What the mayor of New Orleans should be thinking about

Submitted by Martha on Mon, 05/22/2006 - 12:41pm.

On Saturday night, my husband and I sat in bed with our laptops and waited for 9pm. We were waiting for the polls to close in New Orleans—promptly at 8 pm (New Orleans is an hour behind DC). Specifically, we were waiting for the online results of the mayoral election—who had New Orleanians chosen to lead the city for the next four years? Hopefully, as voters entered the voting booths they thought of a couple of things: Which man would provide the best opportunities for my child? Which man would provide a safe and healthy environment for my child?

About a month ago, I flew to New Orleans a few days before the primary election on April 23 with my then-2.5 month old daughter. I carried her in my arms as we slipped into the voting booths. She stared at me as I made a mental pro and con list of the mayoral candidates. In the end, I could think of only her and other children as I made my selections. I didn’t believe any candidate was more qualified than the other, and I can’t say I was happy with whom I had chosen, but, well….

Afterwards, when I found out it would be a runoff, I thought the candidates would at least mention children or youth during the televised debates. Nope. Nada.
Neither of them had children’s issues explicitly on their platforms—it was an afterthought. Sure they talked about families torn apart because of Hurricane Katrina and bringing families back to New Orleans as soon as possible. There are larger issues concerning children that are looming: How many children are still considered missing? What’s the state of children in foster homes? What’s with the dragging of the feet regarding re-opening schools and hiring teachers? Are there special programs being created to help children cope with the most traumatic event that’s probably ever happened to them?

My husband and I are DC transplants who are committed to staying in DC, but we are also native New Orleanians who love the city that we were born and raised in. New Orleans is not a love ‘em and leave ‘em type of city. For years, I struggled to understand this city that I thought was backwards in every sense, and it took a natural disaster to make me realize how much I love the city.

I hope Nagin thinks of the kids second time around.


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What is Mayor Nagin thinking about?
Submitted by Cash Casey (not verified) on Thu, 06/01/2006 - 11:15am.

Hi Martha!

Great picture! I agree children's issues should garner support during the reconstruction of New Orleans. But, even in my optimistic opinion, New Orleans has so many fundamental problems to cure before chlild welfare can be brought to the forefront.

Above all political concerns in post-Katrina New Orleans is the crime rate. If the crime in New Orleans returns to pre-Katrina levels, or worse -- would any sane person want to live in New Orleans? Much less, raise a child there?

Many will argue that crime is down, but so is the population. With only half of New Orleans' 450,000 residents back in the city, it appears people are getting killed twice as fast.

While the text of the article I have pasted below is funny -- how many motorized wheelchair "stab-bys" does it take before New Orleans crime overshadows the city's recovery?

Two men injured in stabbing, shooting
Wednesday, May 31, 2006
From staff reports

Two men were in critical condition in unrelated stabbing and shooting incidents in the 7th Ward and Lower Garden District early Tuesday and late Monday night, New Orleans police said.

The stabbing occurred Tuesday morning shortly after 3:30 on Religious Street near the 1600 block of Tchoupitoulas Street. Police said a man with one leg, who was in a wheelchair, robbed a 58-year-old man of his wallet, then stabbed him in the stomach as the victim slept in his car on Religious.

The robber fled in the wheelchair, police said.

The victim was taken to the Charity Hospital trauma unit at Elmwood Medical Center where he was listed in critical condition, police said.

In the 7th Ward shooting, a man who lived in the 2000 block of Hope Street called police shortly before midnight Monday and reported that his neighbor knocked on his door seeking help after he had been shot, police said.

Police took the 36-year-old neighbor to the Charity trauma unit at Elmwood, where he was in critical condition with two gunshot wounds to his rib area and one to the shoulder, police said.

Detectives were trying to determine a motive and suspect in the shooting, police spokesman officer Garry Flot said.

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