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City official: relief supplies were to go to church
KENNER, La. (AP) -- The city official accused of diverting food and other supplies meant for hurricane victims says he was keeping them for a church, and only the minister's evacuation and the need to get his own sons to school in Natchitoches kept them at his house more than a day.
Cedric Floyd said Friday that he planned to go to the police station for booking on a felony malfeasance charge following a planned noon news conference with the Rev. Mark Mitchell.
Floyd said Mitchell has submitted an affidavit saying he asked the city to provide food and supplies to the New Hope Church drug ministry, and Floyd arranged to have him get them at his house, seven blocks from the church.
Mitchell had planned to pick up the supplies Monday, Sept. 19, but Floyd had to bring his twin sons to the Louisiana School for Math, Science and the Arts in Natchitoches, and didn't return to Kenner until late Monday.
By then, Floyd said, Mitchell was at a shelter in Baton Rouge, and couldn't get the supplies until Wednesday - a day after police searched Floyd's house.
Mayor Phil Capitano, who defeated Police Chief Nick Congemi in the 2004 election for mayor, suspended Floyd without pay on Wednesday.
Until then, Floyd was paid $82,522 a year as one of Capitano's top two aides, managing daily operations for Louisiana's sixth-largest city and supervising all workers except those in the legal, fire and police departments.
Military officials who had been working at the distribution site filed a complaint against Floyd. State Attorney General Charles Foti's office is helping Kenner police in the investigation.
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Shreveport lawmaker wants details about governor's actions on Katrina
A state lawmaker from Shreveport wants answers from Gov. Kathleen Blanco about what steps were taken immediately before and after Hurricane Katrina hit Louisiana.
Waddell, a member of a select committee that will look at the state's response before and after Katrina hit, has sent a letter to Blanco asking for detailed information about what state officials did and didn't do -- and when that happened.
"I love this state and I want to stand up for this state, but I have to have the information to do it with," Waddell said.
Waddell, a Republican representative for the past eight years, is known as a consensus builder who doesn't seek the political spotlight. He said he's relaying questions raised by voters in his district.
"That was the reason for it. There's no grandstanding in it," he said.
Blanco has admitted mistakes were made at all levels of government. Among the criticisms leveled at the state are slow response, slow requests for outside help and being overwhelmed after Katrina hit.
Waddell wants details about what was done by the governor and her staff in the days before the hurricane and the week after the storm.
He's asking for e-mails, memos and letters in four areas: Preparations for the hurricane; evacuations; requests for assistance from other states and the federal government; and relief planning after Katrina hit and New Orleans flooded.
"Where I could do a time line, put it on a grid system and put it out there where everybody could see what we did do," Waddell said.
The governor's press office did not immediately comment on Waddell's actions.
Waddell is among the lawmakers appointed by the Speaker of the House to the House Special Committee on Disaster Planning, Crisis Management, Recovery and Long-term Revitalization.
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