Commentary: 'Popeye' Cerasoli is ready to squeeze N.O. crooks

New Orleans CityBusiness, Dec 3, 2007 by Terry O'Connor

"I am what I am," a humble Robert Cerasoli told more than 300 people in attendance Tuesday at Loyola University in his first public address as a fully funded public official.

What he is now is the man with the most investigative muscle in town. He's Popeye ready to beat down the Bluto of corruption that's been bullying this city for decades.

What the eloquent 60-year-old Boston native is and what he now means to many New Orleanians is the best chance in our lifetime to check the torrent of corrupt city contracts costing us millions.

Earlier in the day, the New Orleans City Council had confirmed its intent to give Cerasoli $3.2 million to begin investigating and overseeing all city contracts. While the funding was not fully finalized, City Council approval was assured.

The mood among attendees at Loyola was ebullient bordering on giddy.

"I don't think I've had a better day since Katrina," exulted Ruthie Frierson of Citizens for 1 Greater New Orleans.

"We're dripping with anticipation for Bob to get to work," said Councilwoman Shelley Midura in addressing Cerasoli after his speech. "You give everyone hope. And we need it."

It was not a great day for public officials in New Orleans who go to great lengths to obscure and obfuscate budget spending. Preventing waste, fraud and abuse of power is the IG's job. You can almost see Cerasoli squeezing the can of spinach already.

"My major challenge is to propose responsible change while opposing bad deals for the public," he said.

He's got a lot of work to do. Cerasoli defines his job as 80 percent prevention and 20 percent detection.

One of the first items on his radar is the deliberately obscure $912.5-million city budget now being defined by City Council and the mayor. The lack of detail could revise Cerasoli's stated working percentages.

Cerasoli laughs at the inadequacy of the budget explanations being offered by city officials to City Council. He marvels that the city has no city auditor or even a procurement system for city purchases. He finds it hard to believe city officials routinely refuse to discuss how they are spending taxpayer money.

He told an anecdote about a director of a city agency attending the City Council budget meeting being asked about his $2-million budget for 14 telemarketing employees, which works out to a tidy $142,857 apiece. The official could not offer any explanation, saying he wasn't prepared to go into details of his budget request.

"Of course not," Cerasoli told the Loyola crowd with a laugh. "This is a budget hearing. Why would you bring the numbers?"

The cautious Cerasoli won't be easily derailed from his stated goal of helping clean up New Orleans. He suspiciously resists any attempts to draw him into any situation with even the hint of impropriety.

For example, as with all city department heads, Cerasoli was offered use of a car and free gas when he reported for work. Pretty good deal, he thought. Then, he said, he began thinking like an IG and turned down the free ride.

"Critics could use this to marginalize me," he said. "They could say, 'He hasn't done anything yet and here he's already riding around in a new car.'"

Other city employees subtly pressured Cerasoli to accept the free wheels, saying "everybody does it." Might not have been the smartest thing to do if they wanted to keep the freebies. Cerasoli intends to look into the practice and determine its legality.

"We will make sure they are spending money correctly," Cerasoli said. "We will follow the money."

It won't be an easy task. He still needs to assemble a cadre of investigators to fill his office space, likely in the Federal Reserve Building. He'll also need to scrutinize 72 operating funds run outside city audits.

In doing his job, Cerasoli said he is guided by four principles:

* Discernment, or grasp of the present in light of past history.

* Human connection or empathy. Get in touch with people.

* Track human hypocrisy. Define the gap between principle and performance.

* Offer hope. But not false hope.

"I don't want to be another hope peddler," Cerasoli said. "We need those who can energize and electrify. I will give the people of New Orleans my best, honest effort."

As Cerasoli closed his speech, the crowd at Nunemaker Hall rose to its feet and gave him a standing ovation. As the newest strong arm of the law in New Orleans, "Popeye" Cerasoli has already given us renewed hope. Results to follow.

Cause for applause

More than 8,200 people signed onto the Louisiana Recovery Authority's letter of thanks to Congress for its post-Katrina support.

"We'll soon be delivering the letter to Congress and the White House and we're excited that so many people signed up to show their thanks," said Christina Stephens, LRA deputy director of communications.

This letter shows our state's ability to rise above its misgivings about the federal handling of the Katrina crisis and it extends our heartfelt thanks for the good intentions involved in the unprecedented relief efforts.