CNN REPORTER
NEW ORLEANS (CNN)—It’s been four years since Hurricane Katrina brought New Orleans to its knees.
Every day, there are people trying to bring the city back, including Mayor Ray Nagin.
But in an effort to steer his city into better times, he finds himself facing more criticism than credit.
Mayor Ray Nagin has been a lightning rod for criticism in post-Katrina New Orleans.
As the recovery moves forward, his popularity moves in the opposite direction.
Just after ground breaking for a new public housing project, Nagin told reporter Sean Callebs he isn’t surprised.
“I don’t think any leader after a natural disaster pretty much survives,” said Mayor Ray Nagin. “If you go look at other major disasters, most leaders were kicked out. I was fortunate or unfortunate to be standing here as we continue the progress. And what I find is that citizens wanted immediate fixes when there was no immediate fix. So I took the brunt of that.”
In May 2006, nine months after Katrina hit, he was re-elected mayor.
Since then, critics charge he’s had a “bunker” mentality, with the perception he’s rarely seen in public, at a time when New Orleans needed a strong visible mayor.
“Some people have come up to me and said, why did your mayor run for re-election?” asked Callebs. “Have you had that question and what’s your answer?”
“I just didn’t want to leave this city in a state of total disrepair,” replied Nagin. “We were on the verge of bankruptcy. So I wanted to put some things in motion. I felt that I was best qualified to do that. And we’ll see how it all works out.”
While areas tourists see are flourishing, entire communities in New Orleans East, Gentilly, Lakeview and the Lower 9th Ward remain devastated.
Many New Orleanians blame Nagin, a cable TV executive before being elected, for the slow pace of recovery.
For his part, he says he was ready to lead, but was the city ready to follow.
“There’s been days whether I questioned whether the city was really ready to move forward and ready to deal with the issues that I was moving forward,” said Nagin. “I’m a little too old to change. I came into office as kind of a newly; I’ve never been in politics. I’ve always lived my life telling people the truth. And sometimes that works in politics. Sometimes it doesn’t.”
Among his most controversial comments, Nagin said “New Orleans will be a chocolate city at the end of the day.”
Callebs asked him what was behind the comment.
“The only thing I regret about chocolate city is that people misunderstood the quote and the comment so much,” said Nagin. “At that time there was this notion, some of our business people were saying to national media groups that they didn’t think certain people should come back. So I wanted to send a strong signal that everybody was welcome. It was misinterpreted.”
The mayor says he is done with politics.
He’ll begin narrowing options in a matter of months, but almost assuredly, he will re-enter the private sector.
