LaBruzzo: Test all welfare recipients

Metairie state Rep. John LaBruzzo wants all welfare recipients in Louisiana to be drug tested in order to receive benefits. He’s pre-filed a bill for the upcoming legislative session make it the law.

“My goal is to try and make sure that we’re saving the taxpayer’s money and we’re getting the biggest bang for our buck and we’re eliminating those people who are abusing drugs in the welfare system,”  LaBruzzo said in a report from WWL-TV. See the full report here.

Another measure LaBruzzo proposes is declaring anyone who is convicted of a drug felony ineligible for food stamps and other assistance for up to 10 years.

Last year, LaBruzzo made national news with a story CityBusiness broke when he proposed paying poor women to be sterilized in order to reduce their potential welfare impact if they had children. He ultimately withdrew the measure.

Are LaBruzzo’s latest proposals sound? Should all welfare recipients be tested for drugs? And should assistance be withheld from those who are convicted for felony drug offenses?

Smoke ‘em if you can afford ‘em

At midnight, the price for a pack of cigarettes will increase 62 cents a pack as a federal levy on all tobacco products goes into effect. That means the per-pack tax will be $1.01 , up from 39 cents.

President Barack Obama garnered support for the tax by dedicated its proceeds to the State Children’s Health Insurance Program, which will give states matching funds for family health insurance.

In addition to raising money for children’s health insurance, the administration’s thinking is that the higher prices will deter smokers, thus reducing their health risks and associated costs.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that just under a quarter of Louisiana adults smoke, and a pack-a-day habit will cost each one an extra $2,500 each year under the new tax.

And state Rep. Karen Carter Peterson, D-New Orleans, wants to add a dollar to the state tobacco tax, bringing it up to $1.36. That would mean $2.37 in taxes per pack — or almost 12 cents a cigarette.

For those of you who smoke, will this be the final straw that breaks your pack of Camels?

For those of you who don’t, do you support the tax or is this singling out one vice while others — alcohol and fast food, for example — are let off the hook?

Out of luck on Wall Street? Become a stripper

CNBC’s “Power Lunch” aired a feature today on a woman who was laid off from her Wall Street job six years ago and decided to strip. According to CNBC, it’s a trend that’s on the increase in the economic downturn.

It got me to thinking – what skill set could I capitalize on should the recession force me to make a career change? No worries – I’m not ready for a G-string just yet.

— Greg LaRose, Managing Editor

GM breakdown: Has the White House issued a business mandate?

The business world was jarred out of its Sunday nap when news broke that the Obama administration had pressured General Motors Chairman and CEO Rick Wagoner to resign.

The move came in advance of Obama’s pitch of a plan to rescue automakers GM and Chrysler from their  dire straits. After the Bush administration trigerred bailout financing for the companies last year, Obama called for them to craft plans to reverse the downward slide.

Was it a necessary step for the president to let GM know he’s serious about meaningful reorganization?

Or is Obama overstepping his boundaries with what amounts to a business mandate?

We want your real estate stories

Editor’s Note: You’ll see Deon Robert’s signature at the end of this blog entry, but he’s off on family leave. He, his wife Marcy, and big brother Basile welcomed a new baby boy, Alton Cecil Roberts, into the world Tuesday. The family is doing great and Deon will be back at the helm in early April. In the interim, I’ll be handling his Web chores and real estate beat — Greg LaRose, managing editor

I recently had an interesting e-mail conversation with a commercial real estate executive about the state of the industry in the New Orleans area. Pointing to the national coverage of the financial industry’s woes and their impact on real state, his point was that there wasn’t enough positive news about what was going on specific to our region.
I reviewed a recent string of stories we’ve done on the real estate market. The most recent story was about the minimal impact foreclosures have had on the market. Our coverage has also detailed the increase in vacancies along commercial corridors such as Veterans Boulevard and Magazine Street.
In the works for an April 6 release is our Home Buyers Guide. Our breakdown of residential sales activity in the New Orleans Metropolitan Association of Realtors’ parish segments shows that while economic pressures are having an effect on sales, we are nowhere near the doldrums experienced in other parts of the country. After editing the contents of the Home Buyers Guide, my feeling is that our real estate market is poised well for a rebound (although we never fell too far) once the economy takes a turn for the better.
I extended an invitation to the commercial agent to keep me apprised of what’s happening on the street so we could tell his story from the front lines. Now, he can choose whether to relay the good, bad or ugly news, but like any business, the bottom line will ultimately provide an accurate picture.
We extend the same invitation to everyone from the real estate industry. You can e-mail me at greg.larose@nopg.com — or better yet, respond to this blog to tell your story from the streets.

Volunteers find love post-Katrina

CNN.com has a story (Click here) about making love connections while volunteering. The feature highlights couples who met on the Gulf Coast while taking part in hurricane recovery work.

Here’s an excerpt:

In 2007, Dave Chung and Kim Benty found each other while helping Hurricane Katrina victims in New Orleans, Louisiana.

Chung had been a pro golfer playing mini-tours in California and living half the year in Toronto, Ontario, when he got the urge to drive down to New Orleans to volunteer.

“I really liked the place, and the people,” says Chung. “The original plan was to come down here for two months and go to a friend’s wedding, but I ended up staying.”

At first the 30-something golfer worked for Habitat for Humanity, learning plumbing and wiring. Then he went to work with Liz McCartney, 2008 CNN Hero of the Year, at the St. Bernard Project.

Meanwhile, Kim Benty, 36, an interpreter for the deaf in the western New York town of Batavia, began a series of trips in July 2007 to work with volunteers in the same area.

Benty was smitten after meeting Chung on her first trip, but he merely smiled and went back to work.

It’s high time we take a break from trying to solve all of New Orleans problems. Share with us your stories of Katrina-fostered love …

E-mail shows White ignored rules

By Deon Roberts, Online Editor

An e-mail from city sanitation director Veronica White to a man making a Jan. 31, 2008, request for documents shows that White was aware of rules governing the release of records from City Hall.

It’s the lastest twist in the ongoing controversy surrounding White.

According to a story today in The Times-Picayune, resident Matt McBride last year asked White for copies of contracts for the demolition of storm-damaged buildings and the hauling off of storm debris.

White, in an e-mailed response, told McBride he had to submit his request to the city attorney’s office. She even included the city attorney’s address, 1300 Perdido St. Suite 5E03, New Orleans, LA 70112.

But White did not make local lawyer Tracie Washington follow those rules when she asked for copies of City Council e-mails. White’s release of thousands of council e-mails has been highly criticized by many in the public as well as by members of the council. It is not clear whether Nagin will punish White. Nagin said that while White ignored “guidance” from the city attorney, she followed “policy.”

“In a somewhat labored distinction, Nagin said White complied with a rule set forth by his chief administration officer requiring any department head to respond to a request for public records within three days,” according to a T-P story Friday.

The e-mail flap has turned into a discussion about racism. White and Washington are black. Washington requested the e-mails of the four white council members.

Here’s what sicknola wrote on nola.com today:

Top ten reasons why Veronica White did not provide the requested info to Matt McBride:

1) Matt is white.
2) Matt is white.
3) Matt is white.
4) Matt is white.
5) Matt is white.
6) Matt is white.
7) Matt is white.
Matt is white.
9) Matt is white.
10) Matt is white.

Kamar wrote this:

Is Mr. McBride caucasian? If he is, I’m sure that had nothing to do with Ms. White not giving him what he asked for.

Lindalewis had this to say:

Veronica White has to go, if she were white she would be long gone.

By the way, CityBusiness, in its online question of the week, is asking readers what should happen to White because of her release of the e-mails. Cast your vote by clicking here.•

West End boathouse culture coming back

By Deon Roberts, Online Editor

Until I toured the area last week, I knew nothing about the boathouses at West End.

David Carimi, who owns Carimi Construction and Development, had invited me to view boathouse No. 85, which he rebuilt for a Dallas man after Hurricane Katrina ravaged the place.

The boathouses are coming back — slowly. I wrote about their return for this week’s CityBusiness real estate CloseUp, a weekly, e-mail newsletter about the metro area’s real estate industry. You can read the story on CityBusiness’ Web site.

Not all of the boathouses are rebuilt. Some of them sit in disrepair. Some are gutted, waiting to be rebuilt. Some are being rebuilt to three stories.

One factor that has slowed down the return of the  boathouses is the wait for new leases. But with the New Orleans City Council approving new leases earlier this month, boathouse repairs are expected to speed up.

It was interesting to learn about the place, which has a culture — and people — all its own. These are people who are OK with living outside of flood protection, vulnerable to the whims of Mother Nature. For them, being able to look out their doors and see Lake Pontchartrain, open their windows and let the lake’s breeze blow through their homes and being a hop, skip and a jump away from fishing and water recreation make the risk all worth while.•

If White can give out e-mails, anyone can

By Deon Roberts, Online Editor

According to an interview Mayor C. Ray Nagin did with WDSU-TV, the mayor does not plan to discipline or fire the city’s sanitation director, even though she bypassed the city attorney’s office when she gave thousands of City Council e-mails to an activist lawyer who had requested them.

Here’s an excerpt from WDSU’s story:

In an interview with WDSU anchor Norman Robinson, Nagin characterized actions by Veronica White as a deviation from procedure, but a relatively minor infraction that did not rise to the level that would require her dismissal.

“We’ve looked at it, the city attorney has looked at it, we can’t find any criminal activity,” Nagin said. “If anything, the only thing that somebody can claim is that she did not follow the procedures that the city attorney set.”

The mayor said he could not find a reason to discipline Veronica White. He said she violated a “practice, a guidance from the city attorney,” not a “policy.”

What’s the point of having a city attorney issue guidance, if it’s OK for city employees to ignore it?

Practice or policy — call it what you want — the media has been forced to adhere to it, and many of us have been waiting for months to get public records requests filled by the Nagin administration. As we in the media all know, the Nagin administration regularly breaks the state’s public records law, which requires public records to be turned over in three days.

If White can get away with giving out public records, any other city official should be able to, too.

I guess I’ll start filing my public records requests with Robert Mendoza, the director of public works.•

Bad news rains on Nagin administration

By Deon Roberts, Online Editor

2009 is not shaping up to be a good year for Mayor C. Ray Nagin’s administration.

Here’s a look, listed in no particular order, at the bad news that has rained down on the administration:

• A report by the city’s inspector general found the city overpaid, to the tune of $4 million, underperforming contractors for the city’s controversial crime cameras. The report also says the mayor’s technology office handed out no-bid contractors and did not hold vendors accountable. The inspector general also said he has contacted the feds about his findings, according to news reports.

• Anthony Jones, the former city technology director mentioned in the IG’s report on the crime cameras, on Wednesday was suspended for 120 days. According to a story by The Associated Press, Jones allegedly “accepted a gratuity from contractor CIBER — payment for a plane ticket to a conference it had arranged for him to speak at. … Jones said he reimbursed CIBER but CIBER disputed that.”

• The feds are also reportedly looking into the controversial release of e-mails belonging to the City Council’s four white council members. City sanitation director Veronica White, who is black, bypassed the city attorney’s office — and broke Nagin administration protocol — when she gave the e-mails to activist lawyer Tracie Washington, who also is black. On Wednesday, City Chief Administrative Officer Brenda Hatfield said the FBI has asked her not to talk about the matter. A judge has told Washington she must not share the e-mails until they can be reviewed for confidential information.

• Earlier this month, a judge faulted the Nagin administration for not responding in a timely manner to a television station’s request for public records. The judge imposed about $7,000 in penalties. The city is seeking a new trial.•

Hatfield: Feds probe release of e-mails

By Deon Roberts, Online Editor

According to news reports today, New Orleans Chief Administrative Officer Brenda Hatfield has acknowledged that a federal investigation is looking into the release of City Council e-mails to an activist lawyer.

City sanitation director Veronica White, who is black, is accused of turning over e-mails received and sent by the council’s four white members to lawyer Tracie Washington, who also is black, in a violation of City Hall protocol; all public records requests for e-mails are supposed to be handled by the city attorney’s office, which reviews the e-mails to make sure private and sensitive information is not released to the public.

Washington was given thousands of e-mails, which she said she wanted for a Web site that displays public records.

As a side note, here’s something interesting I stumbled upon today: There is a celebrity hair stylist named Traci Washington (her Web site took forever to load on my computer, so be forewarned), and White is said to have been a hair stylist.•

Challenger challenged on NCAA tourney toll

By Greg LaRose, Managing Editor

In recent years, the Chicago outplacement firm Challenger, Gray and Christmas has come up with its calculation on how much distracted employees cost their companies during the NCAA basketball tournament.

Its estimate this year: $3.8 billion.

Workers caught up in office bracket pools and watching games online take their toll on an employer’s bottom line, according to Challenger. But critics say that figure is an off-the-mark airball since the extrapolation uses numbers that are out of date and inaccurate.

Jack Schafer of Slate.com explains that Challenger’s $3.8 billion estimate was based on an average wage of $18 an hour and 58 million fans spending an average of 13.5 minutes online during each of the 16 business days the tournament spans. Those basis numbers are “loosey-goosey as they come,” said Schafer, who said the numbers don’t take into account bracket pool participants who tune out once the teams they picked are eliminated.

Carl Bialik, the Wall Street Journal’s “Numbers Guy,” points out that last year Challenger used a 1997 NCAA survey to determine that 14.3 million working Americans followed college basketball. This year, the company used an unrelated Gallup poll that quadrupled the fan count.

And based on Challenger’s 2008 estimate that the NCAA tourney cost $899.6 million in lost productivity, King Kaufman of Salon.com notes that this year’s $3.8 billion represents 327 percent inflation.

Schafer’s advice to employers concerned about Big Dance distraction at the workplace: “Worry less about how your employees waste time and more about how much they screw off.”•

The curious case of SDT’s truck

By Deon Roberts, Online Editor

It sounds like the plot for a TV drama.

Someone steals a truck from a garbage company in the dark of night. The truck is driven to a neighborhood and sewage is illegally dumped. Footage of the dumping is given to the media, apparently to harm the reputation of the booming garbage company. Meanwhile, the owner of the garbage company thinks it’s the work of a disgruntled former employee or an inside job involving a current employee.

Such is the mystery involving a truck allegedly stolen Saturday night from SDT Waste and Debris Services.

Someone commenting to a story on nola.com referred to the incident as “Pottygate.” Some readers on the site say they believe Torres is guilty, while others say he is being framed.

What do you think?•

Louisiana seen as model for something

By Deon Roberts, Online Editor

Two years ago this past January, a statewide smoking ban for restaurants took effect.

According to the Louisiana Campaign for Tobacco-Free Living, the Louisiana Smoke-Free Air Act “prohibits smoking in most public places and workplaces, including all restaurants with or without attached bars. Smoking will still be allowed in stand-alone bars and casinos.”

Louisiana is often criticized for being behind the rest of the country on various issues. But our smoking ban is winning us praise.

On Feb. 17 on star-telegram.com, a news site that covers Dallas, Fort Worth and Arlington, Texas, someone wrote about a similar ban proposed for Texas.

“With bans in most major cities including Dallas, Fort Worth, Austin and Arlington bans, more than 20 percent of Texans are under a smoking ban of some sort,” says the posting.

That prompted a reader named Greg to write this: “It is embarrassing that so many states including Louisiana and Arkansas are ahead of Texas in passing a statewide smoking ban.”

It’s refreshing to see Louisiana praised for something for a change.

On a side note, I got an e-mail this morning from someone named Thaddeus Frick, who is irate about smokers outside of a local coffee shop. Here is the full text of his e-mail:

Everyday I sit at Community Coffee on Metairie Rd watching people who smoke ignore signs asking that they sit on the other side of the front door. The sign reads:

“To best serve all of our guests we encourage smoking at the tables to the right side of the patio area only. Thank you in advance for your understanding of this courtesy.”

Do you readers agree that anyone smoking in the area with the signs posted are RUDE PEOPLE? The state of Louisiana has a statue that no smoking is allowed within 25 feet of a public entrance, yet Jefferson and Orleans Parish have not elected to enforce this rule. After talking with members of the council, some local politicians and bringing this to the attention of the health organization promoting non-smoking the problem stills continues. Smokers continue to let their addictions create a lifestyle where they harm themselves, act rude, cost taxpayers when they get sick, spread the habit to minors, create obnoxious odors, litter the streets and sidewalks with their butts and walk around boasting of theirs rights. What rights I ask? The right to be stupid. What does America stand for? The battle to let money dictate what is bad for US.

The battle is lost when no one follows simple rules of respect for your fellow human being. Stop smoking, stop being rude, stop littering with your butts, stop being a victim of your addiction.•

Louisiana foreclosure activity up

By Deon Roberts, Online Editor

It was a grim report.

Foreclosure activity rose 40 percent in Louisiana in February from January, surpassing the 6 percent rise nationally, according to data released Thursday by Irvine, Calif.-based RealtyTrac.

The report shows that perhaps Louisiana is not immune from the foreclosure crisis affecting the U.S., despite what some real estate professionals in this state thought.

But Louisiana’s foreclosure problem is still not as bad as what’s going on nationwide. One in every 2,742 Louisiana housing units received a foreclosure filing in February, compared with the national rate of one in every 440 housing units. Also, Louisiana’s foreclosure activity in February is up 4 percent from February 2008, compared with a 30 percent increase for the U.S. over the same period.

Experts will no doubt be watching what happens to Louisiana foreclosure activity in the coming months.•

Online petition supports lawyer’s records request

By Deon Roberts, Online Editor

An online petition has been launched in support of lawyer Tracie Washington, whose access to City Hall e-mails has became a controversial issue and the subject of many local news stories and talk radio shows.

Washington was given the e-mails without having to go through the city’s normal procedure, which involves making a request through the city attorney’s office, which is supposed to review the e-mails before releasing them to the public.

According to the petition:

Contrary to the City Council’s statement that fulfillment of this request by the Mayor’s staff “may constitute a serious breach of legal rights and protections afforded the City Council, its constituents and the city of New Orleans,” the request and subsequent release of email records is an example of compliance – albeit unorthodox – with the Public Records Act.

We fully support Ms. Washington’s request. We are deeply concerned about the legal action being initiated against Ms. Washington by the City Council. This will negatively affect the public’s willingness and ability to exercise their legal rights and participate in their government.

The petition also talks about “anonymous threats and intimidation tactics which have been directed at Ms. Washington for simply making a successful public records request. In the last several days Ms. Washington has received anonymous threats and had her home and property vandalized. This kind of behavior, possibly inflamed by the City Council’s legal action against Ms. Washington, has no place in a democracy.”•

Roll call: Elected officials at GNO Inc.’s meeting

By Deon Roberts, Online Editor

Greater New Orleans Inc., a regional economic development group representing 10 parishes in the metro area, today held its annual meeting at the Hilton New Orleans Riverside hotel.

The event was well-attended, with elected officials from across the region.

I asked GNO Inc. to tell us which elected officials were there. Below is the list they provided. I also saw Lt. Gov. Mitch Landrieu.

Louisiana Legislature:

– Sens. A.G. Crowe, R-Slidell, Jack Donahue, R-Mandeville, David Heitmeier, D-New Orleans, and Edwin Murray, D-New Orleans.

– Reps. Robert Billiot, D-Waggaman, George Gregory Cromer, R-Slidell, Nita Rusich Hutter, R-Chalmette, Juan LaFonta, D-New Orleans, Anthony Ligi, R-Metairie, Nickie Monica, R-LaPlace, Cedric Richmond, D-New Orleans.

Parish presidents: Craig Taffaro of St. Bernard, V.J. St. Pierre of St. Charles, Dale Hymel of St. James, Bill Hubbard of St. John and Billy Nungesser of Plaquemines

Mayors: Mayson Foster of Hammond and Ed Muniz of Kenner•

Honore: ‘The purpose of business is to solve problems’

By Deon Roberts, Online Editor

Today, retired Army Lt. Gen. Russel Honore gave the keynote address at the annual meeting of Greater New Orleans Inc.

Honore, best known as the gruff-talking commander of the military’s operations in the post-Katrina chaos, posed the following question to the audience: What is the purpose of business?

“The purpose of business is to solve problems,” Honore said.

Honore’s talk was all about hurricane preparation and how Louisiana should try to capitalize on its experience with evacuations and hurricane prep to teach the rest of the nation how to be ready for disasters.

At one point, he took a shot at the government.

“Remember the government is the same people who run the damn TSA (Transportation Security Administration),” he said.

So, I think his point was that the private sector can step in and improve how people prepare and evacuate for storms.

But his comment about business solving problems made me laugh. No doubt, businesses help us in a lot of ways. But how many headaches do insurance companies create for all of us, especially when we try to get them to honor a claim after a hurricane?

Honore even asked if there were any insurance company professionals in the room.

“You’re all going to hell,” he said.•

Jindal to speak at Loyola

By Deon Roberts, Online Editor

After his nationally televised GOP speech was panned, Gov. Bobby Jindal has been announced as the commencement speaker for Loyola University New Orleans’ class of 2009.

This should make for interesting conversation over lunch in the Orleans Room, Loyola’s main cafeteria.•

Developer: ‘No good deed goes unpunished’

By Deon Roberts, Online Editor

Reporter Richard A. Webster files a lot of interesting stories.

Today, he reported that New Orleans developer Pres Kabacoff is wondering when the New Orleans Police Department’s 5th District headquarters is going to move out of the old Universal Furniture building on St. Claude Avenue he lent the NOPD after Hurricane Katrina.

Kabacoff plans to develop the building into a $13 million “Healing Center” that will include, among other things, a grocery store and restaurant. But he needs the police to move out.

Kabacoff is looking to start construction in November or December. He says construction could take place around the police — but only for a while.

He offered the NOPD, whose 5th District station was destroyed by Katrina, his building in October 2007, because the station had been working out of a group of trailers in a lot next to their damaged station. So far, he has provided the building rent-free for 16 months.

He said he has tried, to no avail, to talk to the city about its plans for the 5th District police.

“This is getting under the category of ‘no good deed goes unpunished,’” he said.

“The city has had a sweet deal and hasn’t had to pay anything. I did this to help the community. But there may be additional costs as a consequence and I need to have some kind of protections. All I want is to sit down and work something out that doesn’t put the police in a jam and will allow us to move forward with our Healing Center.”•

City says NOAH contractors owe $217,887

By Deon Roberts, Online Editor

The city has filed a lawsuit against six contractors who were hired to help remediate properties that had been damaged by Hurricane Katrina.

The city claims the contractors failed to document the work for which they were paid and they therefore should repay the city a total of $217,887.

Last year, the city began an investigation into the New Orleans Affordable Homeownership program, which was supposed to help gut and board up homes and mow lawns for properties affected by Katrina.

“We have 90 properties where we cannot substantiate the work was actually done,” Mayor C. Ray Nagin told City Council members during an Aug. 7 meeting.

That meeting involved some heated exchanges between Nagin and the council.

“Two weeks ago when the media first brought this, in a major way, to life, your reaction to it was defensive and an attack mode to the media,” Councilman Arnie Fielkow said at the time. “And I said this privately and I wish we could have diffused the issue then by saying ‘If there’s a problem, we will look at it.  We will investigate it.’”

According to an Aug. 7 WWL-TV story , Nagin said the station’s July 21 report on NOAH was the first time he was aware of any problems with NOAH.

Here’s more from that story:

However, council member Stacy Head’s office provided WWL-TV with a copy of an e-mail sent April 1 to housing director Tony Faciane, in which Head wrote, “NOAH appears to be a mess.”

Another e-mail from July 3 to city chief administrative officer Brenda Hatfield also addressed NOAH’s problems.  The mayor was carbon copied on much of that exchange.

Still Nagin told the council on Thursday he never had any evidence of problems at NOAH.

“It’s had a history of clean audits,” he said.

But according to the state’s legislative auditor, NOAH was cited for five straight years, all before Nagin took office.  The program was established during the administration of former mayor Marc Morial.•

Scalise references Saddam in secret ballot debate

By Deon Roberts, Online Editor

What does the Employee Free Choice Act and former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein have in common? Ask Rep. Steve Scalise.

Scalise, R-Metairie, issued a press release in response to the legislation, which was introduced in Congress today.

“The right to a secret ballot election is one of the strengths of our great democracy,” Scalise said in a release. “It is un-American to deny workers of their right to a secret ballot. The Employee Free Choice Act would take away an employee’s right to a secret ballot, thus subjecting our American workforce to intimidation and threats by union bosses. I will fight to ensure that all American workers continue to maintain their right to a secret ballot election.

Here’s the Hussein reference:

“In 1995 Iraqis elected Saddam Hussein with 99.96 percent of the vote in an election that denied Iraqi citizens a secret ballot. People were jailed for voting against Saddam in that election that did not allow secret ballots. Now they are developing a democracy that includes secret ballots as one of the foundations. You cannot have a strong and free democracy without the right to a secret ballot.”•

Nagin defended for office’s spending

By Deon Roberts, Online Editor

Flowers. Jewelry. Limousine service.

These were among things Mayor C. Ray Nagin’s office bought last year, according to a story by CityBusiness reporter Jaime Guillet.

Guillet reviewed invoices from the mayor’s office, including the mayor’s press office, and found that total spending last year was more than $657,000.

Purchases included $10,058.90 for flowers; $23,487.26 on food for meetings and event catering; $22,000 for housing of staffers in Baton Rouge for lobbying efforts during the extended 2008 legislative session (city spokeswoman Ceeon Quiett says the actual expenditure was $19,800, according to the story);  $8,440.69 in limousine/executive car service for Nagin during three trips to Washington, D.C.; $6,185 for event decorations; and $1,575 for jewelry.

According to the story, “$1,575 spent at Jack Sutton Antiques and Fine Jewelry for 25 fleur-de-lis cufflinks and 15 lapel pins were ‘official gifts’ for dignitaries, Quiett said. Information on who these dignitaries were was not provided.”

The Times-Picayune picked up the story Thursday, the same day CityBusiness published it online. Nola.com, the Web site affiliated with the T-P, has generated 148 comments to the story. Most commenters did not approve of the spending.

But some do not see a problem with the purchases.

On nola.com, someone using the screen name Msred41 wrote, “I am sure this is standard spending for a mayor of any city. I do not see anything outrageous with that.”

“I don’t really have a problem with most of these expenses,” wrote ech1997.

Here’s a comment from someone using the screen name houseinthe:

Looks like all forms of white media is “investigating” the Mayor’s office. Give it a rest already. Without the headline reading as if there is theft going on are you suggesting that? Can you prove that? Or are you just jumping on the let’s find something anything that the Mayor may or may not be doing. CityBusiness why don’t you detail the spending when, why and where, then compare it to other local governments. Further, how much money do you spend on events, annually? $650K sounds like a small amount of money to have events for the city. Were the trying to lure business? Were they trying to lure money to the area? Come on I’ve worked places in the past where we spent in excess of $2M for one meeting.

Someone using the screen name 7thwdalgiers wrote, “I’m not necessarily a Nagin fan but this is biased journalism at its best. The title of the article leads one to think that the report uncovered $650,000.00 in expenses for gifts, flowers and limos. The writer comes back though and documents about $64,000.00 in actual spending.

Here’s a comment from someone using the screen name sweetyankee:

It costs money to run a city. If you really think about it – $650,000 for admin, etc. costs for a very large city is not a lot of money. Yes, in today’s economic downslide it may seem like a huge amount but it’s not. If you see the operating costs for a small firm (150 employees) you would see how quick things add up. My firm spent $6.2 million on car service alone last year. Ok, so I work on Wall Street and I guess my opinion is not really warranted in these times considering how much money Wall Street pissed away.

“I’m not saying that government can’t be more frugal. But I wish you would all understand that just as in the private sector- it takes money to make money,” wrote crezentcity.

Finally, here are some excerpts from a posting on www.examiner.com:

In case you missed it, City Business published an article a few days ago taking a not-so-kind in-depth look at how Mayor Ray Nagin spends public funds.

My question is, who cares?

City Business and its editors and reporters don’t particularly like the way Nagin and his administration have done business. This is evidenced in the good play they gave this investigation by reporter Jaime Guillet. Yet, no other news outlets seem to really be picking up on it.

City Business going after Nagin in this regard can really be chalked up to one of two things: an intense dislike of the combative, unapologetic mayor, or a desperate need to fill news space. With shrinking newsrooms nationwide, my money’s on the latter.•

Report: Louisiana fuels mortgage crisis

By Deon Roberts, Online Editor

While the nation has dealt with a mortgage crisis over the past year or so, real estate experts in Louisiana have proclaimed that the state has largely escaped the meltdown. The reason Louisiana has fared so well, they say, is the state did not have the large volume of subprime loans that states like California and Nevada had.

Those experts might not be so chipper today.

Yesterday, The Associated Press reported that “one of every 10 Louisiana homeowners has fallen at least 30 days behind in mortgage payments, with nearly one in three with subprime adjustable rates overdue, new data for the fourth quarter of 2008 shows.”

The Mortgage Bankers Association blamed Louisiana and states like New York, Georgia and Texas “for fueling the latest increase in a deepening recession crisis,” the AP story says, adding, “In prior reports, reckless lending practices in California, Nevada and Florida had fueled the crisis.”

“In Louisiana, as nationwide, subprime loans — or those given to borrowers considered to be the riskiest — were the most behind in their payments at 30.9 percent,” the story says.

It will be interesting to see how the mortgage situation will evolve in Louisiana. Is this a sign of bad things to come, or is this the bottom for Louisiana?

Rick Haase, general manager of Metairie-based Prudential Gardner Realtors, on Jan. 15 told me that the New Orleans region is behind the rest of the country when it comes to foreclosures, in part because of moratoria that have stalled foreclosures in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. He expects the foreclosure problem here to worsen as more homeowners fall victim to the national economic downturn.

“It’s on its way,” he said. “It’s just two years delayed.”•

City Hall e-mail concerns grow

By Deon Roberts, Online Editor

The brouhaha over the New Orleans sanitation director’s release of City Council members’ e-mails has been the topic of the week in New Orleans.

New Orleans sanitation director Veronica White is accused of handing over council members’ e-mails to lawyer Tracie Washington, in an apparent breach of City Hall protocol. As any member of the media knows, requests for e-mails must go through the city attorney’s office because the e-mails must be reviewed to make sure privileged information is not released to the public. But Washington apparently did not have to go through that process. Moreover, she has received e-mails while the media in the past have been unsuccessful at getting the Nagin administration to fulfill requests for e-mails. Needless to say, many of us in the media are stunned.

Washington said she wanted the e-mails for a Web site on which she apparently wanted to publish public records. Many in the public have wondered why Washington, who is black, asked for e-mails sent to and received by only the four white council members. The council also has three black members.

But according to a story by The Times-Picayune today, Councilwoman Cynthia Hedge-Morrell, who is black, said she believes Washington may have received e-mails for other council members and their staffers.

On a New Orleans radio station, 99.5 FM, this morning, talk show hosts were discussing another e-mail controversy coming out of City Hall, the reported deletion of the mayor’s e-mails. On Feb. 17, an Orleans Parish Civil Court judge blasted the Nagin administration after learning that nearly all e-mails Mayor C. Ray Nagin sent and received in 2008  — and a lot of the items on his 2008 calendar — have been erased.

The hosts and the callers said they did not believe that the e-mails were not recoverable. Caller after caller, some of whom claimed to be in the IT industry, said the e-mails had to be backed up somewhere. The hosts also played a soundbyte from Nagin, in which the mayor said there are two servers: one for cityofno.com and another for mayorofno.com. Apparently, the mayor was trying to explain why council e-mails are recoverable while his are not, but I did not hear the entire interview and so I don’t know what point the mayor was trying to make. One blogger, upset about the e-mail deletion controversy, accused the city of fraud.

While so much attention is being focused on the Washington e-mail issue, a scathing report from the New Orleans inspector general’s office about the city’s crime cameras does not seem to be getting as much attention. The report, which has been turned over to the feds, claims Nagin’s technology office overpaid underperforming contractors by $4 million and vendors were not made accountable while many cameras didn’t work.•

Report: Louisiana highways face ‘funding crises’

By Deon Roberts, Online Editor

Any Louisiana resident who has driven in other states, such as during a hurricane evacuation, probably has noticed that the roadways sometimes are way better than Louisiana’s.

Now, a new report raises concerns about future funding for Louisiana’s roadways.

According to the report, released today by the Public Affairs Research, “Louisiana faces three current or imminent highway funding crises.”

Here’s more from the report:

A looming national funding crisis requires congressional action to replace the expiring transportation act and put the federal highway trust fund on a sound footing. A current crisis in the state TIMED program requires immediate state action to provide bond funding to finish two major bridge projects without raiding funds for the regular highway program. A long-term crisis of decline in purchasing power of the regular highway program’s funding requires corrective legislative action within the next couple of years.

The report says that in the long run the cost to meet the state’s transportation needs will outpace revenues.

I guess it’s good news for tire repair shops.•

Sanitation director accused of turning over e-mails

By Deon Roberts, Online Editor

I am so mad.

I have been waiting two weeks for the Nagin administration to tell me how much it would cost to get copies of city e-mails. As I still wait for a definitive answer, today I learned that the city’s sanitation director, Veronica White, reportedly turned over to an activist lawyer perhaps thousands of e-mails written by or sent to members of the City Council.

This is upsetting for at least two reasons.

First, the media are told to go through the city attorney’s office to gain access to City Hall e-mails. But the attorney, Tracie Washington, did not have to go through the process that every other member of the public has to.

Second, members of the media, such as WWL-TV, have been fighting to get access to City Hall e-mails. To see Washington get e-mails so easily seems unfair.

I’m not mad at White, though. If anything, she should be commended; she actually turned over public records to the public. Maybe she should be moved into the mayor’s press office.

Just kidding, of course.

But, seriously, what should happen to White? Should she be fired for bypassing the city attorney’s office and giving away the e-mails? And readers, why do you think she gave away the council e-mails? Could it have anything to do with her heated exchange with Councilwoman Stacy Head?•

Nagin administration still breaking records law

By Deon Roberts, Online Editor

The Nagin administration likes to say it’s transparent.

But those of us in the media continue to fight a war with Nagin’s press office simply to gain access to public records.

On Feb. 18, nearly two weeks ago, I e-mailed Ceeon Quiett, the head of the press office, asking if there would be a cost for the city to provide CityBusiness with copies of the mayor’s e-mails (the ones that haven’t been deleted, of course). Since then, I have e-mailed Quiett three times to ask her the status of my request.

I still don’t have an answer to my question about cost.

It’s not the first time the Nagin administration has broken the state’s public record’s law, which requires the release of public records in three business days. The Nagin administration has ignored the three-day deadline before for CityBusiness and WWL-TV. No doubt, the administration has disregarded the law for other news organizations, too.

Even some members of the New Orleans City Council have expressed frustration about not being able to get information from the Nagin administration, such as City Councilwoman Stacy Head, who late last year accused sanitation director Veronica White of not providing information about garbage service.

The Nagin administration violates state public records laws in other ways, not just by blowing off the three-day deadline to respond. CityBusiness reporter Jaime Guillet, in a Feb. 18, 2008, story, wrote that city officials violate the laws by requiring everyone to make a request for public records in writing.

Despite all of this, Nagin continues to say his is an open administration. As a member of the media, I beg to disagree. It’s hard to view an administration as open when it doesn’t even comply with the basics of the state’s public records law. It’s a shame that the media have to resort to lawyers and lawsuits to force the Nagin administration to comply with the law, Revised Statutes 44:1. The mayor, who is supposed to be a role model for young people, is sending the message that its OK to not comply with state laws.

This is the same mayor who said he is removing a panel to help select city contractors because it infringes on his executive powers afforded by the city’s charter. Nagin has said voters should be allowed to decide whether the charter should be changed. But by enforcing one law and breaking another, Nagin is displaying selective enforcement of laws.

Further, by not providing public records, the Nagin administration gives the impression that it has something to hide.

Transparent? Not by a long shot.•