Nice going, Waveland. I am telling you, if this man makes it into the mayor's seat in December, you will regret it profoundly. In my heart I want to wish you Wavelanders all the luck in the world, but voting this man back into office is like playing Russian roulette with 6 bullets. Really.

Ah well.

It would be helpful to point out that Jefferson only managed 30% of the vote in a wide field, a perscription for almost certain defeat in December. The more interesting race was Melancon-Romero in the 3rd, where Melancon won re-election in a district that could easily go Republican, based in part on his perception as an active representative for his storm-ravaged consituents.

Hopefully, with this supportive outcome in Waveland, MS things are starting to come together for this coastal towns recovery. It seems that the rebuilding after Katrina has been slow and ardous. There haven't been many stories about the positives in the aftermath of this destructive storm.

After living through many hurricanes, including Camile in 1969, I left the Mississippi Gulf Coast three years ago. But I have children, granchildren and sisters there, and I have been back many times since Katrina. I am continually amazed at the recovery and rebulding that I have personally seen there. The unbridled spirit of the natives of this area is mond-boggling. To them, there never was a question of leaving and never coming back. There never was a question of whether to rebuild on the waterfront. There is no question that there will be another storm. They just don't care. They feel so blessed to have been born and bred in an area that feels the finger of God on a regular basis, both in the beauty of the area and its devastating side effects. And once again, they will prevail.

Congratulations to Mayor Longo. Let's not forget that Mayor Longo did not run from Katrina. As Mayor
of Waveland, MS the Mayor held the fort and met Katrina face to face. Seperated from his family for several months, the Mayor's focus was to assist the residents of Waveland to the best of his ability and start the process of re-building their community. We expect a lot from our civic leaders, Mayor Longo has proved to be an American Hero.. GOD Bless Waveland, MS her Mayor, and all of those who call Waveland HOME.

I know Tommy Longo and the Longo family, and integrity is not an issue. Bureaucratic red tape is.

Congratulations to the people of Waveland! Smarter heads finally prevailed! For all those who think the Republicans are the answer, don't forget it was this stinking Republican Administration that could have cared less for all of you in the aftermath. While New Orleans gets the majority of attention, the folks of Mississippi suffered just as bad, if not worse. And your Republican Senator and other officials weren't the least bit concerned; they were more worried about preaching morality than getting the hard working people of Mississippi the help they needed.

I've seen what goes on at City Hall. If you want more of the same, go ahead and pull the donkey lever in December. If you're tired of wondering about that FEMA quonset or about city vehicles, you know what to do.

When I first moved to Bay St. Louis in the late '70's I was totally sick how animals were treated. Fast forward to the '90s and things changed. The Friends of the Animal Shelter in Hancock County (Waveland) organized. Mayor Longo helped in everyway he could. In many other ways he showed what a good mayor he was, I have nothing but good things to say about him. Please check out mesbeth.com/animals/htlm to help make a better life for the animals on the Mississippi Gulf Coast.

Waveland rocks!!!
Their leadership under Longo has been nothing but unbelieveable. Big employers (convience shopping) are up and running - Lowe's, The Dollar Store, Home Depot, 84 Lumber, Silver Slipper and Wal-Mart to name a few. K-Mart/Sears is almost ready.
SALES TAX DOLLARS for the city coffers.
PAYCHECKS for the citizens.
Dollars to be spent at the locally owned businesses. The circle of money (read recovery) is well under way.

Building has been thoughtful and code conforming - HIGHER PROPERTY VALUES.

They have received the highest possible insurance rating - LOWER INSURANCE PREMIUMS.

Longo travels, talks, negotiates and brings the bucks back. What more could the citizens want?

I am surprised at the negative tone voiced from those who have not experienced and worked the fields trying to help this and other communities get back on their feet. It takes committment, perserverance, bravery and love to stay there. It also takes takes the same qualities for those who leave their homes to go and volunteer to help others get back on their feet. It is not Democrat or Republican. We keep forgetting that WE are the people. I have met both working disaster relief. We look after each other. I think this mayor did exactly that and it is wonderful that he is willing to serve another term. He has to be tired.
Patsy Hendrix
Anderson, SC

CONGRATS TOMMY AND FAMILY. SOMEDAY WE WILL RETURN AND HOPE TO SEE YOU STILL IN CITY HALL LIKE YOUR DAD WAS BEFORE YOU. KEEP ON TRUCKIN'

Excellent story on Mayor Longo. After reading it and many previous posts I get the impression that he has kept things all together running Katrina recovery in Waveland, so I'm glad he won and hope for his continued success. This is truly a "good news" story. Would that other mayors and government leaders in the storm zone could be doing as well as him and Gov. Barbour.

I came from California to help my best friend rebuild his home in Waveland. The destruction was beyond belief. Suffice it to say that New Orleans received attention that should have been directed at this small community that lost far more than can ever be imagined.

I think its a complete shame that New Orleans keeps getting all the coverage. The government new what was going to happen if a hurricane ever hit there. And it was the hurricane that did the damage. It was the flood waters. I love WAVELAND! I used to take my daughter there at least once a year to the beaches. I used to go jet skying there. I have done a lot of praying for that community. I have not been able to go and help with the rebuild, but my church has sent several teams there. DONT FORGET THE GULF COAST!!!!

Last year our Church in Augusta Georgia was activated as a Red Cross shelter. Suddenly we had 50-60 guests we had to feed and care for. As I watched the coverage I too felt compelled to do more, in October I went with 14 others from our Church to help with disaster relief in the Covington La. Area. At one particular place we worked an older lady whose home had been damaged by falling trees looked almost like a war zone the house almost completely hidden by huge trees. She had been without power for 30+ days and without water for about 21 days. She told us of the estimates to clean up just the trees (no repair work for the house) reached nearly sixty thousand dollars.Without the means to have the work done her only son armed with only a small chainsaw faced an impossible task.
One of our team members a contractor at his own expense moved an industrial sized backhoe to the area. Our team made up of accountants, insurance agents, engineers, and ministers descended on the devastation. In two days the entire front yard was cleared, the area around the side and to the rear were cleared as well eleminating a severe fire hazzard. I was reduced to near tears when this ladies daughter sought us out and simply said the following. "Thank you so much for what you have done, You will never know how much this means to my Mom and to all of us for what you have done." I too was hooked, our Church organized two more trips one in November of 05 and one in April of 06. I hope to return again at some point in the future. I think we are all served well when we put our own hand to the plow to help our neighbor and our country in a time of need.

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I think its amazing that people love to try and compare one persons suffering to another. I lived in St. Bernard Parish just outside of New Orleans and I lost not only my home (which had to be leveled) but my entire community. I have been to the coast many times since the storm and I know the devastation there, ive seen it. But dont tell me what happened to me and my fellow citizens of Louisiana some how pales in comparision to the Gulf Coast.

Well, Waveland, you done did it. Good luck to you. With Longo in office, you are going to need it. My prediction is that in two years you will want to beat your collective heads on a rock in regret for who you've elected. Sure, he seems like a savior to you but do you ever wonder why his turnover in his front office staff has been so rapid? And why that Quonset hut is in his front lawn? And what exactly happened in the airport in Augusta, ME?

I am proud to see the people of Waveland pulling themselves up from the ruins, it is a true testament to the power of community. As far as comparing New Orleans to Waveland and the Gulf Coast, the Gulf Coast destruction was the result of the direct brunt of nature. New Orleans is more than anything, destruction by engineering and political failure. Credit should be given to the citizens of all areas that are struck by natural disasters who return to rebuild their lives and communities, but at the same time those in power who have facilitated the policies of corruption and indifference which have helped lead to the ongoing hardship to the citizens need to be held accountable, no matter what their political affiliation may be. I have voted for Democrats, Independents and Republicans based on who seems to hold the best ideas for improving the standards and standards of living for the citizens. We NEED to stop fearing new ideas and new faces and allow people who have experience and/or knowledge beyond the same old politics as usual to help us all build better communities and a country that is better than ever. Hurricane Katrina merely brought into focus the shortcomings of governmental planning and governmental response, but it most of all leaves us with the great lessons and stories of accomplishment, diligence and perseverance of individuals and of individuals who volunteer to help one another.
I wish the best to our neighbors in Waveland and on the Gulf Coast, as well as to all of those who suffered the effects of Hurricane Rita in Southwest Louisiana and Texas, it is OUR ongoing efforts to repair and to improve our communities that are the true testament of the goodness of humanity.

Thank you MSNBC for remembering the Gulf Coast of MS which was actually hit by a hurricane and not flooded because of a levee break. N.O. was only fun in the Quarter and is still only fun in the Quarter. The Quarter never saw more than a foot of water in any one place. N.O. is as fine as Mayor McChocolate will let them be. Notice the population is rising and so is the murder rate (9 killings in 8 days). What an achievement! Instead the Gulf Coast of MS (and the Gulf Coast of LA for that matter) has gone back to work and are out paying their bills and rebuilding their homes. There is very little whining coming from those areas. But the squeaky wheels always get the grease and the undeserved attention. Wah N.O., wah.

Transplant--Are you, by chance, a transplant from New Orleans? You have given her a bum rap. New Orleans was, and is, far more than just "fun in the Quarter." New Orleans was, and is, a beautiful, historic city which is home to a complicated, complex, diverse, one-of-a-kind culture found no place else in America except for southern Louisiana. And this applies not only to the Quarter and the other older neighborhoods on higher ground, which were relatively unscathed by Katrina, which the locals in less-fortunate areas call "The Isle of Denial." (Yes, New Orleans' levee failures were precipitated by Katrina--the massive storm surge sped up the MR-GO waterway, flooded Lake Pontchartrain, then caused breaks in several levees, and the rest is history.) It also applies to the 80% of New Orleans which had been flooded, where the ordinary people--those who, for example, worked by day in the Quarter as waitstaff, cleaners, and others who served and entertained tourists--lived before having been forced to evacuate by flooding. Now, I am aware of New Orleans' flaws, especially her problem with murder (which I myself have blogged on at more length elsewhere.) Any such crime wave would be due to a complex array of causes--but some of those, in New Orleans' case, are Katrina-related, including a shortage of law enforcement personnel, an overtaxed criminal court system, large areas of vacant, damaged homes in which criminals can easily hide, curtailed or lacking social services, and funds which otherwise would go to crime-fighting going to rebuilding. City officials have taken some helpful measures such as checkpoints and security cameras. But as long as New Orleans has these storm-related problems, which only can be helped with the same sort of massive infusion of aid that President Bush is planning for Iraq, she will continue to be tormented by violent crime. Now for social causes: Recently FEMA made awards to the states of the storm zone for "Katrina cottages" and other more permanent post-disaster housing. Mississippi received over $280 million, but Louisiana, which was harder hit with, as noted, 80% of New Orleans destroyed, plus what had been damaged in the rest of her storm-ravaged parishes, only got $75.4 million. Now, Mississippi, where once-cute coastal communities had been obliterated, does need lots of help with housing, so I am not disputing that--I am complaining about the fact that Louisiana didn't receive her fair share of the award. So poor Louisiana has been condemned to be tortured by the painful festering sores of FEMA trailer parks around New Orleans and other areas, which have become home to criminals engaged in drug dealing, prostitution, and murder, which spills over into New Orleans. Last but not least, you make the usual accusation that New Orleanians have been "whining." Unlike the smaller Gulf Coast communities of Mississippi and Louisiana where people have been rebuilding their homes, New Orleans, being a larger city, has far more complicated, costly tasks than simply rebuilding people's homes. About a year and a half after Katrina, devastation and debris still stretch for miles and miles. She has infrastructure (water, sewer, and power) in war zone-like conditions and her school and medical care systems are insufficient even for a city of her diminished size. And as my Louisiana friend has put it, New Orleans' heart and soul have been broken. So what you call "whining" is merely the fact that city officials recognize reality and are letting the outside world know that New Orleans needs a lot of help with the above things to recover.

I lived in BSL right up to Katrina and Evac'ed to Picayune, and had to go further north because of my medical conditions. I've come back several times and seen what Longo has done for Waveland, and the after-effects spill over into BSL. I also used to work at waveland mcdee's and have the pleasure of seeing him once in a while while i went to college to get my degree. The man is respectable, and obviously knows what he is doing if he was able to bring waveland back as fast as i have seen in a year. its breath-taking. There is still a LOT of work to be done, but there are jobs, and opprotunities and hope. I am thrilled that he won, and congradulations to you Tommy.. Keep up the good work! Now that the businesses are up, lets get the homes back, and nothing will ever bring back the beautiful southern homes on the beach front, but we can always try (keyword is try) to make waveland and BSL as beautiful and prosperous as it used to be. good luck everyone and god bless!

I am quite amazed that Longo won, especially with what has gone down behind the scenes at City Hall. Ya'll got snowed. Next time you see him, you should ask him where _your_ Fed-provided Quonset hut is, or where _your_ new Suburban is.

It's amazing how the haters try to make political hay out of everything. The disaster wasn't caused by the mayor. The recovery efforts were led by this man in spite of obstacles by the leaders of the GOP(haters).

Waveland, if you are interested at all in your recovery, you'd take Longo and ride him out of town on a rail. Serious. You might be starstruck by his stories and his charm, but ask anyone in City Hall - anyone who's left - and see what they say. I've seen some interesting things, as have many.

This ain't political hay, this is abuse of goodwill.

One day all will come to light, and Waveland, you will be collectively beating your head on a rock in regret and shame.

I am appaled at the negative and unencouraging comments being posted. This is a town where life is still no where near being back to normal. There are many people who have no homes, are struggling for jobs just to keep ends meeting, if are in a FEMA trailor with no house finished face the possibility of becoming homeless when the government takes them away, and worry if they will ever have a real home to go back to. Those of you who negatively posted I'm sure know all of this because you are most likely in the Katrina affected area. Because you most likely were in the same position with your local elections, get off their backs. These people voted for the person the believed they could trust to help bring them back up. If they made a mistake that's for the future to show us. There is no need for anyone to give these people an extra kick in the ribs when the entire stiuation has left them beaten and lying in the dirt. To those of you who have posted positively, Thank you. Thank you for the support. It sometimes feels as Mississippi has been forgotten. It's nice to know that there are people who care.

To "Disappointed in people"

The reason why all of this is said is that we _do_ care about people. We do care about the city of Waveland. And Waveland voted in the one man who has _not_ been right for the job since the storm. Sure, he comes across as your friend but he's in it for one person - his own self. All the Sun Herald and Sea Coast Echo articles (and this web site) paint him as being a tireless worker for you, the citizen of this unfortunate city. But you should really hang around City Hall for awhile and maybe you'll see. But of course everyone will see soon enough. After all, as someone really wise once said, "Sunlight is the greatest of all disinfectants." I don't throw epithets out with no reason, and I've got plenty of reason here. The citizens of this town, I'm afraid, messed up big time.

I've dealt with this storm and its effects as you have, and I understand where you are coming from. But unfortunately, for you and the city of Waveland, that's where the similarity ends.

What most people who compare Mississippi to Louisiana fail to understand is that New Orleanians have been told for decades that this "great wall" of levees was designed by OUR goverment for OUR protection.

Unfortunately, many people believed them or wanted to believe them. To this day, people in Louisiana are still waiting for OUR "promised" protection and pumps that work correctly. You think that the government would get it right after Hurricane Katrina but in the summer of 2006, the Army Corps of Engineers replaced the pipes at the 17th Street Canal with faulty ones. All of us now hope and pray that another Katrina doesn't strike anytime soon.

http://208.62.60.4/40/article_1074.shtml

I told all ya'll so.

http://208.62.60.4/40/article_1094.shtml

"And the walls came down....
All the way to hell..."

Of all the places I've seen devastation in- it's St. Bernard Parish. I was a teacher at CHS and unemployed now (still due to the storm).Most residents have relocated t the northshore with no intentions of going back-ever. It's heartbreaking to see these fine people uprooted from a life-long way of life because there is still nothing to go back to. I read updates everyday, not much of substance has changed no matter what the politicians say.

Stinking Republicans? No president could have done more than President Bush did for the Katrina survivors. What an UNGRATEFUL nation!

Go Waveland Go, I have kept you in my prayers. We moved away to Texas in 65 ; but I have always called the Bay my home. I have lived the majority of my life in East Texas and my kids have grew up here but the Bay is still called home. My mother and family will always love the Bay. Our home on Honey's Lane off the Old Spanish Trail had a lot of happy memories along with my years at Bay High.

Thank You, and God Bless you all.

Joe Pucheu, Whitehouse , Texas

Summers, Louisiana--"Stinking Republicans" is far too generous regarding the Bush Administration. Did you watch NBC Nightly News Sunday night? The lead story was an eye-opening report on the fact that the Bush Administration rejected a lot of the aid that had been offered from overseas during Katrina. This included rescue equipment and personnel sorely needed at the time New Orleanians were perched on their flooded rooftops desperately awaiting rescue. It was as if the Bush Administration cruelly wanted people in your state to die.

Add that to the fact that President Bush is opposed to waiving the 10% matching funds Louisiana and Mississippi communities must pay before they even see a penny of federal rebuilding aid. This is out-and-out discrimination against your state and Mississippi--reason being, the requirement that these funds be paid had been waived in New York after 9/11, in Florida after Hurricane Andrew, and after several other disasters. New York and Florida are economically-better-off states that could well have afforded that 10%. Because Louisiana and Mississippi are the 2 poorest states in the union, this is an untenable burden on them.

Perhaps if some miracle happened overnight and the Bush Administration started being more pro-active regarding Katrina recovery, I'd start being grateful. But until then....