Heckuva job Ray Ray!

Where are Rob Couhig and Virginia Boulet now that their man is back in the mayor's office?

What became of their brainstorming meetings with Ray Nagin on that Monday after the election?

We got the National Guard, but what's the longer-term plan to stop the loss of officers from the NOPD and fix the court system?

I was working on a post yesterday detailing a host of issues that require mayoral leadership, but found in letters to the editor today that I'm not alone in my frustration at the lack of leadership in City Hall. Here are a few opinions on other things happening this week which suffer from the absence of executive leadership.

On the lack of a master comprehensive plan to rebuild the city:

This administration lacks someone with compressive vision and planning skills. The administration's apparent lack of interest in these issues coupled with the absence of experienced and visionary planners in City Hall are sure signs of future confusion and wasted resources.

Lake Douglas, New Orleans, Times-Picayune letter to the editor.

On the resignation of the public transit chief, Jimmy Reiss:

We don't want to hear "Sorry, Mr. Reiss, we will miss you." We want to hear that Mayor Nagin inserted himself into the process, knocked some heads together and got his plan adopted or at least intelligently discussed.

If the mayor does not step up to the plate now and stay there, this will be a bullet point in the national articles 10 years from now about how we lost the city of New Orleans. Or, rather, how the mayor lost it.

Lisa Jordan, New Orleans, Times-Picayune letter to the editor

At the last BNOB public hearing a couple of months ago, when Ray Nagin outlined which parts of the BNOB plan he would accept, the mayor said that one of his most urgent priorities would be establishing temporary housing for workers. I called for that months ago -- possibly even in September. We need a WPA-style effort like San Francisco did after the 1906 earthquake. But has anyone heard the mayor talk about the issue again? Meanwhile, trailer parks remain unoccupied:

We all know that New Orleans is in urgent need of people to do the routine work to get New Orleans moving again. We also know that many of these people have tragically lost their homes.

Then how does one explain the great number of trailers that are set up and yet to all outward appearances unoccupied?

Donald C. Burnham, New Orleans, Times-Picayune letter to the editor

Finally, for rhetorical flourishes, this guy wins the prize:

Mayor Ray Nagin was off humiliating us on the latest leg of his "God & Chocolate Tour." Meanwhile, back here in the real world five kids were shot down in the latest escalation of violence. Poverty and homelessness are increasing and our school system is still dysfunctional.

Heckuva job, Ray!

The only silver lining of New Orleans post-Katrina was the opportunity to finally put our house in order. Under the mayor's "leadership," every one of these opportunities have been squandered.

Now he's off doing a little victory lap although his only success would seem to be managing to be re-elected.

Ray Nagin is a national embarrassment, and his re-election is just further evidence that New Orleans is truly dysfunctional. It's gonna be a rough four years.

Gallivan Burwell, New Orleans, Times-Picayune letter to the editor.

Tags: Hurricane Katrina | Katrina | New Orleans | Louisiana | We Are Not OK | Nagin | Ray Nagin | Rob Couhig | Virginia Boulet