Resident urges New Bern to push state and Rebuild NC on long-delayed flood recovery assistance

During public comment at the Dec. 9 New Bern Board of Aldermen meeting, resident David French accused state and federal officials and Rebuild NC of failing to deliver approved recovery assistance following Hurricane Florence and asked the city to intervene on his behalf.

French told the board he is a native New Bernian and described an ongoing dispute with Rebuild NC over his removal from a recovery program. He alleged that elected officials and agency leaders "absolutely failed us," named former governor Roy Cooper, state public-safety officials, the Rebuild NC program and several named individuals, and said his approved funds were not transferred despite county readiness to repair his home. He said his home is uninhabitable, that he faces loss of stored belongings, and that federally funded storage fees had been paid to a management company that he said foreclosed on him repeatedly.

Mayor Odom and the board did not offer an on-the-record resolution at the meeting; Alderman Outlaw was asked directly by French for an answer on the storage issue. Other public commenters included Cleopatra Hargett Walton, who urged preservation of African American history in New Bern, and Pat Dixon, who praised outgoing officials and urged transparency.

The board did not take formal action on Rebuild NC during the meeting; no agency representatives from Rebuild NC or the named state officials responded during the public-comment period documented in the transcript.