Term Limits Say New Orleans Mayor Can’t Return; Residents Say They Don’t Mind

[RamboLiberal]

NEW ORLEANS — As Mayor C. Ray Nagin approaches his final year in office, he faces scandal, an acrimonious stalemate with the City Council and the worst popularity ratings ever recorded for a mayor here.

Term limits will keep him from running again, so Mr. Nagin’s eight tumultuous years of leading what he called a “chocolate city” will come to an end next May. He has not been popular among middle-class white voters since the chaotic days after Hurricane Katrina in 2005, but now, with the city still in a halting recovery more than three and a half years later, residents citywide seem eager to see him go.

In a recent poll by the University of New Orleans, Mr. Nagin was cited as one of the “biggest problems” for the city, coming in third after crime and education. Just 24 percent of residents over all said they approved of the mayor, a drop from 31 percent the year before.

“It’s the worst approval rating we’ve reported since 1986,” when the poll was first conducted, said Robert T. Sims, the director of the university’s survey research center.

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That sentiment can be seen in a $2 bumper sticker that has become popular in the city’s souvenir shops. In vivid Mardi Gras colors, it says: “May 31, 2010: Nagin’s Last Day. Proud to See Him Gone.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/04/us/04nagin.html?hp

[MADem]

1. Maybe Cox Cable will take him back--didn't he have a job with them awhile back? nt

[Cresent City Kid]

2. I had mixed feelings about Nagin

I remember before the storm, he urged everyone to leave the city, but he should have known how many simply had no choice. The busses in New Orleans were standing room only every work day. How were we supposed to get ourselves out of town? He was right that he had limited resources, but could have done better with what he had. At times he has impressed me and at other times made me wonder.

[DonCoquixote]

3. Here is something that makes the point

The year before Katrina, Hurricane Ivan was supposed to be "the big one." Nagin was told that the Superdome might be the only facility that had a chance to house people that simply could not get out of the city. Nagin said flat out he was opposed, and only dragged his feet when it was way too late to do anything. Well, Ivan came, and while it did not hit New Orleans, it hit certain parts of Florida bad enough to where you did not need to be a Ph. D to knwo that Ivan would have killed thousands if it did not turn towards Florida.

This was a full year before Katrina. Nagin got the equivalent of a last minute call from the governor, and did he actually stock the Superdome with supplies?, NO. Did he rail on the army corps of engineers because the levies were woefully underbuilt? NO. He simply carried on, until Katrina hit, and then the rest is History. If nothing else, there was NO reason for the Superdome to become the deathtrap it was, as Nagin had a full year and a close call to ensure it could be, but no, we cannot actually have the superdome work for the people, can we?