Mitch Landrieu
Tuesday, May 22, 2012
Landrieu's 2012 State of the City address
Posted by Kevin Allman on Tue, May 22, 2012 at 10:51 AM
Mayor Mitch Landrieu is scheduled to deliver his midterm 2012 State of the City address at 2 pm this afternoon at the Mahalia Jackson Theater for the Performing Arts in Armstrong Park. Last year's SOTC was held against the backdrop of the traffic-camera controversy and a soaring murder rate. This year's speech is expected to have more details on new plans to reduce the murder rate — and, of course, there's also the question of whether the New Orleans City Council will be there in toto.
We'll be liveblogging here from around 1:30-1:45 pm until the end of the mayor's speech. Join us.
Friday, May 18, 2012
WDSU: Hedge-Morrell will return for next Council meeting
Posted by Charles Maldonado on Fri, May 18, 2012 at 2:43 PM
Which, oh by the way, is scheduled for June 7, nearly one week after the interim appointment of the now-vacant District B seat gets kicked to the Mayor's office.
WDSU reports that Hedge-Morrell notified city officials in an email earlier this week that she did not plan to attend any meetings until July. Then, today...
But two days after the email was received by more than a dozen people connected to the Council, Pugh sent a second message:Please be advised Councilmember Morrell will be in attendance at the June 7th and 21st Council meeting since the dates of the conferences has (sic) changed.
Wednesday, May 9, 2012
Obama endorses same-sex marriage
Posted by Kevin Allman on Wed, May 9, 2012 at 2:41 PM
"I have to tell you that over the course of several years as I have talked to friends and family and neighbors when I think about members of my own staff who are in incredibly committed monogamous relationships, same-sex relationships, who are raising kids together, when I think about those soldiers or airmen or marines or sailors who are out there fighting on my behalf and yet feel constrained, even now that Don't Ask Don't Tell is gone, because they are not able to commit themselves in a marriage, at a certain point I’ve just concluded that for me personally it is important for me to go ahead and affirm that I think same sex couples should be able to get married."
On Sunday's Meet the Press, Vice President Joe Biden also expressed his support of both same-sex marriage and the sitcom Will and Grace.
In 2004, Louisiana voted to amend its Constitution to explicitly say marriage is "the union of one man and one woman." — a position consistently echoed by Republican Gov. Bobby Jindal. Other leading Republicans, including former First Lady Laura Bush and former Vice President Dick Cheney, have spoken in support of same-sex marriage.
Earlier this year, at the winter meeting of the U.S. Conference of Mayors, more than 80 mayors of U.S. cities signed the Freedom to Marry pledge in support of same-sex marriage rights. Democratic Mayor Mitch Landrieu was not among them. Asked by Gambit's Alex Woodward whether Landrieu supported same-sex marriage, administration spokesman Ryan Berni said Landrieu supported civil unions, but would not elaborate on Freedom to Marry.
Tuesday, April 10, 2012
Gusman will close House of Detention
Posted by Charles Maldonado on Tue, Apr 10, 2012 at 3:47 PM
The Orleans Parish Sheriff's Office will begin closing one of its facilities, the city-owned House of Detention, beginning today, Sheriff Marlin Gusman announced this afternoon. Gusman, speaking at a press conference outside the construction site for the Orleans Parish Prison's (OPP) new kitchen and warehouse facility, set to open later this year, said the decision came partly as a result of criticism from the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), including a report released just this week which found OPP to have a particularly high number of sexual assaults.
"Certainly the mounting criticism, the inspections by the federal people," were a factor in the decision to close the House of Detention, Gusman said today.
The most recent report by the Review Panel on Prison Rape included testimony from former OPP inmates who claim to have suffered multiple rapes at the jail and say they received little protection from sheriff's deputies. Gusman claimed that DOJ chose not to include his office's rebuttals to the findings.
That, in turn, came less than a week after the Southern Poverty Law Center filed a class-action lawsuit against Gusman citing inhumane conditions at the jail. See this week's lead news for more on that.
(More after the jump)
Monday, April 9, 2012
Comiskey Park reopens in Mid-City
Posted by Kevin Allman on Mon, Apr 9, 2012 at 3:44 PM
Comiskey Park and Playground — once a neighborhood landmark, but a blight on a tough corner of Mid-City since Hurricane Katrina and the federal floods — was reopened today by Mayor Mitch Landrieu. The park had received national attention in 2007 when a production company planned to remake the park and document the effort in a reality TV/documentary show titled ReNewOrleans. Plans foundered, and the park space — one block off a gritty stretch of Tulane Avenue — sat for years in worse shape than before.
"They left a lot of things behind," Landrieu said. "Cost everybody a bucketful of money."
Tuesday, March 20, 2012
Winn Dixie breaks ground in Mid-City
Posted by Kevin Allman on Tue, Mar 20, 2012 at 2:14 PM
Steam shovels provided the backdrop for this morning’s groundbreaking for the new Winn-Dixie shopping complex at S. Carrollton and St. Louis streets in Mid-City. The lot — site of a former Bohn car dealership — has sat fallow since Hurricane Katrina and the federal floods. Mayor Mitch Landrieu, District A City Councilwoman Susan Guidry and representatives of the supermarket chain and developers Stirling Properties were all on hand for the ceremony. “Though the lot was not technically blighted,” Guidry told the crowd, “it was a blight to our souls.”
“We’re not building the city the way it was; we’re building the city the way we want it to be,” Landrieu said, adding that the shopping complex is expected to provide 365 permanent jobs in the supermarket and satellite businesses, which will include Office Depot, Neighborhood Pet Market by Jefferson Feed, Felipe’s Taqueria, Five Guys Burgers and Fries, Pei Wei Asian Diner and the frozen yogurt chain Pinkberry, “which I am really pumped up about,” Landrieu added. (The mayor can be spotted at the Magazine Avenue location fairly regularly.)
Guidry referred to the complex as “a premier shopping as well as recreational area,” making reference to the Lafitte Corridor, the 3.1- mile greenway that will eventually run through Mid-City to the French Quarter. In December, the city agreed to let the supermarket build a car crossing on St. Louis Street into the parking lot, a move vigorously opposed by the group Friends of the Lafitte Corridor (FOLC) but defended by the Landrieu administration. Before the ceremonial shovel-turning, Landrieu made oblique reference to the contretemps, thanking FOLC “for taking what could have been a very big conflict” and helping find a solution — “while it may not be perfect,” he added.
Thursday, March 8, 2012
Mayor calls for full investigation into fatal police shooting
Posted by Charles Maldonado on Thu, Mar 8, 2012 at 2:28 PM
While offering no new details on the case, Mayor Mitch Landrieu in a brief meeting with the press today called for a "full and open and fair investigation" into the fatal shooting of 20-year-old Wendell Allen by police last night. Allen was shot inside a Gentilly home while police were executing a search warrant.
"The full investigation is ongoing now, and my commitment to the parents and to the people of new orleans: there will be an full and open investigation. It will be transparent," Landrieu said.
Landrieu said he met with members of Allen's family, including his mother, this morning.
"She was upset. She lost her baby boy," he said. "Neither she nor I really knows the facts and circumstances."
As Landrieu spoke, protesters marched outside City Hall, calling for New Orleans Police Department Chief Ronal Serpas' firing following the second fatal officer involved shooting in as many weeks. As Landrieu acknowledged today, last week's was a "very different incident."
Police are momentarily withholding details on the incident, but Serpas has said that only one shot was fired last night.
According to the official account of last week's incident, Sipp, who was a passenger in his brother Earl's car, began shooting at officers, ultimately firing 14 times and leaving Officers Anthony Michael Asevedo and Anthony Mayfield seriously injured. Officers returned fire, according to police statements, killing Justin Sipp and hitting Earl Sipp in the leg.
Serpas is expected to brief the media on the case today at 3:30 p.m. at NOPD Headquarters. Follow @the_gambit on Twitter for updates. Update: Serpas says man was unarmed.
(After the jump: Video of Landrieu's statement on the shooting)
Friday, March 2, 2012
Red light camera changes — the shorter version
Posted by Charles Maldonado on Fri, Mar 2, 2012 at 11:18 AM
City Hall fired off a 1,700-word press release on soon-to-be-enacted regulations and proposed regulations for hated red light cameras. You may, if you'd like, read the entire thing after the jump, but here's the condensed version.
Part 1: City asserts that red light cameras are good. One deputy mayor, one neighborhood association president and four school administrators agree. It points to a phone survey of 250 people (in New Orleans? Somewhere?) who received camera tickets. Most say they now drive more cautiously when approaching red lights. Of course, some studies have found that driving "more cautiously" could in fact mean "coming to an abrupt stop," thus trading off right-angle crashes for rear-end crashes. However, rear-end crashes tend to be less serious. And a recent study in Texas found that overall crashes were down at camera intersections.
Part 2: "New threshold for speed safety camera citations." As of now, if you're going six miles over, you can set off a camera. Starting March 12, you'll need to be going 10 over.
Part 3: "New proposed appeals process." As it is now, first appeal goes to the city's Administrative Hearing Center. The second appeal goes to Civil District Court. The problem is the filing fee for that is nearly $500. The city wants to change it so that second appeal goes to New Orleans Traffic Court.
Part 4: "More equitable collections." If you owe more than $500, you'll get a letter in the mail warning you that you might be sued.
Part 5: "Jackson Avenue speed limit." Landrieu wants it bumped up from 25 to 35. City Council will have to approve that change.
Part 6: New cameras starting March 12. Here's where they'll be:
· Eastbound Camp Street at International School of Louisiana
· Eastbound and westbound Dwyer Road at Miller McCoy Academy
· Eastbound and westbound Freret Street at former Audubon Primary Academy
· Eastbound and westbound Hammond Street at Resurrection of Our Lord School
· Northbound and southbound Jackson Avenue at Sci Tech Academy
· Westbound Annunciation Street and Second Street at Clay Square Park
· Northbound and southbound Pace Boulevard at Murray Henderson Elementary
· Northbound and southbound Press Drive at Coghill Elementary
· Eastbound and westbound Opelousas Avenue near Holy Name of Mary School
· Northbound and southbound Carrollton Avenue at Kipp Believe School
· Eastbound and westbound Prytania Street at Louise McGehee School
Part 7: "New school zone hours proposed." The city wants morning and afternoon school zone times extended from 75 minutes (a length of time the city refers to as "90 minutes" in its press release) to two hours (which, note for future reference equals 120 minutes).
(Full press release after the jump)
Friday, February 17, 2012
GE will bring 300 high-paying jobs to New Orleans
Posted by Charles Maldonado on Fri, Feb 17, 2012 at 3:35 PM
Gov. Bobby Jindal today announced that General Electric Co.'s financial services arm GE Capital plans to bring an information technology center to New Orleans. At a press conference in the IP Building downtown, Jindal said the company will locate 300 jobs here, each paying between $60,000 and $100,000 per year. By the time the center is fully staffed in 2015, its payroll will total nearly $30 million.
Jindal and Mayor Mitch Landrieu heralded the plan as a major boon to the city and the state, not only because of the new jobs, but because GE in chose the New Orleans over dozens of other locations competing for the tech center (probably in no small part because of the state's very, very generous tech incentives).
"I promised the people of Louisiana that we'd see a new Louisiana," Jindal said. "We are creating a new state ... We're seeing a city rise to a new era."
(Continued after the jump)
Wednesday, February 8, 2012
The Mardi Gras behavior press conference
Posted by Charles Maldonado on Wed, Feb 8, 2012 at 4:08 PM
Today's press conference was a much gentler reminder to not be a jerk than we saw during Unprecedented Events Season, as Mayor Mitch Landrieu and New Orleans Police Department Superintendent Ronal Serpas — rather than harping on how much and how hard you're going to get arrested — simply requested that you please be reasonable and use common sense during Mardi Gras season.
Specifically: Don't throw stuff back at parade floats. Don't put ladders close enough to the street that your children will be run over if they fall. Don't put heavy barricades onto the streets crossing over neutral grounds. Don't ignore police when they tell you to move. Do call the police if you think a shooting is about to happen.
"Be civil. Be respectful. Follow the rules. Be courteous to fellow parade goers," Landrieu said. Fair enough.
As to how heavily your common sense will be kept in check, Serpas said that police will be working longer shifts than usual. NOPD will be on two 12-hour, rather than 3 eight-hour shifts per day. Each of the city's eight police districts will be deployed with 10 officers and three supervisors. The Louisiana State Police will be sending 130 officers into the city from Feb. 17 to Feb. 22, and the Orleans Parish Sheriff's Office will be contributing mounted officers and mobile booking units.
Those NOPD officers working on foot along parade routes and the French Quarter will be wearing reflective vests, Serpas said.
"Which, as you can imagine, makes them love me even more."
(City Hall press release after the jump)
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