Thursday, October 7, 2010

All Hail the Railroad Board!

New Orleans has a Public Belt Railroad that services the Port and surrounding area -- an interesting little entity that owns several meticulously restored luxury Pullman cars, in addition to other rolling stock and miles of track.  It has an independent Board of Directors that nearly bankrupted the Belt recently through fraud by the General Manager and benign neglect by Board members.  Hence, the Mayor requested all members to resign and today presented his slate of nominees to replace them.

The newspaper coverage reported their names and positions -- they are pretty much your typical university and business folk, with a notable exception.  The Times-Picayune reports:

[The] nine nominees to the Public Belt Railroad Commission include three university presidents, a former mayor and the 2010 king of Carnival.

Yep -- you read that correctly.  Rex, King of Carnival, will serve on the Board of the Public Belt.

Only in New Orleans.

10 comments:

  1. Heh. Another reason why N'Awlins is so romantic!

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  2. Gettin' to the point that psychos wearing tights can do a better job of governing than the properly bred university types.

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  3. Yep. Old-money Psychos in tights appreciate the true value of a romantic crown!

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  4. It's really probably not a bad idea. I'm a real Mardi Gras ignoramus, but isn't it a different guy every year? And usually somebody with a real interest in the affairs of the city?

    Y'all could do worse.

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  5. You're right, Andy. And he also happens sto be a financial adviser. It just struck me as funny that he was identified as King of Carnival rather than as a finance guy. We certainly know which characterization would hold more sway with the majority of the NOLA electorate, don't we?

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  6. Heh! I guess I was looking too seriously at it. When you put it that way, the "Only in New Orleans" deal makes more sense.

    I'm curious. Is this going to be a rotating deal...like when there is a new King of Carnival, will he be on the Board instead of this guy? Or, is it just that this guy who is going to be on the Board happens to be the current King of Carnival.

    These are questions MUST be answered...

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  7. I'm thinking that the 2010 Rex has the permanent gig. Us peons in the general public won't know who the next Rex will be until a few days before Mardi Gras, so he'd have to attend board meetings is a mask. Come to think of it, that could be kinda entertaining!

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  8. Come to think of it -- I kinda like the rotating idea!

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  9. What? Was Harry Anderson not available?

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  10. Nope, Me, Harry abandoned the city a few years ago in a dispute over, I think, taxes or a permit or some such municipal torture device. It's a shame.

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