New Orleans - Susan Guidry, candidate for City Council District A, expressed today her dismay with the actions of Mayor Ray Nagin and City Attorney Penya Moses-Field in terminating outside contracts of attorneys who serve as blight hearing officers.  


“The termination of these contracts will bring to a halt the City’s efforts to force property owners to improve their blighted properties,” Guidry said.  “This is a slap in the face of our citizens who must deal on a daily basis with the presence of dangerous, blighted buildings that not only affect their property values but often jeopardize their health and safety.”


“The Mayor’s reaction is a blatant attempt to get back at the City Council for their efforts to sensibly balance the budget,” said Guidry. “He did the same thing this past summer when he refused to sign the Public-Private Partnership after the City Council would not approve his plan to move City Hall to the Chevron Building. Mayor Nagin needs to realize that petty political plays have far reaching consequences to our city. This is the kind of politics of the past that New Orleans will no longer tolerate in its leaders.”


Guidry encouraged all citizens to telephone the Mayor at (504) 658-4900 or email his office at psmith@mayorofno.com and demand that the Administration and City Attorney restore this critical funding.  “District A, like all of New Orleans, is still hampered by the negative effect of countless blighted properties.  This latest move by the Nagin Administration is unconscionable,” said Guidry.


“It is clear that the mayor does not need to cut this essential city function,” said Guidry. “It’s outrageous that Moses-Field kept in place a six figure contract for a Washington, D.C. law firm that was hired to advise the city on e-mail and records retention, but terminated contracts for hearing officers that totaled only $90,000. By comparison, the Law Department’s budget is $5.5 million dollars. It is inconceivable that in a budget of over $5.5 million dollars, other cost savings could not be found of a less critical nature.”