Published: October 17, 2008 08:51 am      

Housing czar Blessey plans meetings

Biloxi — Mississippi Gulf Coast Housing Director Gerald Blessey will spend the next several weeks in town hall meetings on housing conditions.

Blessey says he needs public input on the $100 million or more in work force housing before he make recommendations to Gov. Haley Barbour.

In the short term, Blessey says he must find an alternative to the 3,000 or more cottages and trailers across the coast before the March 2009 deadline for them to be removed.

He says 25,000 units must be built just to get the coast back to pre-Hurricane Katrina levels of affordable housing plus additional housing so businesses such as Northrop Grumman can attract workers.