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September 6, 2005
Mixed Feelings. . .
Dan Riehl relays a report from Mister Snitch that Mayor Nagin of New Orleans may be resigning.
I have mixed feelings about it.
On one hand, emotionally, I want to see Nagin go, his performance in dealing with Katrina has been deplorable. I hold Mayor Nagin personally responsible for the deaths of countless citizens of New Orleans. His refusal to follow the established evacuation plan for the city meant that thousands of New Orleans citizens were left behind in the city when Nagin had the ability to get them out prior to the storm hitting. I can't help but wonder what part of "Mandatory" did Mayor Nagin not understand.
On the other hand, a vacuum will exist in New Orleans if Nagin resigns. There is NO EFFECTIVE MECHANISM in the New Orleans City Charter to replace him. The charter calls for a special election within 60 days, this will prove to be completely impossible as the citizenry of New Orleans is displaced and the infrastructure necessary to conduct a special election is destroyed.
A power vacuum in New Orleans would be catastrophic for a city already reeling from a disaster. While I'd love to see Nagin go for his inability to follow the evacuation plan, for him to cut and run at this juncture would only serve to throw the city into more chaos.
There is a provision for the Mayor to appoint an "acting Mayor" in his absense, but I'm not sure that resignation meets the legal definition of "absense". New Orleans doesn't need some hotshot lawyer trying to make a name for himself taking this provision to court and further hamstringing what's left of the New Orleans civil authority.
My advice to Mayor Nagin, although it's quite certain he'll never read this, is to stick it out, suck it up, ADMIT YOUR MISTAKES, and stop blaming others for your failure. Prostrate yourself before the city and accept it's absolution.
Regardless of his failings, Nagin can still redeem himself by getting the rest of the citizenry out of the toxic soup that the city has become. Nagin needs to be pleading with the people personally and over the airwaves to leave the city for their own safety. Nagin still has the opportunity to save lives at risk, and become a leader New Orleans can find some pride in.
I want to see Nagin called to the carpet for his failings, either by admitting them himself, or having them exposed by the media or subsequent investigation. It's important that we all learn from each other's mistakes, so that when the next mayor of a major city is faced with impending disaster, he or she may think twice about going "off book" and disregarding their role in Emergency Preparedness Plans.
However, I want to make sure that New Orleans doesn't further fall into chaos, I don't think New Orleans would be well served by a second abandonment by Nagin.
Stay the course Mayor Nagin, finish the evacuation you started, and work with the rest of the nation to rebuild a slimmer, cleaner, stronger and more vibrant New New Orleans. Learn from your mistakes and take care of those who trusted you with the keys to their city, don't add insult to injury by abandoning your post a second time in the face of hardship, and allow New New Orleans to rise from the ashes of the old.
I do not forgive you for your failings, but I will, IF you accept your mistakes and learn from them.
It's doubtful that you'll be re-elected, but you said in your campaign that you wanted to build a stronger city during your tenure, here's your chance to redeem yourself and do just that, from the soggy ground up.
--Jason
PS, BTW, I beat Dan in the Blogger Babe of the Week competition.
Posted by JasonColeman at September 6, 2005 11:35 PM
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Comments
We agree - if Nagin exits in the middle of all this, it would leave a great void. There could even be a state or federal takeover of the city.
But the political pressures on Nagin right now are extraordinary. I don't mean because of the devastation, or even because of his failings in dealing with it. I mean there are pressures now for him to take the fall. His friends, if he has any left, won't lift a finger for him now. The only question is how this all plays out, but there's no question that he is going down.
Posted by: Mr. Snitch! at September 7, 2005 8:22 AM
We must not forget the manner in which government actually works, and focus on more relevant aspects other than those that seem to have face validity.
Many local governments around the nation are struggling just to stay alive for various economic reasons that we seem to forget or turn a blind eye to.
1. New Orleans is not a rich locality therefore; the state and the federal government must support evacuation efforts.
2. The evacuation plans in place were designed for a category 3 hurricane or less hence the illusion that procedures were not followed.
So before we go off and blame individuals for their negligence lets gain a systematic understanding as well as consider all of the factors that could have contributed to this disaster.
Posted by: The Dude at September 7, 2005 11:16 AM
The Dude,
Your #2 comment amazes me. The size of the storm has does not have anything to do with the evacuation plan. Whether or not the storm is a category 3, 4 or 5 doesn't affect how the city is evacuated. While it is true that the levees were designed to withstand up to a level 3 storm, the evac plan is just that, an evac plan.
Your #1 comment is equally amazing. The buses were fueled and ready to go, whether or not the city is poor or rich is immaterial. Nagin did not dispatch the buses, not because the city didn't have the funds to move them, but because Nagin didn't give the order to dispatch them. Federal funding (which is what I believe you mean in this case) wouldn't have helped get people out. There was a plan in place and it wasn't followed.
The lengths that people are going to in order to blame this on the feds, is astounding. It's almost as if people have simply forgotten that we have state and local governments who are directly responsible for being first responders and putting things like evacuation plans into place.
I for one do NOT want the federal government jumping into every situation dragging a huge bureaucracy with them. I want the local officials to take care of local matters, state officials to take care of state matters and the feds to take care of federal matters. Somewhere there is something written about all this that supports my position, oh yeah, I remember, it's called the U.S. CONSTITUTION.
--Jason
Posted by: Jason Coleman at September 8, 2005 12:58 AM
