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Did you watch the debate live on WDSU-TV? If not, you can catch an online replay here. 12 of the 13 qualified candidates showed up at Xavier University for the hourlong event, including all the “major” ones, and the sheer number of them combined with the time constraints kept things hopping from the moment moderator Norman Robinson said go.

• The debate was split into five parts: candidates’ discussing their top issue; addressing blight; talking about economic development; a Who Wants to Be a Mayor-naire?-style quiz about basic city information (the home audience saw the answers on their TV screens as the candidates struggled), and brief closing statements.

• It’s probably best to watch the video if you didn’t see it, because nearly all the candidates had the same messages: Crime is bad and must be reduced. We need a new police chief. We need to invest in our kids. We need to get hold of the blight situation. Legalize weed. (Well, that last one was the pet project of Jerry Jacobs.)

• Given the size of the field, there wasn’t much new revealed, nor were there any punches thrown. Instead, much of the debate turned into a platform for the fringe less well-known candidates, like Jerry Jacobs, who kept bringing the conversation back to marijuana legalization. Two comedians are in the race: Jonah Bascle and Manny “Chevrolet” Bruno, but it was only Bruno who cracked wise to any great extent. Bascle, who uses a wheelchair, brought up the very real issue of disabled accessibility in New Orleans, but managed to get a few crowd-pleasing laughs along the way (“This city itself is handicapped”).

• The only thing approaching drama came about 60 seconds before the debate went live on the air, when an elderly man with a cane approached the dais and began yelling about something. No one was sure if it was part of the program at first (or what it was), but once Xavier vice-president Warren Bell approached the guy, the lid came off. “I’m the Messiah!” he screamed. “And I was talking to Mitch Landrieu upstairs; he knows me!” Security was called and the faux-Messiah was bumrushed out the door just before the telecast began. Norman Robinson, smoothie that he is, didn’t miss a beat and things began peacefully.

• As far as production went, the evening was an A. The debate itself? Probably a C; no real news or dramatic positions were staked out. The more well-known candidates seemed content to deliver their core messages; the lesser-known basked in the attention of a local TV audience.

• Twitter, that much-maligned social media form, was en fuego during the debate, with people in the hall and home viewers recording their impressions with the hashtag #nolamayor (read the reactions at the link). Candidates and/or their handlers were taking to Twitter immediately after the debate to record their impressions as well. And anyone who thinks Twitter is just an indulgence and not a potential game-changer in local politics better take a second look.

• One last note: Based on body language, it’s safe to say Rob Couhig doesn’t find Manny “Chevrolet” Bruno funny. At all.

See you at the next mayoral circus.

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Did you watch the debate live on WDSU-TV? If not, you can catch an online replay here. 12 of the 13 qualified candidates showed up at Xavier University for the hourlong event, including all the “major” ones, and the sheer number of them combined with the time constraints kept things hopping from the moment moderator Norman Robinson said go.

• The debate was split into five parts: candidates’ discussing their top issue; addressing blight; talking about economic development; a Who Wants to Be a Mayor-naire?-style quiz about basic city information (the home audience saw the answers on their TV screens as the candidates struggled), and brief closing statements.

• It’s probably best to watch the video if you didn’t see it, because nearly all the candidates had the same messages: Crime is bad and must be reduced. We need a new police chief. We need to invest in our kids. We need to get hold of the blight situation. Legalize weed. (Well, that last one was the pet project of Jerry Jacobs.)

• Given the size of the field, there wasn’t much new revealed, nor were there any punches thrown. Instead, much of the debate turned into a platform for the fringe less well-known candidates, like Jerry Jacobs, who kept bringing the conversation back to marijuana legalization. Two comedians are in the race: Jonah Bascle and Manny “Chevrolet” Bruno, but it was only Bruno who cracked wise to any great extent. Bascle, who uses a wheelchair, brought up the very real issue of disabled accessibility in New Orleans, but managed to get a few crowd-pleasing laughs along the way (“This city itself is handicapped”).

• The only thing approaching drama came about 60 seconds before the debate went live on the air, when an elderly man with a cane approached the dais and began yelling about something. No one was sure if it was part of the program at first (or what it was), but once Xavier vice-president Warren Bell approached the guy, the lid came off. “I’m the Messiah!” he screamed. “And I was talking to Mitch Landrieu upstairs; he knows me!” Security was called and the faux-Messiah was bumrushed out the door just before the telecast began. Norman Robinson, smoothie that he is, didn’t miss a beat and things began peacefully.

• As far as production went, the evening was an A. The debate itself? Probably a C; no real news or dramatic positions were staked out. The more well-known candidates seemed content to deliver their core messages; the lesser-known basked in the attention of a local TV audience.

• Twitter, that much-maligned social media form, was en fuego during the debate, with people in the hall and home viewers recording their impressions with the hashtag #nolamayor (read the reactions at the link). Candidates and/or their handlers were taking to Twitter immediately after the debate to record their impressions as well. And anyone who thinks Twitter is just an indulgence and not a potential game-changer in local politics better take a second look.

• One last note: Based on body language, it’s safe to say Rob Couhig doesn’t find Manny “Chevrolet” Bruno funny. At all.

See you at the next mayoral circus.

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Anyone monitoring the official Jefferson Parish Emergency Management Twitter account (now defunct!) at 1 a.m. on Monday must’ve been up for a surprise … a surprise that had nothing to do with hurricane watches, tornado warnings or Black Friday at Clearview Shopping Center.

We’ll let the official JP press release explain what happened:

This morning at approximately 1:00 a.m. an employee of the Jefferson Parish Emergency Management Department was at home e‐mailing a friend on a privately owned computer device. The two were discussing an old girlfriend using some explicit language. In the midst of their e‐mail conversation the employee accidentally sent a reply to the parish’s emergency management twitter account. The employee immediately realized his mistake and removed the content from the twitter site.

We sincerely apologize for this incident and for offending anyone who may have received this message.

The parish is removing the twitter account from the site until such time as more safe guards can be put in place to prevent this from happening again.

We must strike a balance between giving our emergency management staff the ability to send emergency information to our citizens on 24/7 basis from any location in an effort to protect lives and property with the need to prevent accidents and abuses from occurring on these social media sites.

Due to the fact that these messages were sent out on privately owned devices on a non‐parish owned network we do not have any access to the e‐mails or messages.

Fortunately, we do. Courtesy of Gambit reader Champ Superstar, the unexpurgated offending Tweet:

@JPEmergncyMgmt: frm behind. She love DP too. And loved 2 watch me be onside another woman

Reminder, kids: Don’t drink and Tweet!

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