In 2007, Blakely's services cost the city more than $250,000, and a similar arrangement was considered in 2008 before Blakely found a private source to compensate the university for his second year of absence. In exchange, New Orleans got a veteran of several disaster recovery efforts around the world who boasts of nonpareil qualifications, but whose leadership here has been a lightning rod for controversy.
Blakely's official salary of $150,718 in 2007 was paid with taxpayer funds. On top of that, the city sent his university $100,000 in 2007 through America's New Orleans Fund Inc., a fund established to handle charitable donations City Hall received in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.
Your Blakely donation has made quite an impression on us. It has served as our accountability structure providing us with the courage to get back on that bike without buffooning out and failing ourselves.
But most of all, it has been essential to the restoration of our civic sense of humor and imagination in these difficult times. Our Blakely has inspired us to build anew the surreal absurdity of the life we knew before our city was nearly destroyed in 2005. Some would argue it has helped us surpass our former selves in this respect.
We aren't sure how we'll ever repay you but rest assured we are currently devising a plan in our head to parcel out our gratitude to the right buckets and have them delivered to you... any day now... probably via crane.
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