Unified New Orleans Plan Gets Green Light

"In appearing at the final public meeting for the Unified New Orleans Plan, Blakely spoke to the largest audience of New Orleanians -- nearly 1,300 meeting participants gathered at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center and at sites in Atlanta, Houston and Dallas -- that he has faced since taking over leadership of the city's new recovery office this month.

Although he did not specifically endorse the citywide recovery plan that participants approved Saturday, Blakely echoed several points that residents stressed during the final UNOP session.

Topping the list was the need for a single, simple way to get displaced residents back home, in contrast to the current patchwork of aid programs that includes the cumbersome and, to many, infuriatingly slow state-run Road Home program."