A week or so ago, this post noted that the local and state governments of Louisiana have to date failed to do what is necessary to jump-start the revitalization of New Orleans.
So, faced with such a record of failure, what does the local government of New Orleans do?
Hire former Houston mayor Lee P. Brown as a consultant.
As with Anne Linehan, this development left me speechless. But thankfully, Richard Connelly over at the Houston Press was able to pull himself together to place the hiring of Brown in perspective:

If you’ve ever asked yourself, as you’ve watched the post-Katrina morass of incompetence and violence that has engulfed New Orleans, whether that city has suffered enough, you have your answer. And that answer is “no.”
N’awlins, get ready for…the magical world of Lee P. Brown!
Brown, who was Atlanta’s public-safety commissioner during a famously inept serial-murder investigation, who was New York’s police commissioner during the ineptly handled Crown Heights riots, who was Houston mayor while the HPD crime lab was run…eptly? Guess again!…has been hired to solve New Orleans’ massive violent-crime problem.
If his time here is any indication, Brown will implement a two-pronged attack. He will a) bore everyone to death, using content-less, clichÈ-filled, charisma-free speeches to put criminals into a stupor; and b) take a lot of taxpayer-funded out-of-town trips. We’re sure Rome and London need to be studied closely for tips on how to stop Ninth Ward gangbangers.
Brown told the Louisiana Weekly that “there is no silver bullet that is going to say that this is going to be done tomorrow…Working together, you can get the job done.”
We’re kind of surprised Brown didn’t mention making New Orleans “a world-class city,” but it’s still early.

Connelly goes on to report that even residents of New Orleans are scratching their heads over what Brown is supposed to do.
Meanwhile, the prescription for government to revive New Orleans remains simple — ensure law and order, provide basic services, create an environment where entreprenuers will take the risk of starting businesses that will create jobs that will attract residents to the area, and then get out of the way. If Brown passes that advice along to Mayor Nagin, then he actually might be worth whatever New Orleans is paying him.
But don’t count on it.