On May 21, Ray Nagin delivered his last major address as Mayor of New Orleans. It was his annual “State of the City” speech and it was quite a spectacle with Gospel choirs, multi-media presentations, television star Wendell Pierce, a lavish spread of refreshments, and giveaways for all of the guests who attended.
Interestingly, the crowd was mostly members of the media and the Nagin administration who were required to attend. Very few regular citizens took the time and trouble to witness the extravaganza at the Mahalia Jackson Theater for the Performing Arts. Alert for the news media: it may be an interesting public records request to investigate how much tax money was used to organize this unnecessary event.
The purpose was mostly to bolster the ego of Mayor Nagin and allow him to present the best possible case for his two terms. Nagin is fighting for a better legacy, but that quest should not be funded by the struggling taxpayers of his city. There are innumerable other projects that could have benefited from the funds wasted on this spectacle.
In his address Mayor Nagin described a city on the threshold of greatness, ready for its “Atlanta moment.” Nagin touted a slew of accomplishments and claimed that much progress had been made during his seven years at City Hall. This view is in marked contrast to the opinions of most people who have watched the Mayor’s bizarre and embarrassing behavior, especially since Katrina. On
www.Abc26.com, a web poll indicated that 87.5% of the respondents believe that New Orleans is in worse shape after seven years of Nagin at the helm.
In this speech, Nagin blamed extremists in the media for creating division and negative views of New Orleans; however, the real culprit has been Nagin. The Mayor has created racial division by comments such as “ Chocolate City,” and has clearly been a dividing force, not a uniting one. He also has invited derision by making remarks such as the high murder rate helps get the “brand” of New Orleans out in the national media. In introducing the “Vagina Monologues” to New Orleans, Nagin famously claimed that he was a “vagina friendly” Mayor. And the list goes on and on, but Nagin is unwilling to take responsibility for his comments and actions and continually blames others for the damage he has caused.
Throughout his years in office, another trademark of Mayor Nagin has been his propensity to announce “big” projects that never get fulfilled. For example, he has talked about selling the airport, creating a downtown jazz park, turning Canal Street into a Las Vegas style gambling strip, just to name a few. At the Mahalia Jackson Theater, Nagin was up to his tired, old tricks. He loudly boasted of signing a “firm letter of intent” for the city to pay $7.3 million to buy the 21-story, 351,000 square foot Chevron building located in the CBD at the intersection of Gravier Street and O’Keefe Avenue. The problem is that Chevron has not made a commitment to sell the building to the City of New Orleans. The oil company is examining several different proposals and may choose to accept another offer for their building. So, Nagin implied that a deal was done, when, in fact, there is no deal.
Is it any wonder why people no longer believe Ray Nagin? If his dream becomes reality, City Hall will move to the new building and the present structure will be demolished to create a huge urban park. While it may be a good idea to move City Hall, it is not a good idea to place it in the heart of the CBD where it will not be easy for citizens to access important city offices. Parking will be a nightmare and citizens will be forced to park in expensive garages or take their chances on the streets, where nasty meter maids will be waiting to issue parking tickets. If this is a plan to issue more parking tickets and bring in more revenue for the City of New Orleans, then it is brilliant, but it is certainly not an idea that is in any way “customer friendly.”
Hopefully, this will be just another Nagin idea that is proposed and promoted as fact, but, in the end, is never implemented.