Thursday, March 16, 2006
QUORUM PROBLEMS ON LRA TASK FORCE?
ADVOCATE
By WILL SENTELL
Capitol news bureau
(excerpt)
Despite questions about the details, a state task force Wednesday endorsed Gov. Kathleen Blanco’s plan to pay hurricane victims up to $150,000 for their destroyed and damaged homes.
The proposal, which Blanco unveiled in Lake Charles on Feb. 20, won the support of the housing task force of the Louisiana Recovery Authority. The Recovery Authority, which meets today, is Blanco’s planning and coordinating panel formed after hurricanes Katrina and Rita.
Whether the task force support amounts to an official endorsement was unclear. The 18-member group began its meeting with the bare majority needed for a quorum.
One member left before the vote, but there was disagreement on whether a state lawmaker, who said she was named to the task force, was officially on the group, which would have allowed it to keep a quorum for the vote.
Recovery Authority spokeswoman Catherine Heitman said late Wednesday that agency attorneys concluded the task force had a quorum for the vote.
LPNS COMMENTARY: WE THOUGHT THE LRA BOARD MEMBERS AND STAFF WERE APPOINTED BY BLANCO. WHY WOULDN'T THEY ENDORSE HER PLAN?
