However in a last minute amendment the council changed a key oversight provision. The initial bill called for oversight including the definition of IG policies and procedures to come from an independent Ethics Council appointed by the mayor from a pool of nominees submitted by local University Presidents. At the last minute the Council decided they should provide the policies and procedures themselves.

This may sound like an innocuous change but it is not. The heated public comments leading up to the amendment were racially focused. The prevailing argument was that the IG would be brake on black control of the city. Comments like " When the white folks were in charge they didn't need an IG why do we?" and terms like "witchhunt" made the concern clear.

The ususal rabble rousers were there to make a mockery of the city council process much like they did the school board processes in years past. One even heaped praise on Judge Elloie. It looked to me like Mama "D" French Cole (remember the Cynthia McKinney's Congressional Hearings on Katrina) was even on hand and raising a rucus.

The council is racially split with 4 black and 3 white members and their vote on this amendment split right down these racial lines. In the end Council member Shelly Midura was left in tears. She had won creation of an IG office, but it would now be overseen by what had just proven itself to be a racially divided council. Will the IG find itself hamstrung and unable to investigate? Given this formulation, is this IG just another waste of money?

Is New Orleans ever going to find a bridge between the races? Consider these issues:

1. The Congressional race in Orleans is going to be determined by race and apathy just like the last mayoral election, Mary Landrieu's Senate election and Kathleen Blanco's election as governor.
   
2. Jefferson Parish decisions to curtail federally subsidized housing are about poverty and race. Gretna is turning down developers who want to use federal grants to build low  income (Section 8) housing. Complaints about this decision revisit the confrontation on the Crescent City Connection between Orleanians and the Gretna Sheriff's deputies
   
3. Crime in New Orleans, Jefferson and St. Tammany is heavily tied to race. Look at the criminals, victims, police, arrests, jails and courts.
   
4. A Jefferson Parish proposal to end a 40 year old school busing  practice dissolved in racial bickering. Activists seem to be arguing that we need to continue 30 year old busing practices unchanged and without review (forever?)
   
5. Orleans public schools are segregated . Most schools are 100% black except for a few magnet schools who seem able to attract a few white students. The magnet schools are of course under attack for racism.
6. The new garbage collection contract was awarded to two black owned firms at higher cost ($25 million vs $18 million) for far less service (100,000 pickups vs 200,000)  than preK. These firms were sole bidders on a poorly written RFP. One firm has had performance problems collecting garbage while working as a sub contractor for Waste Management
   
7. Public housing has been slow to reopen and claims of racial discrimination are heard. Activists claim the powerful desire to prevent poor black public housing residents from ever returning to the city. HUD is at the center of this controversy.
   
8. Charity Hospital is closed and evoking more claims of racial discrimination in health care
   
9. The BNOB, LRA Land Use panel, ULI,  etc. have all been accused of participating in a racially motivated land grab.
10. The RTA is limited to Orleans Parish because Jefferson and St. Tammany don't want to provide easier access to their parishes to poor Orleans (black) residents. Proposals for light rail must always be viewed in their racial context first.
    

I would venture to say there is no progressive government proposal you could set forth in New Orleans today that would not be viewed first for its racial implications. In order to pass it would not be sufficient that it was racially neutral, it would have to favor African-Americans in Orleans and European-Americans in every other parish.

This problem is demolishing New Orleans' chance to emerge from the storm as a vibrant and health place in which to live and raise a family.