(begin Garland Robinette voice) Ok, I’m just a layman here who doesn’t understand anything about garbage contracts and political cronyism and what not so…(end Garland Robinette voice)
So it seems according to the comments posts here and at Adrastos along with today’s post at Moldy City that the more important issues to be concerned with regarding the city’s trash contract in the French Quarter and other neighborhoods is not so much the issues of cleanliness and aesthetics brought up by the Vieux Carre Commission but issues of ethics and finance brought up by some others.
Now, wasting the city’s money and combating political cronyism is an issue I can get behind. But I am afraid that Ralph Lupin gave the Mayor’s office a gift-wrapped shit storm when he up-and-called Veronica White a bitch. There are no two ways around that.
A couple people have answered the six questions two posts below in the comments section and I encourage everyone to check them out. I certainly understand the issues better. I still don’t agree with some of them, but I understand them. I even agree with some.
But the end-all notion I am getting from this whole thing is everyone thinks it’s stupid. Well, Nagin giving his buddies sweet deals at the expense of firemen is huge. Unfortunately, it’s shrouded by the Rainbow Coalition, accusations of racism, rats, plastic receptacles and Walt Disney.
It’s enough to make you wonder how the levees failed in the days after Aug. 29, 2005.
As you know, I’m far more interested in decent pay for the firefighters than the whining by the FQ folks. I’m sure the FF WISH they only had to worry about the asthetics of garbage cans – hell, they have to buy their own garbage cans. As for the cronyism in awarding the contract, that money would never have been diverted to the FF….Nagin has it in for them because they didn’t support him in the election. Trust me on this.
First off, your general conclusion about the current shit storm is correct: it’s stupid. We are all supposed to be adults when discussing issues, needs and desires, but if one of a certain group of humans here paints the picture as it is, the world comes down upon thee.
Veronica White IS a bitch, and she has proven that constantly (She has a city office). Many others do the same (witness the screaming interruptions in many community meetings and the result is butkiss, or a decision that none of us little folks wanted) It seems to be that a certain one’s perceptions are the only ones that matter, and screw the rest of y’all.
I’ve dealt with this crap, and it is counterproductive. None of us win, but the big mouth feels that they have prevailed.
This is not how we keep our city alive. We have to agree to disagree, and then find the best middle course we can find to fit the scenario as it is. It is not White vs Black, Creole vs Cajun… etc. We all live on this boat, and ain’t any of us going to make it without the other.
Lupin spoke his mind to an offensive person, and I wish I would have made that statement to our Queen of Trash. I am sick and tired of the same old arguements and motivations being pulled out of the closet to trash the “others”. (doesn’t matter where you come from, or what you are, BTW)
If Veronica takes a moment to assess herself and her JOB as it affects others, maybe she will learn a thing about people and the “elevated” state she thinks she has by being part of the city guv’mit. Her position exists to serve the people, not take out her anger on those who pay her salary. If she doesn’t like this tack, she is free to find a job in the public market.
Prior to Moon handing over the city to the majority, things weren’t working that well. They haven’t been working too well since then either. Why can’t folks get over this race B/S? Can’t we work together? Isn’t there a middle ground?
As a person of color, related to the many waves of folks who helped to create what we call New Orleans, I am shocked and sickened by this freakin’ bickering and possessiveness of current office holders. It’s far past time to come to the point that we all belong, and own this place, and it’s time to start acting like adults and work together. We will not survive as a whole until we arrive at that agreement.
(Blog on this to come.)
G.G. said most of what I was going to say, so I’ll keep this brief. First off, that kind of thing is said at public meetings all the time. For it to produce that kind of shitstorm the statement has to cross a pretty serious line or somebody has to be to manipulating the situation. Jarvis DeBerry can engage in all the mental gymnastics he wants, the fact is, “bitch” is not a racial epithet. The obvious conclusion is that somebody is manipulating the situation. Maybe it’s being manipulated to divert attention from the fact that White apparently did lie and the deals were corrupt. Maybe it’s our real estate developer mayor trying to pack a real estate regulating commission. Maybe it’s both. If the Nagin administration gets away with it, we’ll deserve what we get. Would it be too far-fetched to start a petition calling for White’s resignation? Like I’ve said before, if the mayor’s going to make power grabs, people need to hit back.
I’m surprised that the meeting wasn’t videotaped. If there is a tape I suspect that it would make Lupin look pretty bad, but that it would also make White look bad enough to make her side back down.
I’ve tried to avoid what I consider the secondary issue of the cans’ functionality, but residential trash really never was a problem when there was nightly pickup. The people who respond to that assertion with a sarcastic “oh, there was never trash in the Quarter,” are dishonest or idiotic. The fact that pickup has moved to mornings on cross streets might be an argument against bagged trash, but that raises the issue of why the change was necessary.
By the way TM, I know that money would have never gone to fire fighters or anything else useful. But the council rolled over and gave Nagin seven year contracts, which means the money won’t go to anything productive under his successor. Of course, the council didn’t think it had any choice but to approve the contracts because by the time Nagin revealed the details, WMI’s contract was about to expire.