Recall Nagin

Mayoral runoff election, March 2, 2002:

76,639 -- 59% -- C. Ray Nagin
53,836 -- 41% -- Richard J. Pennington

I believe that state law requires 33.3 percent of voters to sign a petition in 180 days for the mayor to be recalled from office (but I'm using a non-definitive source). It sounds reasonable.

130,475 citizens voted in the last mayoral election. A recall petition would have to be signed by 43,449 voters. The Citizens for One Greater New Orleans obtained 50-60,000 signatures on its petition to consolidate the levee boards in about three weeks.

The recall Blanco petition is also looking like it could be wildly successful. Over 400,000 hits on the Web site in 48 hours. I haven't signed that petition -- I might be wrong, but I'm still willing to give Blanco a chance, and I question the motives of the woman heading the front to recall Blanco. The other significant recall petition is the one to recall Jefferson Parish President Aaron Broussard. I don't know how that one's doing, but I would definitely sign that one if I lived in JP.

I voted for Nagin. The array of candidates other than Nagin was pitiful. Pennington's record as a reformer of the NOPD was generated by the hard work of others, and threats of a federal takeover. I had great hope for Nagin as a reformer, even though I questioned his credentials as a "businessman." As I've stated elsewhere in PGR, Nagin's record has been mixed at best.

Why recall Nagin when there's an election just a couple of months away? Because nobody of any real promise is running. We need to empty the field so other people step up to the plate (Mitch?). Nagin hasn't even started to talk about what he would do as mayor. He needs to sell a plan to voters about what he's going to do post-Katrina to get this city moving again. Instead, he lets other people do the dirty work, and then he vascillates and retracts, pandering to whichever constituency he's standing in front of.

With regard to Nagin's leadership, other than his performance during Katrina, and post-Katrina, there are two glaring failures of Nagin's leadership. Nagin had nothing to say about the rising murder rate in New Orleans before Katrina, and he didn't say a word (that I can recall) about the failing school system. He was completely AWOL on those critical issues. You can't be a mayor and not voice a plan of action on crime and education -- security and progress.

It's time for Nagin to go. Good riddance!