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FALL BACK: DID YOU REMEMBER TO SET YOUR CLOCKS BACK?
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INSIDE TODAY: DOLL AND TOY FUND ENVELOPE
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Mistrust, conflict lead to fiscal crisis Early alarms about overspending were ignored in New Orleans BY JAMES FINN and BEN MYERS
city even afford the deal? On one side was Romy Samuel, the city’s finance director. She In late January, top officials in warned in a draft letter to the City Mayor LaToya Cantrell’s admin- Council of a “serious deficit which istration were divided over a key is projected to worsen by midquestion about a proposed mul- year,” and noted potential doomstimillion dollar settlement with day consequences, including the New Orleans schools: Could the possibility that the city would fal-
Staff writers
ter on payroll and vendor payment obligations. On the other was her boss, thenChief Administrative Officer Gilbert Montaño, Cantrell’s budget chief. Montaño cast doubt on the problem’s severity in a Jan. 27 email to Samuel debating the letter’s wording. He favored present-
ing the situation in gentler terms — removing mention of a “deficit” and “severe financial instability,” while cautioning against overspending the city’s fund balance. “I believe that it is too early in the year and our numbers are too imprecise to forecast such an extreme fiscal cliff to the council/
Louisiana schools leader straddles policy, politics
rating agencies/or the public,” Montaño wrote in an exchange reviewed by The Times-Picayune. “Every year our projections fluctuate, there are sizable variances between our projections and actual revenues and expenditures, and we seem to end the year with a surplus.” Montaño’s version with softer
ä See CRISIS, page 20A
Landry embracing fast, blunt style Woodward’s ouster set in motion by governor’s comments
BY TYLER BRIDGES Staff writer
STAFF FILE PHOTO By MICHAEL JOHNSON
State Superintendent of Education Cade Brumley talks to students in Candace Graham’s second grade class during a visit to French Settlement Elementary School in October.
Brumley drives academic gains amid culture debates BY PATRICK WALL Staff writer
This is Cade Brumley in his element. Louisiana’s state superintendent of education parks his Ford Expedition outside a rural elementary school. He greets a school district official and asks about his wife, then strides into a conference room crowded with
school and district administrators. He leads a lively and wide-ranging discussion on a host of education shoptalk, speaking about math instruction, tutoring and teacher certification with an expert’s acumen and a communicator’s clarity. Then Brumley, a former teacher and principal, tours a few classrooms where students use the math flashcards he had shipped to every
elementary school. “This is where the magical work is happening,” he tells school staffers on his way out. “I can’t thank you enough.” The school visit took place in early October. Several months earlier, in April, Brumley, was on a different, more public stage — the guest on a talk show hosted by Tony Perkins,
ä See BRUMLEY, page 14A
After firing LSU football coach Brian Kelly on Sunday, athletic director Scott Woodward began preparing to find his successor — until Gov. Jeff Landry made a surprise announcement. Answering a question at a news conference on an unrelated subject, Landry brought up Woodward’s 2021 hiring of Kelly, saying it was a “terrible contract” that left the university on the hook Landry for nearly $54 million for the remaining years. As a result, Landry said, the LSU Board of Supervisors, not Woodward, would choose Kelly’s successor. “I can tell you right now, Scott Woodward is not selecting the next coach,” Landry said. “Hell, I’ll let Donald Trump select it before I let him do it.” Scott Ballard, the Landryappointed chair of the board, Woodward expressed surprise at the governor’s announcement when a WBRZ-TV reporter asked for his reaction. “Well then, I better get to it!” he said as he was leaving the interview. Landry kept up his attacks on Woodward in interviews on two sports shows Thursday, despite a chorus of complaints that he was
ä See LANDRY, page 6A
‘When they lose, it ain’t good’
After rocky start, Saints fans asking where the good times have rolled
BY BOB WARREN and DOUG MacCASH Staff writers
David “Doc” Mancina has had a lot of rotten Mondays in his 69 years. A Metairie native and a Saints fan all his life, Mancina said he’s always taken losses hard. He’s suffered through plenty of them through the decades, both from inside the Superdome and in front of
WEATHER HIGH 72 LOW 52 PAGE 8B
ä Tyler Shough begins quest
to prove he’s Saints’ future. SPORTS 1C
his TV. But this year, though Kellen Moore’s Saints are a dismal 1-7, it’s not hitting the same way. “Used to be that it would wreck my Mondays. And sometimes my Tuesdays,” Mancina said, laughing. “But it doesn’t anymore.” What gives?
“Maybe I’m getting old,” he said. Or maybe I’m just beat up.” As Saints fans trudge through a season that at times has felt like a jail sentence, Mancina isn’t alone in feeling a little numb to it all. Interviews with the team’s faithful over the past week offered a sense of resignation, even if most were taking it in stride. Moore’s first year as head coach
STAFF PHOTO By DAVID GRUNFELD
New Orleans Saints super fan Larry Rolling reflects on the 23-3 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Oct. 26 at the Caesars Superdome in New ä See SAINTS, page 4A Orleans.
Business ......................1E Deaths .........................3B Nation-World................2A Classified ..................... 1F Living............................1D Opinion ........................6B Commentary ................7B Metro ...........................1B Sports ..........................1C
13TH yEAR, NO. 82