Stacy Aline Singleton Head (born June 30, 1969) is an American lawyer and former president of the New Orleans City Council.
Early life and career Stacy Head was born in 1969 as the daughter of the former Katherine Hamberlin and Ernest Lynn Singleton. She grew up in Greensburg, Saint Helena Parish, in southeastern Louisiana. She has a (younger) brother, Michael Lynn Singleton.Peoplesearch.com information on Stacy Head.
Head is by profession an attorney-at-law; she clerked for Phelps Dunbar LLC from 1991 to 1995 when she finished her juris doctor degree at Louisiana State University's Paul M. Hebert Law Center and began working for Stanley, Flanagan & Reuter LLC. Her association with politics had begun when, as an undergraduate, she worked for the Louisiana Legislature although at the time she anticipated no notion of ever seeking elective office. That interest began in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina when the New Orleans City Council "unanimously asked Gov. Kathleen Blanco to extend daylight-saving time just for Orleans Parish"—an idea which Head found not only "impractical" but also "tinged with mad futility"; she compared it to King Canute's attempt to hold back the sea. In June 2007 she completed Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government course for Senior Executives in State and Local Government.
Election to city council Stacy Head was elected to the New Orleans City Council in 2006, defeating incumbent Renée Gill Pratt. Councilmember Head's candidacy benefited from concerns about governmental effectiveness and efficiency in dealing with Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath, developers who had obviated the desires of neighborhood residents, and affinities between incumbent Gill Pratt and then-Congressman William J. Jefferson (D), already under investigation on a variety of felony charges.Laureen Lentz, "Stacy Head, City Council District B: A leader for the heart of the city" on New Orleans Metblogs, 2006 March 31. Cf. the contest between Jay Batt and Shelley Stephenson Midura in District A. In May 2009 Gill Pratt—along with Mose Jefferson, Betty Jefferson, and Angela Jefferson Coleman—was indicted on federal racketeering charges. Within a week after the indictment, John Pope, in the Times-Picayune ("Gill Pratt named to SUNO Cabinet" in Times-Picayune, 2009 May 28, Saint Tammany Edition, pp. A1, A11; web version = , described Mose Jefferson as "Gill Pratt's longtime companion"—a situation noted as being "as close as it gets" by columnist Stephanie Grace ( in Times-Picayune, 2009 May 28, Saint Tammany Edition, p. B7). Bruce Nolan of the Times-Picayune has described as "intense, caffeinated personal" Head's approach to her work on the Council. New Orleans writer Nordette Adams (nomme de plume Vérité Parlant) has described Head as a "drama queen" (together with less-flattering designations)."Whose shoes are these anyway?: Stacy Head's emails, Tracie Washington's protest: Ain't no mess like a NOLA mess" posted 2009 May 16 (accessed 2009 May 22). Cf. earlier allegations regarding Head's personality: "Stacy Head...yada yada yada" posted by Ashley Morris on 2007 July 11; "Stacy Head doesn't want you to save your seat" posted on Humid Haney Rant (accessed 2009 May 22) and the rejoinder "Stacy Head: Ambassador for New Orleans" posted 2008 April 29.
Garbage and e-mail controversies In 2008, Councilmember Head began delving into the relationship between fees collected and services rendered by the Sanitation Department,City issues garbage pickup report, New Orleans CityBusiness, 2008 December 29 (accessed 2009 March 18). which, along with its director Veronica White, was alleged by WWL-TV New Orleans Channel 4 (CBS) to be on too-friendly terms with the office of mayor Ray Nagin.Council and Mayor's Office at odds over garbage 'audit' reported by Bigad Shaban on 2008 December 9 (accessed 2009 March 18). Continuing story with photograph from a Council meeting = WWL TV: Stacy Head vows to forge on, despite political backlash, Times-Picayune, 2009 March 18 (accessed 2009 March 19). The Council generally supported Head's inquiries.
Retaliation to garbage inquiry White retaliated by giving thousands of e-mail messages, from the computer accounts of the four white members of the Council, to activist lawyer Tracie Washington, under the proviso of freedom of information but without proper redaction by city attorney Penya Moses-Fields, to remove statements protected by law. Washington, sympathetic to White, had set about to post the messages on the internet when a federal court, at the request of sources supportive of the Council, enjoined Washington from doing so and subpoenaed (and acquired) White's computers to thwart the possibility that messages on them from the Council might become published.David Hammer, Source: Feds take possession of Veronica White's computers, Times-Picayune (New Orleans), 2009 March 13 (accessed 2009 March 18).
That e-mail controversy followed on the heels of an earlier e-mail controversy, after WWL-TV New Orleans Channel 4 (CBS) sued the mayor's office in an attempt to gain 6 months of e-mails as a public record.Becky Bohrer, "Spotlight on New Orleans transparency" in Daily Star [Hammond, Louisiana], 2009 March 31, p. 4A, same as Spotlight on transparency in New Orleans).
In the context of the convoluted e-mail controversies Times-Picayune columnist Jarvis DeBerry proposed (perhaps tongue in cheek) that Council members communicate exclusively by means other than e-mail.Jarvis DeBerry, , Times-Picayune, 2009 March 13 (accessed 2009 March 19). DeBerry's column was met with a letter-to-the-editor rejoinder by Steven J. Lane (a legal counsel in the city attorney's office), who—after analyzing the potential insecurities of communication via snail-mail, fax, telephone, and face-to-face conversation—described DeBerry's recommendation as folly.Steven J. Lane, , Times-Picayune, 2009 March 19, Saint Tammany Edition, p. B6 (web site accessed 2009 March 19). DeBerry (Lawyer might try looking up 'disclosure') rejoined on April 5 (Times-Picayune, Saint Tammany Edition, "Other Opinions" page); Lane retaliated on April 11 (Mail must be vetted for privileged information, Times-Picayune, Saint Tammany Edition, p. B4). DeBerry observed that Lane's assertions his office needed more time to vet the e-mails was met by Civil District Judge Madeleine Landrieu's retort that "We're not going to take thousands of hours"; then DeBerry commented: I don't know how to reconcile Lane's suggestion that going through all the e-mails amounts to a Herculean task with Lane's suggestion that going through all the e-mails can take a few weeks with Lane's suggestion that going through all the e-mails can take "thousands of hours."Jarvis DeBerry, "Council's e-mails a long time coming" in Times-Picayune, 2009 May 8, Saint Tammany Edition, p. B7. DeBerry returned to the theme on 2009 May 18, calling Lane "Dr. Privilege" for declaring "just about everything privileged" (Jarvis DeBerry, "Dr. Privilege: Council's lawyer has the Rx for embarrassing correspondence" in Times-Picayune, 2009 May 18, Saint Tammany Edition, p. B5.
On 2009 May 27 the Times-Picayune reported that the number of e-mails involved in the suit by WWL-TV was 135,144 and that vetting of them could take up to 15 months, despite a cautionary statement that "We're not going to take thousands of hours" by District Judge Madeleine Landrieu.Michelle Krupa, "Review of N.O. council's e-mail expected to take a year" in Times-Picayune, 2009 May 27, Saint Tammany Edition, pp. B1, B2 (quotation from Landrieu is on p. B2); web version = On 2009 May 29 the Times-Picayune editorialized against a request by Lane that Louisiana Attorney General Buddy Caldwell issue a legal opinion on the amount of time available to redact the e-mails and the nature of information which can be withheld. The editorial insisted that The state's Open Records Act is a straightforward statute, with ample jurisprudence and set mechanisms for resolving disputes in court. in Times-Picayune, 2009 May 29, Saint Tammany Edition, p. B6 (editorial page).
Internet posting On 2009 May 13, prior to a stay ordered by the state supreme court, Washington briefly posted on the internet certain of Head's e-mail messages. The messages, wrote Bruce Eggler in the Times-Picayune, appeared to have been chosen to cause her [Councilmember Head] maximum personal and political embarrassment.
They contain disparaging references to City Councilwoman Jackie Clarkson and other public figures and an irate description of the allegedly extravagant purchases of a food-stamp recipient in line ahead of Head at a grocery. In the latter message, Head, a Democrat, threatens to vote for "the freak" Republican presidential candidate John McCain and his "trash bag" running mate, Sarah Palin.Bruce Eggler, "Stacy Head's e-mails briefly released on website" in Times-Picayune, 2009 May 14.Michelle Krupa, "Clarkson dismisses degrading comments made in e-mail flap").Bruce Eggler, in Times-Picayune, 2009 May 16, Saint Tammany Edition, pp. A1, A5.Bruce Eggler, Stacy Head fires back at critics, says she will release her own e-mails).Charlene Comstock-Galagan, Letters supporting Head: K. McCrocklin, ; Pat McKinney, ; Mandy Foster, ; David Eidler, ; Steven J. Lane, ; Thaddeo Babiiha ; Polly Henderson, Letters opposing Head: Phyllis Montana-LeBlanc, ; John Scurich, ; Laurie Dennery Molnar, Why so quick to judge?; Alonquin Brown, ; Terri Troncale, ;; Esther Braxton,
Observing that in the e-mails Head had labeled Clarkson an "ASSS" (sic), James Gill took the occasion to criticize Head's spelling:
It is quite an achievement for an elected official to turn off Democrats and Republicans in one sentence, and no doubt Head will be more careful with her e-mails from now on. Perhaps that will improve her spelling.James Gill, Will semi-literate e-mails spell doom???? in Times-Picayune, 2009 May 17, Metro Edition, p. B5. On 2009 May 21 the Times-Picayune editorial cartoon by Steve Skelley displayed a little girl pointing to her brother and telling her mother: "Billy used Stacy Head language again" (Saint Tammany Edition, p. B6).
When Head began publishing the e-mail messages herself on 2009 May 18,Bruce Eggler & Frank Donze, "Head posts first batch of e-mail" in Times-Picayune, 2009 May 19, Saint Tammany Edition, pp. A1, A7 (web version = "Councilwoman Stacy Head begins releasing e-mails"). Fourteen of her e-mails first appeared on Head's web site (accessed 2009 May 18). See also Jarvis DeBerry, in Times-Picayune, 2009 May 19, Saint Tammany Edition, p. B5 (web version = Stacy Head's e-mails unflattering, incomplete"). The attention to Head's e-mails gave society columnist Chris Rose satirical occasion to begin "releasing" his own fictitious e-mail messages to fellow columnist Sheila Stroup about fellow columnist Angus Lind; Rose "made public" the first such message on 2009 May 19 (Chris Rose, "The Chris Rose e-mails" in Times-Picayune, 2009 May 19, Saint Tammany Edition, p. C1; web version = "Chris Rose releases first e-mail: more to come"). The following day, setting the tone for a series, Rose continued to parody Head's e-mail style, but with Stroup as the addressee and Lind as the subject—"Chris Rose releases second e-mail" in Times-Picayune, 2009 May 20. she was promptly interviewed by WDSU-TV. In the interview Head said that "The person who hates me deep down more than anything has had my e-mails" in referring to Tracie Washington.Stacy Head speaks out on e-mail controversy. That WDSU web site (accessed 2009 May 20) contains an audiovisual link in which Head speaks and Washington briefly appears.