Sunday, April 01, 2007
What Type of Government Do They Think We Have?
I was flabbergasted when Stephanie Grace wrote the following about the city council in July:
At least she wrote that when the city was under a state of emergency. There's no such explanation for what James Gill wrote today:
Is he serious? It's the duty of everybody else in local government to get along with the mayor and his department heads? Gill's gone from point shaving to game throwing. You have to admire Gill's ability to seem fair and balanced. Since both sides are deserving of criticism, the Nagin criticism is based on private email messages about a crazy woman.
It doesn't even seem to have occured to anybody at the Picayune to question the charge that the sanitation department reneged on an agreement, that is, after all, what led to the use of the word "bitch." Gill acknowledges that Lupin isn't the only VCC member to call White inflexible, but he fails to acknowledge that other French Quarter residents have accused White of backing out of an agreement. If the city said one thing to quiet opposition when the deal was first proposed and then backed out of the agreement, that's a major part of the story, but one that Picayune chooses to ignore.
I can only think of one reason for the Times Picayune to ignore that part the story. Since it involves spoken promises, or alleged promises, it's an issue of credibility. Unfortunately, The Picayune seems to be so cowed by Nagin's bias charges, that it's reluctant to examine the credibility of a Nagin appointee who had recently announced that she was replacing bombproof garbage cans that had recently been "cleaned-and-serviced." longer and slightly shorter link.
In other words, they want in. And as long as they're willing to be productive partners, Nagin should welcome them.
Not that any reluctance he might show wouldn't be understandable.
At least she wrote that when the city was under a state of emergency. There's no such explanation for what James Gill wrote today:
Lupin is by no means the only member of the commission who believes the Sanitation Department is being needlessly inflexible. He is the only one to resort to personal insults, however, and he needs to be replaced. The commission is never going to win concessions from White so long as Lupin is there.
Is he serious? It's the duty of everybody else in local government to get along with the mayor and his department heads? Gill's gone from point shaving to game throwing. You have to admire Gill's ability to seem fair and balanced. Since both sides are deserving of criticism, the Nagin criticism is based on private email messages about a crazy woman.
It doesn't even seem to have occured to anybody at the Picayune to question the charge that the sanitation department reneged on an agreement, that is, after all, what led to the use of the word "bitch." Gill acknowledges that Lupin isn't the only VCC member to call White inflexible, but he fails to acknowledge that other French Quarter residents have accused White of backing out of an agreement. If the city said one thing to quiet opposition when the deal was first proposed and then backed out of the agreement, that's a major part of the story, but one that Picayune chooses to ignore.
I can only think of one reason for the Times Picayune to ignore that part the story. Since it involves spoken promises, or alleged promises, it's an issue of credibility. Unfortunately, The Picayune seems to be so cowed by Nagin's bias charges, that it's reluctant to examine the credibility of a Nagin appointee who had recently announced that she was replacing bombproof garbage cans that had recently been "cleaned-and-serviced." longer and slightly shorter link.
