By DALE JONES

STAFF WRITER

djones@gulfcoastnewspapers.com

Hundreds of Gulf Coast residents packed into the Orange Beach Community Center on Monday night to get updates on beach cleanup issues and claims problems that continue to plague many local business owners.

Mayors Tony Kennon of Orange Beach and Craft of Gulf Shores were both quick to express their dissatisfaction with last week’s meeting between several state and local representatives and Kenneth Feinberg, the attorney overseeing the BP Deepwater Horizon Disaster Victim Compensation Fund.

“The meeting with Kenneth Feinberg last week was worse than being at the dentist,” Kennon said, comparing the “pay czar” to a good poker player. “He plays his cards so close to his chest. He never gives you anything and he never commits to anything. There’s a lot on nodding. You just don’t know what to take away from him.”

According to Kennon, there were five mayors represented at the meeting along with U.S. Rep. Jo Bonner, R-Mobile, Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Moblie, and Gov. Bob Riley, who apparently was giving Feinberg fits.

“We also had two CPA’s and six businessmen who represent different aspects of our community,” Kennon said. “We presented objective data, showing him examples of why the process is not working.”

Kennon said that he came away from the two-and-a-half-hour meeting with the impression that Feinberg honestly believes that he is doing a great job.

“After sitting down with him and talking about specific examples and presenting him the data, I came to the conclusion that he is not in touch with the process itself,’’ Kennon said. “All he does is looks at the raw numbers, and sees how much money he has given out and how much Baldwin County has received, and because he has given out $300 million, he is doing a good job.”

Kraft said the entire group expressed to Feinberg that the big numbers didn’t mean anything to legitimate businesses with legitimate claims that have not been paid.

Mayor Craft added that there was great disfunction in the way business claims were being processed.

“We have some businesses that are being paid in full, and we have others in the exact same situation, the same business, the same proximity, and the same dependence, all with claims being prepared by CPA’s that have not been paid at all,” said Craft. “Those that have been paid can go ahead and begin a marketing campaign for next year. Those who have not been paid cannot. So what is at risk is recovery as we go into next spring.”

Like Kennon, Craft said is appears that Feinberg doesn’t really understand the situation that many coastal businesses are in, but feels like he is slowly coming around.

“ I’m hoping that we are going to be able to get our delegation in Washington to put some deadlines so that we can conclude success or failure,” Craft said. “Ten days, one week, whatever time it takes for him to start writing some checks, so we can come to a definition that either this is not working or that it is working. Because if it is not working, we are going to have to go to another level and that will be a whole different process, but we have to draw a line in the sand.”

In addition, the mayors updated the public on the beach cleanup process that has already begun in Orange Beach and is expected to be concluded in Gulf Shores by January 14.

Kennon said although it might be inconvenient to some who live on the beach, he encouraged citizens to be patient.

“If you are on the beach and you see equipment in front of your condo or home, generally they should be in and out within three days,” Kennon explained. “Hopefully they won’t be too disturbing. They will start early at 6 a.m. which I know can be unnerving for some folks, but I want that beach cleaned by Jan.1 so we will have to do whatever it takes.”

Coastal Recovery Commission chairman Ricky Mathews gave a synopsis of the work his group was doing, and the meeting closed with opportunities for citizens to ask cleanup and claims related questions.

Kennon and Craft and others took turns at the microphone expressing their opinions about what the future holds for the sandy white beaches along Alabama’s Gulf Coast as well as the empty bank accounts of local residents.

Representatives from the Coastal Resiliency Coalition, Gov. Bob Riley’s Coastal Recovery Coalition of Alabama, and U.S. Rep. Jo Bonner, R-Mobile, were on hand as well to give presentations as well as to answer questions from local citizens regarding the Deepwater Horizon oil spill crisis.

A five-minute video presentation was shown, helping locals to understand the positive long-term affects of the recently formed Coastal Recovery Coalition of Alabama.