PRESIDENT OBAMA WILL VISIT NEW ORLEANS ON THURSDAY
From The Times-Picayune Newspaper
October 13, 2009
President Obama will visit the Martin Luther King Jr. Charter School in the Lower 9th Ward and then hold a town hall meeting at the University of New Orleans Lakefront Campus on Thursday, the White House announced Sunday evening.
With the announcement, the contours of the president's first visit to New Orleans since taking office appear complete. Local officials, including Sens. Mary Landrieu, D-La., and David Vitter, R-La., had protested Obama's original plan for only one stop, the town hall, on his New Orleans trip.
Obama will fly in on Air Force One on Thursday morning, visit the Dr. King Charter School -- the first to reopen in the Lower 9th Ward after Hurricane Katrina -- and then conduct the town hall meeting at 1:15 p.m. at the UNO Recreation and Fitness Center on Lakeshore "Having toured the city five times since Katrina before becoming president, this will be the president's first event that is open to the public," the White House said in releasing details of the town hall. "This will enable the people of New Orleans to convey their thoughts, challenges, and feedback directly to him."
Public access to the town hall will be limited.
The White House will select names randomly from those submitted online and left on the voice mail. The chosen individuals will then be called by the White House with further details. Tickets may not be sold.
All those attending the town hall will have to go through airport-like security and should bring as few personal items as possible. No bags, sharp objects, umbrellas, liquids, strollers or signs will be allowed. Cameras are permitted.
The Martin Luther King Charter School will mark its second visit by a sitting president. On the second anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, President George W. Bush and Laura Bush visited the school, meeting there with Louisiana education officials. They also observed a moment of silence for lives lost in the hurricane and its aftermath.
Obama is due to leave New Orleans after the town hall and fly to San Francisco, where he is appearing at a fundraiser for the Democratic National Committee and Organizing for America, an outgrowth of the Obama campaign that is now part of the DNC.
The president's visit will be augmented by other administration officials, who will be joining him and fanning throughout the area to observe recovery efforts.
The administration officials will include Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano, Housing Secretary Shaun Donovan and Education Secretary Arne Duncan.
Nancy Sutley, chairwoman of the White House Council on Environmental Quality and principal environmental policy adviser to the president, will tour Louisiana wetlands.
Even as the White House was putting the finishing touches on the program for the day, Rep. Steve Scalise, R-Jefferson, announced he would be hosting a news conference today at the 17th Street Canal in Lakeview to urge the president to extend his visit and see more so "he can experience first-hand the ongoing recovery efforts and needs."
On Saturday, a small group of ACORN members, led by local head Vanessa Gueringer, gathered in the Lower 9th Ward to urge the president to be sure to visit the hard-hit and still forlorn neighborhood during his visit.
"We want to see that change that you ran your platform on," Gueringer said.
But on Sunday, Bertha Lewis, ACORN's national CEO, issued a statement that Gueringer's statements about Obama "are without authority and do not reflect the position of the national leadership."
"I will be personally going to New Orleans to deal with the individual involved," Lewis said.
October 13, 2009
President Obama will visit the Martin Luther King Jr. Charter School in the Lower 9th Ward and then hold a town hall meeting at the University of New Orleans Lakefront Campus on Thursday, the White House announced Sunday evening.
With the announcement, the contours of the president's first visit to New Orleans since taking office appear complete. Local officials, including Sens. Mary Landrieu, D-La., and David Vitter, R-La., had protested Obama's original plan for only one stop, the town hall, on his New Orleans trip.
Obama will fly in on Air Force One on Thursday morning, visit the Dr. King Charter School -- the first to reopen in the Lower 9th Ward after Hurricane Katrina -- and then conduct the town hall meeting at 1:15 p.m. at the UNO Recreation and Fitness Center on Lakeshore "Having toured the city five times since Katrina before becoming president, this will be the president's first event that is open to the public," the White House said in releasing details of the town hall. "This will enable the people of New Orleans to convey their thoughts, challenges, and feedback directly to him."
Public access to the town hall will be limited.
The White House will select names randomly from those submitted online and left on the voice mail. The chosen individuals will then be called by the White House with further details. Tickets may not be sold.
All those attending the town hall will have to go through airport-like security and should bring as few personal items as possible. No bags, sharp objects, umbrellas, liquids, strollers or signs will be allowed. Cameras are permitted.
The Martin Luther King Charter School will mark its second visit by a sitting president. On the second anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, President George W. Bush and Laura Bush visited the school, meeting there with Louisiana education officials. They also observed a moment of silence for lives lost in the hurricane and its aftermath.
Obama is due to leave New Orleans after the town hall and fly to San Francisco, where he is appearing at a fundraiser for the Democratic National Committee and Organizing for America, an outgrowth of the Obama campaign that is now part of the DNC.
The president's visit will be augmented by other administration officials, who will be joining him and fanning throughout the area to observe recovery efforts.
The administration officials will include Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano, Housing Secretary Shaun Donovan and Education Secretary Arne Duncan.
Nancy Sutley, chairwoman of the White House Council on Environmental Quality and principal environmental policy adviser to the president, will tour Louisiana wetlands.
Even as the White House was putting the finishing touches on the program for the day, Rep. Steve Scalise, R-Jefferson, announced he would be hosting a news conference today at the 17th Street Canal in Lakeview to urge the president to extend his visit and see more so "he can experience first-hand the ongoing recovery efforts and needs."
On Saturday, a small group of ACORN members, led by local head Vanessa Gueringer, gathered in the Lower 9th Ward to urge the president to be sure to visit the hard-hit and still forlorn neighborhood during his visit.
"We want to see that change that you ran your platform on," Gueringer said.
But on Sunday, Bertha Lewis, ACORN's national CEO, issued a statement that Gueringer's statements about Obama "are without authority and do not reflect the position of the national leadership."
"I will be personally going to New Orleans to deal with the individual involved," Lewis said.
I hope that this visit will be the beginning of more visits to that city. The people of New Orleans have suffered a lot.