Mayor delivers State of the City address

Mayor Landrieu with a Concerned Citizen

On Saturday evening, I was dropping a letter into one of the few remaining mailboxes on St. Charles Avenue and noticed the mayor crossing the street. Mitch Landrieu was headed to the Jewish Community Center with two teens, apparently taking them to the Sock Hop - no limos, no entourage, no fuss.

Then, yesterday, I heard him deliver the State of the City address at the Mahalia Jackson Center for the Performing Arts. The poor man has had his work cut out for him but, after two years, has accomplished a whole lot. From my point of view, the city does look remarkably better and the news about the schools, parks, libraries and health care demonstrates it really is a whole lot better for many of us.

While cutting the budget, Landrieu has helped jump start new businesses, increase jobs, create affordable housing, reform the public belt railway, airport and taxi service. We finally got a recycling program, filled 67,000 pot holes and repaved 60 miles of roadways. Even five years after the storm, a third of the streetlights weren't working when he took office and residential neighborhoods were filled with blighted properties.

He invited the feds in to help reform the police department and they've helped strike at the root of corruption and police misdeeds.

Our lingering problem is the unnatural" murder rate, one of the worst in the country, mostly afflicting young, black males. The mayor's murder-reduction strategy, dubbed "NOLA for Life," has five goals: stop the shooting; invest in prevention; promote jobs and opportunity; get residents involved in rebuilding the neighborhoods; and improve the Police Department.

He emotionally recited a verse from a Langston Hughes poem, "A Dream Deferred," which was being studied by a promising student who died from a gunshot wound in March.

"What happens to a dream deferred? Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun? Or fester like  sore - and then run?"

"As every parent knows, you can only be as happy as your saddest child," he said, "and unfortunately in this beautiful, precious city, we have too many of those."

Landrieu called on attendees to join mentoring programs and "Fight the Blight" volunteering events. It would take all of us to make a difference.

I have said this issue is the one thing I would volunteer time to do, so I need to sign up at Saving Our Sons.

New Orleans tackling problems..

Mitch Landrieu tells '60 Minutes' the city is confronting its problems

Updated: Sunday, May 01, 2011, 7:12 PM

  Dennis Persica, The Times-Picayune 

In a nationally televised interview, New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu said it's "healthy" that the city is confronting its corruption and crime problems.

CBS NewsMitch Landrieu on '60 Minutes' Sunday afternoon

An interview with the mayor, commemorating his first year in office, was aired on the CBS News "60 Minutes" program Sunday evening.

When reporter Byron Pitts suggested that the mayor might be "defensive" or "riled up" when asked about crime and corruption in the city, Landrieu answered, "'pissed' would be the better word."

He said New Orleans is not alone in facing such problems.

"Political corruption is endemic all over this country; in some places worse than others," he said.

"You have other major American cities where crime rates at different points in their histories have spiked dramatically," Landrieu said. "So this is not something that we get just because we drank it in the water down here. It's not something that you don't find in other places."

But for some reason, he said, New Orleans seems to be put under a microscope more than other cities.

"People in glass houses shouldn't throw stones," Landrieu said of other areas that may have similar problems. "Take care of your business, and we'll take care of ours.

"Confronting corruption, confronting crime, making sure the people of America know that we know we've got it and we're going to do something about it is a healthy thing."

Landrieu described himself as a "street rat," saying he loves Mardi Gras, which Pitts in his voice-over narration said is "a two-week long party where even the high and mighty can get down and dirty."

Footage show Landrieu dancing with the king of Zulu, onstage at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival with Rockin' Doopsie and with members of the 610 Stompers, an all-male marching group that takes part in local parades

Landrieu talked about the confluence of his election last year with the New Orleans Saints' Super Bowl win then next day.

"In a crazy way, it was a spiritual moment for the people of the city," Landrieu said. "People here so desperately needed something good to happen, and to believe that you could go from worst to best."

Landrieu said that despite the tens of thousands of abandoned properties as a result of the post-Hurricane Katrina flooding, things are looking up for the city.

"Our unemployment rate is lower than the national average," he said. "Our housing values have gone up 9 percent in the last year, for the first time in -- I don't know --  years. All of a sudden, more people are moving back into the city."

But Landrieu added that no one in the city is naive about the problems facing it.

"What we're doing is hard," he said. "Nobody else in the country has ever done this. People have had struggles in their communities with one thing or another. We're struggling with everything."

Pitts said that when Landrieu took office, he faced the same problems other mayors do, such as fiscal issues, crime and high unemployment.

"But he also took over a city government described as suffering from incompetent leadership and widespread corruption," Pitts said.

Landrieu said his administration can't focus on fixing just one problem at a time and instead has "to fix everything all at the same time.

"You can't concentrate on one thing to the exclusion of the others."

© 2011 NOLA.com. All rights reserved.

Our mayor sings, of course

Mayor Mitch Landrieu sings the praises of New Orleans

Published: Saturday, January 22, 2011, 11:00 AM     Updated: Saturday, January 22, 2011, 6:36 PM

 By Times-Picayune Staff 

There's a bit of the performer in most politicians -- some more than others.

View full sizeMatthew Hinton, The Times-Picayune archiveMayor Mitch Landrieu was photographed singing 'Indian Red' with Big Chief Alfred Womble of the Cheyenne Uptown New Orleans Mardi Gras Indians tribe, left, and Brian Nelson of the Guardians of the Flame Mardi Gras Indians 'during a Hurricane Katrina 5th anniversary event on Aug. 29, 2010.

Harry Connick Sr., the city's former district attorney, has frequently moonlighted as a nightclub crooner, albeit to smaller crowds than his much more famous son. Former City Councilman Oliver Thomas is currently starring in a play. And there's Frank Minyard, the trumpet-playing coroner.

Mayor Mitch Landrieu, who took singing lessons and contemplated a stage career as a young man, is the latest elected official to take to the spotlight, appearing on a CD compilation of original songs by Paul Sanchez and Colman deKay titled "Nine Lives: A Musical Adaptation."

Landrieu sings on the upbeat finale, "Rebuild Renew," joining Lillian Boutte, John Boutte, Michael Cerveris, Anders Osborne and Mem Shannon, among others.

A musical take on the book "Nine Lives" by Dan Baum, the collection is described in a news release as an "oral history of New Orleans in the 40 years between the twin catastrophes known as Betsy and Katrina, as seen through the eyes of nine of its citizens."

The CD includes 24 songs planned for a musical theater production.

Chris Joseph, the project's California-based executive producer, said he was unaware of Landrieu's background in music when the mayor was mentioned as a participant.

"I admit I was a bit skeptical," Joseph said. "But I thought he was great. He aced it. There were two verses for the mayor. And he's not singing background. He's on lead."

The lyrics assigned to Landrieu could have been lifted from one of his campaign speeches: "Everybody, we all know it's true. Still got a lotta work to do. You help me, yeah, I'll help you. Together we can rebuild and renew!"

Landrieu closes his brief performance with this sugary passage recalling his campaign mantra: "One dream, one fight. One voice, one city. We love New Orleans. Ahhh, ain't she pretty?"

Joseph, whose Mystery Street Records is releasing the album, is the driving force behind Threadhead Records, which assists up-and-coming New Orleans musicians with grants and loans. Joseph said a portion of the "Nine Lives" proceeds will be set aside for grants.

More than 100 musicians and singers perform on the CD, including Irma Thomas, Allen Toussaint, Wendell Pierce, Kevin Griffin, Michelle Shocked, Harry Shearer, Shamar Allen and the Dixie Cups.

A release party for "Nine Lives" will be held Jan. 29 at 8 p.m. at Kajun's Pub, 2256 St. Claude Ave. The event is open to the public.

Frank Donze can be reached at fdonze@timespicayune.com or 504.826.3328. Bruce Eggler can be reached at beggler@timespicayune.com or 504.826.3320.

© 2011 NOLA.com. All rights reserved.