A recent federal audit says Mayor LaToya Cantrell’s administration bungled $141 million in green infrastructure grants. The really bad news is that this is hardly news to failure-weary New Orleanians.
For her part, the mayor apparently enjoys the irony of it all. She travels the world promoting herself as an expert on managing climate change, yet her team can’t get past the planning stage on major projects intended to deal with the existential problem of flooding.
A March 14 story by Times-Picayune reporter Ben Myers cited a program in the Gentilly area that promoted porous pavement and other home upgrades. Cantrell had touted the program as a success, but U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Office of Inspector General auditors concluded it was so badly executed that it actually made some properties more vulnerable to flooding.
The “Gentilly Resilience District” was supposed to hold stormwater in redesigned green spaces instead of letting it flow into the city’s frequently backed-up drainage system. The audit found that the city had not begun construction on eight of the district’s 11 grant-funded projects as of last July. In fact, two of the projects were scrapped altogether because the city failed to convince neighbors and Entergy New Orleans that the projects would work.
The city claims it plans to revive those two projects — one for stormwater reduction and another for a backup electric power microgrid — but auditors said the city hasn’t documented that claim.
Cantrell herself takes a “see no failure, hear no failure, speak no failure” approach to this and other snafus that have marked her mayoral tenure.
Her administration’s motto should be “Excuses ‘R’ Us.”
Regarding the green infrastructure failures, Cantrell’s flacks blame Covid, a 2019 cyberattack and hurricanes. Federal auditors say it was more like poor planning, misallocation of funds and insufficient staffing.
“After more than six years, the city had made little progress toward achieving its goals for the National Disaster Resilience program,” the audit noted.
Documents show that after an initial flurry of behind-the-scenes activity, the project has completely halted.
Specifically, the audit found that the Cantrell administration spent “disproportionately” more on planning and administration rather than on actual design and construction. It also cited poor planning and implementation of projects, inadequate staff and staffing plans, mismanagement of costs and a failure to adequately monitor its projects and programs.
Bottom line: Team Cantrell’s bumbling will leave residents more vulnerable and the city potentially without enough money to monitor and oversee the projects.
There’s a pattern here. Cantrell also failed to spend $38 million in FEMA funds to clean up Municipal Auditorium. That wasn’t the mayor’s fault; the City Council refused to turn the auditorium into a new City Hall, which everyone except Cantrell knew was a dumb idea.
Meanwhile, the council’s budget committee will meet April 2 to discuss spending shortfalls on the infrastructure projects and Cantrell’s recent revelation that building a new electric substation to power drainage pumps will cost $20 million more than anticipated.
If anyone from the administration deigns to attend the council hearing, you can bet they’ll have no shortage of excuses.
Gov. Jeff Landry promises change, but little of his legislative agenda addresses state's real problems.
