Undoubtedly, Mayor Ray Nagin will go down in New Orleans history as a leader who speaks his mind. Exhibit A, of course, is his 2006 remark that the city will be “chocolate at the end of the day.” Likewise, it’s impossible to forget the mayor’s Sept. 2, 2005, command to “get every doggone Greyhound bus […]
Tag: recovery
Posted inGovernment & Politics
Council delays $600 million spending plan
What does two weeks mean to the city’s recovery four and a half years after Katrina? A whole lot – if you ask the Nagin administration. Or at least that was the argument made by Deputy Chief Administrative Officer Cynthia Sylvain-Lear at a City Council meeting Thursday. Sylvain-Lear was attempting (unsuccessfully) to convince the council […]
Posted inGovernment & Politics
Forgiveness as policy
As Haiti struggles to pull itself together, French finance minister Christine Lagarde is pushing to expedite a cancellation of hundreds of millions of dollars in Haitian government debt. Haitian historian Alex von Tunzelmann said, “For all of the 19th century and most of the 20th century, Haiti was unable to develop normally” because of crushing debt. […]
Posted inGovernment & Politics, Investigations, Schools
Nagin administration moving millions in recovery money without public input
CLICK TO EXPAND staff graphic By Ariella Cohen, staff writer — In the months after Hurricane Katrina, traumatized New Orleanians turned out in droves to discuss the fate of their neighborhoods. They gave hours of their time with the understanding that their input would guide the rebuilding of their city – and help secure the […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, Government & Politics
Billionaire George Soros Increasing Involvement in New Orleans
Philanthropist and Open Society Institute Chairman George Soros Billionaire philanthropist George Soros arrived in New Orleans Tuesday to survey the progress of his foundation’s social investments, and after being in the city for less than 24 hours, he said he intends to increase his involvement in post-Katrina recovery efforts. Such expansion of giving comes at […]