Charbonnet & Bloom talk to us
about fighting crime and corruption
In separate interviews, each discusses
getting violent criminals off the street
and fighting public corruption.
Both interviews by Mike Weinberger*
Charbonnet...
MW: Lets start with corruption, what will
be your approach?
Mailing
address
DC: We absolutely must stop corruption,
and we do that with transparency and accountabili-
ty in government - and I mean everywhere:
MW: Please explain.
DC: We need more transparency for the tax-
payers in all the city departments, and also the de-
partment heads - how employees function and also
how contracts are awarded, all of it.
MW: Will you do anything new on this?
DC: Yes, for example, Im going to ap-
point an Ethics Compliance Officer. That person
is going to make sure that we move in an ethical
manner, not only on contracting, but also so city
employees can also get guidance to make sure
things are done properly.
continuted on page 5
* Mike Weinberger is a retired attorney and businessman living in N.O.
Crime Safety Reporter
Citizens want protection against crime !
Volume 1, Issue 7 Nov., 2017
Mayoral candidate
Charbonnet on the
left and City Coun-
cil candidate Bloom
on the right.
Bloom...
MW: How can we get violent criminals off
the street?
SB: We must use police resources correctly
to get criminals off the street. I would put pressure
on the mayor to do a real national search and hire
a police chief that has a great deal of experience
cleaning up urban violent crime. And here is an-
other factor: We have to improve the quality of
our neighborhoods so they dont look dilapidated.
For that reason I would encourage redevelopment
and sprucing up areas where theres a lot of blight
and crime.
MW: What about the panhandlers who seem to
be all over?
SB: We need to be compassionate, but at the same
time Im cognizant of the negative impact they have and
also the economic impact. This problem has cost us
business and jobs, such as jobs in the tourist cruise ship
business. Tourists cant get off a cruise ship and run into
a homeless tent city. Im very concerned about it.
continued on page 7
Covering Greater New Orleans Locally owned The Citizens Voice
 Are you a homeowner or a taxpayer ?

If so, please note the endorsements of the Crime Safety Reporter Newspaper:

Mayor: Desiree Charbonnet. The fact that District Attorney

Leon Cannizzaro supports her tells you volumes. Latoya
Cantrell, on the other hand was part of a Do Nothing City
Council that allowed crime to soar and let the SWB turn into
a corrupt mess. If you like crime and floods vote for Cantrell.
Otherwise, Charbonnet should be your choice.

City Council B: Seth Bloom. When he was on the School

Board he discovered that one of its members was corrupt.
He had the member indicted and sent to federal prison, saying:
Public corruption must not be tolerated on any level. How
often have you heard that from a local politician ? This one
is a no-brainer. Seth Bloom all the way.

City Council E: Cyndi Nguyen. Here is a fresh face that

can only be an improvement. James Gray, on the other hand,
voted to cut the DAs budget and also voted for Ordinance
27232, which says that someone charged with assault is to
be released from custody immediately after booking even
without paying bail. This puts criminals right back on the
street again. Enough of this already. Vote for Nguyen.
Who comes to Home Defense Foundation meetings?
Your friends. Your neighbors. Ordinary people.

Parents concerned about crime and citizens concerned about government.

Taxpayers. Homeowners. In short, good people. HdfNola.org

 Who speaks at Home Defense Foundation meetings?

DA Cannizzaro Councilmember Stacey Head

United States Attorney Metro Crime Comm. Pres.

Ken Polite President Rafael Goyeneche

just to name a few . . . HdfNola.org

p5 Charbonnet Interview, continued from p. 1

MW: What about the new Inspector General we will be

getting, will you work with that person?

DC: My role would be to comply with any requests that

come from that office. That is an independent office, but for sure,
when they request material they have to get it.

Crime is my number one priority. I am tired

of crime. That is one of the main reasons I am
running. I saw crime every day as a judge.
I am the best candidate to fight crime and
no one else can fight crime like I can. I work
with NOPD every day.

MW: What about the traffic cameras ?

MW: OK, now, what about crime?
DC: Its my top priority. I am tired of crime. Crime is one of
the main reasons Im running. I was a judge for ten years at munic-
ipal court. I saw crime every day, day in and day out, for ten years.
I know what causes it, I know how we can prevent it, I know how
to divert people away from crime. So, I am the best candidate for
fighting crime. There is no one else who can do it like I can. I work
with NOPD every day.
MW: I hear a lot from taxpayers about the panhandler prob-
lem. They seem to be everywhere and they are getting more and
more aggressive. What can we do about this?
DC: : There are so many. This is our challenge, and be-
ing on municipal court, I dealt with that on a daily basis. At first,
the police department was using the begging ordinance and citing
people with violations of that law, but then we were told we cant
do that anymore, so now the police are citing them for aggressive
panhandling and I think we need a few more teeth in that law.
MW: How so ?
DC: I understand that there is freedom of speech, but at the
same time I think its a public safety issue. You know, for me to
have to maneuver around somebody walking in the street, begging,
that is a challenge. I think we need a new approach to this problem.
SB: : I dont like those, but at the same time I have to be
responsible in the way I remove them. I want to phase them out
as we find other ways to raise funds. So, as new money comes in,
we can start to remove them.
MW: Do you have any ideas on creating jobs?
DC: : Economic development and job training is import-
ant to me, and it relates to the crime problem. I know for a fact
that the individuals that I saw as a judge, if they had a good paying
job, they would not have been there. And so weve got to be able
to train young people as soon as they get out of high school.
We have to work more with the faith-based
community to teach values to kids.
MW: And what about teaching youg people about values,
can we do something to teach values to these young people?
DC: We have to work more with our faith-based commu-
nity. I think that is key. Not everybodys going to grow up in a
house where values are paramount, so getting them in touch with
programs at churches is important. There are so many churches
doing such great work out here. I think that would be the key.
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Crime Safety Reporter
Contributors
Tanya Avery Jamal Melancon
Mike Buras Bill Stumpf
Jeff Crouere Ian Templeton
Adrianna Eschette William Wallis
Wherever you want to call home, let me Mark Ferreira Mike Weinberger
find that perfect place made just for you! Elbert Guillory Colleen Wood
Office (504) 361-8055 Brannon LeBouef Why not you?
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 Seth Bloom Interview, continued from page 1 p7

MW: What can you tell people that would give them con-
fidence regarding your determination to shake up government en-
tities that are fraudulent and corrupt?

Under my term as president of the school

board I helped root out corruption. In fact,
when a member of the board was indicted
and convicted of bribery I helped that
investigation.

SB: You know, I was on the Orleans Parish School Board for
eight years and thats traditionally a very problematic entity of
government. Under my term as president of the school board I
helped root out corruption. In fact, when a member of the board
was indicted and convicted of bribery I helped that investigation.
Will Seth Bloom be on the City Council?
Your vote on November 18th will decidee.
MW: What about the hiring practices at the SWB?

MW: Can you elaborate a little?
SB: When things didnt smell right we made an issue of it.
Eventually, we had to go to the federal government, meaning the
United States Attorney and the FBI. We stopped all sorts of im-
proper practices that were going on at the Orleans Parish School
Board. I want to completely stomp out any sort of misbehavior.
SB: At the very least the people that are in charge of these
various departments should have proper experience. I mean, why
doesnt the head of the Sewage and Water Board have extensive
experience with water management? Why doesnt he come from
another system that does water management? This is a no brainer.
In fact, I think most of what I talk about, most people agree with
me. Its just common sense.

MW: Now you must know that probably 99 out of 100

people who are potential voters in the November 18th runoff are Every single penny awarded in con-
very, very dissatisfied and angry about the Sewage and Water
Board, the tremendous fraud and waste there, and people getting tracts and every single contract
pensions and severance checks of a quarter million, a half million, awarded by public entities should be
sometimes close to three-quarters of a million dollars even if they
open to public view.
havent accomplished anything and even if they actually hurt the
infrastructure of the city. What are your thoughts on this?

SB: Ive talked about this many times. These sweetheart
payouts, you know, contract buyouts for SWB employees that can
be over $700,000. Thats infuriating. I mean, theres probably not
too many private business people in such a small business market
like New Orleans that get $700,000 payouts from their jobs and
then get $175,000 a year pensions. They take advantage. They all
just kind of move around government to get their salaries up to the
highest level right before they retire. This just cant go on.
MW: . And last, what do you think of this? Every single
penny awarded in contracts and every single contract awarded by
public entities, every single penny and every single paragraph of
every contract should be open to public view. What do you think?
Seth: Yes. Absolutely. Totally. We neede more transparency in
government contracts and spending. That will be something Ill
work hard on.
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 Heard On The Street
Compiled by
Jamal Melancon

People on Magazine
Street were asked:

What do you think

about the panhandlers
all over town?

Christopher Dobard: Its gotten to the

point where you really cant tell who
needs the help. People are out there just
trying to make money, ruining it for
people that actually need the help.

Harold Mitchell: I think the pan-

handling is getting out of hand.
Were beginning to look like a
third world country.

Join us
Monday thru Friday Stephanie Porche: Some veterans
come back home and have nothing.
But some I know have homes, have
3pm-6pm for Happy Hour! cars, they go panhandle, and then
get into their BMW and drive away.
Ive seen both.
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 WWL Report: Public records show Cantrell racked
up charges on her public credit card that were clearly
for personal expenses - or for campaign costs.
In a report that was made public as this issue of the
Crime Safety Reporter was being finalized, WWLs web-
site detailed the fact that mayoral candidate Latoya Cantrell
used her government issued credit card to pay for personal
expenses and other improper bills.
The report stated: Public records show Cantrell
racked up charges on her PUBLIC credit card that were
clearly for PERSONAL expenses or for CAMPAIGN costs.
Just as she began her mayoral campaign she paid back
thousands of dollars in charges going back weeks, months
and years.
Dont forget to vote November 18th !
Asked to comment on this troubling situation, the
President of the Metropolitan Crime Commission, Rafael
Goyeneche stated Obviously all of this is problematic...
It could possibly be ethics violations. It could possibly be
something that prosecutors offices are consulted on.
Goyeneche went on to say I think it will result in
investigations by the Inspector Generals office (and) pos-
sibly the ethics review board for the state...These expendi-
tures were not reimbursed in a timely manner (and) were
she not running for mayor, the reimbursements probably
would not have been made.
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 Congratulations to Phil Chin !
How many people get active in a civic organization
and then attend every single meeting, doing volunteer
work, for four years? Thats a tall order.

Phil Chin attended his first Home Defense Founda-

tion meeting about four years ago. At that time the group
was just getting started and meetings were held at the Panera
Bread on Carrollton Avenue. Phil just happened to be there
when he saw a group of about 10 people talking about crime
and he joined in. He has been with us ever since.

Not only does Phil come to every meeting, he takes

almost all the photos for the group, and his pics are great!
Just about every pic on our site (HdfNola.org) is Phils.

Thank you, Phil, for all your hard work and dedica-
tion. Our volunteer group (now over 700 members) owes
you a debt of gratittude which we would like to acknowl- Phil, on the right, receiving a Citizen Activist Award.
edge. Again, thanks so much!

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 Another Career Criminal Murders an NOPD Officer
by Jeff Crouere
NOPD officer Marcus McNeil
should have never been murdered
on October 13. His killer, Darren
Bridges, should have been behind
bars, not on the streets.
While McNeil and his fellow offi-
cers were on patrol in New Orleans
East, they spotted Bridges and were
suspicious of his activities. As they
were exiting their vehicles to question Bridges, he immediately
fired on the officers.
Eventually, McNeil shot him with his Taser, but, unfortunately,
it did not subdue Bridges, who killed McNeil after a struggle.
Bridges did not want to be questioned because he was carrying
illegal drugs. He may have thought he would have to go back
to prison, but he should have realized that in Louisiana, hard-
ened criminals are released from prison on a regular basis. In
fact, Bridges has been given extremely lenient treatment by the Or-
leans Parish criminal justice system for years.
The Importance of VOTING
Voting. That exercise in our democracy that connects us
directly with our candidates and acts as an affirmation that our right
to vote is important - so important that we actually use it.
In the municipal elections of October 14th voters made their
candidate preferences known. Most races were decided that day,
but there are five important races that will be decided in the
November 18th run-off: State Treasurer, Mayor, City Council
Districts B and E, and Civil District Court Judge Division J.
History shows that voter participation in run-off elections
lags behind the participation rates in general elections, although
most of us who did show up on October 14th will vote again on
November 18th. BUT, we must do more. We must encourage
everyone we know to vote and also engage family members and
friends - even those who do not take part in elections regularly.
How valuable can their vote be? The fact that the Council District
C race was decided by a margin of 112 votes proves the tremen-
dous power of every single vote.
Elected officials are an integral part of our democracy and
Before murdering officer McNeil he had already been arrested for
crimes like drug possession, theft, battery and attempted possession of
a firearm by a felon, which resulted in a 6 year sentence after his
March 2012 conviction. Unfortunately, in 2015, Bridges was released
from prison, but in months, he was arrested again, for strangulation.
This should have resulted in his immediate return to prison, but it only
netted Bridges parole supervision. So, a violent offender who tried to
strangulate someone was set free to commit more crimes.
And it gets even worse. Just days before killing Officer McNeil
Bridges was detained for allegedly shoplifting at a Walmart, but before
he could be arrested, he punched a security officer and fled.
Often, we hear complaints that Louisiana has the highest incarceration
rate in the nation and calls for criminal justice reform so prisoners
can be released back into society. The real problem is our inability to
keep prisoners like Darren Bridges behind bars. The best reform our
state can make is to stop the revolving door of justice.
Jeff Crouere, a New Orleans native, is the author of Americas Last Chance,
available on JeffCrouere.com. Contact him at jeff@ jeffcrouere.com
by Mike Buras
impact our daily lives. It is in our best interest to set aside time to
assess the candidates positions and cast our vote in every election.
The run-off is scheduled for November 18th. The polls will
open at 6:00 a.m. and close at 8:00 p.m. If you are not sure where
your polling station is you can call the Registrar of Voters at 658-
8300, or go to the Louisiana Voter Portal at voterportal.sos.la.gov.
Should you prefer to vote early you may from November
3rd through November 11th. There are four locations in the city for
early voting: City Hall at 1300 Perdido Street, Algiers Courthouse
at 225 Morgan Street, New Orleans Voting Machine Warehouse at
8870 Chef Menteur Highway, and Lake Vista Community Center
at 6500 Spanish Fort Boulevard.
The right to elect officials is integral to our liberty, and
exercising that right is the only way to achieve good government.
Every election is important. There truly are no excuses for not
participating or not voting. Vote. Every time. It matters.
Mike Buras is New Orleans homeowner and taxpayer.
 A Chat with City Council Candidate Cyndi Nguyen
A staff member of the Crime Safety Reporter Newspaper
had a chat with the District E, City Council Candidate


CSR: A lot of people in government today seem to
have forgotten about ordinary homeowners and workers.
Your response?

CN: It starts with selecting the right leaders. We

have to select leaders that are engaged with the community
prior to running for office. I feel this election is the perfect
opportunity for citizens to select leaders that are active
in the community who can provide us with leadership
and accessibility to government. Unfortunately we cant
change the past, but we can ensure the future has a much our village? Where poverty and lack of quality education
brighter outlook - and it starts with this election. is present crime is high, and all statistics show that. Once
we can provide people with the tools they need to have an
improved quality of life we will see a reduction in crime.
Its been proven time and time again.
I learned early in life the value
of hard work and honesty.
I will work hard to create training
programs for our youth.
CSR: Why do you want to be on the City Council?

CN: I learned early in life the value of hard work
and honesty. When someone works hard and has a passion
for helping others they can succeed. They can earn a liv-
ing, buy a house, raise a family and live in an environment
where their children have an opportunity to thrive. Id love
to be the person to move District E forward for the next
generation.
CSR: And what about crime, can government do
something to lower the crime rate?
CN: In my opinion the best thing we can do is create
an opportunity for our citizens to thrive. Im a firm believer in
the saying it takes a community to raise a village. And if
so many of our children are growing up and being involved
in criminal activities then what does that say about
CSR: If you are elected to the City Council what can
you do?
CN: I will work hard to create training programs for
our youth as well as partner with Delgado in the Lower 9th
to bring awareness to the existing trade programs that they
have available. When we equip our citizens with the tools
needed so that they can earn a wage that allows them to
thrive theyll have no reason to go out and commit crimes.
Theres a building in the arts district that has a quote, If
you want to study the entrepreneur study the juvenile del-
iquent. Theyre the ones that say, forget this, Im going to
do my own thing. And thats exactly what we see today.
So its on us as leaders to create an environment where our
children have the opportunity to become whatever they
want to be and have a positive influence on our society.
 Help The Needy, Not The Greedy
by John Stumpf
One solution is to use technology to clean up the corrup-
Entitlement systems were initially created to help those in
tion, waste, fraud, and abuse in the entitlement systems.
need. No one has a problem with feeding the hungry or helping
children, the elderly and the poor. If these programs only helped
We could create automated systems using multiple da-
the people who they were intended to help, life would be good.
tabases to cross-check and uncover fraud. For example, cross
check LA Purchase Card recipients with DMV databases. If a
History has shown, however that most entitlement sys-
person drives a $50,000 vehicle and qualifies for a LA Purchase
tems eventually spin out of control, are mismanaged and suffer
Card or collects any state assistance, that case should be inves-
from a lack of accountability and enforcement. They become
tigated. In addition, if someone is able to work and collects an
plagued with corruption, fraud, waste, and abuse. And when the
entitlement check require that person to report to a workforce
tax dollars that sustain these programs are exhausted the govern-
center for job assignments. If you are getting a check why not
ment asks the public for a tax increase. If we ask: Where did
help clean a catch basins or fill a pothole?
the money go? the government has no answers.
And every proposed tax increase must be accompanied by
Most of us know about this corruption. We have wit- financial reports that show where previous funds were spent.
nessed it with our own two eyes, sometimes on a daily basis.
For example, I often see people driving expensive cars, wearing A line in a famous song asks: Where have all the flowers
expensive jewelry and using full-blown I-phones who then buy gone? - - I would ask: Where have all the funds gone?
the very best steaks in the supermarket with LA Purchase Cards.
I ask you: Is this right ? ? John Stumpf is a homeowner and taxpayer in Greater New Orleans.

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