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Clarence Ray Nagin, Jr. (born June 11 , 1956 ) is the Mayor of New Orleans. He was elected in March 2002 , succeeding Marc Morial . Nagin gained international recognition in 2005 for his handling of Hurricane Katrina , which devastated the New Orleans area. Nagin (pronounced NAY-ghin) was born in in accounting from Tuskegee University in 1978 and a MBA from Tulane University in 1994 . He and his wife, Seletha Smith Nagin, have three children: Jeremy, Jarin and Tianna. Before his election, Nagin had never held public office; he was a vice president and general manager at in 1999 and 2000, as well as to John Breaux and J. Bennett Johnston earlier in the decade. 2002 MAYORAL ELECTION See Also: New Orleans mayoral election, 2002 Nagin entered the race for mayor after other candidates better known on the local political scene. Nagin's candidacy was at first considered a long shot, and he was not backed by any of the city's established political organizations. However, many voters favored Nagin's expressions of disgust with traditional Louisiana politics, including promises to fight Political Corruption and run the city in a more businesslike manner. Shortly before the primary mayoral election, Gambit Magazine endorsed Nagin as a reformer, giving him crucial momentum that would carry through the primary and subsequent runoff. In the first round of the crowded mayoral election in February 2002, Nagin received first place with 29 percent of the vote, against opponents such as Police Chief Richard Pennington , State Senator Paulette Irons , City Councilman Troy Carter and others. In the runoff with Pennington in March 2002, Nagin won with 59 percent of the vote. His campaign was largely self-financed. Nagin received a majority of both black and white voters, an uncommon occurrence in New Orleans. NAGIN AS MAYOR Shortly after taking office, Nagin launched an anti-corruption campaign within city government, including crackdowns on the city's Taxicab Bureau and Utilities Department. Media scenes of corrupt officials being led out of City Hall in handcuffs were received with surprised enthusiasm by much of the public. When an investigation into corruption among city vehicle inspection certification workers (locally known as "brake tag inspection") suggested that corruption was systemic, Nagin fired the entire department workforce. He declared a month-long hiatus on inspections and a moratorium on ticketing for expired tags while an entirely new force of employees were hired and trained for the city's brake tag inspection stations. Nagin's actions were viewed with surprise, given the state's history of preferential political treatment for people with social or family connections. Indeed, when Nagin was asked what should be done about his cousin, who was implicated in the taxi cab bureau scandals, Nagin said "if he's guilty, arrest him." Nagin's cousin was later arrested. Nagin often clashed with the New Orleans City Council, and as a result failed to get their support for proposed legislation he favored. He was criticized for often publicly announcing new programs or proposed policies without having them vetted by other city leaders. As Hurricane Ivan threatened the Gulf Of Mexico in September of 2004 , Nagin urged New Orleanians to be ready for the storm, preferably to evacuate with some "Benjamins" ($100 bills) handy, and urged any who planned to stay to not only stock up on food and water but also to make sure they had "an axe in the attic", a reference to the many people trapped in their attics by rising floodwaters when Hurricane Betsy hit the city in 1965. Nagin issued a call for a voluntary evacuation of the city at 6 p.m. on September 13. Some 600,000 New Orleanians left. Thousands were stuck in highway traffic for 12 or even 24 hours. The hurricane missed the city. Nagin controversially endorsed conservative Republican Bobby Jindal over Democratic Lieutenant Governor Kathleen Blanco in the 2003 Runoff for Governor . He only reluctantly endorsed the Democratic candidate, U.S. Senator John Kerry , in the 2004 presidential race. HURRICANE KATRINA and New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin September 2 , 2005 .]] On On August 26 Mayor Nagin advised New Orleanians to keep a close eye on the storm and prepare for evacuation. He made various statements encouraging people to leave without officially calling for an evacuation throughout the 27th, and issued a voluntary evacuation request late in the day. He stressed the potential danger posed by Katrina by saying "This is not a test. This is the real deal." He was hesitant to order a mandatory evacuation because of concerns about the city's liability for closing hotels and other businesses. Katrina Takes Aim - Bruce Nolan, '' New Orleans Times Picayune '', August 28 , 2005 On Sunday . From dawn Sunday morning on New Orleans radio and television repeatedly broadcasts Nagin's calls for everybody to leave town as quickly and safely possible, with the thought that they may never be able to return. He declared the opening the Superdome as a shelter of last resort to those who couldn't leave. State governor-controlled National Guard troops were stationed inside the Superdome to screen refugees for weapons and feed the citizens gathered there The poor and frail flock to Superdome for safety from Katrina , Mary Foster, '', 2005 Katrina shifted eastward approximately 15 miles from its expected landfall point, which was to be a direct hit on the city of New Orleans, only a couple of hours prior to making landfall, minimizing the anticipated wind damage to the city. Several levees and flood walls were breached a few hours after landfall, and within 24 hours up to 80% of the city was flooded. An estimated 90,000 were still in the city when the hurricane made landfall on . Criticism of relief efforts On September 1 , 2005 , Nagin held a high-profile interview on the relief situation with Garland Robinette , on radio station WWL in which he bluntly criticized the delays in aid to the city. He stated "I don't want to see anybody do anymore goddamn press conferences. Put a moratorium on press conferences. Don't do another press conference until the resources are in this city". He compared the slow reaction to Hurricane Katrina to the national reaction to 9/11 and the War In Iraq . As part of what was apparently a larger effort to fix responsibility for inadequate response, '', September 5 , 2005 On , September 3 , 2005 Controversy Some newspaper editorial writers have criticized Nagin for not handling evacuation procedures properly and, in particular, for allowing hundreds of New Orleans' |
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