Mayor Vow to Fight for the People

Mayor vows to keep fighting to protect the voice of the people and to stay focused on recovery

In an effort to avoid further delays to the city’s recovery, Mayor C. Ray Nagin today suspended the portion of his executive order that established Selection Review Panels as part of his competitive selection process for awarding RFPs (Request for Proposals). The Mayor has retained all other components of his executive order, which requires that RFPs be published online and that they include participation from disadvantaged businesses. This is not required in the Home Rule Charter, which gives both legislative and executive branches of government authority to establish their own selection process for RFPs.

Mayor Nagin said that since the Selection Review Panels, which he implemented to promote greater transparency, have become the source of the Council’s attempt to exercise authority over the Executive Branch and to silence the “voice” that the people of New Orleans exhibited when approving the Home Rule Charter, it is in the best interest of the City’s recovery efforts to temporarily suspend the sections of the executive order requiring the Selection Review Panels until the issue can be resolved.

“The people of the City of New Orleans decided which responsibilities and authority they wished their local government -- public servants -- to exercise. I do not believe that any level of government has the authority to silence or override what the people have said they want and the Charter is clear on the issue of competitive selection. Since the source of contention for the City Council is the Selection Review Panel that I established to create a process that is more transparent than any this City or State has ever had, I am rescinding this portion of my executive order until this is matter resolved.”