FTB18: Consolidation of Avenues 2.28.13

pick a line, any line (Badlands)

 Hear ye, Hear YE:

In light of "public participation" being mumbojumbo'd by Our Bureaucracy's clutter'd drawers of ulterior motives, linguistic shade, and predetermined detriment, Freedom to Build will reconvene on Thursday, February the 28th, 3rd eve after the Full Snow Moon has risen before our collective eye.  5 oclock, Sycamore House (3111 Palmyra at Lopez)

Last time we met up (Jan 31) we got to talking about the various ways that space/land/property/whathaveyou is distributed by city agencies and can sometimes be acquired by regular folks without crazy money or social/political ties.  There are many different avenues to hold the title for property (as well as ways to use without full legal title...), and with the end goal of compiling into some sort of "Legal Jargon Demystified: Layperson's Guide to Avenues Towards Property Use + Ownership" in hopes that the info could hopefully be helpful to someone, say, maybe applied towards creating a stable home space by people at the mercies of New Orleans' disproportionate rental rates, large-scale redevelopment schemes, rising property values, and strangled public spaces.

Topics to be discussed (pick one and research it, come to class with something to add!):

• compiling a list + basic description of different avenues towards property acquisition
• sheriff's sales, tax sales + what the "X%" lien ownership means
• NORA (New Orleans Redevelopment Authority) property disposition programs, land banking (as passed on from Road Home), and how they are tied
• "donation of blighted property to nonprofits" city program
• the process of going through Safety + Permits, inspections, and what it takes to obtain a Certificate of Occupancy
• why is it that so many blighted + abandoned properties are lost within inheritances?
• acquisitive prescription/corporeal possession (LA version of common law's "adverse possession"/squatter's rights)
• what are the implications of NOPD quality of life officers? The City Planning Commission's Neighborhood Participation Plan considers Land Use to be a Quality of Life issue. 

Depending on how conversation goes, it may be worth it to bring a computer if you have access to one... we may walk somewhere with internet to commit some further investigation.

Energy planning, Entergy panning

This Wednesday, Feb 20 at UNO's Lindy Boggs Conference Center, 2-4:30pm, is a public meeting about Entergy's Integrated Resource Plan. As NO's sole energy provider, Entergy's IRP describes how New Orleans' energy needs will be handled in the next 20 years, such as energy efficiency, renewable resources, and affordability.  More on the IRP and the 2-week followup period where online questions will be logged as official City Council records ("more details to come soon"), at the Alliance for Affordable Energy blog.

Entergy New Orleans has a legal monopoly: the corporation has an agreement with the City that it is the only entity with rights to provide electricity + gas to New Orleans residents, as long as its profits are regulated by the NO City Council.  Many utility providers have legal monopolies, partially because of the impracticality of 10 different companies' high-voltage lines + transformers running down your street. Entergy NO is 100% owned by Entergy Corporation, NO's only Fortune 500 company.

Entergy just applied for a rate increase, before their Integrated Resource Plan gets decided on by City Council. Lots of folks are heated, as usual.

Entergy workers picketing in Mass