Will Public corruption Ever End In New Orleans?

Public corruption has plagued the New Orleans region for more than two centuries, spanning back to 18th-century French and Spanish rule, said Ed Renwick, head of the Institute of Politics at Loyola University. Back then, the monarchy-appointed governor held all the power and often indulged in corruption and cronyism, he said.

The strong-governor system carried over into the modern era, most notably during the tenure of Huey Long, Louisiana's governor from 1928 to 1932, who consolidated near-absolute power into the position. Kickbacks became part of doing business, Renwick said.

Federal agents today are trying to break up the corruption mentality. Besides radio ads, the FBI has been meeting with business leaders and civic groups. The bureau's New Orleans office receives five to 25 tips a week.

Bernazzani said he has recruited an array of informants. "I want every corrupt public official to think that the person they're engaging could be working for the FBI," he said.

Changing the image of New Orleans as a place where corruption is common is key to drawing new businesses and fueling the area's recovery, said Barbara Johnson, of Greater New Orleans, Inc., which tries to attract business to the area.

"The more we can show as a region that we have a game plan to address and combat (corruption), the more competitive we become in attracting investments," she said.

Just weeks after Katrina, federal officials brought the country's first post-storm public corruption indictment against Joseph Impastato, a St. Tammany Parish councilman accused of taking kickbacks in exchange for steering contracts for debris removal. Impastato has maintained he is innocent of the extortion, conspiracy and money laundering charges against him.

A few months later, Andrew Rose and Loyd Holliman, two Federal Emergency Management Agency employees, were indicted on charges that they solicited bribes while managing a FEMA base camp near New Orleans, according to federal records. They pleaded guilty and were sentenced in August to 21 months in federal prison.

The most surprising case came in August, when Oliver Thomas, a popular city councilman, pleaded guilty to accepting nearly $20,000 in bribes from a city hall vendor. Thomas' case, more than any other, shook the walls at city hall, City Councilwoman Shelley Midura said.

"There's a resignation now that we're going to have to do something to address" corruption, she said.

Last year, the New Orleans council unanimously voted to establish the office of inspector general, a first in the city's 289-year history.

Robert Cerasoli, a former inspector general for the state of Massachusetts who has a long résumé of fighting waste and corruption, was recruited this summer for the position. Cerasoli stunned city officials by not taking a city car, opting instead to use his personal car, and moving into a small, loaned office on the third floor of Loyola University's Monroe Library.

Unlike the FBI, which investigates individuals, Cerasoli said his job will be to examine the system to see where changes can be made to prevent corruption. He said his first task will be to study the city charter and its many agencies, commissions and quasi-governmental bodies, looking for conflicts of interest. "I'm certainly going to find corruption along the way," he said.

Though hired by the city, Cerasoli said it is still not known whether the city will block access to records and files or give him the money and access needed to do his job. The City Council is expected to announce his budget Nov. 1.

"This is going to go down nice, or it's going to go down nasty," he said. "If they back me into a corner, I'm going to be very aggressive … I'm not going away."

A New Orleans native, Letten said he witnessed how corruption over the past decades drove many from the city. But following Katrina, he's noticed a willingness from people to come forward and call out corrupt officials, he said.

"I don't know that Louisiana or New Orleans is measurably more corrupt than other places," Letten said. "I do believe that as a culture we've been exceedingly tolerant of it."