Arguably, the first salvo in next year's race for Mayor of New Orleans went out on Thursday, as candidate James Perry attacked rival Ed Murray for trying to call a public referendum on the proposed Master Plan.
Murray convinced his fellow State Senators and 9 to 7 majority on the House Committee on Local, Municipal and Parochial Affairs to approve SB 75, a measure that would require all changes to the master plan to be approved by parish-wide referendum. The measure now moves to the House floor where a third candidate for Mayor of New Orleans, State Rep. Austin Badon will have his say.
Perry called upon the State House of Representatives to reject the bill, noting that Orleans Parish votes had already approved the concept of a master plan and further moves to the ballot box would only " Overturn the Will of the Voters and Jeopardize the Completion and Adoption of the Master Plan".
As he explained to The Louisiana Weekly and Bayoubuzz.com, "Today’s [Thursday, June 18th's] vote to move Senate Bill SB.75 to a vote by the full house is deeply troubling and discouraging for a number of reasons...This process has been approved not only by the voters of Orleans Parish by a 52 to 48 margin but twice the city’s legislative body and elected representatives not one but twice by 6 to 1 margins. The public has spoken on approving this process and their duly elected representatives have twice reaffirmed their vote. We have a representative democracy for a reason. Not only have we now put the entire master plan in jeopardy of being completed but if this bill should become law we would not only require a public referendum to approve the master plan, authority which is currently vested in duly-elected City Council members, we would now also require public referendum on any change to the master plan no matter how minor or small."
"I call on the Louisiana State House of Representatives to reject, and if necessary, the Governor to veto this transparent effort by those who oppose an adoption of a master plan with force of law. The attempt by those who support this bill to keep voting until they and their developer funders and friends get the vote that they desire - the defeat of the master plan - by suggesting that the master plan does not speak to all areas of the city will make development completely and entirely market driven. While it will be detrimental to all parts of the City it will especially hurt development in areas where the market is currently not present. It is a clear cut example of why the next Mayor must be capable of providing leadership on difficult issues like this and have the ability to put progress above politics," said Perry.
"With the City at a tipping point we simply cannot afford to have our fears exploited by the politics-as-usual status quo for political gain."
The not so veiled attack in the last sentence was directed towards Senator Murray, who is attempting to tap into the support of a constituency discontented with the Master Plan and its implications, particularly to some lower income, African-American groups that all three of the Black candidates--Perry, Murray, and Badon seek to woo.
The original referendum succeeded because in general terms, the broad outline of a master plan appeals to the majority of Orleanians. Historic districts are protected from development, zoning is rationalized on a legal & area basis so payoffs to politically connected Councilmen do not result in developments that disrupt neighborhoods, and blighted properties are not tolerated.
Yet, for many, the devil is in the details. One man's historic structure is another's blight to be pushed away. One person's blight is another's home still devastated from Katrina. One person's neighborhood defense is another's restriction of commerce and business that might bring life into a moribund area.
The referendum giving the Master Plan the force of law foresaw that a panel of urban planners, politicians, and community leaders would come up with a framework of common purpose. These panelists would then modify the plan through a series of public meetings around the city. That, Ed Murray explained, was the problem. In the Senator's view, there was not enough public participation in the so-called public meetings. Few knew of their existence, the Senator maintained, and therefore were unable to comment on critical issues.
In other words, they were not representative enough, and so the general electorate should have the final say on the Master Plan. Opponents like Perry and Caucasian Mayoral contenders such as John Georges or Arney Fielkow maintain that another public vote is merely a smokescreen to kill meaningful zoning reform in the city, to keep the old political way of assigning variances alive. They, like Perry, have also called for the Governor to veto the measure and the House to reject it..
The subtext on both sides of the argument is the recent study that revealed that almost a third of the city's properties were blighted. Each of the Mayoral candidates have privately admitted that for the city to completely recover from the 2005 storms, a serious effort to drastically reduce blight must be undertaken by the next Mayor. The Master Plan will drastically influence this process, and limit the Mayor's and the Council's ability to politically maneuver troublesome issues.
Quite a few voters, a disproportionate number in the Black Community, own houses that were devastated in the storms or have fallen into various degrees of blight. Sensitivity to the concerns of this group, Murray knows, will reap rewards at the ballot box next spring.
Conversely, the African-American middle class and the white community in general are violently opposed to the status quo.. Insiders close to Perry argue that by standing up for the Master Plan, he appeals to both racial groups, dividing Caucasian support away from a potential white candidate and bolstering his developing reform candidacy amongst Blacks.
Perry's strategy is similar to the one that Austin Badon has employed on other issues, using support for school vouchers and single assessor reforms, to win White and middle class Black support. By so publicly opposing the Master Plan, Perry manages to make inroads with the very White voters that Badon has so consistently courted, while drawing attention to a vote that the State Rep. wishes he did not have act upon.
Badon, who has a following amongst some poorer African-Americans because of his educational advocacy, might very well alienate those self-same voters if he casts his ballot 'nay' in the House vote next week.
Christopher Tidmore hosts the Political Roundtable from 4-5 PM, Monday-Friday, on KKAY 1590 AM or on the web at www.kkay1590.com.
If it is a aboandoned, a blight, rotting, ruining, festering pile of rubble, trash, broken timbers, wutever, then tear it down and start all over... At least clear it off or set it on fire to get rid of the mess...
Written by
on 6/24/2009
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We do not have the need to send deegates by horse and buggy to the "seat of government" to "speak for the people." It is the 21st century - we have unbelievably rapid communication - we can decide such matters ourselves. In order to do so, we must first demand it from those in power. Written by kpf
on 6/21/2009
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"...authority which is currently vested in duly-elected City Council members" --- this citation underscores what has become terribly wrong with the current master plan process. I had originally voted in favor of the current process, but now support Senator Murray's attempt to add the safeguard of final voter approval. A key reason for this change in my views and perhaps many others has been the current conduct of both the New Orleans City Council and the City Planning Commission in removing from public input or discussion key areas of the city that should be considered in any master plan, including the LSU/VA Medical Center project (Lower Mid-City residents have never been afforded an opportunity to voice their concerns over their neighborhood's demolition before decisions were already made to turn their residental and small business community into a suburban-style medical complex) and the Cold Storage Chicken Facility on the edge of the French Quarter and Faubourg Marigny (once again, Goody Clancy, the CPC and the City COuncil have all said they cannot stop the project). Were the City Council and the City Planning Commission to exercise real leadership, maybe then Murray's plan would be dead. Proponents of the current process must answer to the current undemocratic process and blocks again meaningful citizen participation in the current process. Written by gobraduno
on 6/20/2009
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No one has the guts to make a decision based on their feelings but only on political consequences, whether they will get the vote that they want in the next election in which they run. No men or women of courage have yet to come forward to run for mayor. None who have the guts to speak his/her mind without fear of losing the battle because of the way they feel. Say anything and do what you must to win. No steel yet. Frankly, dears, the city's restructuring must be restricted until assurances of safety and the future of this city can be in place. We have dwadled for four years and where are we - in the midst of crime and blight and ignorance and hatred. Too bad, we cannot unify in an effective manner. Where is that leader when he/she is needed? He/she is there but we often turn a blind eye to individuals in private life who can be persuaded to come forward and take aim at the job and who does not owe any political favors to any person at all. Now duke it out and let's chose a real winner. Written by RhettsWife
on 6/19/2009
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By Christopher Tidmore, 
