Behind The Lens episode 166: ‘It seems like no one is interested in getting paid’

Reporter Michael Isaac Stein and host Carolyne Heldman talk about the 'smart cities' scandal at City Hall: what's happened and what's coming next.

On this week’s episode, reporter Michael Isaac Stein talks to host Carolyne Heldman about his reporting on the Cantrell administration’s “smart cities” project, which is now under investigation by the New Orleans City Council.

Stein discusses what’s happened so far — how the project was pitched as a solution to the city’s digital divide, then evolved into a controversy over citizens’ privacy and, ultimately, alleged contract-rigging and self-dealing — and what’s coming next in the investigation.

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Carolyne Heldman

Carolyne Heldman has been in media for 35 years, most recently as Executive Director at an NPR member station in Colorado where she was responsible for new multi-platform content initiatives, strategic planning, research, branding, and non-traditional revenue generation. During her tenure she also created and launched four weekly news, public affairs and cultural affairs programs and monthly live Town Hall broadcasts. Heldman moved to New Orleans last summer with her husband and canine companion and they live happily in The Marigny.