Chris Rose writes a column in the local paper which used to be funny. Since Katrina, he has become deeper, more serious, and a lot more insightful. Recently, in this blog, I mentioned that locals are wondering where Mayor Nagin is, that he seems to be more interested in the celebrity aspect of the mayor’s office than actually running the city. That he seems to think, like a lazy preacher, if he speaks on a subject he has done something about it. In Sunday morning’s paper (which arrives at my house Saturday night), Chris Rose said it like this….

“(At his inauguration, Nagin) stood with the two men (Congressman William Jefferson and State Sen. Cleo Fields) made infamous by their wads of suspect cash, which they both told us they would one day explain how they got–but…did I miss that news conference? No doubt, with billions of federal dollars ready to roll into this city, we can all be confident of its proper use.”

“And then (Nagin) disappeared. Back to Neverland. His Isle of Denial. City Hall is on Perdido Street and perdido is Spanish for ‘lost’ and isn’t it fitting?”

“The only time (Nagin) has surfaced (since his inauguration) was to tell us that the entire downtown City Hall complex is going to be rebuilt at a cost of some gazillion dollars that other people are willing to pay. And at a private gathering of movers and shakers recently, I heard him say that New Orleans would not be a city of 200,000 residents nor 400,000 residents when he was done, but 600,000 residents.”

“Who these 600,000 people would be, he didn’t say and that gazillion-dollar downtown sounds great (pencil me in for the ribbon-cutting) but does (he) understand that all we want is someone to pick up all the trash on the side of the road, get trailers where they’re wanted, remove them from where they’re not wanted, get city services to an acceptable level and bring the hammer down on the thugs?”

“Why hasn’t he walked the streets of Central City (where 5 people have been murdered recently) and told the people cowering in fear on their stoops that he will engage this battle? Why, in the days and weeks after the election, while we scrambled to read tea leaves for a hint of what The Plan is, has he disappeared into the ether?”

“(Nagin) is jetting from one corporate gig to the next one, telling everyone but his constituents what his vision is for the future….”

“Is it too much to expect the barest hint of leadership, like maybe tell folks not to litter anymore or maybe explain that a blinking red light means stop but the yellow means proceed with caution? Something. Anything. A word of leadership. A touch of wisdom. A glimmer of hope for the hungry masses.”

“Would somebody in the Inner Circle please tell this guy: A 100-day plan is a plan for the first 100 days, not a plan you release AFTER 100 days.”

“Mr. (Mayor), your city is flailing. Stop being a rock star. Be a mayor. Please come home.”

“Lead us, Ray.”

What one hopes is that the mayor does not read this and think Chris Rose is trying to be humorous again. This time, he’s dead serious.

Sunday morning’s “real” paper–the portion that really arrives on Sunday morning–chronicles the changing real estate market in the area since the hurricane. In my middle class neighborhood, it shows an increase in the value of 9 percent, going from an average of $127 per square foot to $137. In flooded areas of the city, the drop is more like 50 percent. Anyone interested in a full-page map of the city showing the numbers for every section should buy a Sunday paper. That page is a keeper.

Headline at the bottom of Sunday’s front page: “For some New Orleanians the pace of recovery is too slow, the threat of another hurricane is too scary, the future is too uncertain. They are getting out.” What follows is story after story of people with options seizing them. A professor at UNO grew tired of driving through the miles of devastation–he takes the same route I do every morning, up Elysian Fields Avenue–so accepted a job at Ole Miss. Others are moving to Charlottesville, Virginia (“After I saw it, I fell in love with it. Just think–four seasons.”) and San Antonio and Houston.

The lead article on the Sports section gives the problems the Tulane and UNO baseball coaches are having in recruiting quality players to come to school in New Orleans. Tulane’s Rick Jones says, “I cannot beat CNN. Every time you have a sensationalized story about New Orleans like the National Guard patrolling the streets, it’s hard to explain that our university is intact and the Uptown area looks great. It’s a real challenge.”

UNO’s Tom Walter says, “There is major apprehension out there. We used to feel that the city of New Orleans was a draw, particularly with high school kids. But now the landscape has changed dramatically. And it doesn’t help that every time New Orleans is on the news, something bad seems to be happening.”

Ironic that the very news coverage which some of us feel the city needs in order to keep New Orleans before the nation also discourages people from moving here.

A spokesman for Security Van Lines says the people who can afford to employ their services tend to be middle class and well-off financially. He sees a lot more people moving out than moving in. No one knows what this says for the near future of this city.

Network news this week told the horror story of insurance rates in Florida, particularly on the coasts, doubling in many cases. “I can afford my house payment,” one fellow said, “but my insurance costs that much too, and I can’t afford both.” New Orleans is now and will be dealing with this reality for a long time. Even if the mayor has no plan for which neighborhoods can be rebuilt, the insurance companies will make that decision for him. They simply will not insure homes in the most flood-prone areas. Either that or they will, but no one can afford to purchase it.

It may well be that when the story on these decades of U.S. history is told, the coastlines of this country may be far less populated than previously. Just too dangerous to live there.

Hey, I was born in north Alabama, lived for 4 years in West Virginia, and was raised (not reared! Mama and Daddy RAISED us.) back on that family farm in Alabama. I am not a native New Orleanian, even though I love a hundred things about this quirky city.

But I’ll tell you friend. Four seasons sounds mighty good to me.