WWL lays down the 411 on 311

4 Investigates: 311 contract

Channel 4 reporter, Lee Zurik, nails the 311 contract to the town square wall and reveals just how much money we're actually pissing away:

Shick says the California contract totals $3.9 million for 3 years. The New Orleans contract is for as much as $17.7 million for that same time period. Bottom line, it is the same company, with similar service and software at a $14 million difference.

nice huh?

“It's ridiculous,” said council member Shelley Midura. “It's such a bad way to use public funds. It's such a bad example of effective government.”
When asked if there were millions of dollars being wasted in this case, Midura responded emphatically “Yes!”

but here's the juiciest part of the story to me:

To try to find the answer, Eyewitness News e-mailed Mayor Ray Nagin’s administration, asking for an interview with intergovernmental relations director Kenya Smith. Months earlier, in front of the city council, Smith served as the administration's point man for 311 service.

On April 19, WWL received an e-mail, apparently from Smith himself but intended for the eyes of the city's deputy director of communications, James Ross. Smith told Ross he did not want to do the interview, and in response to our request said "Let’s smoke him out. Offer him Rhonda who manages the center."

Days later, the deputy director of communications, James Ross, did just that, e-mailing WWL to say that Kenya Smith wouldn't be available, but the 311 manager named Rhonda would be, at 2:30 the next afternoon in James Ross’ office. But when our Eyewitness News camera crew showed up at City Hall, neither was there.

A staffer told us that Ross was not there, and the 311 manager, Rhonda, could not do the interview today but needed to instead talk to us the next day. Further, she explained that Ross was at a meeting, not in the building, and said he would call us later to “figure out the time.”

But WWL never got that phone call from Ross and never had our interview with the 311 director. Council members say they're not surprised the administration is dodging questions.

This expemplifies the lack of transparency and obvious subversive nature of Nagin's administration. This is the modus operandi for Nagin and crew...they obviously have a lot to hide.

Not only are they obsfucating the truth...they're so fucking stupid they don't know how to check an email address. Smith responds to Ross's email, "Let's smoke him (Zurik) out" and then leaves Zurik's email address in the return address bar....unbelievable....these are the morons running our city folks.

If you want more info on the 311 contract I accrued back in January, heretis:

American Zombie: The 411 on 311 starts to take shape