The city has paid the private company managing the bulk of New Orleans’ recovery projects more than $3 million for work actually done by city employees, according to an internal memo written by the ousted city capital projects director just weeks before he left City Hall. Bill Chrisman wrote in the Feb. 20 memo that […]
Tag: recovery
Posted inGovernment & Politics
Contractor for recovery oversight is overcharging, says ousted city official
Controversial contractor MWH Global, which serves as the project manager for most major city recovery projects, is billing the city at a higher rate than allowed for in federally subsidized projects, according to an internal city memo obtained by The Lens. “…MWH has grossly exceed [sic] the 8% cap max fee allowable for project billing,” […]
Posted inGovernment & Politics
Police station not ‘evicted,’ developer says
See the coverage of this story from our partners at Fox8 News No good deed goes unpunished. That was how real estate developer Pres Kabacoff ended an e-mail sent recently to New Orleans City Councilwoman Cynthia Hedge-Morrell. The good deed in question was Kabacoff loaning space for a temporary 5th District police headquarters. The punishment, […]
Posted inGovernment & Politics, Schools
Donation boosts Web site and city staff, not citizen-participation efforts
A $503,700 grant was supposed to encourage citizen involvement in government, but nothing has been done to put people in the chairs of the City Council’s chambers. By Ariella Cohen, staff writer – A year and a half after the city of New Orleans received a half-million-dollar donation to foster citizen involvement in the recovery, […]
Posted inGovernment & Politics
City running months behind in paying architects
If you build it, they will pay. Or so the architects thought. Government is fondly seen by architects as a source of sizable and reliable, if often unglamorous, work. In a recession, a contract for a public school, library or community center could sustain a small firm for months – or so said industry lore. […]
Posted inGovernment & Politics
Less than 5% of certain recovery money spent, administration says
More than two years after New Orleans was given permission to begin drawing down federal recovery grants, the city has spent less than 5 percent of the $300 million in grant money appropriated in the city’s operating budget, the city’s chief technology officer Harrison Boyd told the City Council today. The amount totals $11 million, […]
Posted inGovernment & Politics, Schools
Unused city money dating to the 1980s raises questions, ire.
The Gert Town pool has sat almost untended since Katrina By Ariella Cohen, staff writer – In the Garden District, a decaying Prytania Street church is on the market for $1.8 million after years of neglect by its owner. In eastern New Orleans, Lincoln Beach lies fallow, tides from Lake Pontchartrain washing over its debris-strewn […]
Posted inGovernment & Politics
Let’s hope the second time is a charm
New Orleans officials again are taking bids to oversee and manage a long-awaited grant program for grocers serving low-income communities. Known as the Fresh Food Retail Initiative, the $7 million federally funded program was stalled last month when U.S. Housing and Urban Development officials, who are providing the money, balked at the city’s bidding process. […]
Posted inGovernment & Politics
Let’s hope the second time is a charm
New Orleans officials again are taking bids to oversee and manage a long-awaited grant program for grocers serving low-income communities. Known as the Fresh Food Retail Initiative, the $7 million federally funded program was stalled last month when U.S. Housing and Urban Development officials, who are providing the money, balked at the city’s bidding process. […]
Posted inGovernment & Politics
A delay in finding out about the recovery delays
No one can say the last two weeks in New Orleans have been uneventful. The Saints broke the team’s Super Bowl drought and their fans beat the NFL in a battle over who owns “Who Dat.” Watergate Junior made national headlines out of the security, or lack thereof, at Hale Boggs Federal Building and Krewe […]