Nagin: Attention to crime keeps N.O. 'brand' out there

[Angel Heart]

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/L/LA_NAGIN_CRIME_LAOL-?SITE=LABAT&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

Aug 10, 11:49 AM EDT


Nagin: Attention to crime keeps N.O. 'brand' out there

By BECKY BOHRER
Associated Press Writer
NEW ORLEANS (AP) -- Mayor Ray Nagin said he worries that killings send the message that the city is dangerous, but the news also "keeps the New Orleans brand out there."

Nagin, whose city has recorded at least 117 murders this year, told WVUE-TV it's a "two-edged sword."

"It's not good for us, but it also keeps the New Orleans brand out there, and it keeps people thinking about our needs and what we need to bring this community back. So it is kind of a two-edged sword," he said, according to a station transcript. "Sure it hurts, but we have to keep working everyday to make the city better."

Anti-violence activist Baty Landis called Nagin's comments "stunningly insensitive."

"New Orleans is not a brand, it's a city," Landis, whose SilenceIsViolence group in January helped lead a march on City Hall demanding a response to the rash of violent crime. "We're not products. We're people with lives, some of which are being taken by other people."

In a city where the tourism industry is the lifeblood of a fragile economy, the wave of violence threatens to derail efforts to bring visitors - and former residents - back.

After he was re-elected to a second four-year term in 2006, Nagin declared made safety a top priority. He has supported pay raises for police and rebuilding the depleted officer corps. Still, National Guard soldiers continue to patrol less-populated parts of the city and police continue to work out of trailers while waiting for storm-damaged buildings to be rebuilt.

A Nagin spokeswoman did not immediately return a message seeking comment Friday.

Kelly Schulz, spokeswoman for the New Orleans Metropolitan Convention & Visitors Bureau, declined to comment on Nagin's specific comments. But she said the city must strike a "delicate balance," between drawing attention to its recovery needs and those of the tourism industry - a "multibillion dollar, perception-driven industry."

"One good thing you can look at is, a lot of visitors have come to the city and their expectations were so lowered that they were pleasantly surprised," she said. Tourism officials tell prospective visitors New Orleans is mostly safe and that much of the crime involves "criminal on criminal."

This week, two brothers suspected in 14 murders were found shot to death. In the WVUE interview, Nagin, said their deaths are "symptomatic of the things we've been struggling with since Katrina and really before Katrina.

"Some of these guys are so violent that it is hard for witnesses to come forward, and they get involved in repeat criminal activities," Nagin said. "So it is unfortunate that they had to die, but it did kind of end the cycle that we were struggling with."

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[hjmick]

Ah yes, there's no such thing as bad publicity. Or so I hear.

Nagin is a moron.

 

[Mr. P]

"It's not good for us, but it also keeps the New Orleans brand out there, and it keeps people thinking about our needs and what we need to bring this community back.

I'm sure 100s of towns wish the NO brand scum WOULD GO back too!

Just 2 weeks ago some relocated slim FROM N.O. jumped a kid outside of Six Flags over Ga. and sent him to the hospital in critical condition.

Take em back RAY, take em ALL back!!! 117 murders this year? It sounds like their brothers are missing them!!!!!! MORON.

 

[Kagom]

117 murders this year alone? Christ in a Judo gi! That's a high number. Just means things are going down the shitter faster than we thought.

 

[dilloduck]

117 murders this year alone? Christ in a Judo gi! That's a high number. Just means things are going down the shitter faster than we thought.

That's why I want a black president ! NOT

 

[Mr. P]

117 murders this year alone? Christ in a Judo gi! That's a high number. Just means things are going down the shitter faster than we thought.

N.O. is the shitter.

 

[William Joyce]

That's funny. Publicity about its high crime rate is good because... "attention" will be paid, and... what? You get more tax dollars from the feds? "We need help," my ass. You need to start cleaning up your OWN acts.

 

[zadie be]

I agree this is America a land of immigrants that live together and assimulate and speaks the language that has be in America English.

I'm sure 100s of towns wish the NO brand scum WOULD GO back too!

Just 2 weeks ago some relocated slim FROM N.O. jumped a kid outside of Six Flags over Ga. and sent him to the hospital in critical condition.

Take em back RAY, take em ALL back!!! 117 murders this year? It sounds like their brothers are missing them!!!!!! MORON.

 

[eots]

That's why I want a black president ! NOT

he is not a American black..like a real black person.. descendent of the slaves type..America is not ready to have a woman or a real American black man lead the country yet

 

[rcajun90]

Ray Naguin is an idiot that was voted in by the mindset that if he is black I will vote for him over a better qualified white person or other. Most people in New Orleans have left the city for the suburbs which have exploded since Katrina. It is this type of mentality that has kept New Orleans shrinking even before Katrina. It is pure and simple black racism.

However things might be changing. They got rid of that thief William Jefferson and elected a Vietnamese American.

 

[waltky]

Ray Nagin's indictment has been long expected...

New Orleans ex-mayor Ray Nagin indicted
18 January 2013 : Former New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin has been charged with 21 federal counts of wire fraud, bribery, filing false tax returns and money laundering.

Mr Nagin, 56, mayor from 2002-10, came to national attention when Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans in 2005. Beginning in June 2004, Mr Nagin took payments, travel and other gratuities in exchange for city contracts and other favours, prosecutors said. At least four Nagin associates have already pleaded guilty in the case. "Mayor Nagin used his public office and his official capacity to provide favorable treatment that benefitted the business and financial interests of individuals providing him bribery/kickback payoffs," the indictment reads.

According to the federal indictment, Mr Nagin accepted more than $160,000 (£100,000) in bribes from local businessman Frank Fradella. In exchange, Mr Nagin helped Fradella secure millions of dollars in contracts from the city in the wake of Katrina, including construction at the airport and sidewalk repair projects, prosecutors said. Mr Nagin is also charged with accepting payoffs worth at least $60,000 from another businessman, Rodney Williams, who was given consulting and construction contracts with the city. Fradella and Williams have already pleaded guilty in connection with the case and are expected to testify against the former mayor, according to the New Orleans Times-Picayune.

Private jets

The indictment alleges that over the course of his time in office, Mr Nagin travelled with his family to Hawaii and Jamaica on trips paid for by local businessmen. He accepted free travel by private jet to Chicago, Las Vegas and New York City, according to the indictment. Two former officials in Mr Nagin's administration have also pleaded guilty to corruption charges dating from their time at city hall. Mr Nagin was a cable television executive before he entered public life in 2002.

He was backed strongly by white voters in his first run for mayor, styling himself as a candidate with bipartisan appeal and a progressive agenda. Mr Nagin was thrust into the national spotlight during Hurricane Katrina and was re-elected to a second term as mayor in 2006. Subsequently, a surge in violent crime, the slow pace of reconstruction, and the burgeoning corruption scandal at city hall undermined his popularity. Since leaving office in 2010 he has stayed out of the political spotlight and has reportedly relocated to Dallas, Texas.

BBC News - New Orleans ex-mayor Ray Nagin indicted

 

[waltky]

Hey Ray, whadaya say?...

Ex-New Orleans Mayor Faces 21-Count Corruption Indictment
January 18, 2013: A U.S. federal grand jury has indicted a former mayor of New Orleans, Louisiana on 21 counts of corruption, including charges he accepted payoffs from contractors while the city struggled with the devastation of Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

The indictment -- announced Friday by the Justice Department -- accuses C. Ray Nagin of conspiring to defraud the city by awarding contracts to businesses in return for kickbacks that included cash, wire transfers and free travel. The 56-year-old Nagin also is accused of filing false tax returns between 2005 and 2008.

Nagin, a former cable television executive, was a political newcomer in the state of Louisiana before winning election in 2002 to his first term as mayor of the Gulf coast city.

Hurricane Katrina, which obliterated much of New Orleans three years later, put Nagin on the national stage, where he gained a reputation as an outspoken and sometimes combative chief executive. He left office in 2008, after completing his second term.

The Louisiana Board of Ethics charged Nagin in 2010 with two possible violations of the state's ethics law while in office. One charge accused him of using a credit card belonging to a businessman who had gained contracts with the city. In another accusation, the board alleged Nagin's family business benefited from installation services provided by a home improvement retailer, while the retailer was negotiating tax breaks with the city.

Ex-New Orleans Mayor Faces 21-Count Corruption Indictment

 

[Doc91678]

Ah yes, there's no such thing as bad publicity. Or so I hear.

Nagin is a moron.

I'd go further than that. Nagin and Blanco share the responsibility for the Katrina deaths of all those in New Orleans. The only reason they walk free today is that they are Democraps.