THE DON IMUS OF NEW ORLEANS

PAUL A. GREENBERG, BEYOND KATRINA - New Orleanians were shocked last
week, upon reading a New York Times interview with Katrina recovery czar
Dr. Edward Blakely. In the interview, Blakely compares New Orleans to a
third world country, claims the city's major import-export product is
t-shirts, and calls the city's racial divide "a bit like the Shiites and
Sunnis."

Hours after the interview was published, the best Blakely could do in
the way of a near-apology was to say his "terminology was
wrong--inappropriate." Then he claimed the country's leading newspaper
misquoted him. The following day at a hastily assembled press
conference, he attributed his insensitivity to just having been given a
bad prognosis about a health condition.

For those unfamiliar with Blakely, be aware that he was hand-picked by
Mayor Ray Nagin to be the executive director of New Orleans' Office of
Recovery Management. Blakely has a rather impressive resume. A former
dean of the School of Management and Urban Policy at the New School in
New York, Blakely helped Oakland, CA get back on its feet after the 1989
earthquake. He is also director of urban and regional planning at the
University of Sydney, Australia, and commutes between New Orleans and
Sydney.

The interesting thing about resumes is that they cannot really convey a
sense of humanity or lack thereof. Blakely's comments about New Orleans
were so ill-conceived and unnecessary as to somewhat negate the career
accomplishments outlined in his resume. After all, how much can you
respect a man who refers to New Orleans' movers and shakers as
"buffoons?"

"Buffoons" pales by comparison with what Blakely called us a few months
ago. In a January 31 Times-Picayune interview, Blakely said, "We've got
to stop acting like mendicants, like beggars down on our knees.". . .

The Times seems to praise Blakely as one who views the city with an
"outsider's clinical eye." The truth is that only an insider, one
familiar with the soul of this city, can truly work toward recovery.
Outsider Blakely actually threatens to rewrite the New Orleans story,
rather than restore it. What we really need is a smart, dedicated
insider who brings in people with Blakely's expertise as consultants. .
.

http://www.hurricane-katrina.org/2007/04/the_don_imus_of.html

PEOPLE'S HURRICANE - Several community groups are demanding that the
city fire recovery czar Ed Blakely. The groups protested Friday at City
Hall over Blakely's statements in The New York Times. The article quoted
Blakely saying that New Orleans is "like a Third World country" and
referring to some locals as "buffoons." The People's Hurricane Relief
Fund said Blakely's comments are inexcusable. In a brief news conference
Friday morning, Blakely blamed stress and an undisclosed illness for the
comments. He also said his comments were unfortunately misconstrued and
that he takes full responsibility for them. Blakely called buffoons a
"very inappropriate word" and said he was referring to a group of people
outside city government. Nagin told reporters Thursday that he and
Blakely "had a very frank discussion" and that he told Blakely to stay
focused on recovery work and "leave the other commentary for other
people who do that for a living."

http://www.peopleshurricane.org/news/wdsu-groups-want-blakely-fired.html

NEW YORK TIMES ARTICLE
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/10/us/10orleans.html?_
r=1&ei=5087%0A&em=&en=3931ec8b744b21af&ex=1176350400&oref=
slogin&pagewanted=print


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