In late summer of 2006, we reported here of the hiring of Boston’s Robert Cerasoli as the first Inspector General for New Orleans. Provisions for this office had been on the city’s books for years, but nothing had ever been done. With the post-Katrina upheavals and scandals, a hue and cry went up from citizens for the city council to staff the position. The plan called for the IG to see how business is done in New Orleans government and identify wrongs as well as suggest changes to prevent wrongs.

In that introductory piece, we wished Cerasoli well and said a prayer for him—and got an e-mail response from him (to my amazement).

“Mr. C” identified himself as a fellow believer and said we’d have to get together. We set up an appointment at Loyola University which was providing temporary office space for him. The day I went by, Cerasoli was conducting assembly-line interviews. One television news crew was interviewing him in the college’s conference room while another waited in the off-room where I was. The crew and I chatted, I pulled out my pad and sketched them, and when Cerasoli came out, he invited me to sit in on the interview. That was educational.

The most interesting part of the interview came after the cameras were turned off. The news anchor mentioned to “Mr. C” that he was conducting his own little investigation into the take-home cars the city was providing for employees. There seemed to be no oversight to the program and no accountability for either the cars or the fuel. Cerasoli mentioned that ever since a car had been offered to him upon his arrival, he had had some of the same thoughts.

That would be the subject of one of his first investigations.

Wednesday night, Inspector General Cerasoli revealed the results of that investigation. The lead paragraph on the front page article in Thursday’s Times-Picayune reads:

“Mayor Ray Nagin’s administration allows too many take-home vehicles, does not keep track of the fleet, and could save close to $1 million by eliminating the expense, the New Orleans inspector general stated in his first report in 16 months on the job.”

The 53 page report covered 13 city departments. Here are some of its findings:

–while the city ordinance allows for 60 take-home automobiles (50 to the executive branch and 10 for the fire department), the actual number in use is 273 cars.

–there is no rhyme nor reason to determine who gets a car.

–no reports are given as to the use of a car.

–there is poor or no monitoring of fuel use.

–contrary to state and local laws, the cars are not marked to identify them as belonging to the City of New Orleans.

Cerasoli’s report specifies that each vehicle is costing the city over $3,000 annually for insurance, fuel, and maintenance. The cars are all American, mostly Fords. The most expensive, however, is a Chevrolet Silverado being driven by a chief of the fire department. The mayor gets two cars, a 2005 Lincoln Continental and a 2007 Ford Expedition, with a combined value of $70,542. City council members receive take-home cars.

Interestingly, a number of city employees drive their vehicles to homes outside the city. One lives in Destrehan, one in Mandeville (north of Lake Pontchartrain), and two travel more than 140 miles a day commuting from Baton Rouge—all paid for by the city.

Much of this is in violation of city laws, which formed the basis of several irate calls on a talk show Thursday morning.

Cerasoli reported that the Department of Public Works was uncooperative as he sought information on the take-home automobiles. Workers there challenged his authority to receive this information and delayed their report before caving in reluctantly.

This all comes at a time when the mayor is using a machete on the City Council’s budget, saying income is down and city services will have to be reduced. Wednesday, the council overrode his veto and reinstated most of the items he cut. A reporter noted that the schism between the council and the mayor will continue, no doubt. Just because the council funds a program does not mean the administration will actually employ it.

Likewise, skeptics note, just because the council makes a policy into law does not mean the administration will abide by it. Case in point: the cars.

Cerasoli is inspector general for New Orleans only and not for other communities, but some other towns may want to hire one. Slidell, for instance.

The last couple of days, the Times-Picayune has run stories on exorbitant overtime pay for a few city employees in that northshore community. The most blatant abuse seems to be the lady who handles technological stuff for Slidell. Her salary is around $53,000 but these days, she’s pulling down $140,000 with overtime.

How can one rack up this much overtime on such a salary? Among other things, she stayed in the office during her vacation and continued to work, then was paid at the overtime rate. This is in violation of city policy, and far in excess of the mayor’s pay of $104,000 and the police chief’s $94,000.

Michael Groetsch is an expert on domestic abuse who “performs lethality assessments” for the New Orleans Municipal Courts. In an op-ed piece in Thursday’s Times-Picayune, Groetsch takes up the case of Vince Marinello who was convicted last Saturday in Lafayette for murdering his estranged wife Liz on a Metairie street. He writes:

“Justice Department statistics reflect that every day, an average of four women are murdered by men who claim to love them. Although domestic predators are some of the most lethal men who walk and stalk the streets of our communities, our nation’s judiciary continues to disregard the profound danger that such men present.”

He says, “Our courts must also stop allowing habitual perpetrators to enter treatment programs in lieu of prosecution and jail. And serial offenders should be incarcerated as long as the law allows.”

He concludes, “Although it is too late to protect Elizabeth Marinello from the calculated attack of her husband, it is not too late to protect other women. The United States Justice Department ranks Louisiana as having one of the nation’s highest domestic homicide rates per capita. Louisiana must take a united stand against men who terrorize their partners.”

Gennaro’s restaurant on Old Metairie Road runs humorous and timely messages on the little sign above their door. This week the sign reads: VINCE MARINELLO, IT’S TIME TOUPEE.

Indeed.