It is disappointing that our local daily chooses to opine about the equivalent of a councilwoman’s bad hair day rather than research and write about important news.  Apparently, my departing 20 minutes early from Thursday’s council meeting was fodder for reporters to speculate.  Notably, they neither contacted my staff nor me to find out the reason for this perceived sin.  Since this is apparently news, I will let the public know.  I arrived timely for Thursday’s council meeting, despite the fact that we did not have a quorum for 20 minutes.  Earlier that morning I had been to the memorial service for a beautiful young woman, who left 3 children and a loving family after a losing battle with cancer.  Although saddened by this loss, I did my job on Thursday.  Among other substantive items, I presented an Order of Business, considered many District B land-use appeals, authored several ordinances, and debated the street revocation related to University Medical Center.  Before the meeting, I knew that I was the lone vote to retain some of the streets.  Nevertheless, I prepared a recitation of the incontrovertible facts and an analysis of my position.  This is what I believe is appropriate in a democracy – debate over different opinions.  The vote went as expected. 

After all substantive matters were handled, the clerk began reading new ordinances.  This part of the council meeting is ministerial, with no debate.  I departed.  I was still melancholy over the morning’s service and wanted to get home to my children.  I hardly expected that forgoing the routine “first reading” of ordinances would be note-worthy given the breadth and substance of the Council meeting that day.  With all the challenges this city faces, and all the amazing growth it is experiencing, the paper’s reporting fails to qualify as journalism.  It is instead merely the publishing of journalist’s catty thoughts.

New Orleans, LA – January 26, 2011 – Most of my constituents are primarily interested in having city government’s performance improve. They want to focus on the basics: infrastructure, crime control, nuisance enforcement, and blight reduction. I believe these efforts, which focus on the basics, will have secondary benefits – in addition to improving residents’ quality of life – such as business development and growth, and increased property values. To this end, I am continuing to help the administration move blighted properties to sheriff sales, improve the performance of the Sewerage and Water Board, fund Public Works, and report nuisance bars to the Alcoholic Beverage Control Board for prosecution.

I recently chaired a Public Works Committee meeting and obtained testimony from the Director of Public Works that the administration will enforce basic parking laws, including towing abandoned vehicles and dangerously parked vehicles (e.g. vehicles blocking others’ driveways). You can directly request towing of these vehicles by calling (504) 658-8100.

I also received testimony about the status of streetscape projects in District “B”. They are as follows:

• South Claiborne Streetscape: Construction to begin April 2011 (Napoleon Ave. to Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd.)
• Broadmoor Streetscape: Construction to begin March 2011 (General Pershing St. to Broad St. to S. Miro St.)
• Oretha Castle Haley Streetscape: Bid and Award phase in April 2011 (Felicity St. to Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd.)
• Freret Streetscape: Construction to begin April 2011 (Napoleon Ave. to Jefferson Ave.)
• Tulane and Jefferson Davis Streetscape: Construction to begin in May 2011 (Baudin St., Clark St., D’Hemecourt St.)

NBA News

The Hornets are on a nine game winning streak! Please come out and support the New Orleans Hornets. Attendance at home games is critical to keeping the Hornets in New Orleans as the NBA uses attendance records in their decision to relocate or keep the Hornets in New Orleans.

NORD News

• Taylor playground is undergoing a renovation, and community participation is planned for Thursday, January 27 beginning at 11 a.m. to help clean up and paint the exterior of the building click here for map). For further information, please contact Brooke Smith at besmith@nola.gov or (504) 658-4943.
• Norwood Thompson Park will be receiving a number of renovations to its bathroom, basketball courts, seating and murals. Entergy and the Greater New Orleans Sports Foundation are sponsoring the effort to improve the park.

Crime Walk

There will be a crime walk sponsored by the Milan Focus Group & Freret Neighborhood Center on Wednesday, January 26 beginning at 5 p.m. at the Atkinson-Stern Tennis Center located at 4025 S. Saratoga St. (click here for map). Second District Police Commander Captain Albert and Councilmember Head will be in attendance. For further information, please contact Mary Ellen Alexander by home phone at (504) 897-9747 or office phone at (504) 896-9857.

Community Events

The Central City Partnership meets the last Friday of every month at 1 p.m. at 2020 Jackson Ave., in the Allie Mae Williams Auditorium (click here for map). The public is welcome to attend and participate. Also, the public is invited to volunteer to participate in the Youth Think Tank, which seeks the perspectives of youth affected by violence in the Central City area. For further information, please contact Evelyn Green at (504) 258-4328 or ebby227@netzero.net.

Energy Smart Program

Entergy New Orleans will partner with qualified customers who wish to participate in the Smartview Energy Management test program on how to track your electricity usage, lower costs, etc. Entergy New Orleans will provide customers with easy-to-use tools, training and information at no additional cost. Participants will be selected on a first-come, first-served basis and registration is limited. Qualified participants must be Entergy New Orleans residential electric customers with an active account since January 1, 2010, and meet specific household income requirements.

For more information, call Entergy New Orleans toll free at 1-855-33-SMART (1-855-337-6278), visit the Entergy New Orleans Customer Care Center at 3400 Canal St. (click here for map), or visit entergy-neworleans.com/smartview. Customers can also contact or visit these partnering organizations to learn more about the program:

• Catholic Charities Archdiocese of New Orleans – 2200 Lafitte St.; (504) 827-9963
• New Orleans Council On Aging – 2475 Canal St., Ste. 400; (504) 821-4121
• Green Light New Orleans – 8203 Jeannette Street; (504) 324-2429
• Kingsley House – 1600 Constance St.; (504) 523-6221
• Neighborhood Development Foundation – 1429 Rampart St.; (504) 488-0155
• Total Community Action Inc. – 1420 S. Jefferson Davis Pkwy.; (504) 827-0337

Helpful Numbers to Report Quality of Life Issues

2nd Police District
(504) 658-6020
Sgt. Ernie Joseph (ejoseph@nola.gov)
Officer Edgar Staehle (estaehle@nola.gov)
Officer Wilford Eddington (weddington@nola.gov

6th Police District
(504) 658-6060
Sgt. Yolanda Jenkins (ymjenkins@nola.gov)
Officer John Favaloro (jtfavaloro@nola.gov)
Officer Joseph Joia (jvjoia@nola.gov)

8th Police District
(504) 658-6080
Sgt. Janet Williams (jrwilliams@nola.gov)
Officer Roger Jones (rjjones@nola.gov)