Mitt Landrieu

Mitch is getting ready to go all Bain Capital on city Civil Service. The basic plan is cut benefits, fire as many employees as possible, and then pay all the executives big bonuses.

Asked by (Landrieu's Chief Information Officer Allen) Square to identify a model personnel system in another city government, (Randolph) Scott responded, "We believe this civil service system— We don't live in another city. This system works fairly well except for the fact that it's sabotaged and underfunded."

Other items on Scott's list: Keep current layoff rules, reduce provisional appointments (made at management's discretion outside normal testing and evaluation procedures), create a uniform evaluation system, implement cost of living adjustments tied to the consumer price index, and eliminate overtime pay for executive employees.

(That last one is a response to a recent Fox 8 investigation reporting that members of the mayor's executive staff — who are only eligible for overtime during emergency declarations — received about $230,000 in overtime and disaster pay during the Hurricane Isaac declaration.

Responding to the criticism, Square said, "Some folks were required to come to work. Some folks stayed home, left town, whatever they needed to do. The people who did not come in still got paid. They did not lose vacation time or leave time ... The people who came to work, should they not be given a little extra?"

Deirdre Lewis, a retired New Orleans teacher who attended the meeting, objected to that point. "People who make $30,000 per year getting a few extra dollars is different than people who already make $150,000. You're comparing apples to horses," she said.)

In this analogy, Mitch's executive team are the dressage horses.