New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin is under fire again for a lack of transparency- this time in city contracts. According to New Orleans CityBusiness, Nagin issued an executive order in 2005 that made all executive branch contract review panel meetings confidential and prohibits disclosure of information to third parties.

Two N.O. city council members, Arnie Fielkow and Shelley Midura, are pressing Nagin for more transparency. It is the practice of the city council to have an open forum for committees to consider legislative branch city contracts, which currently total about $9.9 million. Unfortunately, the mayor controls executive branch contracts (the bulk of the contracts) through his closed-door meetings.

Nagin’s defends his lack of transparency to CityBusiness:

Via an e-mailed response, Nagin’s press office answered questions about transparency saying “Requests for bids and proposals are advertised and posted on the city’s website; review committees include an outside evaluator and now also are attended by a representative from the Office of the Inspector General and final contracts are public documents.”

However…

Inspector General Robert Cerasoli said his staff has only been “notified two or three times” of meetings.

Oops.

Janet Howard, president and CEO of the Bureau of Governmental Research, had this to say:

“Talk about transparency,” Howard said. “(The city has) a confidentiality agreement as opposed to an open transparent approach to contracting.”

Another concern of Howard’s is that “professional services” is a “very loose concept.”

“Anything that has a service component, even if you have a piece that’s equipment, gets treated as a professional services contract,” she said. “So (the administration) puts a lot of things into professional services that shouldn’t be there. The downtown trash cans were treated as a professional services contract.”

According to the article, Howard is also concerned about the history of N.O. mayors reaping a windfall of campaign contributions from businesses that have or desire city contracts, creating a “pay to play” atmosphere.

Note to Nagin: Open up your books, and no one gets hurt (by more bad press).

With the approach of the third anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, the Times-Picayune’s Sunday editorial offers some timely advice for New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin in rebuilding the city.

No matter how weary he may be, no matter how difficult the work may be, Mayor Nagin promised voters in 2006 that he could lead the city through disaster. Residents, many of whom have taken on responsibilities that rightfully belong to city government, are hungry for signs of leadership.

The mayor owes them his best. He owes them a government that is efficient and responsive. He also owes them a government that is transparent. Instead, Mayor Nagin and his staff have a tendency to be secretive.

That must change. Withholding crucial information from the public is disrespectful, breeds distrust among residents and works against recovery.

The Times-Picayne suggests the following items for Mayor Nagin’s “To Do” list:

Increase public safety by hiring, training, and vetting more police officers

Improve the city’s plans for redeveloping abandoned houses and demolishing blighted buildings

Ensure code enforcement

Get major recovery projects under way and put to use $411 million in grant money from the Louisiana Recovery Authority

Transparency with Tax Dollars: Git R Done!