To say storm clouds are gathering over the city may be adequate enough literally on a summer afternoon, but is nowhere near enough metaphorically to address the problems New Orleans is facing. Violent crime seems to be out of control, and a federal moratorium on evictions is scheduled to end at the end of the month.
Anecdotal stories abound of tenants taking advantage of a generous federal government that has provided them with a disincentive to find work and an excuse not to pay their rent. Landlords, often perceived as robber barons, are anything but and are, in some cases, more financially strapped than the renters they are enjoined from evicting for not ponying up and paying what they owe.
Austin Badon, First City Court Clerk, joined us to talk about that this morning. Before we got to that, however, I spoke with the long-time public servant about the darkest of gathering clouds: violent crime in the city.
He had an interesting take on solving the problem and also an attention-getting description of life in the Crescent City. Mr. Badon told us that, as a hunter, he now knows what if feels like to be the prey.
