| When I voted to
place the proposed
Charter amendment on
the ballot, I
assumed that far
more public
discussion and
consensus building
would have taken
place. However, the
opposite has
occurred: the
proposal appears to
have invited
substantial concern
and confusion if not
outright opposition
within the
community. I feel
that I owe you an
explanation as to
why I am voting NO.
We are not voting to
approve a Master
Plan, because it
hasnt been written.
We are voting to
make it a law. The
Master Plan and the
Comprehensive Zoning
Ordinance will not
be ready until next
year, so why are we
voting to make it a
law without seeing
its contents.
Perhaps there has
not been sufficient
time for discussion
and airing out of
the issues among the
citizenry that would
lead to greater
transparency.
Citizens have
expressed concern
regarding the
substantive content
of the plan, and the
vehicle for
citizen-resident
involvement if the
plan adopted. Simply
indicating that
citizens will be
involved without the
mechanism being
worked out between
the Council and the
citizens may be
premature. When we
agreed to the
proposed Amendment,
I assumed that the
link between the
Recovery plans and
planning for the
Master Plan would be
clear and well
developed. Yet at
the first public
meeting on the
Master Plan, a
handout was
circulated during
the small groups
that purported to be
a summary of the
findings from the
previous recovery
plans. Several of my
constituents
complained that
about three-fourth
of what they thought
was agreed to during
the recovery
planning process was
missing from the
summary document.
This failure to
clarify the links
between the two is
disconcerting and
raises deep concerns
for me. My
conclusion is that
the public would be
better served by a
specific discussion
of the relationship
between what
residents have
already planned and
agreed to for the
wet neighborhoods
and its relationship
to the content of
the Master Plan. It
appears that the
Council may have a
credibility problem
with many of our
citizens. By asking
them to trust us,
many believe rightly
or wrongly that
there is a hidden
agenda that will be
sprung on the public
either subtly or
through the planning
process and then it
will be too late to
reverse the
conclusions. I do
not want District E
to become the
dumping ground for
what other areas of
the City want to
exclude from their
neighborhoods.
Voting NO will not
stop the process and
it will give us the
opportunity to
review and discuss
the final document
before it is made
law. The following
organizations and
individuals are
opposed to the
Charter Amendment:
African-American
Leadership Project
New Orleans
Chapter of the NAACP
All Congregations
Together ACT
ACORN
Service Worker
Union International
Southern Christian
Leadership
Conference
Tribune Newspaper
LIFE
SOUL
DOVE
COUP
Former Mayor
Sidney Barthelemy
Pastor Tom Watson,
Watson Ministries
Pastor Antoine
Barriere, Household
of Faith Full Gospel
Pastor Debra
Morton, Greater St.
Stephens Full Gospel
Rep. J.P. Morrell
Constable Lambert
Boissiere
PUSH
IF YOU HAVE NOT
ALREADY VOTED,
PLEASE GET OUT AND
VOTE ON TOMORROW. |
