Not even the president of the US can get Eddie Favre to wear pants.
Like many of his constituents, the mayor of Bay St Louis lost everything but the clothes he was wearing when Hurricane Katrina flattened Mississippi's Gulf Coast. Favre turned his misfortune into a vow: He is not shedding his Bermuda shorts until his city is back on its feet.
US President George W. Bush joked about Favre's attire when they shared a stage. Journalists gawked at his black shorts and tuxedo top when he showed up in March at the annual Radio & Television Correspondents' Association dinner in Washington.
ribbing welcomed
Favre, 52, welcomes the ribbing and stares as long as it keeps a spotlight trained on his city, which, before Katrina plowed ashore on Aug. 29, was known for beachfront summer homes, quaint shops and a thriving art colony. Now the city is littered with bare concrete slabs where homes once stood, boarded-up businesses and government-issued trailer homes.
"Make us whole," pleaded the five-term mayor. "Until you make us whole, I'm wearing short pants. Somebody is going to get stuck with these ugly legs."
Many of the Gulf Coast's smaller cities are scrounging for money to plug gaping budget holes and jump-start the glacial pace of Katrina recovery.
The storm demolished more than 70 percent of Bay St Louis' homes and businesses, scattered thousands of residents, vaporized its tax base and left behind tens of millions of dollars in damage to the city's infrastructure.
Roughly three-quarters of the city's pre-storm population of 8,000 is back, but many of those who returned are still waiting for the financial assistance they need to start rebuilding.
frustrated
Meanwhile, a frustrated Favre says he's reduced to serving as a morale-booster while he presses state and federal officials to deliver aid to homeowners and the city, which anticipates a US$15 million budget deficit over the next three years.
"I hate to see my people suffering so much and know that, to a large extent, there's not a goddam thing I can do to help them,'' Favre said.
Nine months after the killer storm, some communities, including Bay St Louis, are still haggling with the Federal Emergency Management Agency over the timetable and cost of debris removal. And now another hurricane season is upon the city.
"He really knows what buttons to push," Hancock County Supervisor Steve Seymour said of Favre.
"He's done everything he can to get the word out that the people of southern Mississippi are still in need," he said.
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