Download 7-year Status Report - Citizens for 1 Greater New Orleans

The Power of the Citizen Voice from
mourning to rage...to hope through action
Status Report
2008
“Since 2005, New Orleanians have
undertaken more major reforms simultaneously
Gambit, the independent weekly newspaper, ranked the stunning consolidation of the
levee boards and assessor system as “the number one story in 2006”.
than any other modern city.”
The New Orleans Index at Five 2010 Report
The Brookings Institution and Greater New Orleans Data Center
Executive Committee
Ruthie Frierson
Founder & Chair
Laura Politz
Incoming Chair 2013
Barbara Bush
Treasurer
Janet Bean
Education Chair
Gwathmey Gomila
Stephanie Haynes
Ethics Chair
Betty Hope
Kay Kerrigan
Shelley Kurtz
Margo Phelps
Betsy Nalty
Ann Rabin
Criminal Justice Chair
Mimi Smith
Laura Sillars
Resource Council
John M. Barry
Daryl Byrd
LaToya Cantrell
Michael Cowan
Dr. Scott Cowen
Timothy R. Doody
James P. Farwell
Kathy Finn
Carla Fishman
Janet Howard
Leslie Jacobs
Karyn Kearney
Jay Lapeyre
Patti Lapeyre
Diana Lewis
Mark Mayer
Suzanne Mestayer
Ilona Picou
Tony Recasner
Nolan Rollins
Gregory Rusovich
LaVerne Saulny
Caroline Roemer Shirley
Nicole Spagenburg
Robert Thomas, Ph.D.
Sarah Usdin
Kevin Wm. Wildes, S.J.
Lea Young
Committee Members
Janet Bean
Judy Andry
Brenda Brown
Hal Brown
Barbara Bush
Kim Carver
Bonnie Conway
Susie DeRussy
Pam Farnsworth
Brenda Fenner
Betsy Fowler
Kara French
Ruthie Frierson, Ex-Officio
Sara Gaines
Gwathmey Gomila
Erin Hangartner
Linda Hart
Stephanie Haynes
Betty Hope
2 Citizens for 1 Greater New Orleans | www. citizensfor1.com
Bonnie Conway
Zully Jimenez, Deceased
Susan Johnson
Lisa Jordan
Kay Kerrigan
Patti Lapeyre
Diana Lewis
Mary Looney
Henry Lowentritt
John Martin
Kathleen McCall
Carol McCall
Hope Meyer
Margo Phelps
Cathy Pierson
Murray Pitts
Laura Politz
Joyce Pulitzer
Ann Rabin
Macon Riddle
Kathy Riedlinger
Linda Roussel
Laura Sillars
Nicole Spangenberg
Eva St. Martin
Holli Wiseman
“Civic and business groups must continue to work together across the community in broad
based coalitions and partnerships, with reform minded elected and appointed officials, to
bring about effective, long lasting and meaningful change, around important issues for the
common good”
Ruthie Frierson
Reflecting on the past seven years since Katrina and the founding of our organization, our city has made tremendous progress due to the commitment, persistence, and
resilience of our citizens. Out of the tragedy and all of its challenges came opportunities
for real change. Citizen activism has played a central role in the recovery, reform, and
rebuilding of our city – but much work remains.
The committee reports that follow reflect, in broad terms, our focus areas, positions and
successes. In 2006, our first successful efforts were the consolidation and reform of the
levee boards in southeast Louisiana and the Orleans Parish tax assessors’ offices
through the passage of statewide legislation and two constitutional amendments. Since then, we have focused
on big issues that have no finish line, but rather, slower more incremental progress: criminal justice,
education, and ethics/good government reform.
As informed policy advocates, our committees thoroughly research the issue then educate ourselves and
others, often building and working in broad-based coalitions of civic and business organizations as well as
reform-minded elected and appointed officials to effect needed change. We also work collaboratively on
boards, committees, in coalitions, and forums, at both the local and state levels — building and sustaining
partnerships for the future.
We recognize that our city’s bright future depends on all of our citizens continuing to stay informed, persistent,
and engaged. We have provided advocacy training for community organizations, on college campuses, to
student leaders in public, parochial and private schools, at the state Capitol, and in other communities in
Louisiana and Alabama as well as for Leadership America. We will continue to provide this kind of advocacy
training because we think it is such a vital part of being a good citizen. Also, for our organization to fulfill and
grow our mission in the future, we must move forward with new leadership to sustain our efforts.
Serving as founder and chairman of Citizens for 1 Greater New Orleans over these past seven years has
broadened my experiences and horizons beyond anything I could have imagined during my lifetime. I have
had the privilege of working with an executive committee of seasoned leaders who are passionate, bright,
persistent, and committed on issues that affect the common good — always focused on how to create and
build better opportunities for all of our citizens. We have become family as well as friends because of all we
have been through over the years. Working together on boards, commissions and coalitions on a sustained
basis, we have grown immeasurably in learning about the needs of our citizens and how to best address them.
We must remain vigilant and never lose sight of the importance of an informed citizenry — for we get the
government we demand!
Always remember, there IS POWER IN THE CITIZEN VOICE!
Ruthie Frierson
Founder and Chair
Citizens for 1 Greater New Orleans | www. citizensfor1.com 3
Overview
A Citizens’ Reform Movement
In November 2005, Citizens for 1 Greater New Orleans formed by outrage over the state’s legislative failure to
reform the workings of the numerous levee boards serving Southeast Louisiana. 120 concerned citizens came
together to begin a journey of reform. The Times-Picayune reported,
“These citizens want a safe city behind sound levees so that no generation would endure what we have
endured, and more than that they want honest and efficient city government, one free of old habits of
cronyism and patronage that stifled progress and made us all unsafe.”
With an Executive Committee of fifteen, Citizens for 1 website has over 10,000 active email subscribers.
Since 2006 to 2012 engaged citizens generated more than 4 million email messages to legislators through our
website, voicing their support of reform. Since inception the website has remained a powerful vehicle to voice
citizen opinions to the state legislators and the local city council. The site contains up-to-date information about
local issues, resources and helpful links. Often working in broad-based coalitions with civic and business
organizations, Citizens for 1 continues to work for ongoing reform.
Mission
Citizens for 1 Greater New Orleans is a non-partisan, non-sectarian grassroots initiative formed to be a voice
for reform and renewal for Greater New Orleans and a better Louisiana. The community group provides a
venue and resources for citizens to voice their opinions and concerns and to take action for rebuilding Greater
New Orleans. We are demanding a government that is open, honest, transparent and accountable.
4 Citizens for 1 Greater New Orleans | www. citizensfor1.com
Crime and Criminal Justice Report
Even before the 2005 Katrina disaster, New Orleans struggled
with inadequacies in its criminal justice system. After the storm
public safety became a higher-than-ever priority, and system reform
became crucial to the city’s recovery.
Citizens for 1 New Orleans responded by launching a year of intensive research into systemic problems and forming the Criminal
Justice Reform Committee. The group enlisted broad based support
to implement recommendations that included the:
• Creation of a volunteer force to monitor the effectiveness and
efficiency of Orleans Parish Criminal Court; with the support of
Common Good and Business Council of New Orleans. Court
Watch NOLA was created.
• Formation of a broad based coalition of business and civic
leaders to reduce violent crime in our city, with a focus on the
career criminal. The New Orleans Crime Coalition was established.
• Adoption of an integrated information and technology system,
OPISIS, under the coordination of New Orleans Police and
Justice Foundation.
The Criminal Justice Reform Committee has focused its efforts on
several fundamental initiatives: juvenile justice reform; domestic violence prevention; criminal justice and law
enforcement budget review; and legislative advocacy.
Juvenile justice reform
Recognizing the connection between juvenile delinquency and adult criminal behavior, the committee has advocated for alternatives to juvenile detention and in doing so helped reduce an overreliance on detention. Sustained efforts through Orleans Parish Juvenile Detention Alternatives Initiative have worked toward improving
conditions of confinement, developing new assessment tools to identify at-risk youth and using alternatives to
confinement. Community Stakeholders rely on evidence based decision making to develop recommendations
considered by Orleans Parish Juvenile Court for adoption and implementation.
Domestic violence and victim protection
Reducing incidents of violence and their rippling impact on families and the community is an important goal
of the Criminal Justice Reform Committee, which advocates for change. Joining forces with civic groups, city
leaders, judges, and Tulane University the group has worked to raise awareness of domestic violence issues,
improve law enforcement’s handling of such cases and strengthen legislation to better support victims.
Criminal Justice/Law Enforcement Budgets
Members of the Criminal Justice Committee keep a close eye on budgets of the Orleans Parish Sheriff’s Department, New Orleans Police Department, Juvenile Court, Criminal Court, Municipal Court, District Attorney
and Office of Indigent Defense by monitoring these agencies’ financial presentations to the City Council, while
advocating for effective programs.
• See Citizensfor1.com for detailed reports on our 2006-2012 legislative initiatives.
Citizens for 1 Greater New Orleans | www. citizensfor1.com 5
Education Reform Report
Like other Citizens for 1 groups, the
Education Committee took root in
Hurricane Katrina’s aftermath. With many
public schools wrecked and students living
in widespread locations after the storm,
the state Legislature voted to place 110
failing Orleans Parish schools under the
authority of the newly formed Recovery
School District. The district aimed to
restructure the schools through a decentralized system of nonprofit charter
boards.
Members of the Education Committee
began visiting the new charter schools
in 2007 to gain a better understanding of how they operate. In the following year, the committee coordinated a
city-wide forum at Tulane University to help educate the public about the new system.
In time it became clear that public education reform in Orleans Parish would require ongoing, nonpartisan
advocacy. The Education Committee began to collaborate with other organizations to support changes through
the state Legislature and Board of Elementary and Secondary Education. The committee based its efforts on
these guiding principles:
• The purpose of education is to ensure that children reach their potential and are prepared for the future.
• Student achievement is the best measure of school success.
• All children regardless of socio-economic background, race or gender deserve the opportunity that an
excellent education affords.
Major issues the Education Committee has pursued include:
• Supporting the process identified by BESE for returning successful Recovery District schools to their
original school boards with safeguards for their autonomy and decision-making authority;
• Supporting a legislative compromise on facilities insurance costs for charter schools;
• Supporting a roll-forward of the 2012 millage for all Orleans Parish schools;
• Supporting an amended School Facilities Master Plan to ensure a reasonable seat for all children in
Orleans Parish;
• Advocating before the state legislature and BESE for a process to include criteria and accountability for
nonpublic (voucher) schools receiving public money;
• Supporting before the state legislature and BESE quality Early Childhood education and evaluation.
• Raising public awareness of the need to be involved in local and statewide education board elections.
The Education Committee collaborates with numerous organizations that include: Baptist Community Ministry,
Bureau of Governmental Research, Business Council of New Orleans and the River Region, Council of Jewish
Women, Cowen Institute at Tulane University, Educate Now!, Education’s Next Horizon, Forward New Orleans,
Junior League of New Orleans, Louisiana Association of Public Charter Schools, Louisiana Department of
Education, Louisiana Partnership for Children and Families, New Schools for New Orleans, Partnership for
Youth Development, Recovery School District, Urban League and Young Leadership Council.
• See Citizensfor1.com for detailed reports on our 2006-2012 legislative initiatives.
6 Citizens for 1 Greater New Orleans | www. citizensfor1.com
Ethics/Good Government Report
Accountability plays a leading
role in good government, and from
the time of its founding Citizens for
1 supported the establishment of
independent offices to monitor the
workings of city government and
the New Orleans Police
Department.
Citizens for 1 supported the
establishment of an Office of
Inspector General and an Ethics
Review Board in New Orleans,
appearing before the City Council
in 2007 to advocate for initial
funding. The group co-sponsored
public forums with Xavier
University and Loyola University to build awareness about the work of the Inspector General’s office, and also
worked to enlist numerous other organizations to sign onto and garner public support for these efforts. The
organization worked with Common Good, The Business Council of New Orleans and many civic and neighborhood groups, and with reform-minded elected and appointed officials, to promote a city charter change that
would allow the establishment of an Independent Police Monitor and a dedicated source of revenue for the
Office of Inspector General. The charter change won by a wide margin of voters.
In the spring of 2008, Citizens for 1 lobbied jointly with LA Ethics1 for legislation supporting the governor’s
ethics reform package, which won legislative approval.
In 2012, the U.S. Department of Justice
announced that it would impose a consent decree
on the New Orleans Police Department
ordering the correction of numerous structural and
operational deficiencies. Citizens for 1 went on
record shortly afterward in support of having the
new federally appointed police monitor operate
in conjunction with the local independent police
monitor to ensure continuity during the period that
the decree is in effect. Citizens for 1 successfully
lobbied for the re-instatement of funding for the
Office of the State Inspector General after it was
removed in committee during the 2012 legislative
session.
• See Citizensfor1.com for detailed reports on our 2006-2012 legislative initiatives.
Citizens for 1 Greater New Orleans | www. citizensfor1.com 7
Levee Board Reform Report
Hurricane Katrina
and the ensuing flood
put south Louisiana’s
existing flood protection
and levee board system
in the spotlight. The
metropolitan New
Orleans area levee
boards were seen as
seats of patronage who
failed their primary mission to focus on flood
protection. The spark
for action by Citizens for
I Greater New Orleans
was the rejection of a bill
to reform and consolidate the levee boards by the state legislature in November 2005, despite the fact that
80% of New Orleans had been under water for 3 weeks. Reform of this broken system was critical - there
would be no rebuilding of the city if citizens did not feel safe from flooding.
Citizens for 1 Greater New Orleans led the movement for levee board consolidation and reform with support
from The Business Council of New Orleans. Through community, media and legislative outreach, and public
education programs the group urged the creation of a unified levee authority comprised of experts who would
operate openly, professionally and according to sound principles.
The citizen initiative collected 53,000 signatures on a petition calling for levee board reform. The grassroots effort prompted the governor to call a special session of the Legislature in 2006 with a focus on flood protection.
A rally staged by Citizens for 1 on the opening day drew some 1,200 concerned citizens, dressed in red, who
gathered to support levee board reform.
Citizens for 1 carried out its advocacy efforts by building a broad-based coalition of civic and good government
groups and the business community to support this reform measure in the state legislature. The Legislature ultimately passed historic legislation which dissolved local levee commissions and created the Southeast Louisiana Flood Protection Authority. The legislation required the passage of a statewide constitutional amendment.
Citizens for 1, with support from the Business Council of New Orleans, raised hundreds of thousands of dollars
to fund public education efforts and mounted statewide print, radio and television campaigns to build voter support for passage of this constitutional amendment.
In September 30, 2006, Louisiana voters approved a constitutional amendment enabling consolidation and reform of levee management in southeast Louisiana with 82% statewide and 94% in Orleans. The effort brought
a new era of professionalism, accountability and transparency to the New Orleans area levee board system.
• See Citizensfor1.com for detailed reports on our 2006-2012 legislative initiatives.
8 Citizens for 1 Greater New Orleans | www. citizensfor1.com
Assessor Consolidation Report
As New Orleans faced the challenge of a massive recovery from the Katrina disaster, issues related to local
property valuations came into focus. Since the 1930’s good government reformers had assailed the property
tax collection system, which encompassed seven separate assessor offices, as being unfair and rife with political patronage. It became clear after Katrina that local property assessments were so flawed as to be worthless
in valuing damages done by the storm and flood.
Members of Citizens for 1 saw an opportunity to change the entrenched property assessment system and
voiced a public call for assessor reform legislation that would consolidate the seven assessor offices into a
single office and require a uniform method of assessment. The organization and the Business Council of New
Orleans worked directly with lawmakers to get a bill introduced.
Members of Citizens for 1 then spent weeks at the state capital and attended and testified at every legislative
committee session while the bill was under debate. It was an uphill battle, but the measure finally passed. Like
levee board reform, assessor reform required amending the state constitution and raising significant funds for a
statewide public education campaign. This amendment passed by a large margin in November of 2006, with 80
percent of approval of voters statewide and 70 percent of voters in New Orleans.
Levee board and assessor reform measures were both about good governance, ethical standards, and accountability and about changing antiquated political systems and replacing them with boards of professionals
and standards of excellence.
After the passage of these two historic legislative measures, the publisher of The Times Picayune, Ashton
Phelps stated in 2006:
“These citizens want a safe city behind sound levees so that no generation would endure what we have endured, and more than that they want honest and efficient city government, one free of old habits of cronyism
and patronage that stifled progress and made us all unsafe.”
• See Citizensfor1.com for detailed reports on our 2006-2012 legislative initiatives.
Citizens for 1 Greater New Orleans | www. citizensfor1.com 9
Community Initiatives Report
Crime Coalition
The New Orleans Crime Coalition was formed in 2007 by the Business Council of New Orleans; including
Citizens for 1 as a founding member and serving on the Executive Committee. Over 20 strong, members of
the Coalition advocate for a streamlined, coordinated and effective criminal justice system; securing funding for
initiatives that address critical needs. While serving on boards, commissions and task forces, members collaboratively promote substantively reform.
Forward New Orleans
Launched by the Business Council of New Orleans and the River Region, Forward New Orleans is a coalition
of 30 diverse civic, neighborhood and business groups who have united behind demands for principled reform
in such areas as crime, blight, city finance, economic development, city contracting and public education. The
initiative encourages citizen-led assessments and reports on elected officials’ promises to achieve the Forward
New Orleans mandates.
Citizens for 1 Greater New Orleans was a founding member of Forward New Orleans and remains an integral part of the coalition. Citizens for 1 endorsed the initial platform and participates in Forward New Orleans
political candidate interviews, a critical step in holding candidates accountable. Citizens for 1 attends coalition
meetings and makes written progress reports as Forward New Orleans works toward a City Hall that embodies accountability, transparency, efficiency and the appropriate exercise of fiduciary duty.
Drug Demand Reduction
The Greater New Orleans Drug Demand Reduction Coalition is a citizen-led initiative to make New Orleans a
healthier and safer community by reducing the demand for drugs, and the crime and social ills associated with
it. This initiative involves a coordinated effort of prevention, treatment and enforcement to reduce demand and
control drug use and the drug trade. Specific objectives in the New Orleans Drug Control Strategy are to:
• Promote healthy, safe and drug free youth, families and communities.
• Treat and heal those who are dependent on alcohol and other drugs, and restore their health, dignity
and safety.
• Enhance public safety by reducing the supply of drugs, disrupting the illegal drug market and deterring
illegal drug use by adults and youth.
Citizens for 1 provided significant leadership and support to this initiative.
New Orleans Master Plan
A long-running criticism of city planning in New Orleans was that the master plan for land use and development
were not properly reflected in zoning ordinances. Without the force of law behind it, the master plan had limited practical effect, and land-use decisions tended to be made on a case-by-case basis, with the City Council
deciding each request for a variance from the city code. In 2008, Citizens for 1 Greater New Orleans threw its
support behind a charter change to give the city’s master plan the force of law. Voters approved the measure,
and subsequently the city’s focus shifted to how to achieve the plan’s long-term vision for the city.
• See Citizensfor1.com for detailed reports on our 2006-2012 legislative initiatives.
10 Citizens for 1 Greater New Orleans | www. citizensfor1.com
“New Orleans’ best chance for recovery may lie in it’s reawakened sense of community, born of shared disaster because government, it is now clear, will not act unless pushed hard. When Citizens for 1 Greater New
Orleans meet in Frierson’s dining room, the view from the windows now stretches well beyond uptown.”
Fortune Magazine
August 21, 2006: “The Long Strange Resurection of New Orleans”
“After Katrina the head of the Corps of Engineers conceded that the Corps had built ‘a system in name only.’
While the existing local levee boards neither designed not built this flawed system — it was entirely a
federal project — people in metropolitan New Orleans recognized the need to create a unified board which had
the ability to assess what the Corps was doing and which would keep its focus on flood protection, as divorced
as possible from local politics. Citizens 1 for Greater New Orleans took the lead in convincing politicians to
give up some of their own power over the old levees boards, combine them, and establish a process that
would lead to the appointment of a technically competent board. No longer would the region be at the mercy of
the Corps of Engineers.”
John M. Barry
Author of “Rising Tide: The Great Mississippi Flood of 1927”
Commissioner, The Southeast Louisiana Flood Protection Authority, East
“These citizens want a safe city behind sound levees so that no generation would endure what we have
endured, and more than that they want honest and efficient city government, one free of old habits of
cronyism and patronage that stifled progress and made us all unsafe.”
Ashton Phelps
The Times-Picayune
“I have worked in many states and legislatures over my years in the political arena, but have never seen such
a well-organized, dedicated, AND effective group of volunteers. I applaud you and the leadership of Citizens
1 because I know the hard work that goes on behind the scenes to coordinate people, messages, etc. Again,
thank you and all Citizens 1 members for your efforts to make New Orleans a fabulous place to live, work,
learn and play.”
Caroline Roemer Shirley
Executive Director Louisiana Association of Public Charter Schools
“For her leadership in a movement that slayed two sacred cows of Louisiana politics and advanced civic activism during southeast Louisiana’s darkest hour, Ruthie Frierson, has been selected to receive The Times-Picayune Loving Cup for 2006.”
The Times-Picayune
“The second piece of legislation was the attempt to strip funding for the state OIG from the appropriations
bill. Had it succeeded, it could have encouraged a nascent counter-reform movement to un-do much of what
has been accomplished by Citizens and others after Katrina. But Citizens’ leadership drew on its relationships
across the state and engendered powerful public opposition to this ploy to reduce oversight of state government. In my opinion, the state OIG exists today only because of those efforts.”
Ed Quatrevaux
Inspector General of New Orleans
Citizens for 1 Greater New Orleans | www. citizensfor1.com 11
Coalition Partners
Citizens for 1 Greater New Orleans has worked in coalition with many other organizations which have taken
leadership roles on major issues. They include:
504Ward.com
Healthy Lifestyle Choices
New Orleans Chamber of Commerce
Agenda for Children
Hispanic Chamber of Commerce
Addiction Recovery Resources, Inc.
Holy Cross Neighborhood Association
New Orleans Convention and Visitors
Bureau
Alliance for Good Government
Horizon Initiative
New Orleans Crime Coalition
Archdiocese of New Orleans
Jefferson Business Council
Baptist Community Ministries
Jefferson Chamber of Commerce
New Orleans Metropolitan Association
of Realtors
Beacon of Hope
Junior League of New Orleans Inc.
New Orleans Police and Justice
Foundation
Black Alliance of Educational Options
Juvenile Detention Alternatives
Initiative
New Schools for New Orleans
Black Chamber of Commerce
Blue Print Louisiana
Bridge House / Grace House
Juvenile Justice Project of Louisiana
Juvenile Regional Services
Broadmoor Neighborhood Association LA Ethics 1
LA Public Defenders Board
Bureau of Governmental Research
Business Council, New Orleans and
the River Region
Center for Development and Learning
Committee for A Better New Orleans
Common Good
Council of Alcohol and Drug Abuse
Council for a Better Louisiana
Court Watch NOLA
Crimestoppers
Dillard University
Eden House
Educate Now!
Education’s Next Horizon
EngageNOLA
Family Justice Center
Forward New Orleans
Greater New Orleans Drug Demand
Reduction Coalition
Greater New Orleans Foundation
Greater New Orleans School
Partnership
Greater New Orleans Inc.
League of Women Voters
Levees.org
Odyssey House
O.P.E.N.
Partnership for Youth Development
Public Affairs Research Council
Puentes Inc.
Reentry Task Force
Scott S. Cowen Institute for Public
Education Initiatives at Tulane
Louisiana Asian Chamber of Commerce University
Silence is Violence
Louisiana Association of Business and
Teach for America
Industry
Louisiana Association of Public Charter Teach NOLA
Schools
Total Community Action
Louisiana Chamber of Commerce
Tulane Tower Learning Center
Living Witness Ministries
Louisiana Leadership Initiative
Tulane University
Louisiana Partnership for Children &
Families
Urban League of Greater New Orleans
Louisiana Realtors Association
Loyola Institute of Politics
Loyola University
Mary Queen of Vietnam Parish
Metropolitan Crime Commission, NOLA
National Council of Jewish Women,
New Orleans Section
V.O.T.E.
Women of the Storm
World Trade Center of New Orleans
Xavier University
Young Leadership Council
Youth Enpowerment Project
Youth Rescue Initiatives
Newcomb College Institute for Women
at Tulane University
New Leaders for New Schools
We want to acknowledge and express our sincerest appreciation to our local, state, and federal elected and
appointed officials and government leaders for their support and cooperation.
12 Citizens for 1 Greater New Orleans | www. citizensfor1.com