Sunburn

1. We know that all the work LTC did for the city technology office has been subpoenaed by the Feds.

2. We know that the city fired LTC and hired "SunBlock" to do the same work in a less public way.

Question: Aren't the Feds just going to immediately subpoena whatever it is that SunBlock produces?

Vay-Cay!

David Hammer: Attorney claims Nagin, Meffert took 'plenty of other trips' paid for by city vendor

Meanwhile, the attorney for two companies who are suing the city over a controversial crime camera project told The Times-Picayune that he plans to question the mayor about a series of other lavish trips when his deposition resumes. The attorney, Glad Jones, said credit card statements show those trips were also financed by NetMethods, owned by the city vendor, Mark St. Pierre.

NetMethods also paid for a vacation that former Chief Technology Officer Greg Meffert, the mayor and their families took to Hawaii in December 2004.

Nagin and Meffert took "plenty of other trips" at NetMethods' expense, said Jones, attorney for plaintiffs Southern Electronics and Active Solutions, though he would not divulge the number of trips or the destinations. The two companies are suing the city and other contractors for what they claim were unfair labor practices in the handling of the city's crime cameras.

"They were destinations that didn't look like places New Orleans would have any business in, " he said.

We might be able to figure some of those out.

1. How about November, 2005?

Link!

Then Mayor Nagin took a trip to Jamaica, a place he called "the first place we are looking to rebuild and strengthen relationships" after Katrina.

2. How about November, 2007?

Link!

Then, Mayor Nagin skipped a critical budget hearing because he was rumored to again be on the beaches of Jamaica. Nagin spokeswoman Ceeon Quiett would neither confirm nor deny those charges, which originated when (former?) Nagin confidant and former Republican legislator Gary Forster mentioned it on his radio show.

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I'd be willing to bet a few bucks that both of those were NetMethods-financed trips.

What others come to mind?

Viral Email or Email Virus

This email thing could be bogged down in the legal system for a good little while.

Today I wondered what types of material is generally supposed to be redacted from an email records request.

According to one Council aide:

"Personnel files, city credit card info, passwords, whistleblower emails, attorney-client privilege, correspondence pertaining to city litigation such as with Entergy, personal emails from family, friends, or doctors; constituent emails containing their contact information, emails with federal authorities of federal investigations - those are the examples that come to mind."

What of that is explicitly redacted under the law?

"The law is explicit with attorney-client privilege and personal email. Some of the other categories are derived from other laws, including case law. Making correspondence with the feds public or distributing could be obstruction of justice."

Yeesh. Serious.

Not looking good on WWLTV, either.


Someone did something stupid between Veronica White and the Office of Technology and could end up getting in trouble.

T-P:

Asked if the administration is considering disciplinary action against city employees who took part in releasing the information, Nagin spokesman James Ross said no decision has been made.

"This is the first time during Mayor Nagin's administration that such a situation has occurred, " Ross stated in an e-mail, adding that Chief Administrative Officer Brenda Hatfield is reviewing the matter and will make a recommendation to the mayor.

It's a rare day that the Nagin administration even suggests that someone maybe could be recommended for possible discipline-like action. So it definitely sounds like somebody did something really wrong between Veronica White and a select few individuals at the Mayor's Office of Technology (and those guys are in enough trouble as it is).

**(Not to mention the Mayor's own optics problems when it comes to his emails. Did you see read Jarvis DeBerry's recent piece where he compares Nagin to Kwame Kilpatrick?)

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To go on a related tangent, is it just me or is Tracie Washington always getting people into trouble in the magical world of the electronic letter?

Here's a great one Tracie Washington sent to Brenda Hatfield from 2007 that has since circulated:

Brenda:

I represent the children of Verlin J. Dix, Sr., one of the recipients of the
CONO letters advising of impending property demolition.  Kindly remove this
property from the demolition list.  This property has been boarded and poses
no health threat to anyone, or anything.  The family is awaiting insurance
proceeds so that they can begin remediation.


To the extent you all cannot comprehend the devastation these letters cause
our elderly citizens, Verlin J. Dix, Sr. was my uncle, and his family has
owned this property and Alexis Fried Chicken and Seafood for generations.
Post Hurricane Katrina, they have battled with the insurance companies
trying to be made whole so that they can reopen this business, and the many
other businesses formerly housed in this building.  Those battles continue.

Unfortunately for my uncle, the post-Katrina depression brought on by the
many pressures of losing his properties, which he had worked so hard during
his adult life to acquire, were just too overwhelming and, frankly, I
believe this last letter from the City of New Orleans was just too much.  On
Saturday morning he took his life, simply walking into the Mississippi
River.


I don't sue the City of New Orleans and its mayor for sport.  These
defendants are sued because their actions and ineptitude often cause real
tragedy, especially for our older African-American citizens.  I'm not sure
you all get this, and that's just plain unfortunate.


Tracie

Tracie L. Washington, Esq.
The Louisiana Justice Institute

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There are a bunch of scandals going on right now and I'm a little disappointed we haven't been giving them fun names. I mean, what are we supposed to tag posts related to this email kerfuffle? It seems to be just that complicated.

Traciegate? Nah.

I almost titled this post E-MOAH but the two scandals aren't really related enough for it to work.

Help me out here.

WTF?!?

So much is happening in the world of municipal politics this week it's hard to keep track of it all.

We've got HANO whistle blowers coming forward in advance of new HUD chief Shaun Donovan's visit.

New DHS Chief Janet Napolitano also comes to town for the first time this week as new allegations swirl around the New Orleans FEMA office.

The Office of the Inspector General has released its report on the perpetually wasteful crime camera program and criminal prosecutions seem likely.

Then there is this email clusterf#ck.

WWL has been suing the city for access to public records that the Office of Technology says were deleted, while simultaneously our old friend Sanitation Director Veronica White was somehow granted access to the City Council's email archives, which she promptly turned over (without checking for privileged material potentially related to ongoing lawsuits against the city or FBI investigations) to civil rights attorney Tracie Washington. City Attorney Penya Moses-Fields claims to have been unaware of this until last week, after the emails had been delivered to Washington.

White is on vacation somewhere.

Talk about inside baseball! There are many layers to this onion.

And these last few items, as Oyster says, are probably related.

Helluva week, huh?

Please submit your theories as to how the email kerfuffle went down. What do you think happens next? Do you believe that Moses-Fields didn't know? Is Veronica White going to be held accountable? Or do they circle the wagons once again? What's the most sensitive item hidden in those emails? I know I'd love to take a look for myself.

Transparency, right?

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I know Tracie Washington is probably going to take some heat for only requesting emails from the white members of City Council. But let's put this in context. Only three Councilors actually answer emails anyway. So the real question is what the hell she possibly hoped to get out of Jackie Clarkson's virgin email account. Jackie has always struck me as a rotary phone kind of gal.