Katrina Coverage

From New Orleans Corrupt 'Down to the Bone,' Former Pol Charges

A former president of the New Orleans City Council and member of the Orleans Levee Board blames corruption "down to the bone" and "unbelievable ineptness" for the loss of life and injuries during and after Hurricane Katrina. The Republican politician also fears the worst for her city if local officials are allowed to manage the federally funded rebuilding efforts.

"The corruption in city hall was horrible, and it was the same thing at the levee board," Peggy Wilson told Cybercast News Service. "The corruption in Louisiana and in the City of New Orleans goes down to the bone."

…"Nobody was convinced that [the levee board] needed any more money and, of course, they didn't," Wilson charged. Instead of spending money on levee maintenance and improvements, the levee board focused on widening bridges and making other accommodations for riverboat casinos, she said. The casinos are a major source of the levee board's funding since they pay for use of the riverfront property adjacent to their "boats."

Wilson said her frustration over the levee board's priorities spilled out at one of the board's meetings.

"I raised my hand and I said, 'Excuse me, I'd like to ask a question. When are we going to talk about levees?' And they told me that that was not on the agenda," Wilson recalled. "It pretty much never was on the agenda."

This entry was posted on Monday, October 17th, 2005 at 9:36 pm. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.