re: What can honestly be done to fix New Orleans in terms of crime & mismanagement?

A lot of the suggested answers involve pumping money here & there. Consider that the city has several legal judgments that it can not pay, reflecting that it has no money for anything new. The city has just about taxed itself out & with the current politics of the State, there won't be any new State tax money coming in any time soon. As well, the city/State has been putting more & more police in the Quarter, it's main tax base, and the violent crime has now climbed up from the back of the Quarter to the first few blocks of Royal/Bourbon St. And it's gangs/drug heads that are causing all the problems there. But, to start somewhere, I'd say crack down on drugs even more...not grass, that is stupid and gangs are not robbing for grass money....and take a long, hard look at the corrupt judicial system in the city and the parish.

Napalm!

quote:

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Napalm!

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well, it does stick to kids....

(extra points for the movie reference)

To those who think NOLA will be fixed:

can you give an example of a city with similar demographics that you'd like to model New Orleans after?

Re-populate

Competent leadership is the absolute key. Without it, you will not accomplish anything. Since New Orleans has never had a good leader with the correct goals and a plan to achieve them, nothing has changed on a large scale. It might happen this cycle after the past few abominations, but I doubt it. Politicians know how to get votes, and those politicians will continue to appoint equally stupid and slimy underlings.

In short, don't hold your breath

Force home owners to clean up their rental units and purge out federally run projects. Sink or swim

New Orleans had its opportunity handed on a silver platter and opted for business as usual...a huge missed opportunity to redefine herself

There is a huge problem with contracts. Many government contracts are held by contractors who absolutely suck. I'm guessing they get the contracts because they are politically connected. I would not care if they bribed the politicians if the work got done. But the work never gets done. It takes them 10 times as long to do road construction as any other city, and the end result sucks. Same can be said for tech contracts, professional services, etc.

City Hall has some major issues, but some good people as well. Case in point. Last month I went to go fight two red light camera tickets. You go to this room and check in. I checked in and the person at the desk acted like she could not care in the world. She was rude and didn't want to be bothered to do her job. There were 5 signs in the room that said "no cell phone use allowed" yet this lady was using her cell phone the entire 30 minutes I waited in the room. Not talking, so I guess surfing the net or whatever. Halfway through, this lady in a OPSO uniform who was approximately 400 pounds waddles in, sit next to the girl, pulls out her cell phone and headphones, and starts watching some movie.

But, when I got called back, I met with the hearing officer and the assistant city attorney, who were two of the most professional people you will ever meet. Very nice, very willing to work with me, dressed well, spoke well, etc. I asked the officer what the deal was with the two in the front, and he rolled his eyes.

There are enough good-enough schools these days in the city, that anyone that truly values a good education can get one. The problem is, not enough people value education. I don't know how to fix that problem.

The crime issue will not be fixed until people learn how to act properly. We can add more officers on the street, we can bring in the national guard to help, etc, but it only takes a couple of seconds for someone to get robbed or carjacked. Again, people who value education don't generally commit crimes against other people.