Nagin's first townhall meeting
Tags: ray nagin, bring new orleans backMayor's meeting a forum for questions and anger
Whether in search of information or group therapy, hundreds of people crowded into a Canal Street hotel ballroom Wednesday for the first of what are billed as weekly town hall meetings Mayor Ray Nagin will hold to update the public and hear their concerns.
The session was supposed to start at 2 p.m., but it was past 2:30 before Nagin, clad in a New Orleans Saints sweatshirt, walked in to a chorus of catcalls about the delay. "You were late for Katrina, too," one man shouted.
Responding with a smile, Nagin told the crowd, "We are going to rebuild this city. We are going to do it together."
… Asked whether the city will condemn many flooded buildings, Nagin promised that no buildings will be demolished without the owner's consent unless they are deemed structurally unsound. Of 50,000 buildings inspected so far, he said, only 1,000 have been found to be unsound.
As he has done several times lately, he promised, "We will rebuild the Lower 9th Ward and New Orleans East, and in a way very similar to what was there before, but better."
… Criticized for what one speaker depicted as the city's inadequate evacuation and shelter plans before Katrina, Nagin defended his record, saying that 1.5 million people were evacuated from the New Orleans area. He said the city will re-evaluate its plans for evacuating and sheltering people, but he told the crowd, "If another Katrina is coming, run!"
The mayor also had to contend with a political jab toward the end of the almost three-hour session. Although he told a speaker he did not wish to address strictly political issues, he was stung when the speaker dubbed his Bring New Orleans Back Commission a "re-election commission."
"Man, I am so far not thinking about re-election," Nagin shot back. "You want the job, man? Maybe we can work something out."
