Businesses waiting for Cat 5 plan

Watching WWL news at 10, the owner of the Steak Knife in Lakeview said that people ask him all the time when he's going to re-open. His answer is that he'll rebuild when he knows the levees are fixed. He said he wants to know that his investment won't just go up with the water the next time it floods. I'd bet he'd settle for a plan that is guaranteed to be funded and completed by some scheduled date.

Ray-Ray, I noticed you're doing a lot of town hall meetings here in New Orleans, in Memphis, in Houston. I'm sure people like the warm fuzzies you give them. You might appreciate the feeling that you're actually accomplishing something when you can tell a New Orleans resident how to fix a problem.

But Ray-Ray, that's not your job right now. You need to be focused like a laser on the issue of getting a solid federal commitment for Cat 5 storm protection.

Let your staff handle the Q&A stuff. You need to be figuring out the strategy for rebuilding the city -- which begins with a firm commitment to build Cat 5 storm protection around New Orleans.