There is no doubt that the very survival of New Orleans is wholly dependent upon the quality of its infrastructure. More specifically in our city, which rests at or below sea level, unarguably the most important infrastructure must be that that is under the authority of the New Orleans Sewage and Water Board. Drainage, potable water, sewage disposal…the arterial systems that makes any modern city viable is particularly important here, and particularly at risk because of the failure to properly manage it.

There is no one who would not agree that our infrastructure is in deplorable shape. There is no one who would defend the actions or lack of actions by city leaders and Sewage and Water Board members over the last many decades. It is a joke to watch both parties to this equation, with the state popping in and out of the mix now and again, spend more time blaming each other than running a good system. It is a joke that so many accept that when a Sewage Water Board crew comes out to make repairs there are ten workers, one digging and nine standing around. Sadly, the biggest joke is that the people of New Orleans, for whatever reason, have allowed this travesty to go on. There is no accountability; as politicians blame each other, we just keep changing Superintendents and paying more outrageous salaries for them.

I am not one to argue that the public should have a great deal of faith in the city government, especially in the Council. The history of past Councils mirrors that of Nero, as they have fiddled while the city’s infrastructure has deteriorated, its economy has dwindled, its budget and reserves diverted to God knows where, and its mayors have done little or nothing to change our trajectory. Not a glowing history to give people faith, but we have a new Council and a new mayor and there is hope that things may have taken a better track.

Now there is a proposal to basically reshape the governance of the authority and practices of the Sewage and Water Board, replacing the state’s somewhat disinterested role by placing full control responsibilities in the hands of the city.

I have to say that after decades of political football the concept of consolidation while shifting full management authority to the City is starting to make a lot of sense. Of course, I recognize that this could open the way to introducing more cronyism, corruption, and idiotic political philosophy into a process that is supposed to be based upon efficiency and effectiveness, but frankly it is time to take the risk and to try a new way.

I have a lot of political experience with suburban parishes, and their local management models generally work far better than anything New Orleans can show. The new proposal for our city seems to mirror those parishes and so it should work here too. Therefore, I am led to believe that it’s time for the state to disengage and let local leaders assume the full role and take the consequences if they should fail.

We cannot afford decades more watching while the blame game supplants good practice. Anything is better than where we are now!