Nagin tells journalists the story’s about rebuilding
Craig Young/NABJ Convention Online
New Orleans Mayor C. Ray Nagin speaks at NABJ
Plenary session.
By Necie Green
NABJ Online Convention Staff
C. Ray Nagin, mayor of New Orleans, is adamant that he will rebuild his city.
And that, he said, is the story that now needs to be told nearly one year after Hurricane Katrina pummeled the Gulf Coast.
Nagin faced tough questions from journalists at a plenary session today at NABJ’s national convention regarding his decision-making both before and after the storm hit. He was also questioned about the slow process of rebuilding in New Orleans, compared with other hurricane-stricken cities.
The journalists on the panel, which was moderated by Michele Norris of National Pubic Radio, had covered the Gulf Coast disaster and its aftermath.
Although he accepted responsibility for giving the order to evacuate later than he should have, Nagin defended his decision by saying that Hurricane Katrina sparked the city’s first evacuation in history and that there were no real plans in place. He said there should not be any problems with future storms.
“History is being written as we speak,” said Nagin.
He blamed bureaucracy in Louisiana for the inability to restore the city as quickly as he envisioned. According to Nagin, billions of dollars have been allocated for the rebuilding effort but the city has yet to receive the designated funds.
Nagin estimated that it will be five to seven years before New Orleans returns to its pre-hurricane condition. He stressed that there are no longer any low-wage jobs in the city, with jobs at Burger King averaging $10 per hour.
However, he suggested that former residents who are doing well in a new city remain there for at least several more months until there is more housing available to accommodate them in New Orleans.
Nagin said schools, hospitals and housing are steadily becoming available, but he said reconstruction will not be a quick process.
It is amazing that it has taken almost one year for our Mayor to become “adamant” about something. He stated that “he will rebuild his city”. If the last year is any indication, and the city of New Orleans was “his” child, I would hope that Children’s Services would be called in for an intervention.
Mayor Nagin accepted responsibility for giving the order to evacuate later than he should have. However, he should have accepted responsibility for NOT having a response plan IN PLACE prior to the storm. The threat of any storm with the magnitude of Katrina has loomed long and large throughout the history of this City. His first term in office was in the early dawn of the 21st Century and yet the plan for the city predates the first monsterous storm this city had experienced. The sloughing off of the Levees in Lakeview (which were reported quite often by Lakeview Residents prior to Katrina) should have sent warning to the Mayor and the city that something was truly amiss. Not to mention the extreme erosion of our Wetlands and Coast which are the first defenses in our below sea level City.
Mayor Nagin stated to your panel that “there should not be any problems with future storms”. There already is a problem. There is still NO PLAN in place. At least none that the Residents of the City are aware of. However, we hear periodically, that throughout his Press Junkets, he reveals his ideas of the Rebirth of New Orleans to other cities: Atlanta, Dallas, Memphis, Chicago. He has yet to truly address us, the Citizens of New Orleans.
“History is being written as we speak”, he relayed to your panel. Unfortunately, History was already written on August 29th, 2006. Mayor Nagin seems solely Hell-Bent on repeating it.
We have yet to see a true Vision of Rebuilding and Restoring in this City. We have seen too many fly-by-night schemes (i.e. Casinos! In Every Hotel!)since the water drained from our streets. Bureaucracy in Louisiana is not to blame for not having even a solid outline of restoration to give the Citizens with the hope that the State and Federal Government will respond.
Five to Seven YEARS before New Orleans returns to it’s “pre-hurricane condition”? Oh, the horror of that thought. Why would the Mayor believe that New Orleans returning to “pre-hurricane condition” is a good thing? If the City returns to “PHC”, we are doomed once again to repeat History which includes: a deplorable school system, continual violence, a large portion of the population jammed up into self-oppressed generations of the Welfare System, no self-respect among the young men who kill each other over turf, drugs, a “dis” by another, and so on and so forth. A $10 per hour job at Burger King will not raise up this City. We need salaried positions that will attract both young and old, bright and talented and ever hopeful people of ALL Races. $10 an hour is still better than minimum wage, yet it is still not a Living Wage, in any City.
I am heartened by the fact that our Mayor is now “adamant that he will rebuild his city”.
I am disheartened by the fact that it has taken almost one year to hear this from him and that he stated this not to the Citizens of New Orleans, but to a panel in another City, in another State.
I totally agree with TrenchTownNO - what a way to write - AMEN - but for some stupid reason the people of N.O. decided to re-elect that moron of a leader. After even listening to him on the T.V. I feel like I need a shower. I guess the people of N.O are just gluttens for punishment by allowing that true politician to once again lead them. If ya want something different you have to do things differently - guess a disaster has not even taught them. So sorry about stupidity!
Ignorance and arrogance doom Nagin to failure!
Obviously afraid of personal responsibility.
Years from now New Orleans will still be in
a mess and Nagin will still be blaming everyone
and everything for his inept ability to deal with
such a tragedy.
Leaders (and I use that term with reservation)
like Nagin, rather than leading, find it safer
to talk loud, curse hard, and blame everyone
and everything for their failures to accomplish
a task.
Real leaders don’t make excuses, they make progress.
I weep and pray for the dear people of N O. who are
caught in the midst of such a tragedy without a
decisive leader.