You may want to go back and look at that contract for Ciber's recent $6M. If you look at the date the original was 12/31/2010, that is scratched out and initialed by Fred Wild (city attorney)and penciled in is 12/31/2009. I think Nagin is just paying off his buddies. Also Ciber has told its IT staff that 12/31/2009 is their last day.
So I went back and looked at it and he is indeed correct:
Notice the strike? Simple accident?
On a possibly unrelated note, I was browsing back through the TP archives of the civil case and ran across this: Plaintiffs reach deal with Ciber
Zombiewire is abuzz. Some schnizzelwizzel may go down on this All Hallow's Eve...or rather the Eve before All Hallow's Eve. Maybe not what you're expecting, but spooky nonetheless. I'm spookulating myself...
So I've got an idea on how to make back that 10 million and maybe more. The city should incorporate itself as the de facto standard for municipal IT service consulting. I think we've hired every firm in the country from Colorado to D.C. We should know everything there is to know about municipal IT services at this point, considering we've paid more for them than any city in history.
It's like we went into a brothel and said, "What the hell....let's do the smorgasbord!" Sadly, I think we're going to wake up broke, hungover, and wondering what the hell we were thinking. Maybe we can get Meffert to put it on Netmethod's credit card.
I'm not criticizing this new company, Telecommunications Development Corp. I don't know anything about them. But I do know we are apparently paying them for some pretty familiar services:
- Mainframe and System Migration - System Architectural Design, Implementation and Maintenance - Database Support - Application Development - Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery Planning - Lagan Software Development and Implementation - Training and Technical Support - Capital Projects - 311 Call Center - Financial Infrastructure
All under the guise of "various Citywide Technology initiatives". Forgive me if I'm a little confused but haven't we already paid for the 311 service like two or three times? Wasn't that Ciber's gig?
And if I'm not mistaken, aren't we paying MSF for most of these services under another contract or am I confused on "various initiatives"?
Seriously...I'm not trying to be a dick...I mean don't get me wrong, I can be a dick...but I'm not right now. What the heck is this contract for? Are we replacing one of our current vendors? Are we supplementing one of our current vendors because they couldn't handle all the requirements? Why did we just pay Ciber an extra 6 million bucks?
Lagan seems to be a full service municipal software solution and I guess TDC is the service company for it....but what happened to all the shit we already paid for? In particular the 311 system?
I think maybe we should just forgo the Jetsons and revert back to the Flintstones. These Spacely Space Cogs are gonna break us.
UPDATE: I'm now being told that this contract is just for 2009 and it will shoot up to between $5 and $7 million in 2010.If there is a councilperson reading this, we need to find out what is going on here because it seems to me we're paying multiple companies for similar services. I may be wrong, but we deserve an explanation.
While I'm still searching for the article itself (heretis), an AZ reader pointed out a recent Bayou Buzz article on a John Georges soiree in which they assessed the gravity of the candidate by the quality of alcohol and food at the event:
The former Gubernatorial candidate made the biggest Mayoral splash this past week with a high dollar reception at Royal Street's Montelone Hotel. The fact that Georges won Orleans Parish in his 2007 bid for Governor--as an Independent no less--was not lost on the biracial crowd as they munched on hors d'oeuvres and heard the Imperial Trading Inc. CEO speak. While many outsiders judge these events on simple dollars collected, most political insiders, sentenced to endless fundraisers have come up with their own way to judge the quality of political events--the food and booze. By that calculation, as by all others, Georges' event on Wednesday, October 21, 2009, was a success. Not only did he draw several hundred contributors to his fundraiser on a mid-week evening, as well as TV cameras from all the local stations, but he had the best food yet seen this Mayoral season. The gourmet delights included pan fried oysters over eggplant dressing and hollandaise, Chefs at turkey and beef cutting boards, and pan-seared Gulf Shrimp shiskabobed. Add to that the top shelf alcohols served upon request, and one had an indication of the lengths that Georges will go to comfort his supporters. He has pledged to spend upwards of two million dollars of his own money on the Mayoral bid, potentially as much as the other candidates can raise combined. And, besides the large crowd, Georges drew many political officials to his gathering including State Rep. Neil Abramson, former State Rep. Sherman Copelin, Jefferson Parish Sheriff Newell Norman, Councilwoman Cynthia Lee-Sheng (daughter of Harry Lee), former Council candidate and GOP New Orleans Brahmin Michael Grey and former Democratic Congressional candidate Helena Moreno. As Georges will not announce his campaign until this coming week, the common joke in the room was, "I'm not a candidate, but if I were..." (This manifested best when Georges' spouse took the podium after her husband, and said, "If you want to change New Orleans, vote for John--but I can't say that until next week.")
Hang on...I'm still stuck in a cringe....(eechhh..phootooohey)...better.
The only way this should have made news is if he threw this party at a homeless shelter.
This is exactly what we need as mayor....a guy who knows how to cater a party. That's a great platform to run on....if Georges is elected mayor he will open up the convention center to visiting tourists and provide free booze and food every night.
All right, enough of that.
On to some interesting rumors swirling about the Mayor's race and Leslie Jacobs. I have heard two scenarios bounced around with Jacbos, both equally interesting.
The first scenario is that Georges is not announcing because he plans to bow out and throw his support behind Jacobs. That's pretty crazy, I know, but its a crazy town.
The second scenario, and more likely, is that Jacobs will lower her sights and run for the District A city council seat. That's actually encouraging to me and seems to be a much more fertile possibility than "Herzonnah, Mayor Jacobs".
I just can't see her being an effective mayor, even if she could magically garner the votes she needs to win. Leslie is hyper-intelligent, but that isn't a prerequisite to make a good politician. I doubt she could build effective coalitions with the people she would need to break bread with and I think she would quickly be framed as Peggy Wilson V.3 (Head earned V.2 honors). I'm afraid she may approach the process with an attitude of "unyielding determination" and that shite will hit the fan, just ask Peggy V.2.
Councilperson Jacobs, on the other hand, is a rather attractive thought to me. I am, of course, on the Anybody but Batt bandwagon, and I think Jacobs could definitely pull a "Midura" out of her hat in District A. I think that will come down to what her motivation for running for public office is. If she's on an ego trip and is dreaming of Herzonner status, then I think she's wasting her time. If she really wants to serve the city, and she would probably do a great job, District A would be a great place to cut her teeth. In 4 to 8 years, maybe mayor would be a realistic pursuit, but I just don't see how it could possibly happen in this election....but wtf do I know.
While we're on the subject of ego....it was also pointed out to me that John Georges became his own fan on his FakeBook page. That's silly, I know, but funny nonetheless.
There are sins of commission and there are sins of omission.
Senator David Vitter is guilty of both.
The sin of commission, frequenting multiple prostitutes while preaching family values, is sensational, but I don't think it's anywhere close to his current transgression.
Vitter has refused to comment or condemn Tangipahoa Parish Justice of the Peace, Keith Bardwell's, refusal to marry an interracial couple. The only comment he's made is that "Judges should follow the law." Right...and men who preach family values should honor their marriages, and elected leaders shouldn't break the law and hire prostitutes. Unfortunately people do stupid things and as one of the top elected leaders in the state...the top white, male, elected leader in the state....he has a responsibility to condemn idiots like Bardwell.
Instead, he has dodged the question and refuses to give us a direct answer. To me, the silence and sidestepping speaks clearly....he agrees with Bardwell. He condones Bardwell's actions.
In a period when this country is becoming a political powder keg and racist acts like this are re-surfacing more frequently...its inexcusable for a U.S. Senator not to condemn Bardwell's backwoods bigotry in his own state.
He's essentially telling the country and the world, "Racism is alive and well in Louisiana and them thar' boys are my people."
The true David Vitter seems to be surfacing daily....a misogynistic, racist, hypocrite.
"I think they do a much better job than we do on knowing their citizens at a very, very detailed level, block by block, " Nagin said.
That's a very funny comment if you understand the context.
I was in Havana shooting a documentary back in 2001. Let me preface this by saying I love the Cuban people...but there's a reason why the government knows every citizen on a very, very detailed level...and here's why:
There are federales who are assigned to every two blocks in Havana. They know every person in their neighborhood and they make sure every person in their neighborhood knows who's boss...routinely.
An example of how well they know them:
I walked out of my hotel, the Ambos Mundos, one night to see a prostitute blowing a policeman in the bushes...and I'm sure that favor was on the house.
So yeah, I guess there are some benefits to being an oppressive, communist society when it comes to disaster response, but then I wouldn't want to be forced to either blow a cop on my street corner or go to jail for 6 months, in non-disaster periods.
Incidentally, I've been trying to upload my short documentary on Cuban Artists but I'm having trouble with Blogger's video system. I'll keep trying.
"New Orleans mayor suggests communism is better solution for disaster response"
Maybe that was his goal. I think he may end up setting back Cuban/American relations with that response more than helping them. Let's see what cycle the spin machine takes it to. Ray Nagin: Cuba's government is ideal for storm response
I keep dismissing this, but this is the 3rd time I've heard it....there's a rumor floating around that Mitch Landrieu may be considering running for mayor after all.
This may not be the point of this blog at all, but if you've a mind to, I'd love to read posts which explain your faith a little.
Of course its appropriate, I just get railed on everytime I bring it up.
Yoruba Cosmology...it's the root of Voodoo, Santeria, Macumba, Candomble, etc.
The first thing you have to understand about YC is that its not a written tradition. Its an oral tenet which means there is no Yoruba Bible, or written laws. That's a little hard for most Western cultures to grasp, but this oral tradition has been passed down successfully through at least as many generations as Christianity.
The tenet of YC is called Ashe.
What is Ashe? I can't define it because its infinite. But I can talk around it and my favorite way to describe it is to reference the second law of thermodynamics: Everything moves from a state of order to chaos....entropy. Start there, but a more simple explanation would be movement....everything is moving.
There's a difference between hearing those words and understanding those words....or becoming more aware of those words.
I was explaining this to a young, bombastic, Christian girl one night who replied, "That's what you believe...well that's stupid...it's obvious everything is moving." To which I replied, "Thank you....in other words you're telling me what I believe is true." I didn't bother asking her to explain that whole trinity thing, where 1 is 3 and 3 is 1.
Christians and the Western mind have a hard time grasping the concept because they've been brought up to worship order, not chaos. They've been taught to believe in a static, motionless, singularity.
As a Christian, or Jew or Muslim (children of Yahweh), when you go to worship your "No God but God" you go to a stone edifice and recite prayers and passages which haven't changed for 100's of years. The whole point is to strive for order.
You practice Voodoo wherever you are...because Ashe is all around you and it's certainly not static. To write the tenet in a book would be futile.
That's not to say that Christianity and YC are mutually exclusive, in fact in most of the diaspora religions, the two have been acculturated. How did they reconcile the paradox of the two tenets? Well, it is a thing of beauty but suffice to say its a manifestation of why New Orleans is the only American city to celebrate death....somewhere in the mindset of this city lies your answer, but I wouldn't suggest you search too hard, hence you'll never find it. A paradox isn't meant to be reconciled, if you don't believe me read the definition.
The awareness of Ashe is called Itutu and the color which is associated with it is always blue. The closest translation of Itutu would be a kind of "mystical coolness". You can have a little Itutu or you can have a lot. A good Western philosophy which matches this awareness would be "Shit happens." There are things in life you can control and things in life you can't control. If you spend your life fretting over those things you can't control, you will be a most miserable person. If you live your life calm and centered, like the eye in the hurricane, you live with Itutu...or the Blues.
The gods in the YC pantheon are called Orisha (plural and singular tense). One of the things about the Orisha which differs drastically from Western dogma is that the Orisha are not a vertical hierarchy, it's more horizontal. All of the Orisha depend on each other to maintain balance, and while there is "an Orisha on high", Oludamare, he is completely dependent upon the other Orisha as they are him. It's a very symbiotic interplay between the Yoruba gods, somewhat like the Greek pantheon, but Oludamare is not supreme in the magnitude that Zeus was an overlord.
Most of the Orisha were actually human at one point and because of some act of Itutu, they became deified. In relation to archetypes, each Orisha's ascension represents some...parable, if you will....of the human experience.
For example, Oshun, the goddess of the river and fertility...young, beautiful, nubile....became deified when she saved the world from a drought. All the other Orisha used their power in an attempt to pacify Oludumare and bring rain, yet not even the strongest of them, Chango, Ogun, Olifi, etc. could bring balance back to the world and end the drought. Oshun asked if she could try and she was scoffed at by the Orisha. She was unyielding in her determination and finally the Orisha capitulated and gave her a shot. She was then transformed into a beautiful peacock so she could reach the heavens in her attempt to pacify Oludamare.
She took off and flew directly towards the sun, the only way to get to Oludamare. As she approached the sun, the intense heat began to burn off her feathers, but she refused to stop. The sun became so intense that it burned her entire body and she became a horrible, ugly , burnt vulture....but she kept going. Oludamare, was so moved at her unyielding intent, he began to cry and the rains began to fall from the heavens thus ending the drought. For this act, she was deified.
A graphic representation of Oshun. Her color is always yellow and she draws her power from the river. I actually think New Orleans is her city, incidentally.
Oshun was unwavering in the face of chaos...even total destruction. Her intent was so strong, that she was willing to sacrifice her beauty and body to achieve her goal and restore balance to her community...that's Itutu...fearless in the face of chaos or destruction.
Ogun, the god of iron, technology, weapons, etc., was deified for committing suicide out of angst. So there are some really interesting twists in these archetypes which you don't normally see in Western culture.
There is a wonderful story of Oshun and Ogun, in which Oshun mesmerizes Ogun with her beauty and draws him back into the working world after he decides to hide out in the forest. Ogun is always at odds with himself, being a master of technology but having a Luddite heart. This is an animated film based on that story (but warning, this is only half the story and I can't find a conclusion):
The introduction of Catholicism to YC was a total boon...they now had all these wonderful stories of Saints to blend within their existing framework. Its important to understand that YC is not an exclusive religion...you don't have to choose to believe in Ashe....you are subject to it regardless of whether or not you're aware of it.
The most interesting thing to me about YC is how much the tenet has influenced American culture without us even knowing it. I've touched on a lot of those things in past posts, but if I went out on limb (and I seem to be more than willing to do that as of late) I could say that what made America's culture distinct, particularly music, was the diaspora influence of Yoruba Cosmology.
If we look at the history of American music and move backwards from Hip-Hop to Rock and Roll to Blues, and then even further back to the African slaves farming the Mississippi Delta...YC is there. Because it is an oral tradition, early African Americans didn't need books to pass on the tenet...they simply sang their tradition.
There were, of course, many physical ritualistic aspects which survived as well.
Ever see a white tire buried half way in someone's front yard in the Southern states?
Ever see bottles hanging from trees?
If you go into some African American barber shops in the Deep South the barber will scoop up a customer's hair trimmings and give them back in an envelope before they leave. The Yoruba tenet believes that actual body matter like hair, or fingernails, (even feces) can be used against them to create spells. That's one reason why barbers hold such significance in the African American culture...some people believe they are trusting their lives with them every time they get their hair cut.
So overall, if you ask me what I believe in....I would say the second law of thermodynamics, or what Stephen Hawkings called the "The First Arrow of Time." To me, the Yoruba tenet and its archetypes help me stay aware of that belief.
Then I read the story and was somewhat horrified. When real estate is so worthless that the banks don't even follow through on foreclosures....where does that leave us? City governments lose their tax base, city employees get laid off, city services disappear....jeez, I'm depressing myself.
I'm still having a hard time believing this. On top of the fact that the AP is reporting it which means its bound to get national attention in short order. Look at this quote:
"I'm not a racist. I just don't believe in mixing the races that way," Bardwell told the Associated Press on Thursday. "I have piles and piles of black friends. They come to my home, I marry them, they use my bathroom. I treat them just like everyone else."
Nagin labeled that idea "inappropriate" and pledged to resist any "front-end" effort by the inspector general to "influence the decision-making process" when it comes to awarding contracts.
"Look, he can do what he wants to do, " Nagin said in a radio interview last month. "But I'm going to use the authority of the mayor that's there. And he's not going to . . . not on my watch. That's not going to happen."
His first notion is correct, the IG can do what he wants. Legally, Nagin can't stop him, or for that matter...any citizen...from examining the RFP's and the bidding process. Unless of course he illegally blocks access to public record which has been his MO from the beginning.
Welcome to good government, Ray. Its a bitch ain't it?
Speaking of disturbing, I've been reading online musings about Paula Neble, one of the prostitutes from the late Debra Jeane Palfrey's harem, who Vitty reportedly favored. (HT YRHT)
She was described as a cookie dough engulfing, pathological liar. Vitty sure knows how to pick 'em.
i think you are an asshole I lost my job because of your stupid fuckin comments re upper mgmt you killed the little guy now it's your turn
September 29, 2009 4:59:00 PM CDT
Anonymous said...
Still out of a job due to this fucking blog asshole. I know where you hang. Soon mutherfucker soon!
October 10, 2009 2:29:00 PM CDT
The only thing that's going to suck more than losing your job is losing your job and going to jail. I assume you must have worked a tech job at City Hall...probably for MAS. If you think I was responsible for MAS losing their contract, you're a damn fool.
Whatever you think, I assume you know what an IP address is....I have yours....both times you commented. Actually all three times you commented, including your little "test".
So here's how we can deal with this. You don't need to "know where I hang". You give me a time a and place and I'll meet you man to man. Or, you can keep making veiled death threats on here and you can go to fucking jail....then you won't have to worry about getting a job.
We choose to go to the moon. We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard, because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one which we intend to win, and the others, too.
John Kennedy, 1962
Today...I blew up the moon....and I won the Nobel Peace Prize....all before 8 am. What did you do today?
The word on the wire is that this is in anticipation of his future decisions and leadership. Essentially, they gave him an award for something they expect him to do.
I suppose the fact that we bombed a defenseless satellite on the same day our president receives a prize for peaceful conflict resolution is pure coincidence....the irony is thick....yet admittedly I'm not smart enough to formulate the joke.
Temporally, I'm not opposed to Obama winning the Nobel Peace Prize.
...its just one of those things I never really prioritized.
Unless the moon is really made of cheese and this bomb will somehow blow massive chunks back into our atmosphere and we can mine it....cause I really do love cheese....and we have a lot of hungry people on the planet, ya know. That would explain everything.
In all fairness to Barack, the plan to bomb the moon was set in place during the Bush administration. I just can't resist the absurd synchronicity of today's events.
I still, for the life of me....just don't get these people. What are they so scared of? A coming storm? How?
A California doctor who must choose between her faith and her job? What? She can't practice medicine anymore if gay people are allowed to marry? WTF...did gay marriage advocates suddenly militarize a gay gestapo and I didn't hear about it? Is Glen Beck gonna fill me in soon on the growing Nazi homosexuals who are spreading socialism and gayness around the country and building homo-concentration camps in Montana?
What if every gay couple in America was allowed to get married...what would happen? Would the earth shift off it's axis? Would there be gay goon squads terrorizing your neighborhood? Would homosexuals be knocking on your door like the Mormons with pamphlets that are encouraging you and your children to be gay?
At the very worst Bravo would launch Gay Housewives of San Francisco....which couldn't be any worse than the Housewives of Atlanta....and guess what? You can just turn the fucking channel....just like I do when I happen to cross the 700 Club or Fox News. Even if you see a gay couple holding hands in the park....you can just...ignore them. Isn't that a novel idea? Gee...how easy would that be?
Instead, these people have to spend a shitload of money on TV commercials like this one. A coming storm....isn't this reminiscent of the fear mongers who keep prophesying a coming race war?
1. Are you a bigot? “Why do you want to take away people’s rights?”
“Isn’t it wrong to write discrimination into the constitution?”
A: “Do you really believe people like me who believe mothers and fathers both matter to kids are like bigots and racists? I think that’s pretty offensive, don’t you? Particularly to the 60 percent of African-Americans who oppose same-sex marriage. Marriage as the union of husband and wife isn’t new; it’s not taking away anyone’s rights. It’s common sense.”
60% of African Americans agree with them? Who conducted that poll? That reminds me of the guy who goes off on a racist rant then says, "Some of my best friends are black!"
And then there's this:
2. Isn’t the ban on gay marriage like bans on interracial marriage?
A: “Bans on interracial marriage were about keeping two races apart so that one race could oppress the other. Marriage is about bringing two sexes together, so that children get the love of their own mom and a dad, and women don’t get stuck with the enormous disadvantages of parenting alone.” “Having a parent of two different races is just not the same as being deprived of your mother—or your father.”
- Bans on interracial marriage were about keeping two races apart so that one race could oppress the other.
Huh? Gee, I thought it was about fear....xenophobia. I never realized there was a master plan for racial oppression behind bans on interracial marriage. I'm actually in an interracial marriage and I don't remember any white boys telling me I was betraying the cause for oppression when I got married. I remember disapproval...but then again I grew up in the hills of Kentucky....so that's to be expected.
- Having a parent of two different races is just not the same as being deprived of your mother—or your father.”
And how is gay marriage a threat to mothers and fathers? And wait..."having a parent of two different races"...do they mean a single parent that is mixed race, or two parents of different races? I'm so confused I can't even refute this stupid shit.
. Why do you want to interfere with love?
A: “Love is a great thing. But marriage isn’t just any kind of love; it’s the special love of husband and wife for each other and their children.”
Unless of course the married couple doesn't have children.
"Love is great thing"....but only in the way they define it.
I can't imagine how miserable these people's lives must be. They must sit around utterly tormented knowing that other people may be deriving pleasure from life in ways they don't understand.
You know....I don't understand how people get off on counting rosary beads, but I don't hate on 'em for doing it. I don't understand how people get off by shoving beads up their arse but I don't hate on them either. Point is...its a free country, man...let people be free.
Homophobia....xenophobia....they're one in the same. Its fear of the "other".
This is a letter from Mr. Ellis addressing the accusations of a potential conflict of interest regarding his business realtions and that of his wife's.
Jason,
It was nice to finally get the opportunity to speak with you. I hope our conversation gave you some insight into my personality and character both professionally and personally. I have worked very hard in my tenure with the City of New Orleans to serve the public to the bests of my ability and offhand comments impugning my character are something I take very seriously.
At the outset, I suggest that before bloggers decide to post statements that reference crimes against individuals that are not public officials there is no protection against suit. Such posts will ultimately be the demise of bloggers and hope this one instance will serve as an example of how it should not be done – posting outlandish, unresearched statements then demanding said person to respond and refute. This is akin to yelling “fire” in a theater to a person’s reputation. I note the majority of the posts are so far removed from reality, either because some people believe everything is a conspiracy or that every action must be corrupt, and where they can take hours to post they fail to take the time to understand what is actually occurring.
Fortunately, as stated, cooler heads prevailed.
To that end I have compiled the following list, which corrects the inaccuracies previously posted about me and my work at City Hall on your website:
1. I am a Deputy City Attorney who is assigned to the Litigation Team.
2. I never have drafted, reviewed, or participated in the award of any bids.
3. The above mentioned duties are handled through the Transactions Team and the Department of Purchasing.
4. To be clear I only handle matters that are in litigation (someone has filed a suit or injunction against the City) or that is going to be in litigation (we have received notice of a suit or the City needs to initiate litigation).
5. There is no such thing as a “no bid” contract.
6. I have no control or influence over who is awarded public works contracts and never have.
7. Public works contracts – which are done by sealed bid by law (and I am not giving a legal opinion) - are awarded to the lowest, qualified, responsible bidder.
8. Neither of us have relationships with Netmethods, MethodInvestments, Veracent, Logistix, Active Solutions, Southern Electronics Supply. I was the litigator who initiated litigation against Veracent arising out of the One Shell Square tower and I am currently defending the City against Active and Southern in that case.
9. The entire “Posse” – “Mafia” thing is a complete and total fabrication. We attended one meeting regarding the Inspector General. It was the Mid- City/Lakeview meeting. I was there to listen to Mr. Cerasoli talk about his reason that his office needed a dedicated amount from the general fund without the need to explain or present a budget to the City Council. The legislative branch of government, the City Council, should always be presented with a budget and explanation. Every department presents a budget and all should; its directly akin to taxation without representation. I never publicly asked a question.
10. Canlas Ellis, LLC was my private firm before I went in-house with the City. I am admitted in Louisiana and Texas. I keep my Texas license active as a formality.
11. Representative Juan LaFonta is not my law partner.
12. There are no conflicts of interest between Daya and myself. In the one case where her client had litigation against the City, it was resolved before the City need to respond or appear; the matter was never assigned to me.
13. http://www.fifthcircuit.org/PDF/OPINIONS/PO/2009/5CE8D380-4D2E-490FB1DA- 2AA278CA58E8.pdf - read the case the court of appeal reversed and rendered an opinion in my favor.
14. Neither myself nor Daya know Tracie Washington.
15. When we went to Rising Tide there was no suit filed so I showed with no summons. I did not have people taking video or anything like that. I went there for one reason to meet with you face to face and talk. Nothing else. After the excellent speech by to the keynote speaker and noting you left I went on with my friends to the BBQ-Tailgating exhibition.
16. I have never had a City vehicle.
17. When someone “witnesses” or “notarizes” a document that person is merely attesting that the person who signed the document is who they say they are – nothing further. They certainly do not make themselves a party to whatever they are witnessing. I am a “Notary Public” which means I can notarize anyone’s signature within the state of Louisiana if I know them or they have shown identification.
I congratulate you on your recent award. It is obvious that your website is something you have put a lot of time and effort into. I hope that this encounter will help you to continue in your labors while helping to sharpen your understanding of good conduct and fundamental fairness.
Again, I am glad we had the opportunity to sit down and discuss this “controversy” without further recourse. I appreciate the opportunity to clear the air in your “open forum.” In the future should you have any further questions regarding me and my service to the City of New Orleans I would appreciate if you kept the lines of communications open prior to posting anything rhetorical that may possibly be misconstrued.
And thank you for the explanation, as well.
I hope that this encounter will help you to continue in your labors while helping to sharpen your understanding of good conduct and fundamental fairness.
I thought that was very good point and indeed this experience has taught me much.
I hope we both proceed more finely tuned than before our encounter.
This is a letter from Mrs. Naef addressing the accusations of a potential conflict of interest regarding her business relations and that of her husband's.
Dear Jason,
In our conversation last week it was mutually agreed that you would welcome an opportunity for me to verify the inaccuracies and address individually the hurtful statements being made about me on your website. Here is a list of corrections that I have prepared in an effort to dispel the many implications and rumors hashed out on your website:
1. I was the General Counsel for the local company Home Solution Restoration of Louisiana (HSRLa). I was hired in January 2007. PICKE Construction Corporation is the new name of Home Solution Restoration of Louisiana, Inc. (HSRLa) and I currently act as their General Counsel. Associated Contractors, LLC was merged into HSRLa in 2006.
2. Home Solutions of America, Inc. (HSOA) is the publicly traded company that owns HSRLa/PICKE. I am not counsel for HSOA.
4. Being a Registered Agent for a company means you will receive official documents on behalf of the company. It does not mean you are involved in the management of the company in any way whatsoever nor that you have any interest at all whatsoever in that company.
5. As it pertains to Echo Tango, LLC - I formed this LLC for a friend for a potential real-estate project. It has no other purpose. It has no contracts with either the City or the Airport. It should also be noted that the City and Airport are separate entities.
6. Wolf Ventures, LLC is a single member LLC and has no business interests and/or ties to: Allegis Capital, Wolf Ventures, & Advantage Capital Partners.
7. Crescent City Management, LLC is a single member LLC that has no contracts with the City, although it does have a vendor number because it has submitted proposals; however, CCM has not been selected. I personally, along with five other attorneys and firms were selected at one time to do title work for the City through a “Request for Proposals”, but that project was changed after the selection process and therefore I was not assigned any work.
8. I used 210 Baronne Street as an office prior to Katrina.
9. I am not a City Attorney nor am I employed by the City. That said I do not sign City documents. The references to the letters that I signed on are dual signature letters that the City designed. The letters are part of a 2006 program of the Mayor’s to donate properties that have been adjudicated to the City for tax debts for over five years to for-profit and not-for-profit developers to increase the number of low income housing units available, as well as re-develop economically depressed areas of the City. I was hired by Jaeger Foundation after it was awarded properties. Jaeger was one of twenty something entities that received properties. As far as I know, the largest entity allocated properties was New Orleans’ Faith Based and second was Jericho Road (owned by the Episcopal Church). The City determined who received properties by a Request For Qualifications (“RFQ”).
10. I am admitted to practice in Michigan and Louisiana. I have never practiced in Michigan.
11. I do not have anything to do with authorizing the City’s demolition permits.
12. Benetech did not share office space with HSOA. HSOA did not move to New Orleans until after Benetech closed its office on Poydras St. in April 2007. As a young attorney my reputation is paramount in attracting new business and keeping the clients I have. For instance, if a potential client uses Google to search for my name they would find that your site is the first several entries. Being that what you and/or your posters have had to say about me, which as pointed out above has been untrue and exceedingly derogatory, they would most likely decide to go in another direction rather than hiring me, based on what they read on your website. As you can see this would be very damaging to my livelihood in addition to my being personally offended by the posted content.
I hope we can avoid any future unpleasantness and I would also welcome a chance to speak with you personally if one of your potential posters brings me up again, prior to you posting it on your forum.
A very long time ago, when I was trying to piece together pieces of the city IT puzzle, I made this assertion:
Keep your eyes out for a state contractor called Benetech...former Imagine crony Chris Drake is reported to be overseeing the project per Benetech at a salary of about 500k/year. Drake is also reportedly "in tight" with DHS officials who are issuing the grant.
I was wrong. Drake was not making 500k...not even close. And I don't think Benetech was involved.
Amazing at it sounds, former chief technology officer Greg Meffert still doesn't seem to grasp just how much trouble he's in.
Stephanie Grace spells out Muppet's fate better than anyone has to date. I've always maintained that the "amazing" thing about New Orleans' corrupt elite is that they can't keep their damn mouths shut. Its not enough that they're lining their pockets, they feel the need to verbally justify it or in Muppet's case...even brag about it.
Basically, his defense for setting up the credit card kickback scheme was "I'm used to making more money....I deserved it." I'm not sure how that played with the jury in this civil case, but I'm really curious to see if that's his defense in a criminal case.
And Grace gives us this observation which I wasn't aware of:
He argued that it was a reward for unrelated work on kiosks and web solutions, and likened it to extra pay for police officers who work private security details.
A reward for kiosks and web solutions? The only companies I know of that got contracts for kiosks and web solutions are Logistix and MAS....both companies which he owns or has part ownership in, he had no ownership in Netmethods, St. Pierre's company who gave him the credit card. However both Logistix and MAS were awarded contracts immediately after he stepped down as CTO.
I don't quite get that....he was being rewarded for ideas he had to siphon more money out of the city IT department for things we probably didn't need to begin with....and to which his company would get the contracts for as soon as he stepped down as CTO. In other words, he was being rewarded for figuring out how to award himself, and possibly Netmethods, future contracts? I bet St. Pierre would like his 130k back right about now. And who was footing the bill for that reward? Who paid for that stroke of capitalistic genius? The city did...the city was ultimately paying that reward.
Imagine if that happened in the private sector. An agent of a company gets a credit card from a subcontractor as a reward for figuring out how to get the sub more money and future contracts regardless of whether or not the agent's company actually needed the services. It would most likely never happen because the brass in the company would never allow anything to bleed the bottom line and the agent would get canned in a heartbeat and possibly even sued.
In this case....the only brass Meffert had to justify his actions to was himself and Nagin. "Well....I think we need crime cameras....I think we need Kiosks...I think we have to use Dell...", yeah, he thought that because he was profiting from all of it. Even the stuff which we needed desperately, like an interoperability system, he scuttled because he was trying to push it back through his world. Not only did we get a bunch of shit we didn't need, we lost things we did need that could have saved lives in Katrina.
There is a very real cost of public corruption. What if all that money could have been diverted into the District Attorney's office....or used to put more police officers on the street? Or what if we actually would have been able do utilize the 7 million dollar grant the DOJ offered us to build an interoperability system that would have saved countless lives during Katrina?
I wonder if Meffert regrets those decisions or if he just regrets that he got caught....I wonder that a lot when I read stuff like this.
Correction:
Anonymous said...
zombie - "Logistix and MAS....both companies which he owns or has part ownership in"
Logistix is meffert's company. MAS has no known ownership link to meffert. please post otherwise.
Intelliport has an ownership link to meffert. and MAS licensed its CMS product. but that isnt ownership by any means.
I screwed up the schedule on Ringside politics, I will be on this Friday coming up.
But to make up for a former snafu, NolaTrey has posted our Radio Chaos show from about a month back...you can get that here.
Disclaimer: RC is a free for all so if you are offended by....well....humor....don't listen. Of course if you were easily offended you wouldn't be on AZ in the first place now would you?
On WLAE, check out Jeff Crouere's Politics with a Punch.......Sally Forman and Suzie Haik Terrell will be on....yeehaa! Aside from that...so will I. And more importantly than any of us....Tab Benoit will be on, and that's worth watching.
If I look like I'm in pain it's because I was. I was having some major stomach issues, not a good thing if you're in front of a camera.
If Jeff looks like he's in pain....its because he's afraid of what I might say.....no, just kidding...it was good stuff. I like the fact that he doesn't shy away from naming names and addressing the actual issues. I was afraid it may be a "justify your existence" interview but it wasn't that at all, we actually covered the substantive stuff on the blog. I also got to reveal my grand, Pinky and the Brain, plan to take over the earth....more about that later.
Former VP of marketing for Tropos, Ellen Kirk describes the New Orleans Tropos network.
Interestingly enough, Kirk left Tropos shortly after this interview and moved to the North Shore to start a company with none other than Chris Drake. The company, AMI Consulting, was also rumored to have a third partner....Kim Fury Jennings.
Notice the strike? Simple accident?
- Mainframe and System Migration
