Interesting piece by Reuters’ Nick Carey:

Ask the man assigned to combat corruption and bureaucracy in New Orleans how the fight is going and he will tell you about his telephone problems.

“I started last September and they only switched my phone lines on two weeks ago,” said Robert Cerasoli, New Orleans’ first-ever Inspector General in a recent interview. “Everything has been a battle since, everything has been a fight.”….

Cerasoli said either inefficiency or a desire to block his every move has lead to endless problems with the city’s bureaucracy.

Later in the article:

The office of Mayor Ray Nagin said the Inspector General’s problems were part of a city-wide lack of funds and staff rather than any effort to thwart its mission.

“We have some issues with corruption and bureaucracy, but no more than any other urban environment,” Dr. Brenda Hatfield, chief administrative officer for New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin, said, adding the city had been forced to halve its pre-Katrina workforce so creating a new office posed funding challenges.

To which we respond with Gambit’s new Official Theme For Excellence in Recovery, Inc.: