Nagin counts ‘migrant workers’

By Deon Roberts, Online Editor

Mayor Nagin definitely subscribes to the glass-half-full view of life.

On Wednesday, New Orleans demographer Greg Rigamer released a report that puts Orleans Parish’s population at 262,000, 59 percent of its pre-Katrina number.

In response, Nagin’s office this morning issued a statement in which the mayor pointed to another study that puts the population higher.

“It is worth noting that the nonprofit Knowledge Works currently estimates our population at 291,000, 64 percent of our pre-Katrina population,” Nagin said.

“However,” he said, “both of these studies fail to take into account the large number of migrant workers currently residing in the city, which when taken in account our population exceeds 300,000.”

Nagin’s counting of the “migrant workers” is interesting.

Based on the definition of migrant, these workers will not remain in the city forever. So, counting them as part of the population is a bit like saying the number of people at your house for Thanksgiving is the number living there.

When people come to the city for Mardi Gras, should we count them as part of the population?

Why higher auto insurance for Louisiana now?

By Deon Roberts, Online Editor

It may soon get more expensive to drive in Louisiana.

On Tuesday, Louisiana lawmakers gave final approval to a bill to raise minimum auto liability coverage. As of 1:53 p.m. today, the bill had not yet been signed into law by Gov. Blanco, according to the Legislature’s Web site.

If Blanco signs the bill, coverage would increase from the current 10-20-10 structure, which requires a driver to have $10,000 in coverage for damage to another’s property, $20,000 to cover injuries or death to more than one person and $10,000 to cover injuries or death to only one person. The new formula would call for a 25-50-25 coverage formula, meaning $25,000, $50,000 and $25,000.

This would cause premiums to rise, although I have not seen reports as to how high the increases might be. However, critics of the bill say Louisiana’s auto insurance rates are already among the highest in the nation.

Supporters of the bill say it’s been 20 years since Louisiana’s rates have changed. As a result, they say, the minimum liability coverage is not enough to cover the costs of replacing and repairing vehicles and higher medical costs. According to one source, the average new car 20 years ago cost $10,606 compared with $21,597 today.

The timing of this bill is interesting, too.

If Louisiana has gone two decades without raising the minimum liability coverage amount, why are our leaders raising it now, when the state is trying to recover from the 2005 hurricanes?

Many New Orleans-area residents are already dealing with higher homeowner insurance rates, utility bills and other costs since Katrina. The bottom line is it costs more to live here now than it did before the storm, a painful fact for many people now struggling to make ends meet.

So why did the Legislature have to approve higher car insurance rates less than two years after Katrina? Couldn’t this have waited perhaps another two years, until the recovery is, hopefully, further along.

Then there’s the question of the bill’s impact.

Critics say raising insurance rates will only cause more drivers to drop insurance, resulting in higher numbers of uninsured motorists on Louisiana’s roads – not exactly a comforting thought.

Also interesting is how little attention this bill received compared with other bills.

I think I heard more public discussion about cockfighting this legislative session, which ends tomorrow, than about this bill to raise auto insurance rates.

Is $1B enough to make Congress ante up?

By Deon Roberts, Online Editor

Members of the Louisiana Legislature and Gov. Blanco must identify with the 1981 rock song “Under Pressure.”

With a $5 billion shortfall threatening to sink The Road Home program, the governor and state lawmakers have scratched their heads to find ways the state can contribute $1 billion toward the gap.

The hope is that Congress – recognizing that Louisiana is trying to help itself – will pitch in the rest and bail out The Road Home, a program vital to the rebuilding of the state.

Louisiana’s proposed $1 billion contribution would be made of federal and state funds. On Monday, the Louisiana Senate approved a spending bill including the $1 billion state contribution.

But will $1 billion be enough to cause Congress to open its purse to Louisiana and give more to The Road Home? After all, Louisiana has a lot more cash lying around than that.

The state has $827 million in surplus funds from last year, $1.3 billion that was not spent this year, $380 million in FEMA reimbursements and $300 million that was part of an incentive package for a German steel mill that chose Alabama over Louisiana.

Add that up, and it’s more than $2.8 billion.

If Louisiana applied all that spare cash to The Road Home, Congress would have to cough up $2.2 billion.

But, if Louisiana contributes only $1 billion as planned, Congress has to pitch in about $4 billion, nearly twice as much.

Some Louisiana lawmakers are reluctant to contribute too much of the surplus to The Road Home. After all, they say, communities across the state have needs of their own, such as road improvements.

There’s no indication that the state will pony up more than $1 billion toward The Road Home. And, with only two days left in the current legislative session, a decision will have to be made soon on the $1 billion plan.

So, is $1 billion enough?

We’ll soon find out.

Does your cell phone company get your ringing endorsement?

By Deon Roberts, Online Editor

Are you happy with your cell phone service and provider?

Cell phones are one of those things we can’t seem to do without. Like a car and computers, cell phones have become an integral part of our lives and jobs.

But are you pleased with service? Are cell phone contracts fair? Do you ever feel your provider is doing you wrong?

CityBusiness report Jaime Guillet is working on a story about this issue, and she could use your feedback.

Contact her at 293-9204 or jaime.guillet@nopg.com.

Painful Katrina reminder needs to go

By Deon Roberts, Online Editor

Signs of Katrina’s touch are still with us, nearly 22 months after the storm: abandoned houses, FEMA trailers, overgrown lawns.

One sign troubles me greatly, and I wish our leaders would do something about it.

The dirty, salmon-colored line left by Katrina’s floodwater remains on the interstate sound barrier near Old Metairie, a constant reminder of the killer storm.

It’s an alarming sight for those trying to put the storm behind them. And I’m sure it isn’t a positive symbol for anybody considering moving here.

Transcripts don’t tell the whole story

By Deon Roberts, Online Editor

I stand corrected.

Without seeing the video, reading the transcript from a Tuesday White House picnic made it seem that President Bush told New Orleans musician Kermit Ruffins to pick up the trash after the event.

But I’ve since seen the video, and my previous blog entry was misinformed.

Now that I’ve seen the video, it’s obvious the president was talking to the crowd.

I want to thank the person who sent me the video, which, by the way, was on the White House’s Web site. How did I not see it? I’ll admit my embarrassment.

But this experience presents a good lesson: Transcripts don’t tell the whole story. They can be ambiguous and open to interpretation – the wrong interpretation.

And yet transcripts are used a lot. Journalists use them, as do historians, to write articles and books about dialogue that they did not hear in person.

I’m not the only one who misinterpreted the transcript. The same conclusion was drawn by wonkette.com

Perhaps transcripts should indicate to whom people are speaking.

For example, if the Bush-Ruffins transcript had been written this way, I would not have misinterpreted it:

Bush (speaking to crowd): Make sure you pick up all the trash after it’s over.

I’ve already received lots of angry responses, and I’m sure more are on the way, perhaps as I’m typing this. I’ll get the typical “liberal media” remarks.

And, no, I will not print a retraction. This is a blog. It’s a place where opinions are posted. Retractions are for news stories.

But I will promise to not trust transcripts.

Pick up White House trash, Bush tells N.O. musician

(Editor’s note: Readers of this blog entry should also read a follow-up posting. Click here.)

By Deon Roberts, Online Editor

Imagine being a New Orleans musician invited to play at a White House picnic and being told by the president to pick up the trash.

Too crazy to be true, right?

Guess again.

Just ask New Orleans musician Kermit Ruffins, because that’s what happened to him.

Ruffins and his band, the Barbecue Swingers, performed at Tuesday at a congressional picnic. New Orleans’ chef Paul Prudhomme was there, too.

During the event, President Bush thanked Ruffins in front of everyone.

The following is from the official White House transcript:

Bush: Kermit, come up here. Kermit, we’re proud to have you. Ruffins: Well, thanks for having us.

Bush: Kermit Ruffins and the Barbecue Swingers, right out of New Orleans, Louisiana.

Ruffins: Thank you. Thanks for having us. We’re glad to be here.

Bush: Proud you’re here. Thanks for coming. You all enjoy yourself. Make sure you pick up all the trash after it’s over. God bless you, and may God bless America. Thanks for coming.

I wasn’t at the event, and I haven’t heard audio or seen video from it. So, I don’t know what the president’s tone was, whether it clearly was a joke or not.

Still, even as a joke, it doesn’t seem to be an appropriate thing to say to New Orleans residents, who are already picking up a lot of trash created by the failure of federally built levees.

What’s wrong with the taco trucks?

By Deon Roberts, Online Editor

The Jefferson Parish Council doesn’t want the public to think its ban of food sales from trucks is an attack on Hispanics.

Since Katrina, the trucks have become a part of the metro area’s landscape, catering to the large number of Hispanic workers who flooded the region to help in the rebuild.

But on Wednesday, the Council’s unanimous adoption of an ordinance could drive the trucks out of town.

The new law, which takes effect June 30, bans people from selling food from any “temporary facility” on public rights of way, such as streets, neutral grounds and shoulders.

The law also requires vendors to get permits, which cost $50 apiece, for every location on private property they operate on.

Further, the law requires mobile food vendors who operate at only one site to supply at least one bathroom. If the vendor moves around and doesn’t stay in one place for more than 30 minutes, no bathroom is required.

Councilman Louis Congemi, the lead supporter of the ordinance, said the aim is to return Jefferson Parish to “our quality of life pre-Katrina.” The move is not discriminatory, he said, adding that the parish has taken steps to fight other post-Katrina eyesores, such as abandoned houses and FEMA trailers.

“This is not an attempt to discriminate against the Hispanic community,” he said. “The ordinance doesn’t apply only to Latino businesses. … It applies to much more than that.”

But it’s hard to determine what the ordinance is targeting besides the taco trucks. I can’t think of any other “problem” this ordinance seeks to address.

As a result, some taco truck operators, such as Ruben Leite, are feeling discriminated against. All things considered, you can’t blame them.

Leite, who said he owns six truck-based food outlets, said his operation meets all health and safety regulations. He said he spent $50,000 to $60,000 on each of his trucks and thousands more on permits, insurance and related fees.

Personally, I like the presence of the taco trucks, even though I’ve never gone to one. They offer some culinary variety in Jefferson Parish, a welcome option over Applebee’s, Chili’s and the other many boring chain restaurants.

The land of the patient

By Deon Roberts, Online Editor

This morning, for the second day in a row, the streetlights at the intersection of West End and Veterans boulevards were broken, turning the busy intersection into a four-way stop.

A long line formed as motorists, many of whom I’m sure were worried about getting to work on time, had to wait their turn to safely cross the intersection.

This got me thinking: Since Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans-area residents must be the most patient people on the planet, maybe even the universe, if you believe in extraterrestrial life.

In any other community, blinking streetlights would likely cause drivers to lose their cool.

But I didn’t see any road rage at West End and Veterans. Instead, the drivers I observed were courteous and calm. No one cheated and went through the intersection out of turn.

Those of us who decided to remain in K-Ville must have more patience than anyone.

After all, immediately after the storm, we waited for the federal government’s response. Then, we waited months for FEMA trailers to be delivered and months for them to be removed when we were done with them. We waited – many are still waiting – for Road Home cash. We waited for our insurance companies to do what we paid them to do: cover our property losses.

We’ve learned to be patient with our elected officials and their off-color, embarrassing comments.

After all that, we seem hardly bothered by a busted streetlight every now and then, even if it is almost two years after Katrina.

Having had to put up with so much, we have to be patient. Otherwise, we might have all gone crazy a long time ago.

‘K-Ville’ asks nation to deal with Katrina

By Deon Roberts, Online Editor

I recently watched some clips from “K-Ville,” Fox’s new fall show on crime fighting in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina.

I must admit, as a New Orleans-area resident, the clips sent a little chill down my spine. I guess when an already dramatic event like Katrina is turned into a TV drama, well, it tugs pretty hard at your emotions.

While some of the show will feature goofy stereotypes – one scene shows a cop trying to get a man to divulge names by hanging him off the side of a fishing boat – it also seeks to highlight New Orleans’ grim reality: As the city struggles to rebuild from a hurricane it must also battle crime with a shortage of cops.

The dialogue is moving, but, again, maybe that’s because I live here.

“Other people feel there ain’t nothing to move back here for,” one woman says to fictional NOPD officer Marlin Boulet, played by Anthony Anderson. “Just look around, baby. It is not the same place, and it is never going to be.”

“It will be if we fight for it,” Boulet says.

I wonder what impact the show will have on the national perception of New Orleans.

Some might say that any publicity is good publicity.

But will the show’s emphasis on crime have the effect of keeping tourists, businesses and potential residents out of the city?

Will the nation even want to watch “K-Ville”? After all, there is that pesky thing known as Katrina fatigue. Will the nation want to deal with Katrina anymore?

The show is supposedly filmed in New Orleans and features NOPD cars and uniforms. It looks authentic.

So, will New Orleans residents, many of whom lost loved ones and are dealing every day with the storm’s aftermath, tune into the show? Many people watch TV to escape reality. K-Ville is our reality.

Grammatical eyesores hurt our children

By Deon Roberts, Online Editor

So, yesterday, I was driving around New Orleans, Metairie, the West Bank, and everywhere I looked, there it was: bad English on business signs.

“Were open,” one proclaimed.

How sad, I thought. It looks like another business has closed in the New Orleans area. I guess they gave up waiting for help from their insurance company, I thought.

But, my sadness went away when I realized that what the speller meant to say was “We’re open.”

I tried to comfort myself with the thought that maybe they did not have a spare apostrophe. Still, there’s quite a big difference between “were open” and “we’re open,” I thought, as I drove away.

Later, I noticed another grammatical eyesore. This time, it belonged to a business that performs oil changes for automobiles. A sign outside the business said “Open Sunday’s.”

Open Sunday’s what? Open Sunday’s newspaper? Why? Is there a coupon inside for a free oil change?

It seemed the author of the sentence had left something off the end.

But, in fact, what the person meant to write was “Open Sundays.” The apostrophe was unnecessary.

This got me thinking. Citizens often criticize Louisiana’s public school system for poor education, a complaint that is largely valid. However, these poorly written signs must surely contribute to the “dumbing down” of children.

In another example, some businesses insist on advertising their “ATM machines.” This is redundant, because ATM stands for Automated Teller Machine.

Another common error is when signs misuse “it’s” when they really mean “its.”

It’s really easy: You use “it’s” in place of “it is.” You use “its” when describing the ownership of something, as in “Let’s tell the business about its terrible grammar.”

Don’t even get me started on “your” and you’re.”

As adults who know better, I suggest we make it a habit to call these businesses and kindly ask them to correct their poor use of the English language. Our children’s education is worth it, don’t you think?

Businesses say state better wake up

By Deon Roberts, Online Editor

I often talk to friends about how concerned we should all be that more businesses will leave New Orleans in the near future.

Business retention was a problem before Katrina, but it has been exacerbated by the storm.

Since 2005, the New Orleans area has lost a dozen publicly traded companies, according to CityBusiness’ 2007 Top Public Companies issue, which hits newsstands today.

A dozen companies gone in two years. Wow.

With 11 publicly traded companies left in the New Orleans area, if we keep losing at that rate, we will have zero publicly traded companies by 2009.

And these are not small, throwaway firms, either. We’ve lost mega companies with billions in revenue such as Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold and McDermott International, to name a few.

These companies didn’t fold; they left. In other words, they chose someplace else over New Orleans.

We may lose even more, if the city and state don’t abandon their laissez faire attitude toward businesses already here, some companies say. This state is willing to spend $400 million to lure a German steel plant while existing businesses slip out the back door, some companies say.

I have no problem with the state trying to attract the steel mill. But it’s clear that we need to pay more attention to the businesses already here before we lose even more.

Public companies always think about what’s best for their shareholders. Since Katrina, public companies – especially those with a majority of their customers outside of New Orleans and Louisiana – must ask themselves what value being here adds to their companies.

About two weeks ago, I spoke with Dean Taylor, president of Tidewater Inc., a New Orleans-headquartered company that supplies boats to the oil and gas industry.

Most of Tidewater’s business these days is international, and Taylor has not ruled out the possibility of Tidewater leaving New Orleans.

“Our plans are to do what’s best for our shareholders,” Taylor said. “Sometimes one wonders … whether it’s best for our headquarters to remain in Louisiana. That’s something we’re evaluating. For the time being we have not made a decision to leave New Orleans.”

“From my vantage point, our customer base is in Houston,” he said. “We need to be close to our customers. So that’s a disadvantage that New Orleans confronts.”

What is Mayor C. Ray Nagin doing to retain businesses? According to Taylor, not much.

“I haven’t heard from the mayor since Katrina,” Taylor said, adding, “I was really disappointed to hear some of the mayor’s comments after the hurricane.”

Taylor said that if Louisiana wants to make the state better for businesses, officials should visit other successful cities like Houston and Atlanta. Instead, Louisiana officials seem content with things the way they are, he said.

“I can tell you it’s very disappointing to be from New Orleans to see sort of the attitude where the status quo is OK. It’s not OK,” Taylor said. “New Orleans needs to get better. You just wonder what’s best for our employees.”

Keep council rants to a minimum

By Deon Roberts, Online Editor

As a reporter, I’ve always been amazed at how bad city and parish councils are when it comes to time management and how much of a disservice it is to the public.

Perhaps the worst is the New Orleans City Council.

I have never seen people ramble as much as some of these New Orleans Council members do. Do they love the sound of their voices? Do they fashion themselves as great orators, like Socrates? Do they think the public enjoys hearing them babble for minutes over trivial issues? (We don’t.)

Even worse is when a member of the public gets up to speak and some council members’ eyes glaze over or they don’t pay attention or they get up and walk around or they talk to one another. This is a problem on the Jefferson Parish Council, too.

It’s hard not to roll your eyes when a council member launches into a mind-numbing diatribe. Sometimes, they don’t even make sense. They use words that I doubt they know the meanings of just to sound smart. In the end, they make themselves, and the city, look uneducated.

Of course, politicians are not usually known for brevity. But these self-indulgent speeches are a waste of citizens’ time.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying council members should not deliberate in public. Obviously, government would not be transparent if council members kept all discussions beyond closed doors. And, it’s important to know how council members think about certain things.

I’m saying that citizens shouldn’t have all day to sit around and listen to a council member wax poetically about how important, say, the Girl Scouts are. Sure, it’s important to give recognition to the Girl Scouts and other civic groups. But these speeches should be limited. Citizens have jobs and lives to lead and don’t have time to waste. Just as the council limits the amount of time a citizen can talk, the same rule should apply to council members.

This brings me to another point: Why don’t the New Orleans Council’s agendas give specific times when items are coming up for a vote? If a resident wanted to attend a Council meeting to voice an opinion on a certain ordinance or resolution, that person would have to literally schedule a whole day off work, because the agendas do not include times.

That begs another question: Why aren’t council meetings held on weekends so working citizens can attend?

City services leave something to be desired

By Mark Singletary, Publisher

It’s time for the city of New Orleans to figure out how to take care of day-to-day business.

While it’s easy to sympathize with the administration – there are way too many projects and not enough money – the city must figure out how to provide adequate service for the residents who are here now.

As you drive around the city, it’s obvious that too many of our streets are falling apart, and I’m talking about the main thoroughfares that drivers must use. Carrollton Avenue, for example, is dangerous. The fault lines and pits that have developed cause bone-jarring and dangerous surprises for drivers as they move from the Interstate 10 corridor toward Uptown or Mid-City.

Side streets all over the city are crumbling, too. Take a ride through any neighborhood and you can see what I mean.

The city is way too proud of a machine they call “the pothole killer”. While it’s true that that machine and its operators do a fine job of filling and smoothing over potholes, it’s not the long-term solution to our road problems.

There has to be a systematic program of work to repave and redesign our city streets. Long- and short-term projects must be laid out, and the public must be kept up to date on the status and cost of the projects.

Property owners and consumers are paying for the right to live and work in the city. Property and sales taxes are being generated and a sizable portion of those revenues must find their way to ongoing maintenance projects.

There is a sensible expectation of services rendered from our tax payments, and it’s the responsibility of the mayor and the City Council to address these problems.

I often wonder how often, or if, the district City Council members demand action, and then how their demands are dealt with. I’d like to know. Wouldn’t you?

Publisher Mark Singletary can be reached at 293-9214 or mark.singletary@nopg.com.

No time to stop and smell the roses

By Deon Roberts, Online Editor

Once again, the Louisiana Legislature has managed to waste time on trivial matters.

On May 24, I wrote about the Legislature’s wrangling over a bill to make Miss Louisiana the state’s official host.

Today, our elected leaders felt compelled to debate whether or how the state should license florists.

Can we focus on the recovery, please?

If these were normal times, it wouldn’t bother me if the Legislature devoted a great deal of brainpower to an issue such as florists’ licenses.

But these are not normal times. Businesses are leaving New Orleans and many others are struggling to survive. Residents cannot afford homeowners insurance and may be forced to leave the state.

Last time I checked, the southern portion of this state is still in shambles nearly two years after Katrina.

Get your priorities straight, legislators.

Om: City Hall turns to deep breathing for stress relief

By Deon Roberts, Online Editor

Who knew Mayor Nagin was into deep-breathing exercises?

Lately, the mayor has encouraged City Hall workers to learn stress-relieving techniques from the International Association of Human Values, an organization founded by a guy named Sri Sri Ravi Shankar.

Shankar, described on the association’s Web site as “a spiritual leader, visionary, and humanitarian of international renown from Bangalore, India,” visited New Orleans in April. Since then, Nagin has developed a partnership with the group.

“We are open to review the proposals of his holiness Shankar’s for the achievement of harmony, stress management and clarity of mind,” Nagin said.

Mr. Mayor, your intentions are good. But I have to tell you that some City Hall workers already appear stress-free. In fact, some already seem to be engaged in deep meditation, so much so that it takes them several minutes to notice you are standing at their counters. I’m usually the one who becomes stressed when dealing with City Hall.

But who am I to cast dispersions on the mayor’s idea? This may do some good.

After all, I hear oxygen is good for the brain.

NAACP wants to set the bar low … too low

By Deon Roberts, Online Editor

Let’s face it. New Orleans – heck, Louisiana – isn’t known for good education.

So, the latest request from the NAACP seems more than troubling to me.

The NAACP wants Louisiana to stop using standardized tests, such as LEAP and the Graduation Exit Exam, to pass students to the next grade.

Yes, you read that right.

NAACP says the state originally designed the tests to be used as assessments, not as instrumentS to determine whether a student passes or fails.

Therefore, the state Board of Elementary and Secondary Education is unconstitutionally using the tests to pass or fail students, says the NAACP, which wants to march on BESE June 30.

“BESE has arbitrarily usurped the power of the Legislature and transformed these tests into additional requirements for passage and graduation in violation of the constitution and laws of this state,” an NAACP resolution reads.

NAACP is asking the state to take a major step backward in educational quality.

Louisiana is not the only state that requires students to pass a standardized test. Moreover, standardized tests are a part of adult life: You have to take them to get a driver’s license, to enter college, etc.

If the NAACP wants to help Louisiana’s students, it should be demanding more of them, not less.

Katrina fatigue continues to shape N.O. perceptions

By Terry O’Connor, Editor

Darrell and Donna Best e-mailed this week to tell us to get off our duffs on the recovery. Not sure why they chose my inbox but here’s what they had to say:

“The bad weather that hit New Orleans was not the fault of the U.S. government; the government owes New Orleans nothing,” the Best e-mail proclaimed. “When the rest of the country is damaged by bad weather they fix their own problems and don’t expect others to do it for them. What is with New Orleans? All we hear is a bunch of whining on the news expecting others to do your work for you. The rest of the country is tired of hearing you whine. Get to work and fix your own problems!”

I replied with a short note pointing out the most obvious flaw in the Best logic.

“The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers failed to deliver a sound levee and failed to maintain it properly. This is documented,” I wrote. “If it was just bad weather, we’d have recovered by now. But the levee failures flooded 80 percent of the city. That’s where the government’s obligation deepens. Understand?”

Darrell Best was gracious in his retort.

“Thank you for your reply,” he wrote. “If the government forced the people to build in dangerous places below sea level then I would agree, but the people built there out of choice.

“A tornado wiped out an entire town 12 miles from our home. The people are slowly rebuilding without help from the government. Too many people depend too much on the government for everything. Our country was not founded on those principals.

“My heart goes out to all people hurt by any disaster. My personal hero in your disaster was an old gentleman in his 80s that was on national TV cleaning up his property without asking for help from anyone. His attitude was great. He said he built his home the first time and he would rebuild it again.

“I don’t like lazy people in any part of the country that sit on their rear and expect others to fix everything for them. My mom taught me that we were made out of pioneer stock and we should fix our own problems and do our own work. You may not agree with this but thanks for taking the time to read it.”

Well, it was clear we were going to have to agree to disagree, but I tried one last time to convince Best of the value of New Orleans.

“This dangerous place supplies 30 percent of our nation’s energy needs,” I wrote. “This dangerous place at the mouth of the Mississippi River is at the heart of our national defense.

“Our American ancestors settled in this area nearly 300 years ago when those two reasons were far less compelling than they have become today. But it’s not as if this area should ever be a deserted wasteland. One of the busiest ports in the nation is located here, which helps ship precious agricultural commodities worldwide. And those practical reasons don’t even begin to take into account the historical and artistic values of New Orleans.

“It appears you dismiss this man-made catastrophe as a natural disaster. Katrina did far less damage than the failed levees, for which the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers are liable. If the government accidentally dropped a bomb on your city that wiped out 80 percent of it, would you not expect reparations? Of course you would and rightly so. So, too, do we.”

It’s important to convince Darrell Best and the rest of the nation we are doing our best to recover. It’s even more important to convince our neighbors and fellow residents. Many of us are working hard to scrape the mud from the Crescent City’s infrastructure and its good name. The only way to convince the Bests of the world we are doing our best is to make progress on our recovery.

We all know the challenges we face here, but we don’t always know how people have successfully overcome them. CityBusiness welcomes any story ideas illustrating progress. Call or e-mail me personally. I’ll make sure to give it to my Best friends as well as our readers.

Editor Terry O’Connor can be reached at terry.oconnor@nopg.com or 293-9231.

Two-income trap

By Deon Roberts, Online Editor

Unless you are making at least $33,000 a year in the New Orleans area, it is impossible to have one spouse stay at home and raise the kids. And, at $33,000, you would be barely getting by.

Don’t believe me?

Here’s a very conservative look at where that $33,000 would quickly go each year:

• $12,000, or $1,000 a month, for a mortgage and insurance.

• $9,000, or 20 percent of your income, for Social Security, taxes and other federal withholdings.

• $5,760, or $480 a month, for food.

• $3,600, or $300 a month, for one car note.

• $2,400, or $200 a month, toward gas, water and electricity bills.

• $1,800, or $150 a month, for gas for one car.

• $1,200, or $100 a month, for two cell phones.

• $1,200, or $100 a month, in credit card bills.

• $780, or $65 a month, for car insurance.

• $300, or $25 a month, for a home phone.

This assumes the mother is breastfeeding and no baby food is being bought. It also assumes cloth diapers are being used, not disposable ones.

In a way, this budget is unrealistic, because it does not include entertainment expenses, medical co-payments or student loans, which many young couples have.

The budget also does not take into account any emergencies or unforeseen financial disasters, such as the car breaking down or expenses associated with evacuating for a hurricane. It does also not consider things like an oil change for the car or a new tire. It does not consider clothes.

Forget about going anywhere on a vacation, unless you don’t mind spending a week in your backyard.

The budget also doesn’t include birthday gifts or other presents. Your child could not go on a field trip unless it were free.

It would be a depressing existence.

But that’s the price you would pay to have one spouse stay home and raise the kids on $33,000 a year. It is not a living wage.

CityBusiness is asking its readers whether they earn enough to allow one spouse to stay home. To vote or post comments, click here.

Will Jefferson indictment impact our recovery?

By Deon Roberts, Online Editor

It happened.

Rep. William Jefferson was indicted today on federal charges of racketeering, soliciting bribes and money laundering, about 21 months after FBI agents found $90,000 in cash in his freezer.

For Jefferson, a Democrat who represents New Orleans, the formal accusation is obviously a major blow.

But what impact will this have on Louisiana’s attempts to get more money for post-hurricane recovery?

Will this harm efforts to squeeze more cash from Congress? After all, there’s so much unmet need, starting with a $5 billion shortfall in The Road Home program.

Banking on New Orleans

What are Iberia Bank’s big plans for New Orleans and Metairie? CityBusiness Associate Editor Greg LaRose gives the low down. Press play below to listen.

Is Louisiana obligated to bail out The Road Home?

By Deon Roberts, Online Editor

This week, on CityBusiness’ online poll, we asked people whether the state should use its $1.2 billion in unspent revenue to bail out a projected shortfall of at least $3 billion in The Road Home program.

Only 21 percent of voters said yes.

Some people say it’s not fair to the rest of Louisiana to spend the surplus on The Road Home. The New Orleans area is not the only place that could use the money, they say.

Gov. Blanco wants the surplus spent on state needs, not The Road Home, her spokeswoman, Marie Centanni, said.

“Housing is a federal recovery responsibility,” Centanni said.

Some state lawmakers also don’t want state dollars to help The Road Home. Take Sen. Robert Adley, a Democrat from Benton, near the Arkansas line in north Louisiana. Adley agreed that the $1.2 billion could be used for The Road Home’s shortfall. But, he said, there are many communities in the state that can find a good use for extra cash.

“Yes, you could tap into that ($1.2 billion),” he said. “Now, whether or not you politically can get that done is probably doubtful. There are also many other problems in the state that also have a very high priority on everybody’s list.”

People on CityBusiness’ poll would likely agree with Adley.

“Spend it on our roads. We can’t get any where now in Baton Rouge,” wrote one person who responded to the poll.

But some in Congress, such as Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., wonder why Louisiana is not spending its surplus on The Road Home.

If Louisiana doesn’t use the surplus on The Road Home, will Congress give the state more money to help with hurricane recovery?

So, the Legislature and Blanco have a hard decision to make. Should they give any surplus dollars to The Road Home and show the rest of the nation that we are helping ourselves? Or, should they divvy up the money across the state for roads and other needs?

Will Nagin’s positive spin lure businesses?

By Deon Roberts, Online Editor

After 21 months and a day, Mayor C. Ray Nagin gave his first “State of the City” address last night since Hurricane Katrina.

The mayor did a lot of finger pointing, rehashing the problems Katrina created and ran through a long list of signs of recovery. The mayor spent too much time talking about things that many of us already knew.

Perhaps some people need to hear those sunny nuggets from their elected leader.

But, somehow, that good news is not reaching the ears of businesses outside the city. Or, if it is reaching them, it is having no impact.

This morning, I talked with Rick Brown, general manager of Graebel New Orleans Movers, a company that helps Fortune 500 and Fortune 1,000 companies relocate their employees to other states.

What does Brown have to say about outside interest in New Orleans?

“I’m not aware of any significant company coming in,” Brown said.

Unfortunately, during the past 18 months, Graebal New Orleans Movers has moved a lot of companies out of Metairie and the New Orleans area to places like Houston, he said.

Very few companies have returned, he said.

If there is a bright spot, he said, it is the Michoud facility in New Orleans East, where external fuel tanks for space shuttles are made.

“They are bringing in a lot of people,” Brown said.

Also, “Shell is bringing in a few people, not many at all,” he said.

Brown said he doesn’t know why large companies are not coming to New Orleans.

“There’s not a corporate presence here,” he said.

So, something is wrong here, and the mayor should be trying to fix it. He needs to make sure his recovery message gets to the ears of large business. Then he needs to find out why they are so uninterested in New Orleans and do something about it.

Because, as it stands, out-of-town businesses think the mayor is just putting lipstick on a pig.