NEW ORLEANS — Four years ago, mayoral candidate LaToya Cantrell promised to make fixing the Sewerage and Water Board her top priority. After last week’s FBI raid of the S&WB, which came hours after Eyewitness News investigator David Hammer’s exposé of self-dealing at the agency, it’s clear not much has changed.
Hammer revealed insider deals among plumbing inspectors, gas inspectors and contractors using each other’s licenses to get permits and then inspecting each other’s jobs. The feds moved in quickly because records in those departments are literally on paper and index cards, a problem noted previously by city and state auditors.
Everyone knows the S&WB is antiquated and dysfunctional. Now, we can add “corrupt” to that list of descriptions. What we don’t yet know is if, when and how things will ever change.
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