Ed Blakely
Encyclopedia
Edward James Blakely is known primarily for having been Executive Director of Recovery Management for the City of New Orleans. He is currently Honorary Professor in Urban Policy at the United States Studies Centre
at the University of Sydney
.
, and a Ph.D. from the University of California at Los Angeles.
Ray Nagin
after Hurricane Katrina
. When his role in New Orleans ended in 2009, Blakely returned to his permanent job on the faculty at Australia's University of Sydney
.
he was alleged to have said that New Orleans needed birth control (Blakely later explained that he had been misquoted, his actual statement being only that the New Orleans public schools were unprepared to enroll a growing population of children). Additional targets of criticism were his "on loan" status in which he continued to receive part of his University of Sydney salary while New Orleans paid him full-time and his alleged involvement in transparency issues similar to the New Orleans e-mail controversies. Blakely's New Orleans salary was $150,718 for 2007 and $154,510 for 2008.
According to the Times-Picayune, "Blakely has acknowledged that trying to shepherd a clumsy and sometimes-inept City Hall bureaucracy through the maze of federal rebuilding rules has been a challenge. He admits perhaps some of his early promises about a speedy recovery were overblown." Columnist James Gill
used Blakely's resignation to poke fun at Nagin, who had professed being unable to remember the facts of certain controversies during Nagin's second term as mayor; Gill averred that Nagin and Blakely "complement each other admirably": "Nagin cannot remember things that did happen, while Blakely can effortlessly recall a bunch of things that didn't." Subsequently, Gill's fellow columnist Stephanie Grace asserted that Blakely and Nagin have behavioral similarities such as "unfulfilled promises" and cited a 2007 comment by Blakely that New Orleans would soon have construction "cranes in the sky" as part of the rebuilding effort.
In October 2009, Blakely again made controversial statements about the New Orleans recovery and his role in it. In a video interview on U.C. Berkeley's CalTV, Blakely said "I should have left a little earlier, for two reasons: One, my health wasn't good. Secondly, I had other things I wanted to do, and administering a recovery is not one of them." In the same interview, Blakely claimed that the people of New Orleans were lazy and virulently racist, and that "Unless the next mayor is very clever, it's going to explode and there are going to be race riots." Louisiana Lieutenant Governor Mitch Landrieu responded to published reports of Blakely's comments, saying that they were "offensive and untrue" and calling Blakely's tenure in New Orleans a "complete failure". To highlight Blakely's total failure at accomplishing anything during his time in New Orleans, he was quoted on February 23, 2011 as saying that only 30 percent of the New Orleans' residents have returned when in actuality over 75 percent have returned.
. Simultaneous with his resignation, his agency was renamed the Office of Community Development, supervised by Blakely's deputy director Austin Penny. In a farewell presentation to the City Council
's Recovery Committee, Blakely urged that New Orleans "face south" to increase trade with Latin America in view of the Panama Canal expansion project. He also recommended focusing the city's biomedical industry on tropical diseases and working on New Orleans East to rebuild Pendleton Memorial Methodist Hospital and to "let people know we're in the technology business" by making the Michoud Assembly Facility
a tourist destination.
Shortly before his departure from New Orleans, Blakely was asked whether he would return if the city suffers a future disaster. Blakely's response:
Blakely's name continued in the New Orleans news, as when Nagin was quarantined in China
while on the way to a University of Sydney conference where Nagin was to discuss, according to the printed program, how he "launched several high profile investigations that resulted in a paradigm shift that unleashed unprecedented economic development"—a statement which attracted a quip from satirical columnist James Gill
:
United States Studies Centre
The United States Studies Centre is located at the University of Sydney, and aims to increase understanding of the United States in Australia. The centre provides courses for undergraduate and postgraduate students, and hosts public and business forums....
at the University of Sydney
University of Sydney
The University of Sydney is a public university located in Sydney, New South Wales. The main campus spreads across the suburbs of Camperdown and Darlington on the southwestern outskirts of the Sydney CBD. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and Oceania...
.
Education
Blakely earned his B.A., from the University of California at Riverside, an M.A. from the University of California at Berkeley, a master of management from Point Loma Nazarene UniversityPoint Loma Nazarene University
Point Loma Nazarene University is a Christian liberal arts college. Its main campus is located on the Point Loma oceanfront in San Diego, California. It was founded in 1902 as a Bible college by the Church of the Nazarene.-History:...
, and a Ph.D. from the University of California at Los Angeles.
Career
Blakely was hired by New Orleans MayorMayor
In many countries, a Mayor is the highest ranking officer in the municipal government of a town or a large urban city....
Ray Nagin
Ray Nagin
Clarence Ray Nagin, Jr. is a former mayor of New Orleans, Louisiana, United States. Nagin gained international note in 2005 in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, which devastated the New Orleans area....
after Hurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season was a powerful Atlantic hurricane. It is the costliest natural disaster, as well as one of the five deadliest hurricanes, in the history of the United States. Among recorded Atlantic hurricanes, it was the sixth strongest overall...
. When his role in New Orleans ended in 2009, Blakely returned to his permanent job on the faculty at Australia's University of Sydney
University of Sydney
The University of Sydney is a public university located in Sydney, New South Wales. The main campus spreads across the suburbs of Camperdown and Darlington on the southwestern outskirts of the Sydney CBD. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and Oceania...
.
Role in New Orleans
Blakely's role in New Orleans was never far from controversy: he was criticized for describing New Orleans as a "third world country" and its residents as "buffoons" and for not accomplishing enough. He alleged, in a speech in Sydney, that the actual population of New Orleans pre-Katrina was known to be lower than the official number reported by the U.S. Census Bureau but that local politicians blocked an update of the figures because of the potential downward effect on federal grants. On another occasion he also analogized New Orleans to divided neighborhoods of Sunnis and Shias; at Johns Hopkins UniversityJohns Hopkins University
The Johns Hopkins University, commonly referred to as Johns Hopkins, JHU, or simply Hopkins, is a private research university based in Baltimore, Maryland, United States...
he was alleged to have said that New Orleans needed birth control (Blakely later explained that he had been misquoted, his actual statement being only that the New Orleans public schools were unprepared to enroll a growing population of children). Additional targets of criticism were his "on loan" status in which he continued to receive part of his University of Sydney salary while New Orleans paid him full-time and his alleged involvement in transparency issues similar to the New Orleans e-mail controversies. Blakely's New Orleans salary was $150,718 for 2007 and $154,510 for 2008.
According to the Times-Picayune, "Blakely has acknowledged that trying to shepherd a clumsy and sometimes-inept City Hall bureaucracy through the maze of federal rebuilding rules has been a challenge. He admits perhaps some of his early promises about a speedy recovery were overblown." Columnist James Gill
James Gill (columnist)
-Background:James Gill is a graduate of the University of Liverpool who emigrated to the United States in 1977. Since 1986 he has been a columnist for the Times-Picayune in New Orleans, Louisiana.-Times-Picayune columns:...
used Blakely's resignation to poke fun at Nagin, who had professed being unable to remember the facts of certain controversies during Nagin's second term as mayor; Gill averred that Nagin and Blakely "complement each other admirably": "Nagin cannot remember things that did happen, while Blakely can effortlessly recall a bunch of things that didn't." Subsequently, Gill's fellow columnist Stephanie Grace asserted that Blakely and Nagin have behavioral similarities such as "unfulfilled promises" and cited a 2007 comment by Blakely that New Orleans would soon have construction "cranes in the sky" as part of the rebuilding effort.
In October 2009, Blakely again made controversial statements about the New Orleans recovery and his role in it. In a video interview on U.C. Berkeley's CalTV, Blakely said "I should have left a little earlier, for two reasons: One, my health wasn't good. Secondly, I had other things I wanted to do, and administering a recovery is not one of them." In the same interview, Blakely claimed that the people of New Orleans were lazy and virulently racist, and that "Unless the next mayor is very clever, it's going to explode and there are going to be race riots." Louisiana Lieutenant Governor Mitch Landrieu responded to published reports of Blakely's comments, saying that they were "offensive and untrue" and calling Blakely's tenure in New Orleans a "complete failure". To highlight Blakely's total failure at accomplishing anything during his time in New Orleans, he was quoted on February 23, 2011 as saying that only 30 percent of the New Orleans' residents have returned when in actuality over 75 percent have returned.
Return to Australia
On 2009 May 6 Blakely announced his intention to resign from his position as "Recovery Czar" in New Orleans effective 2009 July 1 and to return to AustraliaAustralia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
. Simultaneous with his resignation, his agency was renamed the Office of Community Development, supervised by Blakely's deputy director Austin Penny. In a farewell presentation to the City Council
City council
A city council or town council is the legislative body that governs a city, town, municipality or local government area.-Australia & NZ:Because of the differences in legislation between the States, the exact definition of a City Council varies...
's Recovery Committee, Blakely urged that New Orleans "face south" to increase trade with Latin America in view of the Panama Canal expansion project. He also recommended focusing the city's biomedical industry on tropical diseases and working on New Orleans East to rebuild Pendleton Memorial Methodist Hospital and to "let people know we're in the technology business" by making the Michoud Assembly Facility
Michoud Assembly Facility
The Michoud Assembly Facility is an 832-acre site owned by NASA and located in New Orleans East, a large district within the city of New Orleans, Louisiana, United States. Organizationally, it is part of NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center...
a tourist destination.
Shortly before his departure from New Orleans, Blakely was asked whether he would return if the city suffers a future disaster. Blakely's response:
-
- "You don't invest this much time, this much heart without coming back. . . . I'm an American. I'm not going to let this city become an embarrassment."
Blakely's name continued in the New Orleans news, as when Nagin was quarantined in China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
while on the way to a University of Sydney conference where Nagin was to discuss, according to the printed program, how he "launched several high profile investigations that resulted in a paradigm shift that unleashed unprecedented economic development"—a statement which attracted a quip from satirical columnist James Gill
James Gill (columnist)
-Background:James Gill is a graduate of the University of Liverpool who emigrated to the United States in 1977. Since 1986 he has been a columnist for the Times-Picayune in New Orleans, Louisiana.-Times-Picayune columns:...
:
-
- "Shifting paradigms sounds like heavy work. Maybe Nagin borrowed a crane in the sky from Blakely."