Who will investigate the investigators?

So here is an interesting timeline to consider. Ken Polite's independent investigation into improprieties at the city Safety and Permits office that may be associated with the Hard Rock collapse was launched by the city well before the Hard Rock collapse actually happened. We know the Inspector General and the feds were already looking into Safety and Permits themselves so the Polite investigation is probably the city's attempt to at least convey the appearance of a desire to suss out improper behavior.

We knew all of this already.   Or at least we thought we knew that much about a week ago when a Cantrell spokesman told us this.

"Kenneth Polite's law firm, Morgan Lewis, was engaged by the city several months ago to assist with our internal investigation into the Safety and Permits department," Tidwell said by text. "This investigation began prior to the Hard Rock collapse."

So, okay. I guess. This information about the Polite thing only came out because the Cantrell people were upset about City Council threatening to launch its own investigation in the wake of public protests against the city's handling of all of this so far. Anyway today they're saying something different. 

There also remain questions about the timeline and the legal basis of Polite's contract.

When Polite’s hiring was first reported last week, Cantrell spokesman Beau Tidwell confirmed the news by saying the investigation predated the Hard Rock collapse in mid-October. Polite, however, was not hired until last week.

Polite's investigation has been going on for months and months before Polite was actually hired. What?  What on earth is going on?

The contract was entered into outside of normal procurement procedures, under an executive order that allows such actions in “emergency situations.”

A memo justifying that exemption specifically refers to “Hard Rock collapse legal services” in its subject line, though the body of the document justifies the decision based on the need to “promptly investigate” the allegations of bribery in Safety and Permits.

Okay so the Polite's firm "was engaged by the city for several months" but was never officially hired because they didn't want to go through the standard bidding procedure in order to hire him. (Should add here that there have been numerous rumblings about logjams in city procurement stretching back before the cyberattack severely borked everything so this actually isn't very surprising.)  When they finally did hire him, they used the "emergency" declaration in order to ret-con the end run around the rules they were already doing. As they say here, the Hard Rock language only appears in the contract to "expedite" matters.

LeBeouf said the Hard Rock reference was made to expedite the process but that the collapse is not the focus of Polite's investigation.

But here is the thing.  Polite had been working for the city for several months before the collapse. And his hiring wasn't "expedited" until several months after it.  Why, after all that time, was there a sudden need to be expeditious?

Well, remember, the Polite thing did not even become public knowledge until late last month. The reason that happened was because the mayor's people were outraged at the idea that City Council wanted to hold its own hearings.  Why, we asked? Because that might interfere with ongoing investigations, they said.

"The New Orleans City Council is not accountable and have no authority as it relates to investigating Hard Rock,” Cantrell said. “So, I would say, ‘If you can’t help, don’t hurt. Don’t hurt the investigations that are ongoing right now.’”

Which investigations?  Oh you know the secret one Polite has been doing ever since... whoops!

And that is why they had to hurry up and finally officially hire Polite this week. It also explains why Cantrell got as mad as she did about the photographs of the exposed body of a victim of the building collapse after a tarp fell away from the site last month.  If that tarp doesn't fall down, then there are no photos. If the photos aren't shared on social media, then there is no protest. If there is no protest, then there is no City Council hearing. If there's no City Council hearing, then nobody ever finds out about any of this.

I mean we already know the Inspector General wasn't going to say anything about it.  He says today that he was aware of the Polite situation but didn't have any problem with it. That's kind of a strange view to take when your specific job as an IG is to be a stickler about city administration following proper procedures and stuff.