Friday, March 10, 2006
N.O. Elite Want "Blackout" On New Ideas
THE DEAD PELICAN
by Chad E. Rogers
Peggy Wilson, former three-term New Orleans Councilwoman was not invited to attend the Mayoral candidate forum hosted today by the Chamber of Commerce.
Wilson said, “It appears that the Chamber is color bound, not color blind. They want a ‘blackout’ of all new ideas like my ‘tax-free city’ plan. They are bound to the failed thought processes and politics of the past, the status quo seems to be just fine with them.”
Wilson's signature economic development issue is making post-Katrina New Orleans a "tax-free zone" for the next five to seven years.
“Let's make New Orleans colorblind, not color bound," she said echoing her long-standing criticism of City Hall set-aside programs, designed to direct a percentage of government contracting to minority- and women-owned businesses. She said,“They must have a problem with my position calling for opportunity for all and preference for none."
Wilson's said she found it interesting that she was not invited, “I’m polling well and have impeccable GOP credentials," citing the endorsement she picked up this week from the Orleans Parish Republican Executive Committee.
