Rafael C. Goyeneche, III
Buy Issue for $25 at JHUPCOLLINS: During the last month, there have been twenty murders in New Orleans and deputy police chief John Bryson suggested that this is in part because FEMA money is running out and, with no where else to go, some of those displaced by Katrina have returned to New Orleans and begun selling drugs to make a living. Do you agree with that?
GOYENECHE: Oh, gosh. That's my first time hearing that. Is it plausible? Yes, but I don't think you go from being a law-abiding citizen to a drug dealer because your FEMA money's running out. So, I think that FEMA money and the storm obviously displaced a lot of New Orleans residents. Some of those residents were the criminal element, as well. The criminal element has a comfort level. They know the New Orleans area; they know the neighborhoods; they know the players, and in some of the other cities they have been displaced in, they're outsiders looking in. They don't know the dos and don'ts and they feel uncomfortable, so they move back and reengage in the criminal conduct that they were involved in prior to the storm . . . I can't sit here and tell you that I know all of the reasons. I guess the only way to find out would be to survey the people that are being arrested by the police department and finally have the answer to that . . . As far as I know, nobody has done that.
COLLINS: But I think one of Bryson's implications is that they get into crime because of poverty.
GOYENECHE: Oh, I agree with that . . . I think crime problems are indicative, not just of problems in the criminal justice system, but of all sorts of social problems—for instance, the poor public education system in the city. The education system doesn't qualify people for meaningful work, but mainly for a lot of entry-level work in the hospitality industry. It's been documented that there's been substandard education in many of the public schools. Federal investigations recently proved that twenty million dollars were siphoned out of the public school system and well over fifteen to twenty public school employees were indicted for federal violations involving the misappropriation of public school funds. That has basically dimmed [the prospects of] a generation of residents of this city. [End Page 1366]
COLLINS: So, the current crime wave begins to some extent in the education system.
GOYENECHE: Well, we've always tried to do things on the cheap here. And I think that those decisions and those policies are haunting us right now. I think that if New Orleans is going to rebuild, it can't rebuild itself in the image of what it was. It has to finally learn from its mistakes and we need to go have a new vision for this city and start to replicate what some other cities have done. We don't have to go out and reinvent the wheel. There's been a lot of trials and failures in other parts of the country and we can cherry pick some of the things that have been successful . . . That's going to be the key to our future.
COLLINS: How does the future look to you?
GOYENECHE: Well, I remain optimistic because there's so much money that's committed to helping rebuild New Orleans, that there is going to be years' worth of meaningful work here. People can come to New Orleans, help rebuild New Orleans and make a fair living doing it. So there's going to be plenty of opportunities. The question is, how do we spend this money—and can we convince the people that are coming back to stay here, put down roots, and be a part of the fabric of this community? . . . One of the things New Orleans didn't have prior to Katrina was a substantial middle class. You had the rich...
