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In today’s Times Pic there is an article about the defections of five of Nagin’s top staffers. There are a number of reasons that are given for these staffers leaving, including frustration with the process of getting recovery funds where they need to be.

The stress of putting a city back together also might be weighing on top directors, who long have complained that contentious battles with state and federal leaders have delayed rebuilding, Burns said.

“The people who are involved in the recovery may just be growing frustrated with the pace of the job,” he said.

Indeed, the officials who have resigned all worked directly on rebuilding matters or other storm-related issues.

Frankly I feel it was the responsibility of some of these folks who are leaving, to make the process a little less contentious. The Nagin administration has been quick to blame everyone else involved for causing the problems with cash flow. Seldom if ever has the Nagin Administration taken responsibility for the shortcomings of the staff at City Hall for not getting paper work done in a timely fashion.

If you ask me, and by the way nobody has, it looks more like rats leaving a sinking ship.

This is wonderful the company that had the contract for the crime cams is suing the city. Nagin said in his speech the other night that they had walked off the job.

The company, Southern Electronics and partner company Active Solutions were hired in 2004 to install and maintain the cameras. And their lawyer told WDSU that they didn’t walk off the job. He said the city’s old chief technology officer, Greg Meffert, tried to steal their design and concept.

The result: Southern Electronics has sued Meffert, companies with which they allege he was affiliated and the lawsuit names Nagin too.

Never a dull moment at New Orleans City Hall.

The Mayor was on his best behavior during his state of the city message. Nothing earth shattering. I am not convinced that the initiatives he announced will help, his track record is pretty bad when it comes to implementation. I did hear him say when he was reffering to the snafued crime camera program, I beleive it was “no more excuses, no more delays” we will see. While I would like to be positive about the city’s recovery, I have no confidence in local leaders to pull it off. You don’t have to drive around very much to find parts of town that look a lot like they did right after the storm. I was really hoping that he would say something really stupid.

Celcus at Some Came running seems unimpressed.

I’m salivating as I wait for the mayor’s speech. This man can not open his mouth without creating some kind of controversy. It should be fun, stay tuned for commentary.

The city council has decided to make it’s contracts public by posting them on their web page.

Continuing a drive to make information about city government more accessible to the public, the New Orleans City Council has decided to place all the professional-services contracts it awards on its Web site.

They are also considering passing an ordinance that would require the mayor’s office do the same.

From T.P.

The ordinance, which the council could vote on June 5, would further require that all professional-services contracts awarded by any department “within the control of the mayor” must be placed on the city’s Web site “in a conspicuous manner and an easy-to-use format.”

This is a good thing, the public has a right to know how their money, not the mayors’s money not the council’s money but money that belongs to the citizens of New Orleans i sbeing spent. I am pretty sure that even if the ordinance is passed that the mayor’s minions will delay and obtruct getting the information on the city’s web page. That’s just the way the “cable guy” does business. Why would a mayor who is doing a good job be so afraid of letting the public know what is going on behind the scenes? Could it be that he is not doing such a good job after all.

I got a kick out of reading Jarvis DeBerry this morning while I rode the streetcar to work. The mayor wasn’t being a total insensitive moron, he was trying to get his point across by emulating Jonathan Swift’s modest proposal.
I don’t really think the mayor thinks that deeply about things. It was just another stupid statement by our mayor who takes pride in making light of the city’s problems. Still I thought it was funny, why didn’t I think of that.

He never disapoints, our Mayor Ray Nagin seems to think the the large homeless population in the city is a big joke. He suggests buying them one way bus tickets.

From T.P.

“I’m not suggesting that they were dumped here, but we have a lot of people from a lot of different places around the country, and you may be helping one of your citizens. Maybe we can even find some bus tickets. We’ll see. One way,” Nagin said, drawing laughs from audience members.

I will gladly pay for a one way bus ticket to Dallas for our Choc-full-of-nuts Mayor.

It’s always nice when you blog about an issue and the next day your suggestion is taken. The New Orleans City council is going to launch a probe to find out what is going on with 311 and the crime cameras that don’t work.

The council voted 6-0 to initiate the investigation. According to Nagin’s city attorney, Penya Moses-Fields, that step had to be taken before issuing a subpoena, which last happened 20 years ago. Councilwoman Cynthia Willard-Lewis had stepped away from the chamber before the vote.

Cynthia Willard-Lewis didn’t vote, hmmm… I gues she was out using a city credit card to pick up lunch for the rest of the council.

The city council needs to get to the bottom of the problems with the crime camera and 311 contracts. . These programs are costing a lot of money and are not producing results. Getting information from the Mayor’s obstinate staff is like getting a check from the Road Home Program. This city’s books need to be open, with the reputation for corruption here and our continued pleas for federal money, spending and the effectiveness of the spending needs to be transparent.

I did get get a kick out of something Brenda Hatfield said.

From T.P.

“We monitor all of the council meetings. We may not be in the chamber, but we’re monitoring” by live cable feed, Hatfield said. “We’re multitasking. Whatever they need, we respond.”

She’s a hoot, yeah right, they are multitasking at city hall.

As far as the credit card bills that the mayors staff has run up, I just want to let them know that I am available for lunch at Galatoire’s today.

Yesterdays Times Picayune report on the Mayors accoplishments or lack thereof at the mid-term point in his second term. I thought the article was kind of easy on the cable guy. Of course I am extremely biased when I talk about the Mayor, I have never forgiven him for his lack of leadership imediately after the storm. Considering the lack of a workable disaster plan, and the mayor hiding out in the Sheraton after the storm, I lost respect for the man at that point. Since then he has not done anything to change my mind. From his snail like approach to recovery, to the fact that he can’r keep his foot out of his mouth, you wind up with an administration that only seems to care about it’s political image and not the citizens of the City of New Orleans. I continue to hold my nose as he finishes out his term, hoping that in the next election we can elect someone who has the skills and the passion to improve the quality of life of the citizens who have made great sacrifices to return and rebuild. Meanwhile the administration continues to sign contracts that cost New Orleans more than simular contracts across the country. When asked to be accountable the mayor hides behind his staffers who he “delegates” the responsibility of running the city. The recovery of New Orleans continues to be driven by the citizens who have returned, in spite of the roadblocks that City Hall places in their way.