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Section: Politics

Inspector General Charter Amendment Vote
On October 4, New Orleans voters will go to the polls to vote on an important charter change which has the full backing of the City Council. This charter change will create a permanent funding source for the Office of Inspector General and will ensure that no future Mayor or City Council can alter the important work of the Inspector General as we move into the future. I will be holding a town hall meeting on this topic on Tuesday, September 23 at 6PM at Touro Synagogue, located on St. Charles Avenue. Inspector General Robert Cerasoli will be joining me at this meeting. Please attend and help spread the word.

Disaster Relief for Local Businesses
Immediately after Hurricane Gustav left New Orleans, and we were left to deal with its aftermath, it became increasingly clear that our local businesses were being crushed by the burdens brought on by the mandatory evacuation and subsequent power outages. While a city shuts down for a major disaster, its local business’ expenses do not cease. As I made my way around New Orleans neighborhoods after Gustav, and spoke with small and large businesses alike, their struggles to pay employees and operating costs while receiving little to no revenue that week was a glaring problem. We cannot prevent future natural disasters, but we can have proactive policies and procedures in place to assure our local businesses that they will not be so heavily burdened in the aftermath. To do this, I authored legislation to specifically address the economic impact of storms on our business community. Resolution 08-542 was passed by the full City Council at the September 18th meeting. The legislation calls on the Louisiana Department of Economic Development (LED) and Greater New Orleans, Inc. (GNO, Inc.) to create a coalition of business, government and business academic leaders. The coalition will be charged with developing a comprehensive business disaster continuity program to assist local businesses in advance disaster preparation to lessen hardships, including financial and labor force issues, resulting from mandatory evacuations and short term closures caused by curfews, power outages and other hardships resulting from disasters. I am meeting with LED Secretary Stephen Moret and GNO, Inc. President and CEO Michael Hecht next week to begin the process of forming the coalition. It is our goal to have policies and programs in place for our businesses by the start of the 2009 Hurricane season.

New Orleans Master Plan
New Orleans has launched what it calls the final step in coming up with a comprehensive plan that will serve as a blueprint - enforced by law - for redevelopment after Hurricane Katrina. The Master Plan will build on, integrate, and go beyond all the post-Katrina recovery and rebuilding plans that citizens have worked so hard on since the storm. The Master Plan will create a 20-year policy and strategic framework to guide decisionmakers and the community. The New Orleans City Planning Commission is creating the Master Plan, along with a consultant team led by Goody Clancy and made up of national and NewOrleans-based planning experts. As the Master Plan will, in large part, help determine the future of New Orleans, a series of public meeting will be held to gather citizen input. Please go to http://www.nolamasterplan.org for the schedule. The first public meeting is Saturday, September 27th at Xavier University starting at 8:30AM. I urge you to tell your neighbors and friends about these meetings, and to attend at least one. On the November 4th ballot, citizens will have the chance to vote on a City Charter change that will give the new Master Plan the force of law.

The Master Plan is scheduled for completion by June 2009. A final draft of the CZO will also be ready in June 2009 to go through the official public hearing and adoption process at the City Planning Commission and the City Council. This is a major undertaking by the City, and I want to make sure that all citizens are aware of their role in this new Plan. Please go to the Master Plan website and educate yourself on this critical issue.

Gentilly Fest
On Saturday, October 11th in Pontchartrain Park, the first annual ‘Gentilly Fest’ will celebrate all things “Gentilly”. The event will include a great selection of local food, live music, children’s activities and arts and crafts for sale. The Gentilly Civic Improvement Association is putting on the ‘Fest’ and I am proud to support them as they celebrate one of the most unique and beautiful neighborhoods in New Orleans. If you are interested in more information, please go to http://www.gentillyfest.org.

Sincerely,

Arnie D. Fielkow
Councilmember-at-large

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