Posted on Dec. 21, 2009

 

By Steve Beatty

The Pelican Institute for Public Policy

 

All of the major candidates for mayor of New Orleans gathered recently at a forum sponsored by The Pelican Institute for Public Policy to discuss their views of how the city’s Office of Inspector General should operate.

 

Though most of the seven candidates still in the race said they support the office as it stands, a few said they wanted to either limit its reach or understand it better.

 

Troy Henry, for instance, says the office should focus on finding corruption, not recommending ways to make government more efficient. He said he can handle that himself.

 

“My view of the Inspector General’s Office is what it does at the federal level, which is principally rooting out corruption and inappropriate behavior, period,” he said.

“There will be no inspector general that will know how to wring out more efficiencies in an organization than I will, I can tell you that.”

 

He echoed a sentiment voiced by Mayor Ray Nagin when he said the office should better define its mission. Candidate Nadine Ramsey said the same thing. And Henry said the Independent Police Monitor position should be consolidated under the inspector general.

 

However, the duties of the office as well as the establishment of a separate police monitor are spelled out in the City Charter. Voters overwhelmingly approved the addition to the charter last year, with 77 percent of the electorate voting for it.

 

“The OIG shall … assist in improving agency operations and deterring and 

 identifying, fraud, waste, abuse, and illegal acts,” reads the charter.

 

After remarks by new Inspector General Ed Quatrevaux, who took office in September, most of the candidates elected not to use their full five minutes on the topic, with some making general remarks and relinquishing the microphone after just two or three minutes.

 

Retired judge Nadine Ramsey spoke for the least amount of time. She said she hopes the inspector general’s office would join with her administration in “projecting a positive image” of the city.

 

State Sen. Ed Murray has said in the past that the inspector general shouldn’t screen respondents to a city request for proposals, but he kept that criticism in check at the forum. Instead, he spoke in glowing terms about the state inspector general and legislative auditor, saying little about the city’s post other than he sees it as a tool to make the city more efficient.

 

By contrast, Rob Couhig said he was “enthusiastic” about working with the city’s inspector general to change the culture of the city to make it fair and equitable for all. He said he looked forward to working with the inspector general on all aspects, not just looking for corruption. Still, he hoped to make the inspector general feel like the Maytag repairman at the end of his term.

 

Lt. Gov. Mitch Landrieu said he embraced the idea of an inspector general. “It makes a tremendous amount of sense,” he said, saying that the money saved or recovered by the office can be used on city priorities. “The inspector general is your best friend.”

 

James Perry spoke first and brought up the issue of race in the discussion of the inspector general, which was explored with every candidate later in the discussion. He said the mayor’s office should show leadership and set an example for accountability. He criticized Nagin for making “racially divisive comments that really imply an intention to dismantle the office. Perry said the office is an important and essential office for the city.

 

Nagin and the NAACP has pointed out that Quatrevaux is white and questioned whether it was the office’s mission to dismantle the African-American power structure. But Perry said the function of the office isn’t a racial issue, but a good-government issue.

 

John Georges said he supports transparency and would work with the inspector general as a partner. “If it’s good enough for Houston, it’s good enough for New Orleans.”