ON NEW ORLEANS RADIO MAYOR NAGIN NOT AFRAID TO AIR OUT ALL THE LAUNDRY
Don't expect Mayor Ray Nagin to start holding his tongue just because his tenure at New Orleans City Hall is nearing an end.
Nagin, whose penchant for provocative commentary is well-documented, was at full throttle Thursday as he sat down for an interview on WBOK radio. He opined on issues ranging from his desire to pare down the number of mayoral and City Council contenders to his legacy to the "double standard" applied to New Orleans elected officials when it comes to corruption.
Just as he's done during past appearances on WBOK, which targets a mostly black audience, Nagin's responses had strong racial undertones, though the mayor never directly mentioned race.
Regarding the upcoming 2010 municipal elections, Nagin told listeners that "these are some dangerous, interesting times."
When it comes to the mayoral contest, he said: "I think if we're not careful, we could get a candidate in there who could really do some damage to the community -- to all of New Orleans -- for a long time to come."
The mayor did not say which candidates he thinks would pose such a threat.
Nagin also warned of "a major shift in political power, not only at the mayor's seat, but at the council. We've already seen it at the DA, " he said in an apparent reference to the victory last year by Leon Cannizzaro, the city's new chief prosecutor, who is white. Cannizzaro replaced Eddie Jordan, New Orleans' first African-American district attorney, who resigned under pressure in 2007.
Noting that the Feb. 6 mayoral primary falls on the first parading weekend of the Mardi Gras season and the day before a Super Bowl that could feature the New Orleans Saints, Nagin said if there is an unengaged electorate, "you could have trouble."
Nagin said the community must "figure out a way to consolidate around one or two candidates" in the key political races,
Asked by morning talk show host Gerod Stephens if some candidates should "step down, " Nagin said, "I think at some point that needs to happen." Of the seven announced major mayoral candidates, four are African-American and three are white.
Nagin added that he is ready to participate in such a conversation. "I will do what I can, yeah, absolutely, " he said.
To that end, Nagin said he plans to commission sociologist Silas Lee to do a poll in January. "And then we'll sit down and take a look at what we need to do."
Nagin also was asked by Stephens whether he thinks there is a "plot to get you hooked up in some corruption, " an apparent reference to the recent indictment of Greg Meffert, his former chief technology officer.
Nagin said he has reasons to support the theory, though he never said who might be out to get him.
"I just watch the motion of how things are done in this city as it relates to investigations and how the public is sometimes manipulated into thinking something, " he said.
Nagin said he's been "personally demonized to the point where they're trying now to suggest everything else has not worked." He said "they're trying now to suggest I'm taking money, I'm hooking people up or I'm part of something that Greg Meffert did while he was in office."
Nagin said if he had known that Meffert was paying for Nagin family vacations with a credit card billed to a City Hall vendor, "I would have said, 'No, thank you.'"
Asked whether "this Meffert thing" will "come back on you, " Nagin said, "I don't see it."
The mayor also offered his take on the scandal that has engulfed Tim Whitmer, the chief administrative officer in Jefferson Parish, grabbing headlines for weeks. Nagin suggested that historically, government corruption in suburban parishes does not attract as much news media or public attention as similar transgressions in New Orleans.
"I think there's a double standard, " he said. "If you look at what goes on in New Orleans, it's highlighted, it's amplified and it gives the appearance that everyone's involved in it. You know, they paint us all with the same brush."
Nagin said other parishes "get the benefit of the doubt, " adding that rumors about skullduggery in Jefferson have been swirling for a long time. "We have vendors who deal with both parishes and they tell us horror stories about what they experience in other parishes, but that never comes out in the press, " he said.
Nagin, whose penchant for provocative commentary is well-documented, was at full throttle Thursday as he sat down for an interview on WBOK radio. He opined on issues ranging from his desire to pare down the number of mayoral and City Council contenders to his legacy to the "double standard" applied to New Orleans elected officials when it comes to corruption.
Just as he's done during past appearances on WBOK, which targets a mostly black audience, Nagin's responses had strong racial undertones, though the mayor never directly mentioned race.
Regarding the upcoming 2010 municipal elections, Nagin told listeners that "these are some dangerous, interesting times."
When it comes to the mayoral contest, he said: "I think if we're not careful, we could get a candidate in there who could really do some damage to the community -- to all of New Orleans -- for a long time to come."
The mayor did not say which candidates he thinks would pose such a threat.
Nagin also warned of "a major shift in political power, not only at the mayor's seat, but at the council. We've already seen it at the DA, " he said in an apparent reference to the victory last year by Leon Cannizzaro, the city's new chief prosecutor, who is white. Cannizzaro replaced Eddie Jordan, New Orleans' first African-American district attorney, who resigned under pressure in 2007.
Noting that the Feb. 6 mayoral primary falls on the first parading weekend of the Mardi Gras season and the day before a Super Bowl that could feature the New Orleans Saints, Nagin said if there is an unengaged electorate, "you could have trouble."
Nagin said the community must "figure out a way to consolidate around one or two candidates" in the key political races,
Asked by morning talk show host Gerod Stephens if some candidates should "step down, " Nagin said, "I think at some point that needs to happen." Of the seven announced major mayoral candidates, four are African-American and three are white.
Nagin added that he is ready to participate in such a conversation. "I will do what I can, yeah, absolutely, " he said.
To that end, Nagin said he plans to commission sociologist Silas Lee to do a poll in January. "And then we'll sit down and take a look at what we need to do."
Nagin also was asked by Stephens whether he thinks there is a "plot to get you hooked up in some corruption, " an apparent reference to the recent indictment of Greg Meffert, his former chief technology officer.
Nagin said he has reasons to support the theory, though he never said who might be out to get him.
"I just watch the motion of how things are done in this city as it relates to investigations and how the public is sometimes manipulated into thinking something, " he said.
Nagin said he's been "personally demonized to the point where they're trying now to suggest everything else has not worked." He said "they're trying now to suggest I'm taking money, I'm hooking people up or I'm part of something that Greg Meffert did while he was in office."
Nagin said if he had known that Meffert was paying for Nagin family vacations with a credit card billed to a City Hall vendor, "I would have said, 'No, thank you.'"
Asked whether "this Meffert thing" will "come back on you, " Nagin said, "I don't see it."
The mayor also offered his take on the scandal that has engulfed Tim Whitmer, the chief administrative officer in Jefferson Parish, grabbing headlines for weeks. Nagin suggested that historically, government corruption in suburban parishes does not attract as much news media or public attention as similar transgressions in New Orleans.
"I think there's a double standard, " he said. "If you look at what goes on in New Orleans, it's highlighted, it's amplified and it gives the appearance that everyone's involved in it. You know, they paint us all with the same brush."
Nagin said other parishes "get the benefit of the doubt, " adding that rumors about skullduggery in Jefferson have been swirling for a long time. "We have vendors who deal with both parishes and they tell us horror stories about what they experience in other parishes, but that never comes out in the press, " he said.
As long as Whites control the major media they will always use it to the wrong ends to uphold the racist status quo.