes for moving.
- The state will not acquire Orleans House, which we've known, and confirmed that it will not acquire the Cox Communications blockhouse hub in the 1900 block of Canal Street.
- The state may not build the second parking garage required by the CEA with the City of New Orleans - a predicate for permitting street revocation.  Per Jerry Jones:  “that may be able to be delayed until we expand the hospital”.  "We don't think the other parking garage is absolutely necessary"  "if it is determined to be needed"  This stands to undercut the Mayor's negotiated outcome given the uncertainty over whether the hospital will ever expand, much less be built.
- The state will go vertical in January whether or not it has HUD financing.
- The state still says it will move historic houses off the site.  In the past two weeks, multiple buildings have been demolished.  In the past six months, over a dozen buildings that could have been moved were demolished.
- The state will be "messin' around in the dirt for several months" before it goes vertical.
- Jerry Jones continues to indicate, until pressed, that the state has money in hand that it does not yet actually have in hand -  $135 million more from FEMA, for example.

The follow-up from the legislators is really the best part, however.  That's where some healthy skepticism finally comes into play.

"We're moving forward on a project...and we don't know what we're building." - Representative Fannin

"All of this is confusing.  None of it follows a path of logic.  None of it follows a business plan." - Fannin