New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu found in contempt of court on pension fund overhaul [View all]

New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu's tone was equal parts defiant and insouciant Friday (Sept. 4) morning, despite only hours earlier being held in contempt of court and threatened with house arrest for failure to make good on a $75 million payment due to the city's firefighters.

"Before I decimate the city's budget, before I stop the street repairs that we are making, stop filling potholes, turn off your street lights. Before I shut down (the parks department), before I lay off firefighters and police and city employees, I am ready to stay under house arrest for the next two years of my term," he said in a news conference. "This is too important and too much is at stake for the city of New Orleans."

He laughed off Civil District Judge Kern Reese's threat to keep him on home confinement on weekends until he came up with a plan to pay the firefighters.

"My wife is really happy about it it. She called me and said she's been trying to get me to stay home on weekends for the last 23 years. She already sent me a honey-do list."

Read more: http://www.nola.com/politics/index.ssf/2015/09/mitch_landrieu_house_arrest_co.html#incart_gallery