Wednesday, June 27, 2007

Gimme' more

This post came in on Nagin:

anonymous said...
Concerning Nagin: I recently heard from a friend of mine who was low bid on a contrat with the City. When he went to complete the arrangements he was told by "one of Nagin's group" that he would have to give a % of the contract to them if he expect to be awarded the contrat.

My friend told me he didn't know what to do since his bid didn't provide enough profit to pay a bribe as well.


Can you be more detailed on this? This is too nebulous...any information on who the contractor was and who "one of Nagin's group" is?

21 comments:

Anonymous said...

That is incredibly irresponsible to even post. If this were true the bidder should go to the federal government instead of the owner of an anonymous blog (which is true about 90% of the stuff you post) - however, I'm sure that this, like most of the stuff you post, is not true. You have exposure if you post defamatory information like this, I think malice has already been proven in your previous posts. I suggest you contact a lawyer, and quickly, if you choose to leave this on your website.

Jason Brad Berry said...

You need to check with a lawyer as well...Nagin is a public figure, not a private citizen. To establish libel (not malice), he would have to prove that what has been published is indeed not true...which means he has to answer to all the allegations on this blog in a court of law and under oath.

Welcome to the Fourth Estate.

By the way....I want you to name one thing on this blog that has been posted as fact which isn't true.

Ball's in your court.

Anonymous said...

Eh...well...let's start with your "investigation" into the municipal yacht harbor - how's that going? How about the fact that every person (including a mayor) is LEGALLY allowed to have outside business interests (so it doesn't make him a crook), how about the fact that no contracts need City Council approval (which you continually site as proof that something illegal is going on), the list goes on.

You basically have a bunch of little bitches that want to feed you info because they think it is funny to see people that have pissed them off getting a public flogging. But none of that means that there is ANY truth to what they say, nor that anything illegal is happening, it just means that you are a mouthpiece for disgruntled employees who want to embarass public officials.

Libel for a public figure depends on malice...by the fact that you say it is vague suggests that you have suspicions about it's truthfullness which would be enough to prove libel.

mominem said...

I can say from personal knowledge that when someone is in a position to get a public appointment or a contract cockroaches crawl out of the woodwork and say the represent the governor/mayor/senator/councilman. Often this is a scam. Occasionally it is true.

The correct course is to contact the US attorney, tell them the name of the individual that contacted you and follow their instructions.

If many people did that all of the crooks would be in jail.

If this is truly a bid and not one of the cities illegal professional services contracts. You could just wait till the city sends you a contract and sign it.

Their options on a bid are fairly limited.

They can;
Sign you up and potentially harass you into bankruptcy as an example.
Reject all bids and rebid.
Reject your bid as unresponsive.

In the last instance you can protest and sue.

Remember Tony Soprano got most of his money by appearing to be powerful.

If we didn't put up it wouldn't happen.

LisaPal said...

I think any honest person doing business with the city should have one of these and an audio recorder with them during any negotiations.

Anonymous said...

dambala,

this is a sham...typical muppet style. the person who planted the vague post about nagin is most likely the same person critizing the post. the intention is to scare would be bloggers from coming forward and discredit the site. we have seen this before. this site has been and still is about two things: exposing corruption and stopping the exposure of corruption.

I am sure the anon can name one or two things that's not true. But it will most likely pertain to intricate details about the alleged act and not whether the alleged act occurred or not. Again, the objective is to pick the allegation apart so it doesn't seem to have legs. Only someone very close to the activities surrounding the allegation could do that. Which probably puts anon#1 in the "stopping the exposure of corruption" category.

player, player...play on.

LAW70 said...

Are you kidding me? Why are you so defensive Anonymous? Nagin needs to come clean about ALOT of things. Something smells really bad in the bayou and it is NOT the crawfish!! Nagin is ONE of the main reasons why Nola has not been able to move forward. YES, I DO blame him!!

Jason Brad Berry said...

- Eh...well...let's start with your "investigation" into the municipal yacht harbor - how's that going?

quite well, thank you. I'm slowly piecing together multiple issues from boat slip fee's which were collected but then disappeared for years...to the mystery money in post-K...would you care to elaborate since you seem to be familiar with the issue?

- How about the fact that every person (including a mayor) is LEGALLY allowed to have outside business interests (so it doesn't make him a crook)

No but it does constitute a conflict of interest....and I never suggested that AFO was illegal...I think it's a very pertinent fact that a seated mayor is actively investing in real estate in the city he's governing.

- no contracts need City Council approval (which you continually site as proof that something illegal is going on), the list goes on.

I've posed that question one time...one time...and I didn't say it was illegal...I simply asked if the city council had oversight. If you want me to spell out issues of Nagin's potential illicit actions...I will be happy to do so in a nice clean .pdf that can be downloaded and emailed around the country...would you like that?

-You basically have a bunch of little bitches that want to feed you info because they think it is funny to see people that have pissed them off getting a public flogging.

you sound really angry about that....would you like to expound on that? please feel free to vent.

- Libel for a public figure depends on malice...by the fact that you say it is vague suggests that you have suspicions about it's truthfullness which would be enough to prove libel.

no....it doesn't depend on malice....it depends on truth. if Nagin want's to sue me for libel...we go to court and the burden of proof lies on him to prove that what has been posted on this blog is untrue...so we get to go through everything in court...the Benetech plane ride...the trip to Hawaii and who paid for it...I'm sure you know the list.

Once again...you want me to get on that .pdf for you?

Anonymous said...

oooo...a .pdf? maybe it would be more threatening as a .doc, or maybe an .xls?

It doesn't matter what format you choose to put it in, it is still a bunch of anonymous posts on an anonymous blog.

There is a difference between doing your job, and illegally profiting from doing your job. I don't see anywhere that you have proven Nagin illegally profited from his position...

law70 eppitomizes the problem with this site...he is pissed (and maybe rightly so) about the slow pace of recovery, so he is inclined to blame the mayor (maybe rightly so), he stumbles across your site, and all of a sudden his anger is legitimized by anonymous accusations of corruption. So now he believes any and all crap that flows from your posts without question.

Jason Brad Berry said...

not all anonymous...Grant Holcomb is perfect example... and anonymity doesn't discount that fact that the information is on the whole ACCURATE AND TRUE.

So back to that "list goes on". Let's keep going...keep going down that list. Because so far you haven't listed one goddamn falsehood on this site....not one.

LAW70 said...

Hey Anonymous, gotta question for ya - why in the HELL are YOU coming at me about your boy Nagin? WOW, your outburst kinda reminds me of the same one that happened in Baton Rouge a few days ago. Hmm..interesting. I could have given Nagin an Oscar for his performance. Nagin is FULL of hot air and I have some questions that I would like for him to answer instead of him running behind his buddies. He does NOT have a care in the world and IF he did, Nola would see some real results. Trust me, he WILL be exposed. MARK MY WORDS!

Anonymous said...

hey anon,

this is real simple. simply STATE what's been posted as fact on this blog that is not in fact true. tell us what you're talking about.

you have a wide open opportunity here to call the zombie on anything he's posted as true that you think is bullshit. all you need to do is list an example with facts.

it's real easy to make statements like "most of the stuff you post, is not true", and "the list goes on" but if you can't back it up, doesn't that make you sound like the little bitch, just whining and threatening lawsuits?

Anonymous said...

For those of you that say they have knowledge of wrongdoing, please do us all a favor and contact:

Jim Letten
500 Poydras Street
Room B210
New Orleans, LA 70130
(504)680-3000 phone
(504)589-3594 fax
http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/lae/

or if you want complete confidentiality:

Metropolitan Crime Commission Public Corruption Hotline -
504-524-7000
888-524-7001 (toll-free)

If you know of corruption and you are complaining about about it but not reporting it, you are facilitating it.

As Elvis said, "A little less conversation, a little more action, please."

Obey the King...

Anonymous said...

Well, well, what a fascinating conversation I woke up to this morning! Anon, you haven't posted any facts at all, as the above commenters have pointed out.

But you did get off a fun line:

re: this blog: "it just means that you are a mouthpiece for disgruntled employees who want to embarass public officials."

Um, so wrong.

Zombie is not a mouthpiece for anyone, but if he was, I'd change that line to read:

"You're a mouthpiece for disgruntled citizens of New Orleans who are sick of the public officials embarassing themselves and our city."

Jason Brad Berry said...

The King also said ,“Truth is like the sun. You can shut it out for a time, but it ain't goin' away.”


American Zombie: Nagin (R-New Orleans)

Anonymous said...

anonymous,
Based your your little threat, "I suggest you contact a lawyer, and quickly, if you choose to leave this on your website" I would "imagine" that you yourself feel implicated. Go ahead, open this can of worms, "bitch," I can't wait to see your slimy mug staring back.

bayoustjohndavid said...

I'm not sure what you meant by illegal professional services contract mominem. The big problem is there s entirely too much leeway on professional services contracts and no clear definition of the distinction between a contract for professional services and a purchase. So Nagin was legally able to purchase bombproof garbage cans from his CAO's brother's company by labelling it a professional service contract.

It's fighting with one hand tied behind your back to keep waiting for evidence of lawbreaking. There's plenty of dishonest but technically legal stuff that deserves more attention.

Jason Brad Berry said...

BSJD,

But there's also clearly illegal stuff as well. the unethical issues will no doubt lead to future paybacks for Nagin once he's out of office....note this statement by "imaginary" Anon:d

- There is a difference between doing your job, and illegally profiting from doing your job. I don't see anywhere that you have proven Nagin illegally profited from his position...

while I have proven that on more than one occasion..he was no doubt pointing that out because he knows Nagin won't reap most of the bullshit he's sewn until he leaves the office. There's still plenty of illicit activity to go after while he's still seated but Letten ain't gonna touch it while he's still in office.

Jason Brad Berry said...

By the way....I purposely haven't posted anything because I'm still waiting on this threat of a lawsuit to be fulfilled....Beuller....Beuller.....

Petty threats from a petty man.

Anonymous said...

Nagin is safe from federal prosecutors because he "wired up" to get dirt on his former Brass Hockey partners, Pimpy Bare and Rodney Roy, who were also contract cronies of Morial. Nagin did an "Ellenese," long before the school board president was disgraced. Your mayor secretly recorded conversations and got a "free pass," from the feds because they wanted dirt on Morial, who was a much more formidable (democrat) politician than Nagin could ever dream to be. Morial pulled Mary Landrieu through the narrowest election victory when Landrieu was first elected to the U.S. Senate in the mid 90s. . . Nagin's endorsement has proved to be the kiss of death for politicians looking to get elected to office.

No wonder people believe Karl Rove's fingerprints are all over the New Orleans "corrpution" investigation. Unfortunatly Rove's fingerprints and giving White House friendly Nagin a pass undermine the whole friggin system of justice and any faith we might want to have in it. We'll know it's fair when one of Nagin's cronies gets nailed (Mef, where are you?) because there are rotten apples in every bunch, and we all know that the holier than thou band of thieves Nagin has surrounded himself with has violated the law to line their own pockets.

bayoustjohndavid said...

I know that there's plenty of illegal stuff going on, some of the stuff involving professional services contracts that seems to be legal under state law might not be legal under the RICO law or other statutes involving quid pro quos (quids pro quo?), but it takes a long time for the illegal stuff to make it to court. In the meantime, people could do more to point out that blatant cronyism -- I think I'm the only person to point it out in the case of Metro disposal, the landfill deal and the garbage contracts. Public pressure can sometimes speed up the wheels of justice.

Morial was out of office before any of his cronies went to court, and I think Nagin is potentially far worse. Think about it, most liberals believe in some sort of minority preferences in government contracting. Most conservatives believe in privatizing government services when possible. But honest liberals admit to the potential for minority preferences to cover for graft and cronyism and honest conservatives admit the same about privatization. Nagin has been trying to privatize everything in sight and he signed an executive order mandating increased minority participation in government contracts last Summer. Nagin implicitly acknowledged the potential for graft when said, "with transparent spending policies in place..." before signing that order. Of course, his spending policies have been about as transparent as Mississippi River water.