For a part-time governor, Bobby Jindal sure enjoys more than his share of luck. Not so much the “tipped-football-splits-the-uprights” lucky, more like a “self-serving-ambition-meets-opportunity” lucky. Jindal’s received high marks for his administration’s posturing response during the oil gusher disaster. Most Louisianans seem to agree with Times-Picayune columnist Stephanie Grace, who wrote back in May that […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, Government & Politics, Investigations
City hasn't touched $10 million for courthouse repairs approved in 2000
City officials haven’t fully answered why they continue to sit on a $10 million pile of taxpayer money approved by voters a decade ago for courthouse repairs.
Posted inGovernment & Politics, Land Use
Landrieu says a redeveloped Iberville could be “one of the greatest neighborhoods”
A day before the first public meeting on a proposed redevelopment of the Iberville public housing complex, Mayor Mitch Landrieu endorsed the concept of a sweeping transformation of the Treme neighborhood. He told an audience at an affordable-housing conference today that Iberville’s proximity to streetcar lines, the French Quarter and the city’s medical district make […]
Posted inGovernment & Politics
Fielkow’s newsletter on city site pushes NORD initiative
City Council President Arnie Fielkow has issued a newsletter on the taxpayer-financed city website that urges readers to vote for an upcoming ballot initiative, but he says his actions don’t violate state laws against using public funds to influence an election. That’s because the newsletter, written by his communications director, didn’t cost anything beyond what […]
Posted inEnvironment
Council wants city to get rid of remaining FEMA trailers
More than five years after Hurricane Katrina forced thousands of New Orleanians to take up temporary residence in FEMA trailers, City Council members say it’s time for Mayor Mitch Landrieu to enforce pre-Katrina laws barring mobile homes and remove the last remaining trailers from the city. “People don’t like having these trailers right next to […]
Posted inGovernment & Politics, Land Use
Consultants at first questioned “urgent” tag of new hospital
Consultants who helped former New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin secure $75 million in federal Katrina recovery grants for the construction of a new Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Lower Mid-City initially questioned the legality of using federal disaster recovery grants for a project that would not be complete until seven to 10 years after the […]
Posted inGovernment & Politics
Garden District Assocation criticizes citizen-input plan
One of the city’s better-organized neighborhood associations is opposing a proposed citizen-participation program, saying it is too bureaucratic, too expensive and too restrictive. The Garden District Association took issue in a letter last week with a draft of the Citizen Participation Project, which seeks to give voice to residents throughout the city by establishing a […]
Posted inLand Use
HANO closes applications to redevelop Iberville complex
The first round of a competition for the redevelopment rights of the city’s last major pre-Katrina public housing complex – the Iberville development – closed today. Interested developers had until 2 p.m. to present their qualifications to work with the Housing Authority of New Orleans. About 40 developers attended a pre-submission conference held Aug. 25 […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
Landrieu relents, and opens jail-advisory meetings
Mayor Mitch Landrieu’s administration has decided to open previously secret meetings that could decide the fate of controversial jail expansion plans. Landrieu convened a stakeholders group in July, responding to concerns about Sheriff Marlin Gusman’s proposals to rebuild and expand the Orleans Parish Prison complex. But the meetings would be closed to the public, his […]
Posted inGovernment & Politics
A ripple runs ahead of a wave
Matt Davis in his recent story on The Lens gave a shallow interpretation of the ongoing campaign by a diverse group of New Orleanians who understand that a bigger jail has not and will not make our city safer.