Robert Cerasoli must love challenges. He is is the new Inspector General in the City of New Orleans, and his job is to find corruption and malfeasance in government. He seems well qualified to do just that. And given the current state of government in New Orleans, this should be like shooting fish in a barrel. Except, Mr. Cerasoli doesn’t have (to continue the metaphor) a barrel. Or any ammunition. Or even a gun. In fact, the City has given him nothing at all: no office, no desks, no staff, no operating budget.
What a great way for the City to claim it is doing something about corruption without really, well, doing anything about it. Kudos to Ray Nagin and the City Council for a stunning political slight-of-hand. What chutzpa.
Normally, I would let this pass with another shake of the head and a mutter of “It’s New Orleans….”, were it not for one thing: Me and Mr. Cerasioli have something in common – Boston. He’s from my second hometown, and he’s trying to clean up my first. I owe the man.
A commenter in this post below said he would buy Mr. Cerasioli a lamp if it would help, which got me thinking - if the City of New Orleans will not get Mr. Cerasioli going, maybe we (you know, “the people”) should. I don’t think we can raise a $3.5 million operating budget, but we can put in for some office furnishings and the like and maybe embarrass the City into taking some positive action.
So let’s let Mr. Cerasioli know that we appreciate his being down here, even if the City government in New Orleans does not. If any of you are interested in helping out a “Let’s Get the Inspector General Going Fund”, post a pledge in the comments section or send me an e-mail to redstickrant@gmail.com.
The Naked Emperor is in for a lamp.
Red Stick Rant is in $100 in office supplies. And a dart board with Paul Cellucci's picture on it.
You?
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