Open Letter to a Mayor

The Mayor of New Orleans, Ray Nagin, seems to have a serious problem with foot-in-mouth disease. He had the whole “Chocolate City” mishap and now he has out done himself. During a 60 Minutes interview he actually said “"You guys in New York can't get a hole in the ground fixed, and it's five years later. So let's be fair."

Are you serious? This is how you’re going to get some support? Calling Ground Zero a “hole in the ground”? Does he actually want to get into a pissing contest because his city had more deaths or more damage? If so, can we also point out they had some thing New York did not have; ample warning. There’s been much debate about rebuilding the World Trade Center yet, as far as I can tell, there’s been little debate about rebuilding New Orleans. And with all due respect to the residents and the family members of those that lost their lives, rebuilding New Orleans is a dumb move. It’s really that simple.

Developing a major city below sea-level was a mistake from the beginning. Now add to the fact these two factors; it’s next to a pretty massive river and it also happens to be at risk of hurricanes. So logically speaking, you can’t seriously think it’s smart. I hear it’s a great city, and I don’t doubt that. And I’m pretty sure closing a city and basically relocating it is pretty much unheard of but, drastic times call for drastic measures. I imagine I’m not the only person with access to the Weather Channel or Discovery Channel, and they seem to think these horrendous hurricanes could be a problem for a while. It’s simple, rebuilding New Orleans isn’t just a bad idea it is down right irresponsible.

Nagin wants it rebuilt for his own ego. He wants to be the guy who stood up for his people, and by I mean African-Americans living in New Orleans. It’s true, they’ve been screwed over. The rich areas were more of a priority and that’s flat out wrong. But rebuilding just so he can be a hero will end up leading to more deaths. Maybe not this year, maybe net even this decade. But unless they find a way to raise the city, redirect hurricanes and keep the Mississippi from flooding. Well, for lack of a better term, they are sunk.

Oh and Mr. Nagin, for your statement about Ground Zero. Go *&^# yourself.