NO Mayor Speaks Out (Breaking news from Times Picayune)

[doxieone]

Times Picayune site

Mayor Nagin speaks out

By Gordon Russell
Staff writer

In a stark reminder of how drastically Hurricane Katrina has impacted the lives of New Orleanians, Mayor Ray Nagin has purchased a home for his family in Dallas and enrolled his young daughter in school there.

Nagin, who spoke with The Times-Picayune by telephone from Dallas, where he has been since Wednesday, said he planned to return to New Orleans on Saturday. He said he will remain in the Crescent City while his family lives for the next six months in Dallas, making occasional visits to his family when possible.

(snip)

(MUCH MUCH more)

Back with link.

http://www.nola.com/newslogs/breakingtp/

(more) --- Scroll down to get to article.

[justiceischeap]

1. I heard a report that all of the property in LA

Is going fast, almost impossible to find.

[Courtesy Flush]

75. My cousin was evicted

The house was sold out from under her (Baton Rouge). They can forget about finding another place. There's nothing.

[HereSince1628]

2. Maybe they have relatives in Dallas?

I can't see a reason why when most NO evacuees aren't in LA he should keep his family there. Doing something for the image doesn't seem like Nagin's recent or immediate concerns

[doxieone]

4. You are right. I had already changed that one line about

him buying property in TX.

[stray cat]

3. He is looking out for his family?

(please note the sarcasm).

[lindisfarne]

5. link to article (the one given above will not be current in a day or so)

http://www.nola.com/newslogs/breakingtp/index.ssf?/mtlogs/nola_Times-Picayune/archives/2005_09_10.html#078692

[doxieone]

6. Thanks for posting this!

[Lochloosa]

7. "I was in the Fire" nice line...."Where were they?"

In a brief but wide-ranging interview, the mayor reflected on the tragedies of the past two weeks, acknowledging that he may have made some mistakes but said that he hopes others in positions of authority – including President George W. Bush and Gov. Kathleen Blanco -- are scrutinized as closely as he and his staff have been.
“I’m not pointing any fingers at anyone,” Nagin said. “But I was in the fire. I was down there. Where were they? I’m confident the truth is gonna come out. But I want everybody’s record analyzed just as hard as mine.
“Listen, this was unprecedented. Nothing has ever happened like this. For people to sit back and say, ‘You should have done this, you should have done that’ … it’s Monday morning quarterbacking. They can shoot if they want, but I was there, and I will have the facts.”
Nagin’s biggest frustration, and his biggest source of puzzlement, is the slow pace with which relief arrived. He said state and federal officials made repeated promises that weren’t kept.

[Melinda]

8. Whoa.... Read this!!

<snip>

“I’m not pointing any fingers at anyone,” Nagin said. “But I was in the fire. I was down there. Where were they? I’m confident the truth is gonna come out. But I want everybody’s record analyzed just as hard as mine.

“Listen, this was unprecedented. Nothing has ever happened like this. For people to sit back and say, ‘You should have done this, you should have done that’ … it’s Monday morning quarterbacking. They can shoot if they want, but I was there, and I will have the facts.”

Nagin’s biggest frustration, and his biggest source of puzzlement, is the slow pace with which relief arrived. He said state and federal officials made repeated promises that weren’t kept.
“This is ridiculous,” he said. “I mean, this is America. How can we have a state with an $18 billion budget and a federal government with an I don’t know how many trillion dollar budget, and they can’t get a few thousand people onto buses? I don’t get that.

“All I saw was a huge two-step, if you will, between the federal government and the state as far as who had the final authority. Promises made that weren’t really kept. It was frustrating. We’d analyze things, double-check them, and then, later in the afternoon, we’d find out that someone was changing the plan, moving resources around.”

<snip>

Nagin has previously said he didn’t think the slow response was related to the demographic of the overwhelmingly poor, African-American crowd that needed rescuing, his thinking has evolved.
Definitely class, and the more I think about it, definitely race played into this,” he said. How do you treat people that just want to walk across the bridge and get out, and they’re turned away, because you can’t come to a certain parish? How do resources get stacked up outside the city of New Orleans and they don’t make their way in? How do you not bring one piece of ice? “If it’s race, fine, let’s call a spade a spade, a diamond a diamond. We can never let this happen again. Even if you hate black people and you are in a leadership position, this did not help anybody.”

=====================

It's surreal.

[Name removed]

9. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

10. Welcome to DU, and you are spot on

with that post.

[Seabiscuit]

12. I don't buy this crap about condemning Blanco. She could *not* deliver

any relief Wednesday, Thursday or Friday because those were the days Bush was trying to force her to accept his total control of the LA national guard and declare martial law so he could award all reconstruction contracts to Halliburton, et. al. While Bush was playing that politically sinister game, FEMA was refusing any aid to NOLA and blocking efforts by others to get into NOLA, even cutting communications lines in NOLA to foul things up even more. Blanco should be applauded for standing up to Bush and refusing to be pushed around.

The STATE WAS NOT THE CAUSE OF THE DELAYS!!! It was Bush and FEMA, and ONLY BUSH AND FEMA!!!

Someone needs to educate the NOLA Mayor about all this. He obviously still doesn't get it.

[Name removed]

13. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Media_Lies_Daily]

14. Bull. Pure Grade A, unadulterated, "GOP talking points" bull....

....nice try, but no cigar.

[leftchick]

20. did you notice?

"his people"..... :eyes:

[ElectroPrincess]

27. Yes, says more than one could hope for ... like ... busted! :P

"He couldn't do it because there was NO PLACE TO EVACUATE his people to." :thumbsdown:

[creeksneakers2]

15. I disagree with some of your facts

The Times-Picayune,as events unfolded,and the New York Times today both said there were police and National Guard in the Superdome. Supplies were in place, but not as much as was needed for an extended stay. There weren't widespread rapes in the Superdome, and I haven't heard of any by the police.

The big problem was at the convention center, which nobody ever planned to send anybody to.

Also: Louisiana did put 4,000 guards in the city right away. That's about all they had.

[Zenlitened]

17. I'm not sure the poster's claims rise to the level of facts, - n/t

[Zenlitened]

16. Any links to support some of these claims?

She flat-out refused him, refuse to call out guard, etc.

:shrug:

[Name removed]

18. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Zenlitened]

19. Well, I've read about about Nagin vs. Blanco in the Washington Times...

... and other ain't-worth-shit sources. Nothing I would consider credible. :crazy:

[DoYouEverWonder]

25. He did get 80% of the people out

That's pretty damn good, considering the best anyone thought was possible would be 60%.

[rfkrfk]

40. I don't see the connection

if there is an argument at the top,
that is not a reason for Blanco to tell
the National Guard and the State Police to do nothing.
Blanco's order to keep the Red Cross et-al, out of the city,
is not helpful

[Seabiscuit]

50. There is no factual basis for your claims.

Blanco *never* told the National Guard and State Police to do nothing.
They were fully utilized every day but their numbers were grossly insufficient, which is why she formally demanded federal aid before the storm hit.

Note that a high percentage of LA's National Guard was in Iraq when the storm hit (and is still there).

Blanco didn't order the Red Cross to keep out of the city. Bush, through FEMA, *prevented* the Red Cross from entering NOLA.

[rfkrfk]

54. Fema is not law enforcement

Blanco is commander-in-chief of the National Guard
and the state police, so the decision to
exclude the Red Cross and other NGOs from N.O.
is entirely hers.

[conservdem]

55. I also do not understand why she did not order her National Guard

toops in there.

I think that FEMA, Brown, and Bush have the most to answer for, but I think its fair to question the Gov. and Mayor about what where they may have made mitakes.

[Seabiscuit]

59. You need to check your facts.

The ONLY people blocking the Red Cross and others from entering NOLA that week were FEMA people. Period. Look it up and quit libeling Governor Blanco.

[rfkrfk]

62. Blanco pays the National Guard...

and the State Police

the people with guns, work for Blanco

[Seabiscuit]

65. So that's all you've got as evidence to support your claims?

I didn't really expect you to quote Sean Hannity or Rush Limbaugh, after all. That would have been worse.

[rfkrfk]

67. if Blanco goes along with what Fema recommends, that is her choice

or perhaps, she should tell Fema to get lost,
and take her case directly to Congress,
with that said,
there could be {likely are} influences on Blanco,
legal and otherwise, that we don't know about.

Her silence on issues such as:
what conditions need to be met before
people are allowed back...
is not helpful.

[Seabiscuit]

70. You've changed your tune.

First you claimed it was all Blanco's fault.

Now you're saying it was Bush's fault, but Blanco didn't do enough to stop him from getting away with it?

There are a lot of unanswered questions, and I personally think Blanco needs to start speaking up soon about all the details, especially about what the Bush people did to her in detail. But we do know from all the reports that have come in so far that FEMA was the entity responsible for turning aid away that could have helped during those crucial days, that FEMA people cut the communications lines (which the LA sheriffs had to repair and then stand guard over) and that FEMA exaggerated the danger of violence, pretending it was "unsafe" to enter the city.

[conservdem]

48. Why would the Mayor point to her if the state could not deliver.

Is he totally wrong about this?

[Seabiscuit]

49. I don't think Nagin is very aware of *why* more aid was not there sooner.

So he blames both state and federal sources. If he knew what Bush was up to with Blanco and how he had FEMA *blocking* aid, including Red Cross aid during those critical days he'd realize Blanco's efforts were thwarted by Bush, and Bush witheld aid from Blanco to pressure Blanco into capitulating to his demand to federalize all relief efforts (not just the LA national guard) which Blanco steadfastly refused to go along with because it would be tantamount to allowing Bush to declare martial law, and she would lose all control of events in her own state (including law enforcement and awarding of reconstruction contracts).

Wow, there's a run-on sentence for ya! :)

[conservdem]

56. While she was refusing Bush, couldn't she at the sametime have

sent in the state police and or national guard over which I think she had athoirty.

Bush, FRMA, and Brown are mostly responible, but at this point I think the Gov. and Mayor have some blame too.

[Seabiscuit]

60. Who do you think was helping people at the Superdome?

The LA national guard, on Blanco's orders.

[Helga Scow Stern]

53. Nagin just said on Meet the Press that he blames Blanco, not Bush.

It made my stomach turn.

[conservdem]

57. Did he say why he blames her?

[Seabiscuit]

61. He needs to talk to Blanco and get his facts straight.

Unfortunately, he's understandably become a very emotional man, but at some point he's got to open his mind and start receiving some real information before mouthing off.

[Igel]

63. So you're saying he's actually clueless about who he's

talked to and what he properly expected, aren't you?

Gee. That's a few orders of magnitude worse than saying he made mistakes. It's saying he's far too incompetent to be responsible for any mistakes, or even be aware he's not responsible.

[DoYouEverWonder]

22. Nice analogy

Nagin was definitely in the fire and it is estimated that he got 80% of the people out. That's a huge number of people to move.

HS/FEMA did nothing for the people of LA before the storm and for 5 days later do little and at times even prevented others from helping the people. The freeper mindset that has taken over much of the Bush Administration would rather have let them all drown.


BTW: Welcome to DU :hi:

[rustydad]

26. Exactly right!

Blame the black Democrat major. The are trying to *Powell* him as in Colin Powell who found himself the expendable black after lying to the UN and the world. Bush et al is pure evil. bob

[ElectroPrincess]

28. Yes, the FACT about cronyism within the * administration one

should not ever forget is this: They will USE groups by the wedge issues, but to really be ONE of them you must be totally loyal, koolaide drinking, never challenging the junta and part of the investor class that's accumulated at least 3 million dollars in wealth. Not one propaganda spewing upper middle class Bushite is really part of the team. Down the road, when these people are financially screwed, the cronies of BushCo. will find it amusing that they could FOOL so many people. Bush's true base are the wealthy, not the evangelicals, nor the right wing nut-cases.

Powell crossed swords with Rummy. Big mistake! His disagreements with the Neo-cons were interpreted as disloyalty to the BushCo. inner circle.

I can't believe a man as intelligent as Powell could not see that by being somewhat "free thinking" he would not ever be part of this cabal?

[rustydad]

30. Agreed

The bottom line is that the cabal is truly insane. There is no other description for it. And it will end in disaster for it and likely us. I fear for the nation and my family, and the world. bob

[MADem]

43. And to make matters worse, he was a Black party switcher

He switched from R to D when he ran...if being of African ancestry isn't enough to get them pissed at you, refusing to stay a toady is grounds for a full-bore attack!

Before his election, Nagin was a member of the Republican Party and had little political experience; he was a vice president and general manager at Cox Communications, a cable communications company and subsidiary of Cox Enterprises. Nagin did give contributions periodically to candidates, namely President George W. Bush and former Republican U.S. Representative Billy Tauzin in 1999 and 2000, as well as to Democratic U.S. Senators John Breaux and J. Bennett Johnston earlier in the decade.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ray_Nagin

[KharmaTrain]

32. That's A Shot At The Sherrif Of Gretna

I keep wondering why there's no story about what this goon did to add to the suffering in NOLA.

He stationed armed guards on the Crecent City Connection refusing to let people cross over to the dry "West Bank" that could have helped alleviate a lot of the suffering. Also busses and trucks with water and other supplies were also either hijacked or prevented from crossing.

There's a great story from a San Francisco doctor about a gruesome night on that bridge.

Why is this sherrif allowed to skate without anyone investigating this?

[Melinda]

34. Yep, the Sheriff of a 2/3 "white" populated parish..

Stopped victims trying to leave NO after the levee broke, along with 2 other Parishes (Jefferson and ?); boxed them in like animals to die. I too wonder why this and the subsequent "Convention Center" fiasco aren't front and center yet.

Dare I hope?

Did I mention how much I fucking hate George Bush?

[Name removed]

37. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[KharmaTrain]

39. Not The One Who Sat On The Bridge With A Shotgun

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=4717479

This one prevented people from leaving the city...

Unfortunately, our sinking feeling (along with the sinking City) was
correct. Just as dusk set in, a Gretna Sheriff showed up, jumped out of his patrol vehicle, aimed his gun at our faces, screaming, "Get off the fucking freeway". A helicopter arrived and used the wind from its blades to blow away our flimsy structures. As we retreated, the sheriff loaded up his truck with our food and water. Once again, at gunpoint, we were forced off the freeway. All the law enforcement agencies appeared threatened when we congregated or congealed into groups of 20 or more. In every congregation of "victims" they saw "mob" or "riot". We felt safety in numbers. Our "we must stay together" was impossible because the agencies would force us into small atomized groups.


and here's another one

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=4730214

This isn't racist, this isn't partisan...this is inhuman.

[DoYouEverWonder]

52. Especially since his goons are still "kicking butt" over there

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=104&topic_id=4734224&mesg_id=4734224

[oblivious]

45. "Even if you hate black people..."

My only source of news during the first 5 days of the crisis was CNN, and I saw they got very excited when Kanye West said "G Bush doesn't care about black people." They played it over and over. They went to people like Jesse Jackson asking him if he agreed. They seem disappointed with Jesse's "Well, if he does, he doesn't show it." and kept trying to get other interviewees to come out and say it as directly as Kanye had.

One announcer said something like, "We aren't afraid of dealing with the race issue here at CNN" as they kept trying. At first I thought they just wanted to generate controversy, but then I got the feeling they really agreed with what Kanye said and wanted to deal with it.

It's the first time I watched CNN in a decade and I was sort of surprised. It's like they wanted to shout it out, but hoped to get others to do that instead.

Now Mayor Nagin has finally come out and said it: "Even if you hate black people and you are in a leadership position..."

I mean it's staring everyone in the face.

[JNelson6563]

11. Nominated!

Very interesting article, thanks for posting!

[leftchick]

21. The Question of the Day! This DID NOT HAPPEN in Mississippi!

Hot Damn! He is on fire and absolutely honest in his remarks. Not like the ass covering cowards in the WH....


<snip>

Why were people promised resources and they didn’t show up? Where were the military resources? Where was the National Guard? Why were we left with a city on the verge of collapse, fighting for the soul of the city, with 200 National Guardsmen and 1,200 police?

“It was a serious breakdown,” the mayor continued. “Make sure that whether it’s Ray Nagin or the governor or the president, we take a serious look at this and make the changes that need to be made. I’m afraid some of this was a tug-of-war about who gets to spend the money at the end of the day. And I don’t appreciate that.

“I saw too many people die, and a lot of people didn’t see any of that. They had a press conference and left. I’m looking up, fighting this incredible battle, and they’re doing press conferences and lying to the people. They’re telling them 40,000 troops are in New Orleans. It was all bull.”

“Analyze my ass, analyze everyone’s ass, man. Let’s put the facts on the table and talk turkey. Why was there a breakdown at the federal and state level only in Louisiana? This didn’t happen in Mississippi. That’s the question. That’s the question of the day.”
Nagin acknowledged that the city’s communications essentially shut down, but said that state and federal officials were likewise at a loss. Within a few days, city officials, including chief technology officer Greg Meffert, aided by outside volunteers, including a crew from Unisys, were able to patch together a rough network.

[DoYouEverWonder]

23. Nagin asked FEMA for helicopters before the levees broke

Nagin knew that the 17th Street Levee was in trouble. He had sandbags ready, all he needed was helicopters. FEMA said that were on the way. Hours later when they didn't show up, Nagin was told the helicopters were diverted. He knew at that moment that his city was doomed. There's audio of him during the storm. Some of it is heartbreaking.


August 30, 2005

New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin is "very upset" that an attempt to fix the breach in the levee at the 17th Street canal has failed, and he said the challenges that the city is facing have "escalated to another level."

"The sandbagging that we had hoped would happen didn't materialize today, so the water continued to rise at that particular location," he said.

In an exclusive interview with WDSU anchor Norman Robinson, Nagin said the rising water has caused the generators to stop operating because the water got too high. Due to that, Nagin said he's been advised by the head technician at the sewage and water board that water in the east bank area of Orleans and Jefferson parishes will rise to levels equal to Lake Pontchartrain.

"It's going to rise to 3 feet above seal level. For example, St. Charles Avenue is 6 feet below sea level, there will most likely be 9 feet of water on St. Charles Avenue," Nagin said.

Also, if residents are in a part of city that is 10 feet below sea level, Nagin said the levels will probably rise to 13 feet of water.

He said the "bowl is now filling up" and the entire city will soon be underwater.

http://www.wdsu.com/weather/4917809/detail.html

[rfkrfk]

38. Nagin should have called the Coast Guard, they have helicopters

If you call Fema needing helicopters,
Fema will call the Coast Guard.

[Bucky]

41. Chain of command issues. Coast Guard will tell you "call FEMA 1st"

There's procedures set up for this sort of thing--that's what a bureaucracy like Homeland Security is all about: setting up procedures. So, no, calling the Coast Guard wouldn't save time and it would give the feds another reason to try and pin it all on the locals. Nagin and New Orleans were screwed coming and going.

[rfkrfk]

42. response

here are two stories I've read.

...........

because of the MOVING water, the sandbags
were not staying in place, so they gave up

The first/only responding helicopter{s} were/was Coast Guard.
my assupmtion is, since they have other duties,
you should not count on being their only concern.

............

who promised what to who, when?

does Fema operate an aviation 'company-brigade',
{other than moving VIPs}
or are they limited to asking/ordering for helicopters from others.

[DoYouEverWonder]

44. He shouldn't have had to call anyone else

Since FEMA told him that they were sending the copters.

[rfkrfk]

46. who would make this decision?

suppose all the Coast Guard helicopters are busy except one...

there are people on a roof that need help, now , and
there is a problem leaking levee, but you think there
is only a 5% chance that immediate action will make
any difference.

Fema local
Fema national
Coast Guard local
Coast Guard national
Homeland Security
the White House

[lumpy]

66. Bush should have contacted all available

agencies IMMEDIATELY and demanded they get all their asses to Louisiana NOW.

[DoYouEverWonder]

68. Not all helicopters even have the equipment to rescue humans

Picking up people is different then picking up sandbags. FEMA should have had enough resources ready to handle both.

[fleabert]

64. shocking that you have your profile disabled...nt

[Bridget Burke]

69. But hardly surprising.

Glad the Search feature is back!

[fleabert]

73. there seems to be a lot of this lately, huh?

I guess it comes with more traffic...sigh.

[faithnotgreed]

24. bottom line: if there was the will to save lives it would

have gotten done
period

this nonsense that the feds were on vacation when this happened or werent aware that many thousands were in the convention center etcetc is bs and should be called such
i like nagins fight

[moobu2]

29. Very, Very Important point. “This did not happen in Mississippi”

[DawnneOBTS]

31. Yeah, because of the fat-assed Republican governor n/t

[sandnsea]

35. It DID happen in Mississippi

Not as bad, but they had problems in Mississippi too. It's just that Barbour won't tell the truth about it.

[HeeBGBz]

71. I never saw Fema or Red Cross in the 10 days after Katrina

You had to be put on hold for indefinite amounts of time on the Fema phone line.

I finally left the state.

There was a smattering of National Guard, but most were in Iraq. It was 4-5 days before the larger deployment of NG came in.

Church groups, private donations fed me. Law enforcement kept things as safe as they could without outside help.

[Roy]

33. I think this great news....

He wasn't pointing any fingers at the Governor, he was just not speaking for her.
He clearly pointed where the problems were and made note that he welcomes the scrutiny.
I'm sure that he will insure that those who are really responsible for these events will receive the same scrutiny, noting also that the facts are on his side.

[Whoa_Nelly]

36. Is the page listed in the OP archived ?

It's not up on the Latest Breaking News on the Times-Picayune Weblog site, and I can't find a search archive link there.

Would like to read the whole article
Thanks

[Spazito]

47. The archive link is just right of the logs, in small print which says

Times Picayune news index, click on that, then clink on Sept 10 archive, scroll down and the article is there, about half-way down the page.

[Whoa_Nelly]

58. Thanks!

Definitely an article well wortht he read. Have archived it on my PC.

[MellowOne]

51. Nagin was screaming for help

Over and over, we all heard it on televison. But Bush was on vacation, getting on with his life.

[marshall]

72. Better than a cot in the Superdome

A house in Dallas sure beats a cot in the Superdome. I think it is a stark reminder of the vast differences in the options that the poor have as compared to the affluent.

[AngryAmish]

74. Mayor Nagin is the best we have

I don't see the point in bashing him.