Nagin's ownership of now-defunct granite business violated ethics rules
by David Hammer - Times-Picayune (excerpt)

The controversial countertop installation firm owned by Mayor Ray Nagin and his sons has folded, according to financial disclosures released Tuesday.

But before Stone Age LLC closed, information on an old, previously unreleased disclosure form suggests the firm violated state ethics laws, legal experts said.

The ethics questions appear to be a moot point now that Stone Age has shut down. Nagin filled out a financial disclosure form notarized Monday saying the firm "ceased operations" in January.

It was the most revealing acknowledgment on two years worth of forms from the mayor and City Council members that were posted Tuesday by activist lawyer Tracie Washington on her organization's Web site, www.louisianajusticeinstitute.org.

In response to questions about the mayor's stake in Stone Age and its closure, Nagin spokeswoman Ceeon Quiett said "the city does not comment on the personal matters of the mayor."

The ethics questions resurfaced because the disclosure forms show exactly how much of Stone Age the mayor and his wife, Seletha, owned.