Crime Cameras and City Council Emails - EVEN MORE UPERDATED

The Office of the Inspector General released it's much anticipated crime camera report. First off, all of Ashe Dambala's reportings on Verascent, Imagine, Greg Meffert, and company are totally vindicated. The report exhaustively laid out what got us expensive, broken, useless crime cameras. Also, Jim Letten is directly CC'd on the report with a letter suggesting serious violation of federal law are present in the contracting and accounting irregularities of the Mayor's Office of Technology (MOT).

Now, I think the report was exhaustive enough to rise above any criticisms or racially inflammatory reactions.

... and then this came out. Tracie Washington requested the emails of the council's four white members plus one other city official, also white, on Dec. 3, 2008. And this activist got (tens of?) thousands of emails of all the white city council members on a CD in record time. Meanwhile, WWL can't get squat from Nagin because of "executive privilege" (Nagin copying Bush yet again).

With Veronica White and an activist on a fishing expedition against certain council members thrown into the mix, expect fireworks. Oyster recommends a hazmat suit and a silkwood scrub (whatever the later is?). This could end up like one of those late 90's/early 2000's Orleans Parish Public School meetings.

UPDATE- Talk about synchronicity:



The crime cameras at the end of the block are working! It has missed 3 shootings while being inoperative. Now they're back up and aimed at exactly where the shootings were.

UPDATE 2- One thing I found interesting in the OIG report was the installation and wiring standards. Look at the photos at the bottom of the OIG report. Shoddy workmanship. I'll keep an eye out for specific examples in the future.

UPDATE 3- WWL TV led off their news reports with the Veronica White story, not the OIG report. I know WWL is involved in the emails thing, with their lawsuit and all, but I'm disappointed at the choice of lead story.

UPDATE 4- Now the camera is pointed directly at the telephone pole it's mounted on. FAIL!

UPDATE 5- Now all the Council's emails have been compromised...

UPDATE 6- Dambala's take

Two Headlines

Nagin commissioned an "audit" of the garbage contracts.

Here's the Times-Pic-Your-Nose headline: "Report shows garbage billing descrepancies, but not where originally believed" A highly anticipated report intended to establish whether New Orleans' three garbage contractors have been overpaid shows that two of the vendors have been charging City Hall for fewer locations than were found in their service areas, while the company that covers the French Quarter and downtown has billed for many sites not allowed under its contract.

WWL's headline: "Report on trash billing leaves questions unanswered" The City Council received a report Monday detailing trash pickup in New Orleans and the billing practices of three different companies, but it might not give them the answers they so dearly want.

Interesting...

UPDATE- Further proof on why the Times-Pic headline and article are bullshit.