NEW ORLEANS (AP) — New Orleans won’t part ways with controversial mayor Ray Nagin until more than a year from now, but already talk has turned to the post-Nagin era.Political analysts expect next year’s Feb. 6 primary will draw a huge field of candidates vying to pick up where Nagin leaves off in this city’s recovery from Hurricane Katrina.As for Nagin himself, there may be no elections in the next phase. Like others who took center stage during Katrina — including former Gov. Kathleen Blanco and ex-President George W. Bush — Nagin, 52, appears ready to give up politics.Records filed with the state show him last year beginning to draw down a campaign war chest built up ahead of the 2007 gubernatorial election he flirted with entering — paying bills, making political and charitable contributions and buying ads to get out the vote ahead of last fall’s presidential election.The two-term mayor, elected in his first run for public office in 2002 and barred by term limits from running again, leaves office in May 2010.The former cable TV executive has said his occupation will probably be business related. He insists he plans to be out of politics.”I’m retiring,” he said. “I’m retiring undefeated.”He’s shown no signs of leaving quietly. If anything, in the last few months, he’s appeared more publicly combative than ever, waging high-profile fights with the City Council on issues ranging from French Quarter trash to questions about his administration’s openness — a touchy spot for a mayor who claims to run the city transparently — as he tries to keep the recovery on track, avert a budget crisis for a city reliant on loans since the storm and shape his legacy.”For me, I’m damned if I do and I’m damned if I don’t, so I’m going to focus on what I think is best and not worry about the critiques going on,” he said.But the fit-and-start pace of recovery and Nagin’s penchant for off-cuff remarks — like his 2006 statement that New Orleans would be a “chocolate” city — may have helped seal his legacy in the minds of many here.”It would take a pretty aggressive stance by him in the last year for people to change their minds about him,” said University of New Orleans political science professor Ed Chervenak.Nagin faces endless criticism from residents, frustrated by what they see as the slow pace of recovery and a lack of vision and leadership by a mayor known for his delegation of duties.–Contact The Daily Reveille’s news staff at news@lsureveille.com
Mayor Nagin wants to ‘institutionalize’ recovery
February 16, 2009