MOLDY CITY

Fox 8 just reported that a close friend of former mayor Marc Morial was indicted on some charge, I was tuned into whether there would be any mention of Rodney's association with Ray Nagin to pay attention to the charges. Of course, there was no mention of any such association.

Sure enough, the Picayune's website reports:

Morial associate charged with failure to file tax return

The Associated Press

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Roy Rodney, a friend and close associate of former Mayor Marc Morial, was charged Monday with a misdemeanor count of failing to file income tax returns, federal officials said.

No mention of Nagin. That's an AP report, so I'll withhold judgment until I see what's in print tomorrow. But you can't blame the AP reporter for not knowing that Nagin and Rodney are good buddies, it never gets mentioned by the local media.

For the record, 2002 Louisiana Weekly column:

In fact, a rumor campaign to that effect circulated around the city. Even the entry of Rodney's business partner Ray Nagin into the race did little to quell the idea that the Morial insider planned to team up with Carter. Political insiders immediately took to the story because of its allure. It seemed to hearken to a move by Morial's political organization L.I.F.E. (Louisiana Independent Federation of Electors) to back Carter. With the news that fellow Morial alum Middleberg had jumped on board made the story even more believable.

There was just one problem. The rumor was not true. For the most part, the L.I.F.E. members have sat out of this contest. Some back Pennington. Most are waiting for the runoff before they publicly make their stand. However, their leaders are desperate not to show a division in the ranks.

When this newspaper contacted Mr. Rodney and asked the simple question: who he was supporting and was the candidate Troy Carter, as the rumors alleged, it was his secretary who returned the telephone call in Rodney's place and said definitively that the attorney did not support Carter. So, this reporter responded, "Who is he supporting?"

The secretary said, "I can't tell you that."

"You can't tell me that? Why not?"

"I just can't?" she concluded, and implied that comment would be the last that Rodney would release to the press.

As strong as a political position as L.I.F.E. continues to hold in the Crescent City, there is an attitude held by many of the candidates this season that a strong connection to the Mayor is the political kiss of death, considering the reform attitude that prevails in the city today. One can observe this displayed in the lengths that the Pennington camp goes to separate itself from Mayor Morial and show the Chief's independence.

One source says that Rodney does indeed support his friend and business partner Ray Nagin, but one can never tell in the somewhat Byzantine atmosphere that has descended upon this year's fractured election.

A glowing 2006 bio:

In 1997, the New Orleans Brass skated into the East Coast Hockey League. The four African Americans who owned the original majority stake in the brass were led by Ray Nagin and also included Roy Rodney, managing partner of New Orleans-based law firm Rodney, Bordenave, Boykin, Bennette & Boyle; David White, owner of several McDonald’s franchises; and Standford Barre, a local entrepreneur who owns a number of businesses in New Orleans.

Roy Rodney also played a prominent in an ad campaign that helped sink Paulette Irona 2002 mayoral campaign, as documented at Some Come Running and also, again, the Louisiana Weekly:

Reward From Peggy...

Waving negative flyers targeted to white and black audiences from a mystery group called New Alliance Business Political Action Committee, former Councilwoman Peggy Wilson has offered a $5,000 reward for information tying the flyers to a specific candidate.

The fliers attacked Senator Paulette Irons in recent days and an effort led by attorney Stewart Smith to find the identity of the individuals hit a snag the week prior to the election when Judge Joe DiRosa refused to order the identities of the individuals released stating that only the state ethics board had that power.

Information reveals however that Morial-friend and Ray Nagin-supporter Roy Rodney prepared, filed, and created five Limited Liability Corporations for the New Orleans Mayor's Race. One of these was an organization called Louisiana Teamwork, LLC headed by a lady named Gail Masters.

Louisiana Teamwork paid for a series of commercials attacking Sen. Irons, the first airing on January 14. The ads were placed by Ray Reggie's Media Firm, which is also did the buying for the Richard Pennington Campaign, and were produced by the same firm that did all of Nagin's advertisements.

Smith investigated Louisiana Teamwork and discovered that the organization had never filed with the Secretary of State's office. LA Teamwork did file then, but never registered as a political action committee.

To avoid releasing their contributor lists, Teamwork began to purchase commercials in the name of a new organization - New Alliance Business PAC. Under Louisiana Law, someone has to take responsibility for the purchase of political ads, but the disclosure forms for New Alliance state that their contributions only came from Louisiana Teamwork, a perfect cover.

Sorry, too busy to edit it all down, but it's not fucking rocket science.

Labels: Ray Nagin, Roy Rodney