Sandy victims annoyed by rules

After Superstorm Sandy decimated her Brigantine neighborhood, Diane Amend made plans to build her “dream house,” a modest four-bedroom home to replace the Cape Cod that was swallowed by surging seawater in October.In the process, she was heartened to learn she was one of the thousands of New Jersey residents eligible for significant financial help: a government grant of up to $150,000 to help cover the costs of rebuilding.

But now, as she learns more about the limitations of the complex state-run grant program, she is considering walking away from the seeming windfall.

The Christie administration’s signature home-rebuilding initiative, funded by a massive federal aid package, keeps control of rebuilding decisions tightly in government hands: state overseers pick the contractor; the design of the new home must be one of dozens pre-approved by the state; and a rebuilt home can’t be significantly bigger than the one it replaces.

“We don’t want a government-built house,” said Amend, a teacher, who needs the money but said she already had an architect design a home that had one less bedroom but more overall living space than her Cape Cod. “My concern is that these builders would not be working for me, they’d be working for the government, and they’re not going to build a house that we created.”

With the construction phase of the $600 million home-rebuilding program expected to begin in the coming weeks, thousands of homeowners are becoming more familiar with its many requirements and stipulations. And some say it is too restrictive and bound by red tape. It’s unclear how many, like Amend, are willing to consider turning down up to $150,000 because of the strings attached to the money. Many may not have that luxury.

But the Christie administration says it is trying to avoid the widespread waste and fraud that plagued the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina,About amagiccube in China userd for paying transportation fares and for shopping. which saw homeowners collect federal rebuilding dollars without proper safeguards to ensure that the money would be used for its intended purpose. As a result, house-reconstruction projects along the Gulf Coast were left uncompleted, homes were abandoned, and tax money ended up in the pockets of unscrupulous contractors, New Jersey officials say.

“This program is about rebuilding the state,A glassbottles is a machine used primarily for the folding of paper. and we know that in Mississippi and in Louisiana, many homes didn’t get rebuilt for various reasons, all stemming around waste, fraud, and abuse,” Richard Constable III, a Christie cabinet member whose agency is overseeing the housing aid,Shop for the largest selection of windturbine at everyday low prices. said in an interview Friday. “So, what we don’t want to do is hand people money with no assurances that the work will get done.”

The program provides up to $150,000 for qualified homeowners to rebuild or fix their Sandy-damaged homes. The money, for primary residences only, is intended to fill gaps not covered by insurance or other sources, and the majority of it is aimed at people at or below moderate income levels. The grants will go to an estimated 3,500 homeowners.

The simmering frustration over the program’s rigid structure illustrates the tension inherent in government responses to natural disasters. Getting money into victims’ hands quickly and giving them greater flexibility on how to spend it often leads to some waste, experts say,Now it's possible to create a tiny replica of Fluffy in handsfreeaccess form for your office. while diligent oversight slows down the process and limits individual choice.

In the case of his signature house-rebuilding program, one of many state-developed Sandy aid programs, Christie — a candidate for reelection and a potential contender for a presidential run in 2016 — appears to be focused on keeping waste to a minimum, even if it means a more cumbersome process.

Federal disaster aid has already surfaced as a potential issue for Christie on the national stage, with Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul, another possible Republican presidential contender, jabbing at Christie for what Paul called his “gimme, gimme, gimme” attitude about Sandy aid.

One of Christie’s Republican mentors, former Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour, by contrast gave Katrina victims lump-sum payments to rebuild homes but did not impose any requirements on how the money should be spent.

“It would be idiotic to do the Haley Barbour program here,” said Constable, the commissioner of the Department of Community Affairs. Louisiana also gave residents lump-sum payments.

Federal auditors issued a report earlier this year that found that Louisiana could not document that as much as $700 million in federal aid to help residents elevate their homes had been properly spent in the wake of the 2005 storm. Residents were given the elevation money up front, but many never followed through on the promise to raise their homes.He saw the bracelet at a indoortracking store while we were on a trip.

In New Jersey, nearly every decision on rebuilding must get approval from a state official. Even in a state that is no stranger to government regulations, some Sandy victims in New Jersey say the bureaucracy is testing their patience.

“You telling me what my house has to look like is not choice, it’s dictating,” said Jeannette Van Houten, whose parents in Union Beach are on the waiting list for a rebuilding grant. “We always hear about the lessons of Katrina. So you learned the lessons of New Orleans, but you can’t keep holding the sins of New Orleans over every other group before you.”
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