Pockets of Development

This is an important read from Saturday's paper.

A commercial developer credited with swanky projects such as downtown's International House hotel, Cummings has long defended his government post by saying he amassed his holdings years before Mayor Ray Nagin tapped him to run the Building Corporation in 2003.

But the Marigny warehouse represents at least one instance in which Cummings pursued a private real estate deal at the same time he was lobbying for public investment in the riverfront that could raise the value of his personal land holdings. The sale occurred less than a month before the Building Corporation's board of directors authorized work to begin on the first phase of Reinventing the Crescent.

Mr. Cummings' transaction is being reviewed by the Louisiana Board of Ethics. It should be. He owns a lot of property and has a great deal of influence over development projects in the city through his post at the NOBC.

Cummings' appointment to the Building Corporation sparked criticism from day one. Not only is he personally entrenched in the development business, but his father, John Cummings III, wields an impressive real estate portfolio of his own.

A wealthy trial attorney known for directing a successful lawsuit against Shell Oil after a 1988 explosion at the Norco refinery, the elder Cummings controls dozens of properties that make him one of the biggest land holders in the state. Among his many possessions are a 3,000-acre parcel in eastern New Orleans and the former Whitney Plantation in St. Charles Parish.

Sean Cummings has failed to be direct with the Board of Ethics about his various property interests in the past.

Cummings first captured the attention of the ethics board in April 2005, when the City Planning Commission asked whether his livelihood created a conflict of interest with his public role.

Planning Commission Executive Director Yolanda Rodriguez wrote a letter to the board pointing to properties Cummings owned on Frenchmen Street, in the Warehouse District and in the 2900 and 3000 blocks of Chartres Street as holdings that "may represent a conflict."

The board initially ruled that the properties did constitute a conflict and said Cummings could not "participate in matters concerning the redevelopment of the New Orleans riverfront." However, the board recanted after Cummings appealed, asking him to return for a review when the Building Corporation solidified its riverfront designs.

With the Reinventing the Crescent plan in tow, Cummings requested another review in February. In a letter to the board, his attorney said the "relevant facts have not changed" since 2005. The letter cited a property at 2900-2920 Chartres St., a vacant building Cummings and his father have owned for more than 12 years, "long before the Reinventing the Crescent Plan was adopted" by the Building Corporation.

The letter does not mention Cummings' recent purchase of the Marigny warehouse. Cummings disclosed his ownership in an e-mail his attorney sent to the board two days before the April meeting, after a reporter asked why he did not include that information in his initial statement.

The letter also failed to disclose that Cummings and his father sold two Warehouse District lots along Tchoupitoulas and Annunciation streets for $1.37 million in December 2005. The sale occurred just two months before the Port of New Orleans approved a plan to sell a group of old wharves and other properties to the city for Reinventing the Crescent.

So what does this mean? I'm honestly not certain. Is NOBC's development plan for the Mississippi riverfront in the best interest of the public? What do residents get for all that spending? How do ordinary citizens benefit economically? What does it do for quality of life?

How much does it matter that the Cummings family stands to earn millions from increased value of the property they own by the river?

The warning sirens go off when you continue to acquire parcels of land in that area.

City Councilwoman Stacy Head expressed concern that Cummings has been working on private real estate deals and said she "was not aware that his holdings had increased" since he was appointed chief executive of the Building Corporation.

However, Head described her concern as a "double-edged sword."

"On the one hand, you want someone who cares about the area ... and who has a level of sophistication that would require a history of development," she said. "On the other hand, you don't want someone who has a motivation for self-dealing."

A double edged sword.

For what it's worth, I've been compiling campaign finance information for the Mayor's office and City Council. Some file electronically and some file on paper and the information is scanned. It's pretty tedious and not exactly user-friendly. I'm assuming the information online is accurate.

The Cummings family hits heavy.

Ray Nagin has accepted at least $22,500 from Sean, Donna, and John Cummings between 2002 and 2007.

Stacy Head has accepted at least $3,000 from Sean Cummings since 2006.

James Carter: at least $1,000 since 2006.

Cynthia Willard-Lewis accepted at least $20,000 from Donna Cummings, John Cummings, and the law firm Cummings, Cummings, & Dudenhefer.

Arnie Fielkow: at least $1,500 since 2006.

That's just City Council and the Mayor. It's a lot of loot, though not for the Cummings family. I'm not sure what it all means. Just passing it along.

Y'all should check out all the campaign info available. You never know what you might find.

UPDATE:

Schroeder has another thread here. His number for total Cummings family contributions is $47,500. I went back and took another look and can raise my number to at least $32,500.