Take my swamp, please

Danae Columbus gets a little salty with the mayor here.

Armed with the proper resources and consultants, (IDB Chair Alan) Philipson is quite capable of directing a fair and impartial selection process to identify a well-qualified developer for the former Six Flags site. Instead of providing Philipson with the tools he needed, Landrieu has decided to run the process himself – a la the World Trade Center – and will get one last shot to give a major piece of New Orleans real estate to his hand-selected cronies.

Is it a "major piece" of real estate, though?  It looks more like a rusting junkyard sinking into swamp. We've had three rounds of questionably financed hucksters trying to make far-fetched plays for it all of which were rejected.  Maybe Columbus is right to be suspicious of the mayor's move to expedite matters. But it's just as likely he's motivated by a desire to have this done with as it is nefarious "cronyism."

Unless Scurlock ends up with the property. In that case, yes, something fishy will have happened.