Sunday, November 8 after the Saints game, Silence is Violence will host is a fundraiser concert at Rock-N-Bowl.  Trumpeter extraordinaire Shamarr Allen will discuss his work over the past 2 years with young people through the SilenceIsViolence Music Clinics. Learn more about all current SilenceIsViolence programming, sign up to volunteer for projects and activities, bid on peace-focused auction items, dance to the Stooges Brass Band, and bowl for free with the price of entry.

Support peace in New Orleans. Your Peace Agent patron contribution of $50, or a Speak Up general admission ticket for $15, will go toward Music and Writing Clinics, the Victim Allies Project, Social Aid and Pleasure Club Peace Walks, and SilenceIsViolence Peace Clubs in the schools. Tickets are available at the door or through Paypal. If you’re unable to attend but want to make a donation or learn more about their work, visit www.silenceisviolence.org.

All proceeds benefit the peace efforts of SilenceIsViolence and the Social Aid and Pleasure Club Task Force

504-722-0908 or email SpeakUp@silenceisviolence.org for more information

Parade Route:

Start: Treme Center, N. Villere and St. Phillip. Down N. Villere to Touro St. Right on Touro. Continue down Touro St. to St. Claude. Right on St. Claude.

Stop: Sweet Lorraine’s – Black Men of Labor. Continue up St. Claude Ave. to N. Rampart. Up N. Rampart to Ursuline. Right on Ursuline.

Stop: Chapman Family. Continue up Ursuline to N. Robertson. Turn left on N. Robertson. Continue up N. Robertson to Orleans. Turn right on Orleans Avenue.

Stop: Monday Night Football Club. Continue up Orleans to N. Broad. Right on N. Broad.

Stop: Zulu Club. Continue down N. Broad to Ursuline. Turn right on Ursuline. Continue on Ursuline to N. Claiborne.

Stop: Dumaine Street Gag. Turn left on N. Claiborne. Down N. Claiborne.

Stop: LA Funeral Home – N. Claiborne and Kerlerec. Continue down N. Claiborne to St. Bernard Ave. Turn right on St. Bernard Avenue.

Disband: Perfect Fit

From the Hornets PR department:

• In our cover story, Jeremy Alford reports on a secret meeting held by statewide elected officials — both Democratic and Republican — to plot their own courses while Gov. Bobby Jindal’s administration begins to grapple with next year’s budget. Trouble for the gov? Or trouble for the legislators?….

• Clancy DuBos weighs in on yesterday’s staggering 63-count federal indictment against the city’s former technology czar, his wife and his business associate. Words that pricked up Clancy’s ears: The investigation “is not over”….

• Adam Norris profiles Brian Young, the Saints tackle who left the team last year after severe knee injuries. Young is back with the team he loves as a volunteer assistant coach….

• I’ve got an interview with comic Ron White, who’s coming to the Mahalia Jackson Theater next week. In a chat so candid much of it was unprintable, Ron goes off on network brass, as well as confessing his fondness for weed, 18-year-old Macallan and Oprah’s Book Club….

• Will Coviello has a thorough preview of next week’s New Orleans Fringe Festival….

• and our gourmet guy, Ian McNulty, eats mambo italiano in Metairie.

As always, thanks for reading. See you on the newsstand Sunday, or read it all online Monday afternoon.

U.S. Attorney Jim Letten today announced a 63-count indictment against Gregory Meffert, the city’s first chief technology officer — raising questions about how much has changed and how much has stayed the same at City Hall under outgoing Mayor Ray Nagin.

Inaugurated as a “reform” mayor in 2002, Nagin tasked Meffert with leading the modernization of the city’s antiquated information systems and finding high-tech solutions to urban problems — resulting in administration claims of millions of dollars in savings.

Meffert, 44, his wife Linda Meffert, 42, and city vendor Mark St. Pierre, 46, were accused of charges ranging from conspiracy and money laundering to bribery and filing false tax returns — in connection with an alleged scheme that unfolded around the same time Nagin appointed Meffert as the city’s tech chief and as an executive assistant to the Mayor on May 5, 2002.

Specifically, Greg Meffert is accused of using his public position to manipulate the city’s procurement process so that St. Pierre and his private companies would receive millions of dollars in city contracts — without going through traditional competitive bid processes. The indictment includes allegations Meffert improperly manipulated the city’s $4 million “crime cameras” contract process to benefit St. Pierre.

According to the indictment, St. Pierre and his companies benefited from the corruption, responding with illegal “payoffs or kickbacks” to Meffert and his wife. Between 2004 and 2007, St. Pierre paid the Mefferts more than $860,000 in funds, credit card purchases and membership dues, including a Mardi Gras parade.

The Mefferts and St. Pierre were not arrested. They are expected to formally respond to the charges in their first court appearance in the case next Thursday.

The last of Nagin’s original “All-Star Team” - the mayor’s term for the top management team he brought to City Hall –Greg Meffert left city government on July 15, 2006. Meffert is accused of corrupting city contracts even as the Mayor received widespread public praise for declaring “war” on municipal corruption in the summer of 2002. Some 80 people were arrested in a low-level city corruption probe of several agencies. The investigation turned out to be a “shoo-shoo.” However, the novelty of a New Orleans politician attacking corruption won Nagin the admiration of many locals at the time- including Letten.

In the August 2003 edition of Governing magazine, a publication of Congressional Quarterly, Letten said, “Ray (Nagin) has helped in the perception and reality of a city government as an institution that’s trying to clean itself up. He’s very popular in federal enforcement circles. He has our confidence.”

Asked Friday what has changed since that interview six years ago, Letten demurred.

“I’m not going to tell you whether circumstances have changed or not,” the federal prosecutor said, then added: “I think that statement was certainly true (then)… But I’m not going to indicate whether anything is true today because the problem is that portends me commenting directly or indirectly about what we [the feds] are thinking, about where we may be going and I’m just not able to do that.”

Letten also declined to say which city agencies or officials are cooperating with the ongoing federal probe of Meffert. Nagin is on record as encouraging all city employees to cooperate with any federal investigation.

In an e-mail response to news of Meffert’s indictment, city communications director Ceeon D. Quiett wrote: “Considering Mr. Meffert is a former employee, the administration, as a whole, has made tremendous strides in opening up local government to make as much information available as possible online in a transparent manner, such as property tax assessments, professional services contracts, departmental reports, recovery reports, etc…therefore, no one incident, should diminish the efforts of many.”

However, an undated web page of the city web site that Mr. Meffert helped to enhance in Nagin’s first term, cast the city’s first technology chief in a far more favorable light than did the city spokesperson.

“By bringing in the technological expertise very rarely found in a municipal environment, Mr. Meffert created what many Fortune 100 vendors have noted as a new model for taking on the challenges all city governments face,” according to the list of “e-Government Initiatives” found on the city web site late Friday, hours after Mr. Meffert’s indictment.

Not present: candidates Troy Henry, Leslie Jacobs and John Georges, the latter of whom may regret it. (But more on that later.)

Let’s go under the jump for all the fun and some random observations, as well as an incredible bit of snark directed at Georges by Couhig…

Not surprisingly, given the sponsoring group’s focus, the panel was revved up to talk crime. Here were the big takeaways:

• Murray: wants a national search for an NOPD chief who believes in community policing

• Perry: wondered whether city leadership is really open to change; praised NOPD, but slammed its “bad leadership”

• Ramsey: talked about how personal health battles inspired her run, said “city is in a fight for its life”

• Couhig: says if he had won last time, he would’ve canned NOPD Superintendent Warren Riley “and every day he’s proved me right.”

I had the chance to ask one question: “Yes or no only, please: Do you support the plans for the LSU/VA hospital with its current footprint?” Not surprisingly, no one could just say yes or no (despite some help from WWL-TV’s Bigad Shaban, who yelled “He asked yes or no!” — thanks for having my back, Bigad), but Murray was the closest any of them came to a definite yes. The other three spoke about the importance of good health care and establishing a world-class medical corridor…as opposed, it seemed, to having no hospitals and crappy health care.

Another interesting question: Would the candidates release their tax returns if they won? Murray said no; Perry said “absolutely.” Both Couhig and Ramsey crawfished, saying they supported the notion in theory but saying that current ethics laws may be sufficient.

Some random notes:

• About the third time Couhig bashed Mayor Ray Nagin, the audience was getting restive; it was obvious somebody wanted to stand up and yell “Then why’d you endorse him last time, Rob?”

• Ramsey said one of her personal political heroes was President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf of Liberia, which was not, one might say, an obvious choice.

• Perry, ever-wired into the Facebook/Twitter Zeitgeist, managed to squeeze out one Tweet from the dais while someone else was speaking.

• Murray didn’t stir much excitement, but did exude the calm that comes from being the current frontrunner.

Perhaps the most interesting part of the debate was the number of references to the candidates who didn’t show. More than once, a Crimefighters representative stressed “our next mayor — and I firmly believe that person is in this room.” But the anti-no-show sentiment didn’t boil over until late in the debate when panelists were allowed to ask each other questions, and Couhig addressed Murray with a question that began, “Ed, what would you have to say about a candidate who’s funding his own campaign with the millions he made in tobacco and can’t decide whether he’s a Republican, an independent, or a Democrat…”

Laughter in the room drowned out the rest of the question. John Georges: burned.

In the end, none of the candidates seemed to have changed the game for themselves in any positive or negative way. Good-o; this is the first of what’s sure to be many debates to come. But it looks like John Georges better start attending, or the mayoral pool is going to end up pie-ing him, instead of each other.

Get in the Game

It’s budgeting for Ray Nagin to skedaddle on May 3, 2010 — and dump this entire mess on the next mayor and council.

It’s time to crash the party. With less than a month remaining for the New Orleans City Council to adopt a balanced budget (the charter-mandated deadline is Dec. 1) and with the city facing a projected $68 million shortfall, New Orleanians need to let their elected officials know what their priorities are and demand accountability. It may seem we’re encouraging citizens to join the budget fray late in the game, but remember that we are the ones footing the bill. Until now, most citizens have watched this game from the sidelines, but bear in mind that politics in a democracy is a participatory undertaking, not a spectator sport.

According to Mayor Ray Nagin’s 2010 proposed budget, this is the third year the city has used the process known as Budgeting for Outcomes (BFO). Essentially, BFO seeks to determine how much money is available, prioritize the results taxpayers want, allocate resources toward those results, identify performance measures and then monitor performance. The Government Finance Officers Association considers the process a “recommended practice.” On paper, BFO includes a lot of public input — but not the way the Nagin administration has used it.

To ensure the public’s involvement throughout the BFO process, a “results team” of community leaders, City Councilmembers and department heads is supposed to prioritize and format outcomes the public wants most. By the proposed budget’s timeline, that group began meeting in April, but, as pointed out in the recent Office of Inspector General’s report on the city’s 2009 budget process, there were no community leaders or councilmembers on the team in 2008 or 2009. Thus, as the budget process progresses — the city has paid $2.5 million to Public Financial Management Inc. to implement BFO — the administration alone has decided “what the public wants.” That is not budgeting for outcomes — unless the desired “outcome” is less transparency, which, of course, is a hallmark of the Nagin administration.

So what should the public expect from the mayor’s 2010 budget? The Nagin administration ranks as priorities public safety, the city’s recovery and rebuilding, opportunities for youth and high-performing government. While that last one sounds like an oxymoron, the first three are certainly chief concerns of most New Orleanians. The mayor proposes to fund public safety (police, fire and emergency services) with $191 million; recovery and quality-of-life agencies with $80.6 million; and “high-performing government” (which includes debt service) with $180 million. Meanwhile, programs for youth get a pitiful 2 percent of the city’s $483 million general fund.

BFO also requires that each department establish key performance measures so the public can gauge successes and failures. Unfortunately (and this would be funny if it weren’t so tragic), under “Result Area: High Performing Government,” the two most common measures cited are “Measures not available” and “To be determined in 2010.”

Finally, when the entire BFO process was concluded, one of the mayor’s chief recommendations for reducing the $68 million deficit was a 10 percent cut across all departments. That means every city agency will suffer regardless of where it stands on the ladder of public priorities or whether it is achieving its stated goals. Again, this is not budgeting for outcomes. Rather, it’s budgeting for Ray Nagin to skedaddle on May 3, 2010 — and dump this entire mess on the next mayor and council.

The process isn’t over, however. New Orleans deserves better. The council’s budget hearings begin this week with at least eight scheduled thus far: the first on Monday, Nov. 9. That means there’s still time for civic engagement. Councilwomen Shelley Midura and Stacy Head are hosting town hall meetings this Wednesday and next (Nov. 11 and 18) in the Council Chamber to discuss the budget hearings. They invite residents to monitor the council meetings and speak out on major issues.

We warn our readers that budget hearings are not the most exciting spectacle. But, as the Inspector General’s report notes, “The budget is the single most important municipal document affecting the lives of citizens.” If you have the time (we hope to have given you the inclination), here’s your chance to play in city government’s version of the Super Bowl.

Japanophiles may be fascinated with Japan Fest this weekend at NOMA (10 a.m.-4 p.m. Sun., Nov. 8), or greatly disappointed. NOMA’s annual event focuses on the elegant and dignified traditions of Japan. These include the grooming of tiny bonsai trees, plodding tea ceremonies, traditional floral arranging (ikebana) and origami. A couple of the more vibrant exhibitions include taiko drumming and aikido and kendo martial arts demonstrations. But where is the wild exuberance of Japanese popular culture? The violence and leering, borderline pedophilia of Manga comics, the hard-charging grotesque absurdity of sumo wrestling, the goofy translations and bizarre television. For every expression of formal and polite etiquette there is an opposite guilty pleasure, such as the rampant physical comedy and humiliation of contestants on the show Takeshi’s Castle (the clip above is from an American rerun of the show with comedic voiceovers). The renowned actor Takeshi Kitano hosted the gameshow from 1986 to 1989. In it, armies of contestants figuratively stormed his castle by being put through grueling obstacle course tests. It should be a national treasure. And if NOMA can warm up to Disney animation, it can welcome Hello Kitty.

Actually, that may be unfair to former Mayor Marc Morial, who does not appear to be in danger of indictment — although several of his cronies went to jail. Nagin, on the other hand, could well become a target of the ongoing federal investigation into City Hall corruption. Moreover, the feds didn’t indict any of Morial’s pals until he was out of office. Meffert’s indictment came with six months left in Nagin’s term.

The charges against Meffert, his wife Linda, and former city contractor Mark St. Pierre — who previously worked for Meffert in the private sector — paint a picture of an administration run amok and of a public official drunk with power. Even casual observers of Meffert’s days in City Hall were struck by his arrogance. He referred to himself as the “deputy mayor,” even though the position didn’t (and still doesn’t) exist. He also bragged that he owned the yacht Silicon Bayou, on which he entertained friends and Nagin contributors, even though St. Pierre owned the vessel.

Then again, according to the federal indictment, the lines between St. Pierre’s private-sector dealings and Meffert’s public-sector responsibilities were often blurred, if not ignored, for their mutual benefit.

The feds allege in the indictment that Meffert, his wife and St. Pierre conspired to use Greg Meffert’s position at City Hall to enrich St. Pierre, who in turn bribed the Mefferts in connection with the crime camera debacle; that St. Pierre paid, and the Mefferts received, various bribes, kickbacks and/or payoffs totaling more than $1 million; that the Mefferts filed false tax returns; that the Mefferts lied to the FBI about Linda Meffert’s alleged employment by St. Pierre in 2004; and that all three committed money laundering and wire fraud.

What does all this say of Nagin?

At a minimum, it suggests strongly that hizzoner was an ignoramus who didn’t have enough sense to spot Meffert as a fraud and a crook. At worst, it hints that Nagin knew all along of Meffert’s glaring conflicts of interest and either turned a blind eye or approved of them.

Or shared in them.

The fact that Nagin vacationed in Hawaii, Chicago and Jamaica on St. Pierre’s dime makes it hard to believe the former scenario. Add to that the fact that Nagin’s first-class Jamaican holiday came at the height of post-Katrina stress for most New Orleanians — in November 2005, less than 90 days after the storm — and Nagin appears as selfish, arrogant, detached and conflicted as Meffert.

In which case, all New Orleanians should take heart in U.S. Attorney Jim Letten’s statement that the investigation “is not over.”

PROPS TO JONES — Glad Jones, lead attorney for the plaintiffs in the recently concluded civil conspiracy case against Meffert, Dell Inc. and others, deserves big props for doggedly pursuing, through the discovery process, many of the facts that led to Meffert’s indictment. Even though Jones didn’t get everything his clients sought in the civil trial, he did the public immeasurable good by bringing the corruption to light.