The Mayor’s Office Might (Not) Be Reading
Remember this post? I wrote an email to the Mayor’s Office asking him to take a look at the post about the city’s priorities and Metroblogging New Orleans in the future.
The response:
“Thank you for the invitation to join the Metroblogging community. We are excited that this cyber community is communicating about local issues. Good luck with your new venture.”
No signature line, no response to the post. Metroblogging is certainly not new and I could hardly take credit for it. I doubt it was even actually visited.
Mayor Nagin, are you reading this?
Related posts:
Well, at least they bothered to answer. Honestly, that’s more of a response than I would have expected.
I’ve been a little busy recently. I like your site even more.
Thumbs Up to the Mayor. I watched your comments on CNN This Morning. I agree with every word. How do we get help to every foriegn country in the world within hours after a disaster, yet we cannot help our own people. Give the individuals responsible for this delay “hell”. And keep screaming out for “help”. I am a 64 year old white woman, retired from the U.S. Government (know how slow the government can be when it comes to meeting the needs of it’s own people) been to N.O. many many times. I knew we had some high crime areas there but don’t let these Government officials use a few violent events to delay help to your city. I again appreciate your strong comments. I wish I could help you get help.
Mayor Nagin is one of my new heros. Give him credit for his guts to stand up to the Federal Government and for telling it like it is! KUDOS to the Mayor! I might just move to New orleans just to vote for him!
I am a white, hard working Massachusetts family man who feels that the money I’ve given isn’t enough and would lace up my boots to help out my fellow Americans in a heartbeat if feasible and if they’d take civilian help…so why doesn’t the Government have that same lust to get their “asses” down there and do the right thing…three days ago? For that matter, why wasn’t the Nat’l Guard put on alert and mobilized towards the Gulf area 48 hours before Katrina hit when everyone predicted a CAT 4 or higher storm and knew of New Orleans and the Gulf Coasts vulnerability should a strong hurricane hit the area?
I mean its not like we haven’t seen the destruction such hurricanes can bring (Camille, Andrew, etc) and its not like even us Yankees living up here in the North didn’t know about the levy situation and the strong possibility of a breach if New Orleans took a direct hit. If we knew all this, why wasn’t more done by authorities even before Katrina hit? I pray for all those affected by Katrina and a nation prays and pours our hearts out to you, our own brothers and sisters! God Bless America (and help her leaders get therr asses in gear!)
Mayor Nagin,
I recently read about dozens of NOPD officers walking off the job. They are cowards. Myself and several other officers from Mobile, Alabama would like to leave our department and help your city in this time of need,if you would hire us as officers. You may email me at danstubbs65@hotmail.com if this is feasible.
Mayor Nagin:
How dare you place blame on the the Governor and President, when you, and only you were responsible as the first response for this hurricane. Plainly said, you failed miserably. You need to take responsibility for YOUR actions first, and not try to pass the buck. Your leadership skills are horrible. I would not be suprised if you were called to the table on this one. If I were you (and glad I am not) I would resign. Your lack of preparedness is the cause of many deaths. What happened to the supplies that your city was supposed to have staged at the superdome? Why did you not place any security (police) at the Superdome. Did you think that 25,000 with no food, homes, or electricity would just stand by and wait. Your lack of governing skills caused this fiasco. You WERE the first line of defense. You WERE supposed to ask for help from the governor first. Too bad that you did not have the foresight to use those several hundred school buses to evacuate, instead of having them sitting in flood water. A child could have figured that out.
Be a man…admit your mistakes!
I would only like to take a few lines to say, I am saddened that it took an event as large and devasting as Katrina to bring a politician filled with passion to the forefront for all Americans to witness. Thank you Mayor Nagin for representing your community, your city, your state, and most of all, the emotive culture of the South (a region often forgotten in the wake of need and dispair). And last, but not least, our Country. I just wish more people would say what needs to be said, how it needs to be said, when it needs to be said.
Thank You Mayor Nagin
-Carrie Lamb
As I have watched the Hurricane Katrina aftermath “mistakes” unfold this week, I have seen heroic behavior on the part of many New Orlean’s finest citizen’s. You are to be applauded for your behavior and humanism. I will nominate you for a Nobel Peace Prize!
Mayor Nagin has been forthright in pointing out the inadequacies of federal assistance. I hope he will not abrogate his authority and power to the federal government and its official agencies during the course of the next few months. Otherwise we, AS A NATION, may never truly know how many people, families, senior citizens, the frail and elderly and children were lost due to neglect and missteps by the Bush Administration during Hurricane Katrina. Watchdogs are needed to make sure NOTHING is swept under a canal, under cement, a levee or out to sea.
Mayor Nagin, I hope you and the governor will DEMAND that
I don
Dear Mayor Nagin,
First off, my prayers are with you and your city during this terrible time.
Secondly, I heard the clip of your interview on the radio and I had some comments for you.
One, your obvious knowledge of, and devotion to your city is not only admirable and rare, but touching.
Two, your courage to speak the truth when all other politicians are too busy “spinning” as you put it, is exactly what is missing in our government today. The lack of courage and true morality in our government (state and federal) is what got your beautiful city in this vunerable position to begin with.
Lastly, DON’T YOU DARE let anyone bully you into silence. You speak the truth, you know it, and so do MANY other Americans. Your honesty on the tsunami, the war in Iraq, and the quick response of the media, in relation to the LACK of speed on the part of our government agencies (which every American has paid for ten times over) is the crux of the issue, and should NEVER be forgotten or let go of.
People must be held accountable for this, there was plenty of evidence, warning, and money to prevent this tragedy. You are your team did everything you could and should, and you should not have stood alone.
Keep on fighting this lonely, just, and necessary fight. Do not fear “getting in trouble”, the only being that can punish or judge you will not. You were right when you said that God was looking down upon this and passing his judgements. You are one of the brave heroes, God is proud of you; keep making him proud.
Again my prayers are with you, my money is en route, and believe me, if my job permitted it, I would be there with you.
Bless you and thank you, for you give many hope.
I cannot believe all the people that are praising this idiot mayor!! He should have been prepared. When crisis hits we need someone to pull the people together not incite them. I am from Louisiana and I can tell you this mayor is a total disgrace to the State. He is quick to blame everyone else without looking in the mirror first. His tangents though are not productive. You never saw him being a leader and taking control. People are naturally going to be restless and they need a leader to calm them down and make sure things don’t get out of hand. The reason it looks like the federal government was slow to respond was because they did not anticipate the total lack of leadership at the local level. He needs to resign and get off his high horse. I hope people eventually realize he is the one to blame for a lot that has happened these last couple of days. Shame on him!!
Mayor Nagin,
Our thoughts and prayers are with you from McGehee.
Eileen Powers
Headmistress, Louise S. McGehee School
I’d like to know what Mayor Nagin has been doing since he was elected. Obviously, he did not take seriously any emergency planning activities. He also has not done anything to improve his city’s infrastructure or police force. Starting pay for police is $16,000? Come on, Mayor.
Stop pointing the finger of blame and explain how you’ve spent your city’s budget over the years, how you prepared for a flooded city (you knew New Orleans is surrounded by water and sits below sea level, right?) Why did your police force only have 3 boats - one of which worked? Why were you not front and center with a bullhorn reassuring your citizens and providing them information and leadership when they were confused, hot and hungry at the Superdome and convention center.
Wake up, bloggers. First responders are LOCAL, not federal. This Mayor is a nincompoop!
Susan, since you mentioned the boat issue in NO I find it worth noting when 9/11 happened NYC had just sold there most powerful firefighting boat for scrap metal.
They were lucky that it hadn’t been destroyed because they were able to call it back into service on that horrible day.
I just mention it to share that NO wouldn’t be the first city to make a mistake with equipment planning.
FUCK THAT MAJOR!, THIS IS ALL HIS FAULT, ALL THE WHITE FOLKS GOT OUT, WHATS UP WITH THAT?? HE KNEW HOW MANY POOR NIGERS THAT LIVED THERE, WHY DIDIN’T HE HAVE THE SUPERDOME FULL OF FOOD? BECAUSE HE HAD NO PLAN!, BUT HE SURE CAN BLAME, BLAME BLAME OUR GOOD PRESIDENT.
I SAY DON’T REBUILD UNLESS THE CITIZENS DO IT FOR THEMSELVES.
Carmen and Susan Stroud:
Bravo, nicely put.
The reason why poverty is so high in cities like this is because of people that are elected into office by blind sheep like the rest of the bloggers. The mayor dropped the ball.
In defence of your mayor, what has he done for the residents of the city other than let them die out while he is comfortably sipping on his bottled water and shuffling the blame to Big Brother? Did he ever show up to the stadium like the mayors of Miami, Hollywood, and such do when the residents are in their shelters. Asinine!!!!!!!
Guliani at least was present with the firefighters and people of NY while Mayor Nagin has been hiding behind microphones and cameras. Wake up and smell the coffee.
Everyone knows Guiliani was and is a better leader than Mayor Nagin. The question is will people realize he is a better leader than Bush too?
Guiiani for president!
Pissed off Chick you are right that Guiliani was down at ground zero with the cops and firefighters. But most people who haven’t read his book don’t realize that is his standard operating procedure.
In his book he explains that he always went to the sight of any disaster and saw it with his own eyes. He says he learned to do that from a detective he knew and respected and he claims it was the best way to truly know what was going on and to learn the facts.
So I just shared that to add a little more information about how Guiliani operated.
They knew for years a hurricane could be this devastating and had no evacuation plan for the poor, elderly, ill and otherwise unable to leave on their own. They had no stockpiles of food and water. It’s not up to the federal government to provide this, it is up to LOCAL and STATE to do so. Ask anyone in other hurricane states.
Now they expect you to believe it’s all the feds fault that Louisiana wasn’t in the least bit prepared.
what the hell??
mayor nagin..has anyone else heard about him putting 100 foreign visiters, from a hotel in line befor he let his own citizens on?thats right he cut in line to help others than the people he is suggesting that he cares so much for.they need to can his butt..
I’d like to know why Mayor Nagin was not at the Superdome by Wednesday morning, with his police, LEADING those people. He could have easily organized the able-bodied men into teams to scavange the surrounding area for food and water to bring back to the Superdome, to designate a place for corpses that were found adn start bringing in the dead, to send out teams to lead survivors in. There was no leadership, no plan, no organization. These are obviously people who have difficulty thinking for themselves, as evidenced by sitting and waiting for 4 days in the Superdome instead of walking out of town. I suspect if the mayor had bothered to put on a show of leadership where his people could see him, a lot of misery and violence could have been avoided.
the reason the mississippi gov isnt on tv bitching about nat’l guard is because he didn’t hesitate to ask for them.
blanco hesitated.
Also, the president declared emergency BEFORE it hit which is NOT usually done.
That opened up more options immediately.
Mayor Nagin–It’s time to shave, clean up, put on some better clothes, get rid of the sleeping goon standing behind you at your latest press conference, get off your lazy ass, and start acting like a Mayor of a large city should.
The President of the United States, declared a state of emergency BEFORE the hurricane hit. He realized the severity of the storm coming. Evacuations were ordered, but the poor, ill and those who desired to ride it out, remained. Those who wanted to leave couldn’t evidently due to no transportation. It seems to me, the Mayor, is immediately in charge with authority to use public transportation to evacuate those in need. Many things, seem to me, could have been done far better by local government, state government FIRST AND FOREMOST, before any government agency! There is enough blame to go around, but it certainly isn’t all the President’s and Federal Government’s fault. In addition, with an area devatated the apparant size of Great Britain, how can rescue occur in all places at the same time? Ludicrous! It is a horrible, tragic situation and I pray God is with all those in need. We here in Maine are seeking ways to help! I pray all the states will do likewise rather than us focusing on who is to blame, let’s all be part of the solution to help our fellow Americans! God help them in Jesus name! Amen!
It has only been a few days since Kitrina unleashed her fury upon the Gulf Coast. It has only taken a few days for the people of this nation to begin pointing fingers and begin blaming others for the failures of all American.
The issue of the people leaving New Orleans is a far deeper problem than the evacuation plans that man can make. The question we should ask… Why are there 200K+ people living in poverty? The poeple of New Orleans perished because we as a country fail everyday to care for the needs of our fellow man. We as a nation give billions in aid to fight poverty, wars and disease in other countries. What about the improvished in this country, what about wars (drug wars, turf wars, price wars) in this country, what about the diseases killing our people.
We have failed the poor and disadvantaged people all over this country. We did not do what we could for them prior to the disaster.
The events thrust into the spotlight by Hurricane Katrina are not new events in this country. We have people who are hungry, thirsty and homeless, and what have we done? Nothing. As long as everything in our little corner of the world is great then the whole nation is great.
God is calling upon us as a Nation to stand up for Him and his people everywhere. There are tradgedies of human life happening around us everyday and we need to do something about them. Most of us don’t even think about shelters until an event like this. There are shelters open everyday that need food, clothing and encouragement for those who have been beaten by our culture.
Mayor Nagin is right when he says God will judge.He will judge. He will judge what we have done before Katrina and what we do after Katrina. America, let us repent for our shortcomings and vow that every citizen of this country will stand shoulder to shoulder, with God as our true leader.
Federal Assistance ,Failure of the Goverment to response when needed . I seem to see that all over the place ,newspapers ,blogs ,and every one is BLAMEING the Goverment for Katrina ! Hog-wash!Katrina was a NATURAL event NOT war -time .Even in small Texas towns there is a EMERGENCY EVAC .plan ,known by ALL local law enforcement , fire departments ,and local citizens .ect.The MAYOR and OTHER city officials are the ONLY ones to blame for what happened AFTER Katrina hit.Just what could the Gov.officals do ? You have over 200 hundred thousand that could not leave ,and probably another 10 thousand that flat REFUSED to leave and still there are some at this posting are STILL refusing to leave !It’s a waste of time to keep telling people that THEY could have left ,as hurricane warnings are issued in advance so that they can leave. 48 hours is the min. on hurricane warnings ,pure CAJUN ,hard headed stubborness is the blame !And to be honest there are STILL some that are refuseing to leave .But every one wants to trash the Goverment and DOD for that ! Pure HOG-WASH!You can lead a horse to water ,but makeing it drink that water is a whole different thing!It’s time to start the clean-up and STOP trashing the Goverment and the President !And as for the poor ‘blacks” that were being ignored because of thier color ,remember theres just as many poor WHITES that have lost ALL THEY HAD all so !The fault lies with the CITY of New Orleans ,and its city officials .BTW I used to live in New Orleans and was married to a ‘cajun “And they are more stubborn than a Texas mule !
Dear Mr. mayor,
Where will your police and fire fighters go after Atlanta and Las Vegas…Disneyland! I can’t believe you are so proud of securing them a vacation while your city needs them so badly.
You are really something!
PS- were the school bus drivers already in Vegas before the storm hit when they shoul have been evacuating your poor citizens?
If anyone needs to shift large volumes of water at low cost, using an outboard motor, take a look here:
http://www.greenhealth.org.uk/InvPump/InvPumpText.htm
I’ve read posts where it says for FEMA to assist in the rebuilding that it will have to be built up to above flood level or something of that sort. Does anyone know or have documentation if that is true? I am curious since that would make a rebuilt NOLA very different.
And with these holdouts refusing to leave - I think with time as they run out of provisions, since looting has mostly been stopped, they will have no choice but to leave. No stores or restaurants are being restocked even if they can manage to sneak looting here and there. I’m wondering if anyone will back up Nagin in forced evacuation since I saw today where he does not have the authority to order that. It does cross a line but then having even more die isn’t acceptable either. I am really not sure what to think of it. It’s not safe there so I am leaning more towards making people leave…
I saw some interview where a lady said it would be all ok with them staying because water (would you drink it?) and electricity will be back on soon and I wondered if she has stayed drunk since Katrina hit….
Ok here this is for all you “C. Ray Nagin” & “Blanco” Lovers and the other “touchy feel good liberals” out there….
I think this says it all…and this is most likely not something you’re gonna see on CNN or CNBC…
Politics over duty
This is from a fellow over in Merritt Is, FL, a reporter who’s been researching what went on before the storm hit
I think all of Nagin’s pomp and posturing is going to bite him hard in the near future as the lies and distortions of his interviews are coming to
light.
On Friday night before the storm hit Max Mayfield of the National Hurricane Center took the unprecedented action of calling Nagin and Blanco personally to plead with them to begin MANDATORY evacuation of N.O. and they said they’d take it under consideration. This was after the NOAA buoy 240 miles south had recorded 68′ waves before it was destroyed.
President Bush spent Friday afternoon and evening in meetings with his advisors and administrators drafting all of the paperwork required for a
state to request federal assistance (and not be in violation of the Posse Comitatus Act or having to enact the Insurgency Act). Just before midnight
Friday evening the President called Governor Blanco and pleaded with her to sign the request papers so the federal government and the military could legally begin mobilization and call up. He was told that they didn’t think it necessary for the federal government to be involved yet. After the President’s final call to the governor she held meetings with her staff to discuss the political ramifications of bringing federal forces. It was decided that if they allowed federal assistance it would make it look as if
they had failed so it was agreed upon that the feds would not be invited in.
Saturday before the storm hit the President again called Blanco and Nagin requesting they please sign the papers requesting federal assistance, that they declare the state an emergency area, and begin mandatory evacuation.
After a personal plea from the President Nagin agreed to order an evacuation, but it would not be a full mandatory evacuation, and the governor still refused to sign the papers requesting and authorizing federal action. In frustration the President declared the area a national disaster
area before the state of Louisiana did so he could legally begin some advanced preparations. Rumor has it that the President’s legal advisers were
looking into the ramifications of using the insurgency act to bypass the Constitutional requirement that a state request federal aid before the federal government can move into state with troops - but that had not been done since 1906 and the Constitutionality of it was called into question to use before the disaster.
Throw in that over half the federal aid of the past decade to N.O. for levee construction, maintenance, and repair was diverted to fund a marina and support the gambling ships. Toss in the investigation that will look into why the emergency preparedness plan submitted to the federal government for funding and published on the city’s website was never implemented and in
fact may have been bogus for the purpose of gaining additional federal funding as we now learn that the organizations identified in the plan were
never contacted or coordinating into any planning - though the document implies that they were.
The suffering people of N.O. need to be asking some hard questions as do we all, but they better start with why Blanco refused to even sign the
multi-state mutual aid pack activation documents until Wednesday which further delayed the legal deployment of National Guard from adjoining
states. Or maybe ask why Nagin keeps harping that the President should have commandeered 500 Greyhound busses to help him when according to his own emergency plan and documents he claimed to have over 500 busses at his disposal to use between the local school busses and the city transportation busses - but he never raised a finger to prepare them or activate them.
This is a sad time for all of us to see that a major city has all but been destroyed and thousands of people have died with hundreds of thousands more suffering, but it’s certainly not a time for people to be pointing fingers and trying to find a bigger dog to blame for local corruption and incompetence.
Pray to God for the survivors that they can start their lives anew as fast as possible and we learn from all the mistakes to avoid them in
the future…
And finally…to Mr Nagin and the other’s hollering about the poor people and that God will judge…Let me let you in on a little secret…according to the Bible “GOD HELPS THOSE THAT HELP THEMSELVES”!!!!
Does anyone remember hearing a Tv reporter state that when Blanco was asked why food and water was not being provided to people at the Dome, she replied “do not send food or water because then they will not want to leave”
yes i remember that too!
and they did in Houston so now they don’t wanna leave there!!!
robyn//do you remember the network or any specifics?
NEW ORLEANS:
Dear Mr. Mayor:
I agree that the government was slow coming in to help. However, you have a mouth like a nasty mouth.
You are to blame because it was CLEAR to see, you didn
Can’t recall the exact network…but I think it was msnbc.
I can ‘t recall anything further…sorry
If it’s true she said that then she needs to be removed from office immediately.
She obviously is not there to take care of her citizens. Leaving people to die is never an option.
RE:Blanco comment on no food or water for Dome. Fox News Major Garret has shed light on this. He reports FEMA had the Red Cross set and ready to deliver food and water to the Dome and the convention center but office of emergency operations for the state of Louisiana refused to let them deliver the goods because they did not want the area to become a magnet for other citizens because nobody would not want to evacuate. Seems to me that this validates Blanco’s statement. I would like to see her stand in the middle of the Astrodome and explain her reasoning to the people there.
Holy Shit
Give me a break… during the Clinton administration 80% of the levee was fixed and the only thing that the Busies had to do was continue the effort with the Corps of Engineers.. NOOO we had to give tax breaks to the rich.. the only one who has been truthfull during this whole debacle was the head of FEMA when he said he didn’t know what was going on.. THe problem with America today is that we look at those doing worse than us and think that is great becouse we aren’t with them instead of why aren’t we pulling people up to the middle class?? shame shame shame shame
Ok here this is for all you “C. Ray Nagin” & “Blanco” Lovers and the other “touchy feel good liberals” out there….I think this says it all…and this is most likely not something you’re gonna see on CNN or CNBC…
Because it’s not true?
http://www.snopes.com/politics/katrina/nagin.asp
Mayor Ray Nagin,
I was born in New Orleans At West Jeff in 1965 and I shared all you anger,All your fears And also all your tears,Mayor Nagin I want you to know as the world knows you are truly a HERO And I will keep you and your family in my prayers each and every night,You did not fail us,Our Government Failed us. May God Richly Bless You As you rebuild our Home… NAWLINS
Thank-you for your time Harold Schultz Jr of Paducah Kentucky
Dear Mayor Naquin, I live in Destrehan La., we took a hit but not as hard as the great city of New Orleans and low lying parishes. My situation is I no longer have a business and I need to support my family. I have extensive experience in construction, if at all possible I hope you hire the locals out of work first to rebuild the city. I can help the city and the city can help me and my family stay here instead of leaving N.O. to live elsewhere. Mayor Naquin your office can contact me at tiger572@bellsouth.net. I know you are busy right now, but in the near future I hope you read this and contact us. Sincerely, Blaine Faust
For Scott:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4216508.stm
http://rightwingnuthouse.com/archives/2005/09/04/katrina-response-timeline
http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/HurricaneKatrina/story?id=1102467&page=1&CMP=OTC-RSSFeeds0312
Note that no one has disputed the issues of what NO did with the Levee funds. Even if you take for granted that local and state officals all over the country do it, these guys were caught with their pants down or maybe w/their pockets full?
Also note that the security of the dome and convention center rest squarely on local officals. There is no way anyone can twist that story.
For Schultz: I too am praying for NO everyday as well as my beloved MS, but frankly, as far as Nagin is concerned, repectfully, get real.
i found the video clip about not sending in food and water to the superdome at foxnews.com
click on videos then on special reports then on looking for answers….
he says it was red cross that said louisiana’s own dept of homeland security office, not the federal dept, wouldn’t let them enter
i also saw tonight on dateline that even if the levees had been fully funded it would have taken 20 years to upgrade them…so that point is moot…put simply, it should have been done decades ago
i also saw tonight on dateline that blanco didn’t even immediately activate all of louisiana’s natl guard that was available let alone ask for any other state’s guard
she waited, people died
It’s really easy for EVERYONE to second guess Mayor Nagin, Gov. Blanco & President Bush when the toughest and most heart wrenching decisions had to be made. God Bless America and it’s freedom of speech! After-the-fact, everyone is an arm-chair quarterback. This was a natural disaster! To the naysayers let me ask you this…, What have YOU done? How many of you evacuated anyone? How many of you fed, clothed or housed anyone? How many of you aided the sick & dying? How many of you went to the superdome to offer assistance, water security, support?
Did it take FEMA the same amout of time to react to the FLA hurricane victims? Someone mentioned evacuations prior to…, where were they to? In an area where it’s reported that at least 45-60% of the population lives BELOW the poverty level, where were they gonna go, and how were they gonna get there? Automobiles are not basic necessities.
Why did it take the FEDERAL GOVT so long to get into the city? Where WERE the NG troops, that were supposed to be “on the way”? How come FEMA, military, etc couldn’t get into the area and the press clearly did?
Mayor Nagin admitted his mistakes. All blame can’t be leveled at him. As of today (9/10)despite the devastation, there are still people there who have REFUSED to leave so now what…, because they are unwilling to go is that still a problem of the mayor’s?
Heavy is the head that wears the crown… God Bless Mayor Nagin, his staff, and all the victims of Katrina…, and instead of pointing fingers, placing blame and name calling, try(in the words of Mayor Nagin) getting off your butts and doing something.
TW
NC
I think that it is disgusting that so many poor people were left behind in a city that clearly understood that anything about a CAT3 Hurricane would 95% devestate their city. If we look at this as a business it would be like Enron, where the top guy(in New Orleans case would be Nagin)was held accountable for what happened to that company. The city of New Orleans knew for decades that this could have happened and the poor kept building up and nobody took that into account. How can you have over 500 buses at your disposal and not force people at the first knowledge of the CAT3 to evacuate? In this case seeing was believing but you dear sir were the blame for all of this happening. It was your ineffectiveness as a leader that led to the demise of those poor people and created the aftermath we see today. The federal government had to come in and create a backup plan and granted that was slow but it wouldn’t have had to effect so many people had you done your job. Now people are throwing out the race card when the reality is that the majority of people that were “left behind” were poor and black. It had more to do with the fact that they didn’t have the financial resources or the assistance of the city to get out. SHAME ON YOU MAYOR…
MAYOR NAGIN - FOR PRESIDENT!!
(I’d vote for you in a heartbeat)
Mayor Nagin (if you really read this stuff), I would like to compliment you on the way you have handled the horrible catastrophe that has befallen New Orleans. In the face of the worst disaster in American history, I say you’re doing a bang-up job. Keep up the good work my friend.
Mike Young
City Planning for “new” New Orleans
I have numerous ideas and concerns regarding the rebuilding of the greatest city on the planet. I want to share these ideas with Mayor Nagin and city planners. How?
I also have concerns about toxic black mold and other health-related issues that is going to force most homes to have to be razed and rebuilt. I have contacted the governors office (I’m a licensed plumber) about relaxing the current non-reciprocity that will prevent contractors and sub-contractors from coming to New Orleans and other areas in both Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama. The person answering the phone for Governor Blanco told me that I’d have to speak to the governor. When I said, “Ok…put me through” they just hung up on me. WTF??
Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama need to welcome any licensed person in the construction trades to come to their area to help rebuild. Right now, you could grab EVERY licensed guy in the state of Louisiana and still fall way short of meeting the need. Frankly, we don’t really WANT to come to work in the hot humid New Orleans weather and we’re not too keen about laying pipe and working in contaminated topsoil. But we’ll do it because that’s what needs to be done. We’ll help. We’re willing to chip in. Why will nobody help us to help them rebuild? I don’t get it.
Michael young
TO THE MAYOR OF NEW ORLEANS.
PLEASE AFTER THE CLEAN UP CAN WE COME AND
CHECK OUR PROPERTIES, BECAUSE SOME OF US HAVE VERY IMPORTANT VALUABLES.WE ALSO THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR YOUR GOOD WORK.
I.A
I hope that there will be a funeral wake in New Orleans, eventually, for ALL those who died in the disaster. We need a coming together to help with mourning and moving on.
BANKING INVOLVEMENT:
Traditionally, after every major disaster I’ve ever read about, there are people who travel to those disaster areas to help rebuild. While the notion is certainly noble, rip-off artists give well-intentioned honorable contractors and sub-contractors a bad name. We’ve all read about con artists rolling in and collecting a bunch of $10,000 deposit moneys - and then they disappear from the face of the earth.
Where I agree that the first people to be considered for the work should be local people who NEED the work. I would argue that the scope of the work that needs to be done far surpasses the licensed contractors and subs available to do the work.
The big problem I see with demand far exceeding supply is that this will make the prospect of rebuilding sluggish and VERY expensive. So it is a good idea to bring in outsiders.
However, I would prefer to see the government get involved and require that deposit moneys be deposited with the bank and paid out as work is performed. It’s really pretty shitty to take someone’s money and disappear from sight. A little leadership could protect those people who are going to be targets for unscrupulous con artists.
And if you’re building, please for the love of god take the time to add up receipts, call suppliers to make sure they’ve been paid (so they don’t come around filing liens against you when the contractor takes money that was supposed to be paid to the supplier and stuffs it into his own pocket).
The entire region is going to need out-of-state help. But there need to be checks and balances so out-of-state help doesn’t prove to be out-of-state ripoffs. In my opinion, that practice is worse than illegal. It is EVIL. Those people should be shot.
I personally recommend that homeowners take the initiative and instead of hiring a contractor, they hire a construction consultant who can act as a mentor when you’re self-contracting your own repairs/rebuilds. That way you’re absolutely certain of what is going on through the entire process. It’ll also save you a significant amount of money if you use a construction consultant instead of a general contractor. But that’s my two-cents. I’m sure all the contractors around here would strongly disagree.
To The Mayor and Citzens of New Orleans,
First I would Like to Offer my Prayers for the Ones who have been Lost to The Hurricane, But I would also like to tell the Other Idiots of New Orleans and yes Mr Nagin that does include you, Matter of Fact you are the #1 Chief Idiot! I have read these Blogs where you have been praised “How Brave you Are’ For standing up, My ass if you stood up to anything, You Sir are responsible for the Initial disaster that fell on your city after the levees broke, you had the way and the means to get a good majority of your poor Black people out of new orleans, you just wanted to throw the blame every where else except on you, Mr nagin you are no better than the very Criminals that Looted your city after the flood, you leave the hotel and take 400 other people with you and cut in line at the Superdome and get on a bus in front of people that had waited day in that cess pool you sent them to, you know where I come from that makes you a Nigger! plain and simple! now to all of you people who bitched , whined and Moaned you bunch of Generational welfare living trash! First GET A FUCKING JOB! sECOND STOP BITCHING AND START DOING! THIRD,If you have the money to buy your Crack then you damn sure had the money to get the fuck out of town, and for Kane west Fuck you Stupid Bitch, A Natrual disaster has nothing to do with race, a levee break has nothing to do with race, and for all you peoples as yall like to say Move your as to Liberia if you dont like this country, Get the Fuck and stay out becuase all you are is a Wart on this countrys ass.
It’s amazing to me that with the vast knowledge of hurricane evacuations the people of this country seems to have, that nobody stepped up to the plate before the storm to offer a more comprehensive plan to evacuate all of Orleans parish and the other 9 surrounding parishes in just under 48 hours. Where were all of you “experts” prior to the storm? It took the federal government 2-3 days to evacuate all of the people in the convention center and the superdome, while everyone was already in one place and the roads were not clogged with traffic. Yet, you expect this Mayor to be able to gather everyone that needed a ride, load them on buses and get them out by Sunday night while thousands of people from Orleans and the surrounding parishes were leaving also. The National Hurricane Center didn’t shift the storms track over New Orleans until Friday night, so many people did not find out about it until Saturday morning, leaving the people of Southeast Louisiana little time to prepare their homes, pack up, and head for higher ground. What did you expect Nagin to do? Wave his magic wand and make everyone disappear. Mr. Nagin and the other local officials evacuated more people in less time than anyone ever has in the history of this state, and for that he should be commended, not second guessed by a bunch of people who have more than likely never even been involved in a hurricane evacuation.
The people in the Convention Center and the Superdome didn’t die because of the storm, they were protected from it there. They died afterwards of heat exhaustion and dehydration. There was no reason why food and water couldn’t have been air dropped to those people since the state and federal governments knew what was coming and had a couple of days to prepare. They knew the city would be devestated and would not be able to handle things in the aftermath. There was also no excuse why Blanco couldn’t send more people to help the NOPD secure those shelters. Furthermore, don’t assume that everyone who stayed in their homes for the storm only stayed because they had no means to leave. There are thousands of people in this area that refuse to leave their homes no matter what size storm is coming. It’s not Nagins fault that people decided to stay and then later found out what a bad decision it actually was. If anyone living in New Orleans didn’t know that there was a chance of a levee breech and flooding in the city due to a catagory 4 or 5 storm, then they must have been in a coma for many years. It’s only been discussed by numerous news stations and news papers a million times.
Mr. Nagin should be praised for his leadership before the storm and should be praised for staying with his city and remaining there after the storm. As for the people who are now second guessing his leadership, you need to put up or shut up. Unless you’ve been there, you likely have no clue.
Julie Cenac
Houma, La.
DO YOU NEED A STRATEGIST?
In Defense of New Orleans
Mayor Nagin a Hero? NO WAY !!! This butt head had a plan to get all of the poor and helpless people out (that he says he cares so much about) then WHY did 20 year old Jabbar Gibson have to steal a SCHOOL BUS to save 70 people from the doom and drove them to Houston to be cared for? JABBAR GIBSON IS A HERO! Mayor Nagin had at his disposal hundereds od buses that sat all the weekend before the storm and not only didn’t use them but HE allowed them to stay in a place they would be flooded and never be used!!!!
This so called Mayor should be held accountable for Criminal Neglegence for the lost of many poor and helpless people.
Yes the government is responsible for not helping secure a better levee system but why would the people of New Orleans sit there and say woe is me I live next to a poorly designed levee and the government won’t fix it for me….Get off your own asses and do something yourself to fix your neighborhood problems. Now you want the people of America to give you hundreds of billons of dollars so you can build another poor city under sealevel. The people will be screwed again by the local government as the poor 9th Ward will again house the poorest and see their local government suck all the billions into their pockets…..well you get what you vote for.
Below you will find some very good remarks regarding the blame game initiated by Nagin. Before you start backing a hate spouting, finger pointing failure, you may want to remember the the old adage “Those who point the finger are usually trying to avoid the blame”
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You make up your own mind!
In case you aren’t familiar with how our government is SUPPOSED to work:
The chain of responsibility for the protection of the citizens in New Orleans is:
1. The Mayor
2. The New Orleans director of Homeland Security (a political appointee of the Governor who reports to the Governor)
3. The Governor
4. The Head of Homeland Security
5. The President
What did each do?
1. The mayor, with 5 days advance, waited until 2 days before he announced a mandatory evacuation (at the behest of the President). The he failed to provide transportation for those without transport even though he had hundreds of buses at his disposal.
2. The New Orleans director of Homeland Security failed to have any plan for a contingency that has been talked about for 50 years. Then he blames the Feds for not doing what he should have done. (So much for political appointees)
3. The Governor, despite a declaration of disaster by the President 2 DAYS BEFORE the storm hit, failed to take advantage of the offer of Federal troops and aid. Until 2 DAYS AFTER the storm hit.
4. The Director of Homeland Security positioned assets in the area to be ready when the Governor called for them
5. The President urged a mandatory evacuation, and even declared a disaster State of Emergency, freeing up millions of dollars of federal assistance, should the Governor decide to use it.
Oh and by the way, the levees that broke were the responsibility of the local landowners and the local levee board to maintain, NOT THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT.
The disaster in New Orleans is what you get after decades of corrupt government going all the way back to Huey Long.
Funds for disaster protection and relief have been flowing into this city for decades, and where has it gone, but into the pockets of the politicos and their friends.
Decades of socialist government in New Orleans has sapped all self reliance from the community, and made them dependent upon government for every little thing.
Political correctness and a lack of will to fight crime have created the single most corrupt police force in the country, and has permitted gang violence to flourish.
The sad thing is that there are many poor folks who have suffered and died needlessly because those that they voted into office failed them.
For those who missed item 5 (where the President’s level of accountability is discussed), it is made more clear in a New Orleans Times-Picayune article dated August 28:
NEW ORLEANS (AP) - In the face of a catastrophic Hurricane Katrina, a mandatory evacuation was ordered Sunday for New Orleans by Mayor Ray Nagin.
Acknowledging that large numbers of people, many of them stranded tourists, would be unable to leave, the city set up 10 places of last resort for people to go, including the Superdome.
The mayor called the order unprecedented and said anyone who could leave the city should. He exempted hotels from the evacuation order because airlines had already cancelled all flights.
Gov. Kathleen Blanco, standing beside the mayor at a news conference, said President Bush called and personally appealed for a mandatory evacuation for the low-lying city, which is prone to flooding. (emphasis mine)
The ball was placed in Mayor Nagin’s court to carry out the evacuation order. With a 5-day heads-up, he had the authority to use any and all services to evacuate all residents from the city, as documented in a city emergency preparedness plan. By waiting until the last minute, and failing to make full use of resources available within city limits, Nagin and his administration fouled up.
Mayor Nagin and his emergency sidekick Terry Ebbert have displayed lethal, mind boggling incompetence before, during and after Katrina.
As for Mayor Nagin, he and his profile in pathetic leadership police chief should resign as well. That city’s government is incompetent from one end to the other. The people of New Orleans deserve better than this crowd of clowns is capable of giving them.
If you’re keeping track, these boobs let 569 buses that could have carried 33,350 people out of New Orleans-in one trip-get ruined in the floods. Whatever plan these guys had, it was a dud. Or it probably would have been if they’d bothered to follow it.
As for all the race-baiting rhetoric and Bush-bashing coming from prominent blacks on the left, don’t expect Ray Nagin to be called out on the carpet for falling short. You want to know why? Here’s why:
It’s more convenient to blame a white president for what went wrong than to hold a black mayor and his administration accountable for gross negligence and failing to fully carry out an established emergency preparedness plan.
To hold Nagin and his administration accountable for dropping the ball amounts to letting loose the shouts and cries of “Racism!”. It’s sad, it’s wrong, but it’s standard operating procedure for the media and left-wing black leadership.
Mark my words: you will not hear a word of criticism from Jesse Jackson Sr., Randall Robinson, the Congressional Black Caucus, the NAACP, or Kanye West being directed toward Clarence Ray Nagin Jr. Why? Because he is just another black politician instead of a responsible elected official who happens to be black. In the mindset of more-blacker-than-thou blacks, black politicians who are on their side can do no wrong.
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Are any of you actually going to trust anything Ray Nagin says….ever? The guy is CRIMINALLY STUPID, not to mention the fact that he can’t make a decision and stick to it, starting with the forcible removal of the rest of the hard heads that stayed in NO before, during and after the storm, and ending with his short-sighted repopulation of a city that doesn’t even have minimal utilities, potable water and working emergency rooms for all the people who will surely hurt themselves cleaning up all that debris.
I’d love to know what, exactly, qualified him to run for Mayor in the first place? His pretty Creole Face? His way with a phrase? Does he have some sort of historic legacy going on here? The man is a HORRIBLE leader, and should be recalled, impeached and/or arrested for his criminal ignorance, which cost the lives of his constituents.
NOW he wants to get into the same sort of pissing match with the feds (btw, the same guys he was screaming for during the first couple of days after the storm, mind you). Somebody needs to tell him that he needs to make up his mind whether he’s in CHARGE, in which case he’s criminally negligent, or if the Feds are, in which case he’s just an idiot and needs to get the heck out of the way and let the professionals do their jobs.
We have wqtched your theatrics on television, your narrow minded views, illogical rhetoric and lack of thought towards your constituants. You should be ashamed and for the good of your residents resign your office. Your inability to use logic will impact the residents and further place them in harms way. Numerous of our collegues have advised that you failed to act, lacked control and deligation of needed tasks. Your cronies abandoned their posts leaving voids in direction and control of law enfoercement endeavors. If I lived in your community I would be the first to ask for your impeachment. You are quick to blame others for your imcompetance
THIS IS TO New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin
It is my personal opinion that the government of New Orleans should stop beating up on Former FEMA director Micheal Brown, and focus on the people of the disaster of the hurricane, and the recovery of the city if new Orleans. I feel playing the “blame game” on National officals is childish. When your primary focus should be on your people who lost their homes and entires lives. It is NOT THE TIME to point fingers! As far as “failing the people” of Louisiana and Mississippi and Alabama and the Gulf Coast goes in my opinion that the people were not failed, some didn’t even listen to orders to evacuate whether it was said to late or not, they still stayed!!! Everyone is so focused on this unimportant BLAME GAME and forgetting about the PEOPLE the VICTIMS of this natural disaster!!!! This hurricane could not have been stopped, and it happened, get over who did what and when they did it and start focusing on getting your city back into a livable status. When things like this happen, Hurricane Katrina it is always the city’s officals stating that the countries government moved “to slow” and frankly i think you are using that as a scape goat for taking the heat off you! I never seen you walk threw (or boat threw) your city after the hurricane to help others. But, i seen former New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani at the scene on 9-11 walking with and helping people and volunteers for days. why is it that you blame everyone else when everyone did what could have been done at the time? Why is it so important for you to place blame to Michael Brown and his efforts, and not even consider your own efforts or the efforts of the officals in the cities also hit by the hurricane? You make me extremly angry that you as a elected offical can not get over your differences with others, and get what you need to do done. The hurricane hit hard and unexpectably fast, FEMA did everthing they possibly could to assist, yet you have time to place blame on everyone. This is just my opinion. People are homeless, hungrey, displaced, lost and dead, worry about that not pointing your finger at the closest person!!!!!
Sincerly
Brandy Paetzold
New Jersey
RE : NEW ORLEANS - A Way for the MAYOR to Make Money during and before the Rebuild of New Orleans
The New Orleans Local Government needs money due to the lack of Tax Revenue and here is one option.
New Orleans has the rare opportunity to contact Hollywood Studios and allow them to come in for specific FILM FOOTAGE for their films.
It is VERY hard to have a complete downtown of a large city for filming with no one around in the streets.
There are a lot of studios that would just like to have raw footage of deserted or apocalyptic looking city setting to use in future films.
I think you would be surprised at the response if you got out the word that the City of New Orleans would allow in Film crews while waiting to rebuild the city.
Before you laugh and disregard this idea…
PLEASE REMEMBER …We have to come up with creative ways to bring money into the local New Orleans Government while the rebuild is happening because there just isn’t anyone there to work right now.
Film crews are completely self-contained. They have their own power, their own trailers, etc.
Someone should suggest the idea and see if Hollywood will step up !!!
You lazy niggers get off your asses and get a job. Stop waiting for the government to give you more money. I am tired of paying for your sorry asses. This is what you get when you let dumb niggers run a town. They will rob, cheat , steal, kill, rape, whatever. And I am talking about the New Orleans cops. Wake up white people and take a stand. Lets kick their asses back to Africa.
Mayor Naggin. Lokk you bald headed black prick. You can’t even speak English. Ebonics for a mayor? You have made fool of New Orleans. I used to love that town. Now it is a joke. This is what happens when you let southern blacks get a voting majority. They will elect the nigger with the most money, and promises. If you sent that stupid ass Naggin to LA he could not run a taco stand. Send him to London and they would study him as another species. If he were in Nigeria he couldn’t pass 4th grade. Take a look around America this is coming to a town near you. Black reproduce 4 to 1 over whites. That stupid fucking Naggin would not even put on a suit. A monkey could do that. Jews want blacks on welfare so they can buy their vote with promises of free money. Old America is dead. Jews will use the black and the hispanic to destroy the gentile white.
I want to make it know to the powers that be that I am very aggravated concerning the varying assistances being distributed based largely on where you were evacuated. I am aware of free housing offered for 18 months, 12 months, 6 months, or 1 month based on where you are. I lost almost everything to Hurricane Katrina; I was wise enough to have left New Orleans prior to the hurricane with my car and one night bag of clothing and several days of supplies to meet my child’s and my own needs. I am living in a hotel; however, I would love to receive one of those 18 or 12 month free housing vouchers to go find me an apartment so I can settle in, get a job, and wait until my home in New Orleans is rebuilt. I simply want to treated in a fair way. I am not into begging anyone for anything. I have watch gift cards being given to some and when I asked there were none;FUNNY ISN’T IT. I, finally, was able to get a couple of brand new items of clothing for my child and myself last week from the Salvation Army. Oh, I evacuated to Galveston, TX. before Katrina; finding hotels at that time was very difficult so, Galveston became my refuge city. Unfortunately, we Galveston had to evacuate there because of Hurricane Rita; now we’re in Dallas, TX. Ok, back to my main point, aid is not getting to everyone who are in need in a fair and equitable manner. Yes, I received some aid, as many other I know personally, however housing vouchers are not being handled fairly; it seems as though you have to be in Houston for the most part to get the better deal on housing; well, I’m not in Houston. It would be nice if Louisiana’s official could ask for all communities offering housing assistance in the form of housing vouchers, offered in a uniform manner, bases on the location of your pre-disaster address.
Police Officers in New Orleans
I have some previous experience with NOPD and, for the most part, I think almost all of them are crooked. Race has nothing to do with it; there are white and black crooked cops on that force. Unfortunate the few clean cops have to protect themselves by being silent, most in the force know if you RAT on you brother, cop, you may meet your maker without anyone having your back while you’re out on your police route. It would be difficult for most to comprehend that such a corrupt botherhood exist. Well, it does. New Orleans is for the most part corrupt. I am personally aware of another public organizations which is a hot-bed of corruption. The Housing Authority of New Orleans is filled with criminals too; they even have a sex club which consist of management level employee and their subordinates; advancements ill-gotten, stolen time, housing property shared with little or no regard of for company or civil service regulations. When allegation are brought to management about such behaviors, they are brushed under the rug. Louisiana and New Orleans in particular provides and suitable environment for crime from the streets to city government. The police are a product of their corrupt environment; they commit crimes with little fear of consequences. Just think, if there was no camera at this most recent situation with the 64 yr. old man being beating by NOPD police officers this man would have no real means of getting justice, as in most cases. I wondered what happened to the officer who was suspended while being investigated for armied robbery on the westbank and the officer who was shown guarding an entrance to the hotel where it was said officers were bring there spoils from them looting after Hurricane Katrina. If anyone knows what happened to this officers, please post that info for everyone to see. I THINK MAYOR NAGIN SHOULD COME DOWN HARD ON THE POLICE DEPARTMENT DEMANDING A CLEAN FORCE AND ZERO TOLERANCE FOR UNLAWFUL CONDUCT BY POLICE. HE SHOULD DEMONSTRATE TO THE PUBLIC THAT HE IS CLEANING HOUSE OF ALL CORRUPTION. The citizens would be more willing to return to the city if they felt they would get a fair shake; that they would be treated properly by the city intities such as the police as well as the city government. Those who think New Orleans would be a great place to relocate to better watch and wait because if little or nothing changes with police and city government, crime will return and corruption will continue to prosper, maybe in greater proportions.
I have always liked Mayor Nagin’s business approach to running the city of New Orleans. However he jumped the gun suggesting the city become a casino based economy. I would like he or one of the many committees which have been formed to consider building towards New Orleans becoming a Medical Center of the South. Vision the same area of Poydras to Canal and Claiborne to Elks Place with medical complexes and research facilities. All levels of employment would be served in the Medical field from housekeeping, food systems, physicians, administrators, etc. In other words professionals and service industry employees, educated, degreed, clerical and service personnel.
Secondly, I would appreciate the Mayor’s office advising property owners of New Orleans what to expect in the next few months. We are eager to begin the gutting of our 4 plex but have been advised not to do anything until the city inspects the property. Who do we contact to request an inspection? If the tenants will not move how are to begin the eviction process? We have a responsibility to our insurance company to prevent further damage to our property. But the water soaked tenant’s belongings remain. Yes there is a housing shortage in the city. We are eager to do a major renovation but these obstacles are keeping us from beginning. I wish the mayor would begin posting the do’s and dont’s. Help us Mr. Mayor to rebuild our city.
Thank You
I wonder if the private schools opening have the ‘best-interest’ of anyone but themselves in mind? Those opening Uptown all use the phrase “leading” in their mantra as if they are winning a race by opening early. But, does the mayor want kids in this town? With debris everywhere, few medical facilities, no place to safely play… and with no rain the dust is causing a few breathing problems…are we a city ready for kids? Further, I’ve heard schools whose faculty have their own kids enrolled elsewhere (for one semester) could lose their jobs if they don’t return. Full staff isn’t yet needed because enrollment is low, so some faculty who love this city might now have to find jobs elsewhere because the schools are letting them go. If they wait until January, they might not need to let as many go. If any.
New Orleans should be in the business of building community. Katrina and Rita tore us up from the outside. Is this greed and need to ‘win’ notice from the community going to tear the community from the inside? Am I seeing this the wrong way? Can’t we let kids finish the next two months in their current schools? Let the faculty all return, have full enrollment (for those returning) when the city is clean and safe, and welcome everyone back in January. Everyone. The kids, their parents, the faculty of all schools able to open, and then we rebuild around a solid community. Let’s not let greed tear pockets of the city apart.
Hello
Everyone Please excuse my poor English.
I just wanted to make a request to setup some kind of brain storming website to help save New Orleans. I think many people has good ideas and those ideas could lead to problem solving. I requested NOLA.com long time ago but no one paid attention.
Well… one more thing.. most of evacuees don’t have a computer.. I wonder how they can find out whats going on in New Orleans. I read New Orleans news on computer everyday …but w/o computer.. I don’t think I know anything .. How everyone communicating? I know many people want to come back. I know local paper, church, radio station could help.. Do something , Please Do something if you want people to come back.
I hope this request becomes real.