Monday, February 05, 2018

County resident relishes temporary role in providing aid to Puerto Rico (SAR)

Is other-directed St. Johns County PZA member BRAD NELSON running for office? Check out this puff piece by  St. Augustine Record reporter/ developer-fanboy STUART KORFHAGE:




County resident relishes temporary role in providing aid to Puerto Rico

By Stuart Korfhage
Posted Jan 31, 2018 at 2:00 AM
Updated Feb 3, 2018 at 6:39 AM
St. Augustine Record

The 2017 holiday season saw Brad Nelson away from his family, catching the flu and working two jobs simultaneously. And he’d do it again if asked.

Nelson, a county resident and business owner, recently returned home from a two-month stint in Northern Virginia where he served in a temporary position with the U.S. Small Business Administration. His main task was helping hurricane survivors in Puerto Rico obtain government-backed disaster loans to help them rebuild their lives.

While Nelson was holed up in a Crowne Plaza in Herndon, Virginia, he talked with many Puerto Ricans who suffered catastrophic losses in Hurricane Maria in September 2017.

Many county residents suffered damage in Hurricane Irma in September, and Nelson even had major roof damage at his home. But he said most of the issues here were not on the scale of the losses in Puerto Rico.

“These people didn’t have their roofs damaged; they had their roof completely removed from their house and it rained for 10 days with no roof,” Nelson said. “We were talking to them and (said), ‘Well, what did you lose?’ ‘Every single thing I have ever owned I have lost.’

“It was just terrible.”

For those who haven’t been through the disaster relief process, the idea of seeking help through the SBA might sound strange. Most people associate relief efforts with FEMA, but that agency mostly addresses the most acute needs and doesn’t usually offer large payouts.

SBA can offer low-interest loans to individuals — as well as businesses — who need money to rebuild.

There is little doubt the need exists. SBA public affairs specialist Agustine Fernandez, who did not work directly with Nelson, is in Puerto Rico to assist residents there much like FEMA and SBA officials who opened offices in this county after Irma and Hurricane Matthew.


He said the damage is devastating for the people there.

“I’ve been doing this for 25 years, and I have never seen the amount of damage incurred here on the island,” Fernandez said. “It’s going to be a long recovery process because of the extent of the damage.”

An Associated Press story earlier this week reported that Leticia Jover, a spokeswoman for Puerto Rico’s Housing Department, said Maria destroyed between 70,000 and 75,000 homes and damaged an additional 300,000.

A release Monday from SBA said 20,191 disaster loans have been approved for residents of Puerto Rico in the amount of $750,633,200 for affected survivors from Irma and Maria.

According to the FEMA website, there have been 418,043 individual assistance applications approved due to the hurricanes.

Nelson said he started his stint with SBA shortly before Thanksgiving when there were still widespread power outages — many of which remain even today. A property appraiser by trade, Nelson said he saw an advertisement for the temporary positions and thought he’d be qualified.

Because workers were needed quickly, Nelson said he was hired without much discussion and joined about 350 others sharing a conference room in the hotel.

The close proximity of the workers led to the spread of germs, and Nelson soon found himself with the flu. But he recovered and got back to taking calls from desperate Puerto Ricans who were fortunate enough to have mobile phone service.

Nelson lived at the hotel and joked that his commute was four flights of stairs. But it was still draining. When he wasn’t taking calls for SBA, Nelson was making them (or sending emails) for his own business back home.

“Making sure my employees were still showing up for work,” Nelson said. “There were other people like me still running a business.”

Although the conditions were not ideal and Nelson missed celebrating Christmas with his family, he said it was a great experience to offer assistance to those who needed it.

“Everybody I worked with, we were trying very hard to help these people,” Nelson said. “The people from Puerto Rico were just the most amazing part of it. They were telling us stories (about what they went through) that were just horrible.”

With the experience behind him, Nelson said he would gladly help SBA again if asked. He’s hoping he’ll be asked to join the team of SBA workers who will go to Puerto Rico and do on-site assessments.

“I’m hoping I get a chance to go out and do that,” he said. “That’s kind of the next step. I had a very interesting experience.”







REALTIME

Edward Adelbert Slavin
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  • Edward Adelbert Slavin
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      1. Why a one-sided page one story about a local businessman working for SBA in a hotel in Virginia for two months? This is PR. Is BRAD NELSON running for office? Does that explain Development beat reporter Sturt Korfhage's incurious puff piece? 
    2. No mention of BRAD NELSON's prior failed run for Property Appraiser, the funds he raised, his withdrawal from the race.
    3. No mention of the sexist and lawbreaking manner in which five Republican St. Johns County Commissioners in 2016 duked BRAD NELSON BACK into a PZA position from which he had RESIGNED.  http://cleanupcityofstaugustine.blogspot.com/2016/02/sex-discrimination-in-st-johns-county.html
    4. Commissioner JAY MORRIS stating "I'd do anything" to get Brad Nelson BACK on the PZA.
    5. There were apparent Sunshine violations by PZA members in changing their unanimous recommendation of Karen Zander, as reflected in documents and videotape meeting documents.
    6. What were BRAD NELSON's SBA title, duties and compensation -- contractor or Special Government Employee (SGE)?
    7. Who approved BRAD NELSON missing two months of SJC PZA meetings? What does Jay Morris think about losing his service?
    8. How did BRAD NELSON ever get the SBA job ? BRAD NELSON admits there was little scrutiny of his application.
    9. Was BRAD NELSON's hotel room work on his private business ever disclosed to SBA -- does it meet ethics laws?
    10. Did BRAD NELSON also work in his federally-paid hotel room on his next Republican election campaign?

    • Edward Adelbert Slavin
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    • Just now
    Tom Reynolds
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    • Tom Reynolds
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    SAR LAST LINES article QUOTE:

    With the experience behind him, Nelson said he would gladly help SBA again if asked. He’s hoping he’ll be asked to join the team of SBA workers who will go to Puerto Rico and do on-site assessments.

    “I’m hoping I get a chance to go out and do that,” he said. “That’s kind of the next step. I had a very interesting experience.”

    OF COURSE ... WHO WOULDN'T WANT TO BE GETTING PAID THE BIG BUCKS, ALL EXPENSES PAID, MEALS & DRINKS PAID and BE ABLE TO RUN THEIR PRIVATE... » more
    • 5 days ago
    Tom Reynolds
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    • Tom Reynolds
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    SAR ARTICLE QUOTE:

    "The 2017 holiday season saw Brad Nelson away from his family, catching the flu and working two jobs simultaneously. And he’d do it again if asked."

    ISN'T THAT CALLED DOUBLE DIPPING ON the Government TIME and DIME (HUGE TEMP MONEY JOB).

    Well ...

    Brad Nelson, DROPPED OUT of the 2016 SJC Property Appraisers Election Race because of local REPUBLICAN PARTY BOSS Sheriff DAVID SHOAR! County Commissioner Jay Morriss, SHOAR MAIN PUPPET, DEMANDED HE drops OUT. Then this Brad... » more


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