Leadership of Mayor Ray Nagin

Mayor Ray Nagin of New Orleans swept into office some three years ago intent on eliminating corruption in the city, reforming a dramatically underperforming school system, creating new jobs and economic opportunities for the largely poor, African-American citizenry, and making the Crescent City not only a desirable tourist destination, but an economic powerhouse (Padgett, 2005). Nagin entered politics after a successful career which led him to become the general manager of Cox Cable in New Orleans. A self-made millionaire, Nagin presented himself as a man capable of applying business expertise and leadership to the political arena and as more capable than any other possible candidate of instituting the structural reforms and policies that New Orleans desperately needed (Gibbons, 2005).

Even early in his mayoral tenure, critics considered Nagin to be a "mercurial political neophyte incapable of creating the consensus building necessary for such a giant undertaking" (Padgett, 2005, p. 34). If this was an opinion held by many prior to Hurricane Katrina, it is an opinion that many more residents of the devastated New Orleans regions outsiders share today. At issue herein is an evaluation of the leadership exhibited by Mayor Nagin during and after Hurricane Katrina.

It is best to consider Nagin as a leader who attempts to exhibit the characteristics of transformational leadership. Deluga and College (2000) descri

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oblem worse by blocking the Red Cross from bringing water, food, and sanitary facilities to the people in the Superdome (Barone, 2005). There is, said Robert Novak (2005), more than enough criticism to go around, not excepting former FEMA Director Mike Brown and President Bush. The failures of these individuals and of Governor Blanco are not at issue herein but they are certainly significant in evaluating whether or not Mayor Nagin should be held responsible for many of the crises that occurred after Hurricane Katrina. Padgett (2005, p. 35) commenting on Nagin's post-Katrina performance, wrote that: Certainly in the weeks since Katrina, Nagin could have used some public relations help, as he has often come across as irritated and defensive. He complained to state legislators that he was "getting more criticism than God knows who," as if "you all think I'm crazy." After encouraging residents to return to New Orleans despite federal warnings that conditions weren't yet safe, Nagin groused that the Katrina recovery director, Coast Guard Vice Admiral Thad Allen, was acting like the "federal mayor of New Orleans." It won't be so easy for the mayor to win back the Big Easy's confidence. When he encouraged evacuees last week at a
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Approximate Pages = 10 (250 words per page)