Corbett proposes advocates to help flood victims with buyouts

Mayor-elect Ron Corbett wants 1,300 or so victims of the June 2008 flood who are awaiting a property buyout to have access to an advocate as they negotiate in the weeks and months ahead with the city over buyout details.

“When I look at the buyout process, this is the final chapter in the flood victims' saga,” Corbett said Friday. “And how they walk out of that negotiation or that meeting with the city is going to have a big impact with them.

“And I want their last experience to be one where they feel like they were treated fairly, and that they leave, if not with a good taste in their mouth, at least they won't leave with a bad taste in their mouth.”

Corbett said flood victims suggested the idea of an advocate to him during the just-ended mayoral campaign. He's wondering if the local bar association might be one place to find volunteers who could serve as advocates in the buyout experience.

“It can be intimidating when you're going through negotiations with the city on one side laying out what they can and cannot do, and it could have a lot of people feeling powerless when, here, the government may seem to have the upper hand,” he said.

Linda Seger, a northwest Cedar Rapids flood victim who has renovated her flood-damaged home and who is an advocate for flood victims, said Corbett's call for a buyout advocate makes good sense as people make their way “a stressful, difficult task.”

“It's almost like the last moments when you're going to a funeral home and you're making those arrangements,” Seger said of the buyout process. “You're really putting a chunk of your life away for good.”

Seger herself has accompanied flooded neighbors through different interactions with city officials to be an “extra set of eyes and ears.” A buyout advocate, she said, can play a similar kind of role.

“This is very confusing to a lot of people,” Seger said. “And I do think there is gray area here where people might get the wrong impression or they might misunderstand something.

“And it isn't because they lack intelligence, it's because they are under a great deal of stress. … There's a lot of psychological things going on here with people, and I'm very concerned that this (buyout process) can take advantage of individuals at their darkest time.”