Racing against the Super Bowl clock on The Louisiana Weekly

It is almost a dream of a weekend to come. The Saints in the Super Bowl on Sunday, and Mardi Gras parades rolling down St. Charles Ave on Saturday afternoon, as people tailgate and celebrate the big game the next day.

It would be easy to forget about another dream for which so many of our ancestors fought and often died. Amidst the revelry, joy, and anticipation on Saturday, February 6, 2010, as we prepare for a 40-year NFL dream deferred, please do not forget much older and more important dreams finally realized.

The power of the Black vote has always and should always be among the masses. We should not relinquish or degrade that power by relegating it to a single person. The power of the African-American community is not in having a reflection of our faces hold a seat, but in the power to choose whichever candidate we deem best to uphold our values and care for our concerns.

As citizens, as a community, we must continue to demand excellence and respect from those we elect to lead and to serve. As public servants, it is their duty to work for us to ensure that our concerns are of urgency and that our needs addressed. The way to do that is through the ballot box. We will remind whomever we choose as the BEST candidate for the job that it is by our choice that they hold office, and for their actions remind them that they will be held to answer to the people.

Our voting strength is recognized at election time, no longer can we allow it to be forgotten afterwards.

These Orleans Parish elections are quite literally the most important of our lifetimes. It is no exaggeration to say that the recovery of New Orleans depends on their outcome, and without the right leadership, an entire generation of young people will give up hope.

The best and the brightest will leave, and with them the chance that the Crescent City can escape a decline into a backwater existence as an adult Disneyland. Believe it or not, New Orleans has the potential of once again being the Queen City of the South, a thriving metropolis whose port, economy, and culture are the guide posts for the entire nation.

Billions of dollars sit in bank accounts ready to FINALLY flow into the Orleans economy, monies that will build state-of-the-art public schools, biotech centers and hospitals, public spaces, and reborn neighborhoods. Only the right political leadership can push the allocation of those monies out of federal and state coffers-and onto their proper destinations-without corruption or diversion.

Only the most qualified aspirants for public office have the talent to bring leaders of the entire metro area together, bridging parish lines for the common good, so collectively we can argue for the resources to bring opportunity to the region as a whole.

Again, let's not make a mistake and forget to vote for those best capable candidates on Saturday, and for those posts, The Louisiana Weekly recommends in the February 6, 2010 elections:

The Editorial Board of The Louisiana Weekly spent dozens of hours interviewing all of the major candidates, and we were impressed by the willingness of each candidate to sacrifice time, wealth, and freedom to service for the citizenry of the city. All of them have a sincere passion, commitment, and dedication to New Orleans.

But two candidates clearly stood out. James Perry is one of the most impressive mayoral candidates to ever grace our offices in the nearly nine decades since this newspaper's first edition hit the streets of New Orleans.

His work as director of the Greater New Orleans Fair Housing Acton Center put him as one of the single individuals most responsible for helping Orleanians return to their city after the storm. His David versus Goliath fight against the machinations of the State's Road Home Program-nearly on his own forcing that absurd bureaucracy to accept common sense procedures and appeals-made it possible for literally thousands of people to have a chance to repair their houses well enough to reoccupy them.

Fighting for the restoration of affordable housing, Perry has stood firm against encroaching racial discrimination in surrounding parishes.

Yet, unlike some of his opponents, though, he has refused to tarnish his glowing civil rights record by devolving his campaign into cheap tactics of racial fear that do nothing but divide our city.

Perry has taken the high road, never forgetting that race is a conversation we must continue to have in New Orleans, but recognizing that the mayor must represent all people-regardless of color, creed, or accident of birth.

From a practical standpoint, no candidate knows more about the "on the ground" practices and policies of New Orleans city government than Perry. It was not an accident that he knew that The Youth Study Center was a jail, unlike his mayoral opponents. Perry has had firsthand knowledge of its faults and dangers from his non-profit work. It is an "in the trenches" type of recent experience of which no other candidate can boast.

Under normal circumstances, our editors would have had no hesitation in endorsing James Perry for mayor of New Orleans, and in the future, we might do just that. Today's reality, however, in February 2010, five years after Katrina, is far from a normal circumstance.

There is a reason that Barack Obama never appointed a Director of Gulf Coast Recovery that reports directly to the White House. The President wants to help, but his Administration has nearly given up hope that the city will elect anyone with the competence to direct funds, already appropriated, into action-much less be able to handle any more.

There is only one man who enjoys the existing relationships on the Federal, State, and Local levels strong enough to jump start New Orleans' recovery before this year ends and our best and brightest residents finally give up and leave.

There is only one man who needs not a minute of "on the job" training on how to maneuver through labyrinthine governmental bureaucracies. There is only one man who can merge his high-level contacts together with that "hands on" experience to get to work on day one-our Lt. Governor, Mitch Landrieu.

It is not an exaggeration to say that more recovery resources and projects have come out of Mitch Landrieu's small staff in Baton Rouge that the hundreds Ray Nagin commands at Duncan Plaza. Stretching his powers to the limit and beyond; appealing, cajoling, and pleading, Landrieu has acted as both Recovery Czar and effectively the only operable face of New Orleans' future for the last four years.

But, he is not the mayor, and there is only so far that he can take a relatively impotent state office on behalf of the recovery of the Crescent City. One man can only beg for so much when he is powerless to see whether the money won is actually spent on the good works for which he and its federal donors intended.

Don't vote for Mitch Landrieu out of "Buyer's Remorse" or against him out of a sense of fear of losing control. Vote for him because the Lt. Governor is the only person with the expertise and contacts to start the recovery fast enough to keep the productive population in the city, and the goodwill of the nation from leaving.

Please remember that the electorate can vote for two candidates simultaneously in the At-Large race. We urge you to cast two votes, not just one. On our part, we found three candidates whom our editors could passionately support, and wish all could be on the council. Outlined below are their individual strengths to guide the readers of the Weekly in their choice. The voters cannot go wrong with any of these candidates.

Cynthia Willard-Lewis was the only Councilperson seemingly available at every point, every gathering, in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.

Whenever two or more of her flooded District E constituents or any resident of the City of New Orleans gathered to demand to return home, Cynthia Willard-Lewis was with them.

She was and remains their advocate, their defender, their paladin, and in the At-Large seat, she will make their voices heard by the entire city.

Her years of experience on the Council, her perceptive judgement, and her legislative accomplishments-from authoring the "Lot Next Door" ordinance to winning appropriations for the recovery of Joe Brown and other parks in a tight budgetary year, indicate Willard-Lewis' varied capabilities for the city-wide post.

Nolan Marshall, at the age of 31, has a longer record of public service than most elected officials who have spent decades in office. He lost his home and business in the storm, but when others his age left for greener pastures after Katrina, Marshall went to work, full-time, on saving his city.

As executive director of Common Good, he brought more than 70 neighborhood organizations and advocacy groups together to speak with one voice on varied recovery issues. He helped neighborhoods fighting "green-spacing" make their voice heard. His efforts to increase economic development in neighborhoods played a huge part in keeping many from turning into proverbial ghost towns.

And have you seen the streetcars? The public art program which has put painted streetcars all over New Orleans, employing hundreds of local artists in the wake of the storms, keeping them in the city, and raising money for charity at the same time, was, in large part, his idea.

As president of The Young Leadership Council, Marshall was the driving force in launching that successful effort, which brought a little Crescent City spirit back into the devastation-and money into the coffers of groups that might have been left dry after 80 percent of the entire city was flooded. Few new candidates run for office with better qualifications.

Arnie Fielkow proved to be a good steward of New Orleans. If you are excited about the NEW ORLEANS Saints going to the Super Bowl, rather than the San Antonio or Los Angeles Saints, you have Fielkow to thank. Four years ago, when he publicly broke with Tom Benson over the owner's desire to move the team, Fielkow might have sacrificed his job as Saints GM in the process, but he kept the Saints in the Superdome.

Fielkow took that drive to do the right thing to the City Council, becoming author of long-overdue reforms from hiring an Inspector General to balancing the budgetary needs of an expensive recovery with a nearly bankrupt city.

Being able to break with his fellow councilmen when he fights for an issue, and yet still maintain their respect and support when he needs it, Fielkow has the right experience to lead that often fractious legislative body, and deserves another term in the Council's rotating Presidency.

No one has worked more ardently to bring prosperity and opportunity to all of the communities of this Uptown, Hollygrove, Mid-City, and Lakeview district than Jay Batt. The local businessman has donated his time and resources to countless local and civic projects aimed at making neighborhoods not only thrive but the economic base to survive.

In a city where shopping is a lost art, his previous work as a Councilman set the foundation for a Robert's Fresh (Super)Market to come to Carrollton Ave. when few grocers even wanted to enter Orleans at all. His proposal to bring restaurants and a boardwalk back to West End could make the Lakefront an eating and entertainment hub once more.

And to a population ever accosted with rising crime, Batt offers a specific, street-based policing plan, based on the successful Charleston model, that could bring back security to our citizens who pray to just walk down the street unmolested.

Other candidates talk about bringing neighborhoods back. Kristin Palmer has dedicated her life to this work.

Her years-long efforts on behalf Rebuilding Together New Orleans (RTNO) and the PRC's Christmas in October program have improved the quality of life for countless low-income, elderly, and physically disabled homeowners through home repair and the revitalization of their neighborhoods.

From St. Roch to Hollygrove, over 400 New Orleans residents are back in their homes because of her labors, and through her efforts over 10,000 volunteers came to the Crescent City after Katrina to help with the clean-up and rebuilding of damaged houses.

The Salvage Store on St. Claude-which Palmer helped found-not only receives architectural salvage from homes that are being demolished so that those materials can be utilized in rebuilds, but it is a place where the reclaimed windows, doors, and other classically New Orleans architectural elements are sold to general public at far below what similar materials would cost local consumers on the open market. It is the ultimate conservation and recycling program that at the same time directly benefits the poorest of the Crescent City's homeowners seeking to restore their residences.

From the playgrounds for which Palmer raised money to re-outfit in Algiers to the homes her non-profit efforts repaired on the East Bank, few candidates this election season both bridge the river-and the needs of the city-better than Kristin Palmer.

Holy Cross High School is in Gentilly, in large part, because Cynthia Morrell fought for the school against those who would see a barren wasteland remain. Without her efforts, the historic Catholic school might have left the parish altogether.

She has been an advocate for neighborhoods and residents fighting to return to homes devastated after the storms. It takes a unique person to represent a district that stretches from the Faubourg Marigny to Pontchartrain Park, but Cynthia Hedge Morrell knows how to do it.

Fifteen hundred poor school children have escaped failing, flooded, and crumbling schools through the direct efforts of Rep. Badon and his state-funded elementary scholarship program for needy Orleans youth.

He has always been an independent voice who is at the ready to buck the political establishment to fight for what is right, getting the priorities of his constituents passed.

He has an encyclopedic knowledge of the needs of New Orleans East and the Ninth Ward in the recovery, and deserves a promotion to the New Orleans City Council to put his ideas into law aimed at bringing back those highly devastated areas.

As the current Speaker Pro Tem of the State House of Representatives, Carter Peterson has shown her ability to advocate for New Orleans and rise in the ranks as a Democrat in a Republican-dominated chamber. Her ability to get things done has made her the point person for both the GOP Speaker and the Black Caucus.

With the resignation of Cheryl Gray Evans, the city needs someone with Carter Peterson's talents and contacts in the Upper House, especially at this crucial time when so many priorities of the city are on the budgetary chopping block.

With 49 percent of the vote, Paula Brown lost by a proverbial hair for the same post less than two years ago. Our Editorial Board endorsed her then, and we urge you to vote for her now.

The legal community hailed Brown's previous tenure on the Bench as a Judge Pro Tempore, thanks in large part to her focus on the welfare of children under her purview. On a more personal level, Brown has worked with families and young people as a coach for the YWCA, G.W. Carver's Girls basketball team, and Franklin Avenue Baptist Church, giving her a particular insight that will serve the Judge well once in office.

Her background in both family court and insurance defense, the two most common areas that occupy the work of the Civil Court, makes her the unparalleled choice of experience.

A respected attorney at Phelps Dunbar, LLP, Tracey Flemings-Davillier has dedicated countless hours to protecting children who have landed in the state's foster care program or fallen into the juvenile justice system. And she mentors teenage girls, guiding them to self-respect and self-confidence.

Recently, Tracey chaired the Juvenile Division Transition Team for the Orleans Parish District Attorney's Office, wherein she and the Committee of citizens, who are concerned about the welfare of our city's youth and who are at the forefront of juvenile justice reform, addressed issues involving the juvenile justice system.

Few first-time Juvenile Court candidates stand for election with a more complete record of service than Ms. Flemings-Davillier.

His tenure as Criminal Sheriff has introduced real economic reforms into the House of Detention and the previously moribund Sheriff's Office.

After Katrina, he had his offices and facilities rebuilt, before other governmental leaders had even broken ground on theirs.

His tenure of professionalism is exactly the kind of expertise we need in merging the Civil Sheriff's Office into his Criminal Sheriff's post. The challenges of bringing the two historically separated departments together requires the experience of someone who once served as one of New Orleans' most successful Chief Administrative Officers.

Arthur Morrell has just gotten started on the task of upgrading the computer and technical systems of the Clerk's office, after fighting to subdue the chaos he inherited from his predecessor. He deserves another term to complete the job.

Four years ago, this newspaper supported the single-assessor bill and the candidates advocating for it because our editors believe in fair assessments and a unified standard across the city.

That does not mean we believed that all of the sitting assessor were doing a bad job, or were incapable for delivering a fair assessment to all of the residents of the city.

Right now, Erroll Williams represents half of the City of New Orleans. A former City CAO under Dutch Morial, his tenure in office, at nearly three decades, is a model of professionalism and maintenance of professional national standard in assessment.

Williams, when asked a technical question about the office, usually offers a highly technical response showing his breadth of knowledge and experience in the office. It is that steady hand of experience that the City needs as the seven assessors merge into one after this election.

This article was originally published in the February 1, 2010 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper

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