I recently heard before Nagin became the Major he worked for a cable company. Majors don't make much money either. Makes you wonder how could he just go and BUY a house right off?
I think I had heard the government had given New Orleans money to fix the levies, but the work didn't seem to get done.
Cable exec will run for mayor -
Business experience, outsider status touted
Times-Picayune, The (New Orleans, LA)
December 12, 2001
Author: Gordon Russell
Staff writer
Estimated printed pages: 2
Positioning himself as a successful businessman with no political debts, Ray Nagin, Cox Communications executive and New Orleans Brass president, declared his candidacy for mayor Tuesday.
Nagin, 45, a Democrat making his first run for office, said he entered the New Orleans race in part because he fears the city's dearth of good jobs will lead his three children to settle elsewhere. His children, along with his wife and other family members, stood alongside him as he addressed an audience of more than 100 people at the Hyatt Regency Hotel.
Nagin is a certified public accountant with a master's degree in business administration from Tulane University, a background he suggested uniquely qualifies him to improve New Orleans' economic climate. Working in the private sector also has kept him untainted by the excesses of New Orleans politics, he said.
"If we hope to rise above petty politics and bickering, we've got to elect someone who won't bring a lot of baggage and political infighting to the office of mayor," Nagin said. "I suggest to you that I'm the candidate with the best opportunity to achieve that goal because I've operated outside the political mud-wrestling pit."
Nagin joins a crowded field of candidates hoping to replace Mayor Marc Morial. Those who have entered the race already are City Councilmen Troy Carter and Jim Singleton, California businessman Clarence Hunt, state Sen. Paulette Irons, funeral home owner Emile Labat, state Rep. Leonard Lucas and Police Superintendent Richard Pennington. Hunt is a Republican, while the rest are Democrats.
Striking a familiar theme but employing softer rhetoric than some, Nagin said he would restore the public's confidence in a City Hall often viewed as a place where the mayor's pals get rich. If elected, he would propose a charter change allowing business, community and good-government groups to have a say in awarding contracts.
"We need to adopt a policy of `government in the sunshine' when it comes to awarding professional services agreements," Nagin said. "The public must play a role in that process if we're ever going to restore public confidence in the way government does business."
As a latecomer to the race and a relative unknown to New Orleans voters, Nagin acknowledged that he has a long way to go in terms of name recognition. He said he will run ads starting today through the Feb. 2 primary. "We will spend whatever it takes to win the race," he said.
Nagin added that he hopes viewers recognize his face from his biweekly call-in show for cable customers, which has aired for the past nine years.
There were few city political insiders in attendance Tuesday. One exception was lawyer Roy Rodney, a Morial confidant and partner of Nagin's in the Brass hockey franchise.
Rodney said later that he has attended kickoff rallies for several mayoral hopefuls, and that he has not decided which candidate he will support.
Nagin, a native New Orleanian, graduated from O. Perry Walker High School and received his bachelor's degree from Tuskegee University. He lives in the Faubourg St. John area with his wife, Seletha, and his three children.
http://ww.nola.com