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In New Orleans (and from around the country), the people have spoken and Ray Nagin is the re-elected Mayor of the ravaged Louisiana city.

I am surprised that the stranded people of New Orleans who lived through the horror of Katrina could so easily forget the image of all those school buses that sat underwater.

The challenges for Mayor Nagin are not trivial and it will take world-class leadership to guide this city through its continued recovery from Hurricane Katrina.  There is the challenge of not only re-building the city and shoring up the levee system but finding citizens that want to return. 

“Many thousands of homes remain abandoned, and signs of rebuilding are sparse. As each month passes, more evacuees are settling permanently in faraway homes.”

While the physical city was underwater last fall, today its finances are underwater as its tax revenue and base has been severely decreased.

As Nagin stated, "This election is over, and it's time for this community to start the healing process."  I hope that can happen.  The new hurricane season is already at hand.  Let’s hope it is not too late.

Read more at CNN, NPR and the Washington Post.