Monday, November 16, 2009

The stinky on SWB

On the St. Pierre profile piece today in the TP, my only comment is that I think its probably right on. From what I've heard he was actually pretty good at his profession. Although, I wouldn't go so far as to say that he was a victim, in any way, of Meffert's machinations or influence. I think he was more than aware of the implications of what they were doing...probably even more aware than Meffert. Having said that, I think he probably wouldn't be in the shit creek he's in had he never met Muppet and I'm sure that crosses his mind every day.

Also, could someone please tell Stacey St. Pierre that A & E has no plans to launch a Housewives of Belle Chase series and she can quit auditioning? Is it just me or is she entirely too histrionic in these photos?

And meanwhile....the bigger story seems to have gone down the NOLA.com priority hole like so many good TP stories do when they go through that enigmatic process of moving from pulp to pixels. Seriously...what the hell is going on over there? How did this not make the digital headline this morning?


This a big deal. And please note how the story was framed "......with ties to Nagin". This rumor has been percolating for a couple weeks and the TP now confirms it. From what I've heard, O.C. Coleman has rolled on Edwards....a long time "comesee" for SWB contracts.

(I was recently introduced to that distinctive N.O. term "comesee" and I've been dying to use it. Its actually a meme plucked from N.O. parlance, much like "Where Y'at" in that when you want a contract or you are bidding on an RFP, etc., and you ask a politician or politico about it he/she replys, "Well you gotta comesee -------". Fill in the blank with the appropriate middleman, kick back king/queen.)

Take the time to absorb this definitive and prophetic Gambit article way back in 2001:


Gambit has done some great investigative pieces over the years...this one is of their finest. After this came out, Edwards threatened a libel suit against Gambit. Just goes to show you...nothing new under the sun, huh?

Also, check out Schroeder's past post.

I don't know about you guys, but I'm starting to see a pattern in these investigations and indictments. At this point, I can't imagine how Nagin couldn't be sphincterifically uptight these days. The walls are closing in around him on an almost weekly basis. If we get another investigation announcement or even indictment in the next few weeks it should be brazenly apparent what the climax of this story will be.

Every time I read the article on his upcoming trip to Mexico I keep hearing Christopher Cross's "Ride Like the Wind" in the back of my head.



17 comments:

Colby said...

I hope Letten has enough staff to cover Orleans AND Jefferson....

NOLA Trey said...

You mean there wasn't a "Housewives of Belle Chase" series--because there will be one now!

Great line, Dambala!

vincemacpaul said...

I really hope the $Bill outcome has them puckering. The worst part must be the waiting for them.

Editilla said...

Y'all saw where Babyhead went to watch the Shuttle Launch?
Dayum! I guess being Mayor really is easier than Rocket Scientry!
Frequent flier my ire.

Clay said...

I like your take on the St. Pierre piece. It seems to fit. One thing: I think Meffert is still too clueless about how fucked he is and wouldn't flip on Nagin. OTOH, if St. Pierre has ANY dirt on Nagin, he's squealing like a piggy.

Beth said...

I'm picturing what it would be like for a city to have its mayor on the lam, like that South Carolina governor out "hiking the Appalachian Trail" - but gone for good.

It would almost be worth the national humiliation.

Jason Brad Berry said...

Beth...you read my mind. It may be the greatest gift he could give this city at this point.

Anonymous said...

A few thoughts:

- Edwards is the dragon of NO corruption.

- A push needs to begin to have SWB members meet professional standards like we have on the levee board.

- People seem scared of Edwards.

- Edwards is one of the most powerful men in town, and one of the least known.

- Coleman pops up in Stacey Head's emails online if anyone cares to look through all that.

- Did anyone notice this?: >The discussion revived a long-standing dispute between council members representing what some members call the city's "wet" and "dry" areas, meaning those that received the most devastation after Hurricane Katrina and those that received less. Hedge-Morrell, who represents Gentilly, said she thinks too much federal money is being used in Uptown areas that were not badly devastated. Cynthia Willard-Lewis, who represents the Lower 9th Ward and most of eastern New Orleans, said "everyone in City Hall knows" that while Ed Blakely was the city's recovery director, at least one influential person in his office was interested in helping only certain parts of the city, which she implied did not include her district. She later declined to name the person but said he is no longer in City Hall. Stacy Head, whose district includes both flooded areas such as Central City and dry areas such as the Garden District, called such claims "a lot of hyperbole" and cited a long list of projects in her district, asking administration officials to confirm in each case that the site was badly flooded. Fielkow, Head and Shelley Midura said the council is being improperly shut out of decisions on where recovery money will be spent, but Harrison Boyd, now in charge of most recovery efforts, denied that. "We keep you fully informed," he said.<

To me this answers one of the questions from the emaelstrom: why was Jeff Thomas included in the email pull by Tracy Washington, White and their friends in IT? And now here we have Boyd all but The Man as recovery czar.

In terms of wrapping around Nagin from all directions, I don't think emailgate is over yet either.

Nagin's acting like a guy who's trying to get it all in while he can, like a teenager who realizes when the summer's over real life will be hitting him squarely in the eyes.

Anonymous said...

read the NOLA.com story on Edwards. one of the commenters there had something interesting to say:

"My former company was told, by this crook, to use MCCI after Katrina if they wanted to be involved in the clean-up and assessment of the storm drains and sewers. The workers they provided were paid around $14 to $16 per hour, yet MCCI billed $95 to $105 per hour for them. Now, even better, MCCI did not provide the invoices, our clerical staff took the timesheets and daily reports, used them to generate invoices for MCCI, that we "received" and then sent on to the S&WB for payment. MCCI did not have an office, any staff, or any means by which to process timesheets, submit invoices, or do any other normal business functions. Yet they "made" $80 to $90 per each hour of each worker provided, for their services. Yet we can't say anything because people like Ben Edwards will immediately say that our company and others are discriminating against the black community, that we are racist, and that we do not support DBE's (disadvantaged business enterprise). Yeah, they are disadvantaged because people like Ben Edwards is ripping off the city and the very citizens he proclaims to be protecting! We worked with many DBE companies and helped them to grow their business and develop good practices. Most DBE's want that, and need an experienced company to teach them and guide them, but unfortunately there are enough around like MCCI that are only around long enough to make a quick buck and then they disappear. MCCI, and others like them, give the rest of the DBE's a bad name.

Go Jim! Don't back down on this guy. You thought you had something with Meffert, this guy will make him look like a pre-schooler."

...thats very interesting. religious-politicos. no office, no systematic management of timesheets, huge markups on low-skilled workers. $105/hr is WAY MORE than the city's IT vendors bill or get paid.

this is definitely dirtier than Meffert's operation. and yet... no story. no name. no pitchforks..

im from the north. let me ask: what the hell is up with reverends? 1) why are there so many? 2) why are they important? 3) why are they publicly infiltrating government?

Lou Dobbs said...

I just wish he would had stowed away on the space shuttle yesterday; like in the wheel well.....

Colby said...

He does have a trip booked for Mexico....

Anonymous said...

Dambala, if the Mayor goes on the lam, what would be the soundtrack of that journey?

I bet the AZ readership could come up with a wicked playlist.

The songs might be different depending on which forms of transport people figure he'd take, or where they think he'd go.

Anonymous said...

It would appear that BOLD is in the cross hairs and if so Jim Singleton has to be worried that perhaps some of his closests lieutenants are working with the feds

Anonymous said...

@anonymous - you wrote, "why was Jeff Thomas included in the email pull by Tracy Washington, White and their friends in IT? And now here we have Boyd all but The Man as recovery czar."

just an FYI - Boyd IS their friend in IT. Boyd is the one who personally gave the order to Ciber to collect the Stacy Head emails and deliver to him on disc. he then gave it to Veronica White.

why did he do this? maybe due to being new and eager to please, ignorant of city legal protocol.. i dunno.

but how somebody responsible for the most fucked-up department in the city can get promoted to Czar of Recovery is a mystery that only Nagin can answer.

chazbe said...

I'm glad somebody with a public voice picked up on this, and would love to know who is responsible for the partial cover-up. Who, in fact, controls NOLA.com? Was this just sloppiness (highly unlikely) or some form of cowardice? Who got to them, and how?

The damned paper gets worse by the day, just when we need it more than ever, and HOLA.com makes TV look responsible. All we've got left are the bloggers: keep it up!

Mike said...

I couldn't put my finger on it before...but that Housewives of Belle Chasse comment was dead on describing her stupid smile.

Anonymous said...

Is there a free version of networking or relationship mapping software that the computer savvy people might use to map the networks of relationships that are being talked about here?

I'm getting lost and a diagram would help.