Why, people sign performance-based contracts all the time? Even if it’s not legally binding, why not do it anyways. It would be quite a gesture. I mean, if he’s such a different candidate, out to shake things up with bold promises and sharp language, let’s see him do something different.

What we really need from Perry and the other candidates are real, substantive proposals on crime reduction. We should demand it, but considering that most of the candidates (Perry excepted) didn’t even know what the Youth Study Center was, I don’t think we can expect much.

Let’s see him step up and sign a binding contract that he’ll cut murders below 110 per year or not run for run re-election if he were to win.

The lowest ever during that time was was 134 in 2005, but that’s not a good number because of Katrina. Next is 152 in 1985. There’s no way he’s getting the murder rate at a 20-plus -year low.

But wouldn’t Perry have to reduce the murder rate to 107, using 2008’s 179, if he wanted to cut by 40 percent?

Can me a pessimist but it would take a miracle to cut murders in New Orleans to that number.

And I couldn’t find year-by-year numbers, but I’d love to know the last time there was only a 100 murders in a year in New Orleans? I guess in the early 80s.

One recent mayor and police chief did cut the murder rate more than 50 percent. In 1994 New Orleans had more than 400 murders.. . . by 1999, the murder rate was 169. The mayor was Mark Morial and the police chief was Richard Pennington.

As soon as Nagin was first elected in 2002, he appointed his high school pal and crony Eddie Compass chief, returned the NOPD old guard to power and began to reverse the reforms that Pennington put in place, such as strict discipline, an aggresive internal affairs division, limits on outside details, better training, more effective deployment of manpower, accountability of commanders, etc. And within a year the murder rate began to soar.

Everyone who voted for Nagin the first time, back in 2002 bears some responsiblity – for buying Nagin’s total b.s. job and believing that a self styled businessman sociopath without a record of public service had the first clue about running a city government. Don’t get me wrong, Nagin is most responsible, and the blood of the murder victims is on his hands. Nagin made the conscious decision to roll back the Pennington reforms for self interested political reasons. . .Nagin has always believed that public service and government is some kind of game, not the serious, often life and death undertaking that it is.

I just hope the majority of the voters who were fooled by Nagin in 2002, the people who first put this disaster in office, will be more thoughtful and less emotional and reactionary in their decisions this time around. Nagin claimed he was going to usher in an era of efficiency and integrity, and what we’ve suffered through is anything but that. The Meffert/Bentech/NORA/S&WB/Municipal Auditorium/Public Library scandals will make the past corruption scandals look like a kid shoplifting a candy bar. Just the crime camera scandal alone likely cost dozens lives, since it was Nagin’s only response to the soaring murder rate and the whole thing turned out to be nothing more than a way for Meffert and Nagin’s other cronies to rip off tens of millions of dollars of taxpayer money.

All that said, and history aside, the challenge is on James Perry now to convinces us and tell us exacly how he will cut the murder rate by 40 percent. Promises are nice, but for voters to have confidence, Perry needs a real plan, not just the rhetoric. We should demand the same of all of the candidates, especially the ones who didn’t even know what the Youth Study Center was.

The real controversy is his campaign manager claiming the beeps could mean anything and that he’s an Eagle scout. I mean really who claims that? Most guys will say “Boy Scout” or “yeah about that, I don’t like to talk about my childhood.”