Mitch Landrieu finally announced his grand plans for the monuments he stole: nothing.  He made his headlines, stepped into the national spotlight, and now has this non-announcement as a publicity stunt before his book release.

At Lee Circle, city officials will perform beautification work on the site and leave the column on which Lee once stood atop in place.

At the former Jefferson Davis statue site, the city will erect an American flag.

City officials said the City Park Improvement Association will remove the pedestal and perform beautification work at the site of the former Beauregard statue.

There are no plans for the former site of the Liberty Place monument, officials said.

Mitch is leaving the statues to Mayor-elect LaToya Cantrell, he said, however WWL’s story claims the Ford Foundation “will pay for the public process to decide the future of Lee Circle.”  Of course, after Mitch’s big announcement Wednesday night, the Cantrell team said this was the first they had heard of it.  Meaning Mr. Presidential Hopeful can’t even communicate to his successor about his plans that have been highly controversial. And even after leaving office, Mitch still wants to control what happens in these prominent spots by putting nonprofits in charge.

The biggest red flag may be that City Park is financially struggling, facing serious revenue problems, talking about taxing New Orleanians, and they now plan to remove the Beauregard pedestal that they claim they do not own. Will this removal be announced, or nighttime with snipers?

Mitch’s comment that “the city needed a moment to pause and reflect,” is absurd.  A real leader would have made that statement up front if he felt that way.  But think about what it means.  Mitch knows his actions and his ego caused emotional strife across the city.

Mitch is now passing the buck.  As Batiste has said for a long time, Mitch had no plan for this, he could not see further than his name in the news.

Mitch stayed in office a few extra months so that he could write a book, promote himself on a book tour, and continue flirting with a run for president in 2020, all on the backs of New Orleans taxpayers.