California Conservative

Robert has written a great article exposing Mayor Nagin’s incompetence. Novak’s article also reports other rebuilding facts. Here’s a few things that Novak’s reporting revealed:

Mayor Ray Nagin’s proposal to make the New Orleans central business district a Las Vegas strip of giant gambling casinos explains the business community’s disappointment with elected officials reacting to Hurricane Katrina. Before revealing the idea, Nagin did not consult his own commission on rebuilding New Orleans. “It’s not going to happen,” one commissioner told me, dismissing the mayor’s gambling scheme.

Talk about hubris. Nagin thinks he knows best about how to rebuild New Orleans. Not only that, he’s trying to do it without consulting with the commission he established to chart a course for their rebuilding. This from the fanatic who didn’t get buses to the Superdome to evacuate New Orleans. This from the fanatic who hyperventilated about 10,000 Katrina-related deaths in his city (Reality was 984.)

Nagin is described by business leaders as overwhelmed. His disorganization was reflected when neither the mayor nor his representative attended the first planning meeting last week for next year’s Mardi Gras, an event essential for reviving the city.

During his visits to cities across America, President Bush often tells attending mayors to “fix the potholes”, code for “Get the basics done first.” Nagin’s too busy daydreaming to be bothered with day-to-day details like getting the city running again.

What business leaders want most is restored government services and police protection so that businesses can reopen. After that, they feel, the magic of commerce will do its work. Business also wants a property tax holiday to begin building a smaller, better New Orleans.

This is astounding in that business leaders only think about Nagin in terms of getting routine things like restoring police protection so that “the magic of commerce” can do the heavy lifting of rebuilding a “smaller, better New Orleans.” I imagine that that isn’t appealing to Nagin, who likely wants the glory of rebuilding New Orleans.

So many poor black people are expected never to return to New Orleans that the Rev. Jesse Jackson claims a sinister plot by Bush adviser Karl Rove to send African-American voters into “perpetual exile.” More than the poor are leaving forever. Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse is moving its permanent corporate headquarters to Orlando, FL, and New Orleans may never again see its Saints football team.

What Mr. Novak’s reporting tells us is that (a) businesses are leaving for friendlier business climates; and (b) Nagin’s policies haven’t made New Orleans business-friendly.

John Besh, owner of Restaurant August and the hottest young chef in town, has turned down offers from New York and Florida to stay. He sees a New Orleans rebuilt by the people who live here, not by the politicians who make the headlines and hog the television cameras.

Mr. Besh’s statement is down-to-earth and practical. He knows that the heavy lifting will be done by the business community and that politicians will do their best to grab the headlines deserved most by private sector.

Cross-posted at BoxerWatch

This entry was posted on Monday, October 17th, 2005 at 2:34 pm and is filed under Author: Gary Gross, Domestic Policies, Liberals. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.