Mayor Nagin speaks out

[DoYouEverWonder]

Mayor Nagin speaks out

By Gordon Russell
Staff writer

Sept 10, 2005


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.

It’s not clear where Nagin will be living: His home along Bayou St. John suffered massive flooding, the mayor said, although he has not inspected it.

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.

more... (long read but definitely worth it)

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


For everyone whose been wondering why Nagin hasn't said anything, well I guess he was sort of busy and wanted to wait until a more appropriate time to come forward.

Nagin is also going to be on Meet the Press tomorrow. Should be a good one.

[leftchick]

1. omg! He will be on with Timmy?

As I read this tonight I was thinking he needed to be on the Sunday shows. I never thought he would be. Great news! Thanks DYEW!

:hi:

[David Dunham]

2. Nagin supported Bush over Gore in 2000. He now reaps what he sowed.

He also supported the Republican (Jindal) over the victorious Democrat (Blanco) for Louisiana governor.

[DoYouEverWonder]

3. Even if that is true

What does that have to do with his ability to do his job?

It seems the Repugs are the ones playing politics in the middle of the disaster by trying to punish Nagin? At one point, Nagin said he had called Bush three time in one day and Bush wouldn't take any of his calls. Isn't the President of all people suppose to rise above politics during a State of Emergency?

[wildwww2]

22. Bu$h has trouble rising above the neck of his booze bottle. That is

why it takes him so long to respond to anything. And when he finally does get off his drunken ass to rise above the top of his liquor bottle. His bought and paid for media have to make excuses for the abuse of power they have helped allow him to get away with. Because he is too bad of a public speaker to explain his intoxicated purely political self.
Peace
Wildman
Al Gore is My President

[melody]

4. then he got what he paid for

nuff said

[DoYouEverWonder]

5. Got proof?

That he suported Bush or is this just another Swift Boat rumor?

[David Dunham]

7. He contributed his own money to Bush in 2000.

[DoYouEverWonder]

8. Got a link

I wouldn't be surprised but it would be nice to have backup.

Plus apparently somewhere between now and then he switched parties it seems. Either way none of it matters. He still did a better job then anyone else involved in this mess.

[David Dunham]

10. The FEC website shows that Nagin gave Bush $1000 on 3/30/99

That's what a search on www.fec.gov shows under Nagin's name as an individual contributor.

[DoYouEverWonder]

12. Well I suppose he won't be doing that again

n/t

[melody]

14. I take the FEC link as verification he's a RW whore

Then again - Saul became Paul on the road to Damascus (of course his revelation turned him from a responsible Roman citizen INTO a wingnut, but maybe Nagin will go the other way).

[DoYouEverWonder]

15. If Saul had never become Paul

the whole world would have been better off.

Actually, if you want to get biblical, maybe this is the second coming and Jesus is a black man from New Orleans?

[melody]

17. oh, that was my point

And if there IS a "personal" God (which I personally doubt), Jesus is an old black woman from New Orleans, imo).

[FreedomAngel82]

13. Maybe he and others have learned their lessons

Don't count on republicans to come and save you. I've learned this from watching them. It's me first and damn everybody else. He used to be a republican too, right? He changed so he could get elected? Does he govern with democratic policies?

[Catherine Vincent]

6. I wonder why he went to Dallas?

Houston would be much better for him and his family than Dallas.:-)

[DoYouEverWonder]

9. Maybe he's got relatives there?

Who knows? I would think that is his business.

[Catherine Vincent]

24. Chill out.

[FreedomAngel82]

11. Good!

I can't wait to see the video. I agree with him. And he does admit mistakes which is good. And it's not fair that Bush gets a free pass. If this was Clinton, Gore or Kerry they would've been impeached by now and investigated. *sigh* I'm glad he and his family are all safe and he's speaking out.

[Tatiana]

16. Permanent link:

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

[MercutioATC]

18. Nagin needs to publicly explain exactly what he did before/after Katrina.

He needs to explain that city buses were scheduled for free evacuations and the schedule and stops were published in the newspaper. He needs to explain how school buses were used (if they were) and why he stopped using them.

I haven't seen him make these statements and I really think he needs to do it.

[Tatiana]

20. I think this interview explains things very well. Better than I've seen.

The mayor isn't in charge of the school buses, believe it or not.

[Tatiana]

21. dupe n/t

[Liberty Belle]

23. Yes, and also why there was no food or water at the

Superdome or the Convention Center. If these were announced as evacuation centers in the city's evacuation plan, it should've been the city's responsibility to stock them with supplies to last 3 days, until FEMA is expected to arrive (after the hurricane has passed). That's according to a police chief I interviewed recently, who worked in Florida during several hurricanes. He said centers should've been set up for at least a couple of days before the storm hit, since they knew it was coming.

That does NOT excuse Bush from his administration's obvious failings, but Nagin's got some 'splainin' to do, too.

[Tatiana]

25. He addresses that.

There was food and water at the Superdome. There was a system set up to give preference to the medically ill and elderly.

They simply got overwhelmed with the sheer number of people. The convention center was opened at the last minute because they couldn't accept any more people at the Superdome.

This part is just my opinion, but I think they may have expected airdrops of water and MREs from the military based upon what I've heard from other local officials.

[Tatiana]

19. This is a MUST READ!

<snip>

While 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.”

<snip>

“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.”


He also explains the whole busing issue:

“It’s up for analysis,” he said. “But we didn’t have enough buses. I don’t control the school buses, and the RTA (Regional Transit Authority) buses as far as I know were positioned high and dry. But 80 percent of the city was not high and dry. Where would we have staged them? And who was going to drive them even if we commandeered them? If I’d have marshaled 50 RTA buses, and a few school buses, it still wouldn’t have been nearly enough. We didn’t get food, water and ice in this place, and that’s way above the local level.

“Our plan was always to use the buses to evacuate to the Dome as a shelter of last resort, and from there, rely on state and federal resources.”

(I'd totally forgotton that the mayor is not in charge of the school system in NO. It's the school superintendent, if I recall.)