One of the deep mysteries of the universe is how New Orleans manages to remain one of the great cities of the world, despite suffering under such corrupt and incompetent governance.
Mayor LaToya Cantrell, who has been in office less than a year, apparently has decided that all the post-Hurricane Katrina federal money and all the aggressive revenue-raising by former Mayor Mitch Landrieu still aren’t enough to pay for the Crescent City’s burgeoning bureaucracy. In recent weeks, she has embarked on two new, self-defeating efforts to grab short-term cash at the expense of the city’s long-term prospects.
First, her administration is cracking down even harder on drivers caught just slightly exceeding the limit in the city’s numerous speed traps. Second, she has pushed the city to join a series of ludicrous lawsuits filed by numerous Louisiana parishes (the equivalent of counties) against oil and gas companies for supposedly causing coastal wetlands erosion.
The lawsuits are a typical example of a short-sighted, dim-witted attempt to kill the golden goose. For a full century, Louisiana has benefited from oil and gas exploration to the tune of hundreds of thousands of jobs and hundreds of billions of dollars, including many tens of billions in tax revenue for state and local governments. The state welcomed the energy industry with open arms; the state and federal governments both regulated and oversaw the industry; and both expressly permitted the fuel pipelines through the marshlands that now are the subject of the lawsuits.
Yet now the state’s constituent parishes want to make the industry pay for wetlands destruction, even though the pipelines are only one of the causes — and indeed, not even close to the largest cause — of the coastal erosion.
Until now, New Orleans itself had stayed out of these lawsuits, perhaps recognizing that Louisiana public opinion seems to be turning against the litigation. Now, though, with federal courts due to make a key procedural ruling on the suits sometime this month, Cantrell wants to grab some jackpot justice, whether or not it’s truly just.
As for the traffic tickets, Landrieu had directed the installation of dozens of cameras, even on streets lightly travelled and with poorly marked speed limits lower than one might expect. They clearly were used as a revenue generator for the city, but a judge found the city’s collection method illegal and ordered a refund that, at some point, the city will be expected to pay.
When campaigning to succeed Landrieu, Cantrell vowed to stop the traffic-camera regime, saying it was “nickel-and-diming” residents. But she completely changed her tune once elected, saying she would keep cameras in school zones and in some other locations. Then, in February, without an announcement, the city began cracking down harder than ever.
Even under Landrieu, the policy had been to ticket only for drivers going at least six miles per hour above the speed limit. That commonsense leeway now has ended. Now, even doing just 24 mph in a 20 zone will merit a $75 fine.
In sum, New Orleans is becoming a great big speed trap, a grab for short-term revenue for the city. As with the lawsuit, though, the traffic enforcement will do long-term damage if it continues. As more and more tourists get ensnared in these traps, the word will get out that New Orleans, with its potholed roads and heavy traffic fines, is an inhospitable place to visit.
