Letters From Our Readers

The Firing of Elrhei

February 20, 2005

Our historic districts provide plenty of opportunity for those willing to play by existing rules. Yet some developers see the system as an obstacle to proposals which would require a bending of the rules. The Nagin administration has sided with these developers and has chosen to express its displeasure with the system by firing longtime Historic District Landmarks Commission director Elrhei Thibodeaux. Under Ms. Thibodeaux?s leadership, historic districts made tremendous progress precisely because she encouraged development which preserved our architectural heritage, which is key to the tourist industry. The removal of Ms. Thibodaux is the culmination of a series of behind-the-scenes changes in public policy, marked only by boards and commissions now well-lubricated with Mr. Nagin?s appointees. If the City’s laws are truly preventing intelligent projects, there should be a public discussion of the issue, and the Mayor and the Council should complete the revisions of the Master Plan and Comprehensive Zoning Code, which are languishing in bureaucratic limbo. But firing Ms. Thibodeaux, whose only sin was to enforce existing rules, sends the message that there is no law in New Orleans, where King Patronage rules every day but Fat Tuesday.

—Keith Hardie, Jr.