b.rox

I wish I could take comfort in the unity of our City Council today, as they closed ranks and voted for the redevelopment of our public housing projects. I wish I could believe that the planned redevelopment will truly lead to a more just and humane society, with greater opportunity for all.
But I can’t.
So I [...]

Something tells me the picture of Sharon Jasper sitting next to her widescreen TV on page A-14 of today’s Times-Picayune will not advance the cause of public housing.

The struggle over public housing has been building for years here in New Orleans. Now it’s ramping up to new levels.
It’s a disgusting and pathetic spectacle. With apologies to Mom and Dad, it’s a clusterfuck. There’s just no other word to describe it. I don’t have it in me to play reporter and account for [...]

The Housing Conservation District Review Committee met on Monday. They voted to allow the demolition of three public housing complexes, and passed the buck on a fourth. These decisions dominated the local news.
But there were some other items on the HCDRC’s agenda. I wrote about the ongoing dispute between my neighborhood organization and Victory Real [...]

Big props to Alan Gutierrez for orchestrating a chat with New Orleans’ new Inspector General last week.
I did a hit-and-run. I asked a couple very general and probably naïve questions. Then I left because I had another commitment.
Fortunately, Alan’s posted the audio so I can listen to the whole conversation and catch up on what [...]

So last night, in his big “religion” speech, Mitt Romney warned of nefarious forces bent on “establishing a new religion in America – the religion of secularism.”
Meanwhile, a new poll reveals more Americans believe in the devil than Darwin’s theory of evolution.
Those results hardly suggest a rising tide of secularism. I’m forced to conclude that [...]

Normally neighborhood groups support the demolition of abandoned buildings. However, last Monday representatives from the Mid-City Neighborhood Organization spoke against the demolition of the old Lindy Boggs Medical Center.

Reaction has been mixed. Here’s a typical comment from the story on nola.com:

Great, a bunch of boneheads that want to look important attempt to stop the demolition [...]

My neighbor Dawn posted some invective on New Orleans recovery czar Ed Blakely that caught my attention.

Through nefarious means I have acquired two documents from last year which clearly show that some vendors decided not to bid on the garbage contract because of (and I quote) “the onerous collection requirements.” Also cited: “The potential overlap of collection of ‘unlimited bulky waste’ with the ongoing Hurricane cleanup efforts, which we expect will [...]

Thanks to my friend Carol, I got a sweet gig tonight: vote reporting! I never knew this before, but after the polls close they post the results on the door. Since I live one block from my polling place, I just walked down there. I waited for a while chatting with Deborah Langhoff’s brother-in-law. When [...]

The pundits have been remarking on how nice and polite the race for City Council At-Large has been, but yesterday the attack ads hit the radio.
We also got a mailer from the “City Council Integrity Committee.” (Looks like Varg got it too.) It’s allegedly humorous theme is “Mission: Impossible.” The facts are attributed to LouisianaTruth.com, [...]

Let me see if I got this straight. The American Society of Civil Engineers got pissed off about the video PSA produced by high school students and posted by Levees.org to YouTube. ASCE demanded the video be removed. So Levees.org removed it. Then, the Times-Picayune wrote a story about it. As part of their online [...]

We’re voting again Saturday. In the fifth precinct of the fourth ward we’ll have three items on the ballot: Attorney General, Judge, and City Council At-Large.
Attorney General
It’s a Republican named Royal versus a Democrat named Buddy. I couldn’t make this stuff up if I tried. I’m really note sure who I’ll support, but if Royal [...]

My friend at City Hall advised me to tune in to Cox Cable Channel 6 today at 1PM. I see on the Best of New Orleans Blog that the City Council is holding a public hearing at that time (Fri. Nov. 2, at 1:00 pm) at the City Council Chambers to discuss curbside recycling. I [...]

This is what I was talking about last Friday. The “dirty deal” relates to the city’s trash disposal contracts. Now that it’s the top story in today’s paper, I can talk about it.
Are you yawning yet? I don’t blame you — unless you live in New Orleans. In that case, you should be [...]

Often there’s little glory in doing the right thing. It can’t be easy to step down from a powerful political office. But Eddie Jordan did just that today. If we take him at his word, he did it for the good of New Orleans.
In January I said, “Shame on you, Mayor Nagin, Superintendent Riley, District [...]

Southern Leftist says Jordan’s going down this afternoon; nola.com confirms he might resign very soon.

I really hate this. I just got a call from a well-informed person in city government, who shared some juicy info that I’m just bustin’ to share. It concerns some dirty dealings related to a recent post on this blog. Problem is, in order to get in on this fascinating dope, I had to promise [...]

I was amazed by the front page of the paper this morning. Apparently a robbery suspect took refuge at the house of District Attorney Eddie Jordan, before rushing off to shoot a cop and his wife. This happened earlier in the month but is only coming to light now.
Separate but related story: The D.A. owes [...]

Yesterday I referred to Bobby Jindal as a “right-wing nutjob.” I regret that, as I prefer not to call names. I got carried away.
I should have said that he seems like a right-wing nutjob. A friend of mine says Jindal acts like that to get the so-called “Bubba vote.” He says Jindal has to play [...]