No way to do business

So much for a new day at the Orleans Levee Board. The agency has changed leaders, but the shenanigans are very much the same.

It didn't take long to revert to the old ways, either. Acting board President Mike McCrossen took the reins less than two weeks ago when former president Jim Huey resigned under pressure from Gov. Kathleen Blanco. His resignation came after he gave himself almost $100,000 in back pay and entered into questionable no-bid contracts.

Mr. McCrossen talked about a "clean slate" and a "new" levee board when he took over on Oct. 31. It was downright refreshing.

But Thursday, Mr. McCrossen was acting very much like the old Levee Board. He signed off on the suspension of the board's staff attorney just minutes before the attorney was scheduled to give a report on Mr. Huey's conduct. Gary Benoit, the lawyer, has questioned the propriety of Mr. Huey's actions and was poised to present a report about the former board president's failure to consult him on the pay and contract issues.

Mr. Benoit didn't get a chance, though, because he was stopped in the hallway outside the meeting and told of his suspension. The 15-day punishment was prompted by a written complaint from another employee, who said that Mr. Benoit was "very rude and threatened to assure that" the employee would be fired.

That seems out of character. Mr. Benoit's 12-year civil service record is clean, and he was described Thursday by the Levee Board's managing director as a "straight arrow." The lawyer also has no power to hire and fire employees, so it's unclear how he could have carried out any such threat.

Reports of misconduct must be investigated, of course. And if there is any merit to this complaint, Mr. Benoit's suspension might be justified.

But the timing of the action is highly suspicious. Mr. McCrossen denies any connection between Mr. Benoit's suspension and his pending report on Mr. Huey. "It is what it is, I can't do anything about the timing," he said.

Sure he could. He's the one who approved the suspension, so he had power over when it was ordered. And it certainly was convenient for Mr. Huey that it was ordered at the moment it was.

In the weeks before Katrina hit, Mr. Huey decided to give himself $96,000 in back pay without asking other board members or Mr. Benoit. After the storm, Mr. Huey unilaterally decided to lease office space in Baton Rouge from his wife's cousin and to enter into a contract with the cousin's son to coordinate the salvage of damaged boats at the board's two marinas.

Mr. Huey's resignation should have provided a chance for the Levee Board to start fresh, as Mr. McCrossen promised. But the acting president's actions signal that it's business as usual.

In the post-Katrina world in which we find ourselves, that simply isn't acceptable. New Orleanians can't afford to have a Levee Board that expends its energy on political intrigue and dubious ventures. Residents need to have confidence that the people protecting them from devastation are dedicated to the task. Gov. Blanco needs to make sure they do.