| Party Affiliation | Democrat |
| Profession | Mayor |
| Present Employer / position | City of New Orleans |
| Length of residence in Jurisdiction | 20+ years |
| List of educational institutions and degrees | Xavier University of Louisiana
- B.A. in Sociology
Harvard Kennedy School of Government
- Executive Management Training |
| Prior elected and appointed positions | Mayor of New Orleans
City Council - District B |
| Civic involvement and affiliations | - US Conference of Mayors _ Trustee
- African American Mayors Association _ Member
- US Climate Mayors _ Steering Committee Member
- C40 Cities: Global Mayors Covid-19 Recovery Task Force _ Member
- Blessed Trinity Catholic Church _ Member
- Broadmoor Improvement Association _ Fmr. President |
| 1. How can the NOPD force be increased, while maintaining high standards?
| The NOPD force can be increased while maintaining high standards by providing competitive pay, continuing to be a leader in national reform efforts, and reducing the burden of their work. By reducing the burden of their work, I mean allowing police to focus on solving violent crime, while other agencies help with enforcement and mental illness. The City of New Orleans has established an advisory task force that will create a model for crisis response. This will include social workers and mental-health clinicians, someone who lives with mental illness and a member of the Orleans Parish Prison Reform Coalition. With a greater emphasis on crisis-intervention teams of social workers and trained clinicians, NOPD can better maximize people power for violent crimes. My administration is also proposing to deputize civilian employees of some city departments to issue citations for certain quality of life municipal violations. This would also help free up NOPD resources. |
| 2. Will you support an ordinance to establish an independent external evaluation of the Ethics Review Board as called for in the Charter? Please explain your answer.
| Yes. I supported a similar ordinance in 2015 and would be supportive of another in 2021. |
| 3. What do you think are the three (3) most important issues facing the citizens of New Orleans.
| Public Safety
COVID-19 Safety / Economic Recovery
Infrastructure / Affordable Housing |
| 4. What steps would you propose for improving the Sewerage and Water Board?
| At the beginning of my administration, we changed the leadership of SWB. We then sped up the Joint Infrastructure Recovery Response Program which implemented a $2.2 billion capital improvement program and established an Infrastructure Advisory Board for increased oversight. The next steps will be to: modernize SWB billing system; delineate responsibility of all surface work to DPW and all subsurface work to SWB; connect SWB, DPW, and CORPS to share data and comprehensive plan for drainage and retaining water; develop an asset management system for SWB and include SWB information in Open Data dashboards. |
| 5. How do you propose to reduce crime, and especially violent crime, in the city?
| We have to address deeply rooted systemic and structural inequities that breed crime in New Orleans and as we continue to move forward we must take the three-pronged approach to public safety of prevention, intervention, and apprehension. Prevention, from early childhood education to work readiness: investing in youth, families, and community leaders to reduce the incidence of violence by continuing to establish partnerships with MCOs, other academic institutions, state agencies, and healthcare providers. Intervention: providing post-detention support and development programs for youth and adults alike to reduce recidivism and make our communities stronger. We have also created programs to rehabilitate and prevent future attachment to the criminal justice system, so that when someone commits their first crime it is also their last. Apprehension: capturing violent offenders and making our streets safe again. Together, these three steps represent a holistic approach toward making New Orleans a safer and more vibrant place to live. |
