Monday, July 21, 2008

Since he doesn't want to be emailed about Stone Age...

If you missed Saturday's paper, it seems that the business arrangement between Home Depot and Stone Age has come to an end. It seems that the mayor's pretenses of being a "champion of transparency" have come to an end as well:
The mayor, who has maintained that the business dealings of Stone Age are none of the public's business, responded to an e-mailed query with a request to "stop e-mailing me as I have nothing further to say to you about my family or any other personal matter, period."

In case you've forgotten, Nagin broke the law if he owns more than 25% of Stone Age. We have no way of knowing that it's a personal matter if the mayor won't reveal his ownership interest in Stone Age.

If the mayor doesn't want to be emailed questions about Stone Age, Karen Gadbois's appearance on WWL (video) tonight (text) gave me a few other ideas. A reporter with his email address* could ask him where he gets off using a catastrophe that was the city's responsibility as a pretext for streamlining the city's demolition process. A half year after the WSJ reported on gutted houses, whose owners had applied for demolition permits, being demolished, we read that homes were still being demolished (while their owners waited for renovation permits). A half year after that, we read that the city was (supposedly) gutting houses and then destroying them, but the mayor wants more demolition authority.

Well, you get the idea. For a little more background information, I'd also recommend this related City Business report from February. The main thing is, Kudos to Karen Gadbois for getting this story out. Kudos to WWL and Lee Zurik for reporting it, but those Kudos could easily be taken back. WWl's report mentioned the questions that E raised but didn't go into much detail. I expect a follow-up.

*The rest of us can contact the mayor's office, but I've had delivery failures when I've tried that in the past.

Comments:
Since this story started with the bloggers I think we should follow up with the contracts.
 
You know "stop emailing me" was a pretty good one. But I think it appeared in the paper the same day that Tom Benson said his TV station would be the first to criticize the Saints when they screw up so it got pushed to the back page in my little world.
 
email him and ask him where Stone Age get's their supply chain from and if the company which supplies their granite, marble, etc. has any relationship to HSOA......I'd love to hear his response on that.
 
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