Advertiser’s Message: Council candidate Dana Kaplan is well prepared to address challenges and issues facing New Orleans

Posted by UptownMessenger.com at 7:55 am Advertiser specials

Oct 192012

By Dana Kaplan

New Orleans is a unique city in many ways, one of which is the way our city government and representation is structured. Cities much smaller than New Orleans have twice as many City Council members, which allows them to specialize on different issues. The relatively small number of New Orleans City Council members requires each member to have a broad-based knowledge on nearly every issue from education to infrastructure, blight and ethics to job creation.

That’s why I’ve released a comprehensive platform on my website www.danakaplannola.com. I want voters and residents of District B to know how I intend to address the multitude of challenges and issues facing our city.

Yes, I will focus first and foremost on criminal justice, crime, and public safety because without a safe city and a citizenry that trusts it’s law enforcement, we will never be able to move forward.

Here’s what I’ve done. For the past six years, I’ve worked tirelessly to get the Office of the Independent Police Monitor put into law, helped Safe Streets/Strong Communities grow into a strong voice for our neighborhoods and why, as Executive Director of the Juvenile Justice Project of Louisiana, I’ve worked to create youth opportunities so our kids can find something to do before they find trouble.

But, as a City Council member, I know there are critical issues other than crime, and I’m prepared to address those issues with real solutions.

And here’s what I’ll do. On blight and infrastructure, we need to invest in improved streetlights, traffic lights and fix the potholes as well as coordinate code enforcement programs in City Hall. And we must ensure efficient code enforcement on blighted properties.

The City Council, working with the Mayor’s office, must be a force helping create jobs for our residents. I’ll do this on the City Council by reducing barriers for small businesses and supporting the streamlining process into a “one stop shop”. I’ll work to become a recruiter of new businesses to District B and help existing businesses grow. And, I’ll support the Biomedical Corridor, which could bring over 6,000 jobs to our area.

As your representative on the City Council, I’ll work to make District B and the entire city a better place. Go to my website, take a look at my platform, and email me with any questions – I’d love to hear what you think.

- Dana Kaplan

[This advertiser's message is paid political advertising by the Friends of Dana Kaplan. UptownMessenger.com does not endorse candidates for election.]

ahc

According to this Wiki Article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Orleans_City_Council

New Orleans appears to have had the same number of council members since 1950 when the population was at least twice of what it is today, not to mention far less problems than today and far far many businesses to begin with than today.

I think citizens are all for better representation, but how many council persons have been convicted of crimes after Katrina? Let’s see (1) Oliver Thomas, (2) Jon Johnson, (3) Renée Gill Pratt, etc.. And these two, (Cynthia Hedge-Morrell and Cynthia Willard-Lewis) are always in the news for either speeding with a police light or having something financially to do with the River Birch Garbage Dump Federal Investigation or Garbage Pickup or whatever city contractor is being investigated by the Feds.

All of this youth stuff appears nice to begin with, but why all this trouble today in 2012 than say in 1950? Did the youth somehow become bad overnight?

One of the things that those who attempt to help the YOUTH don’t understand is that they can’t be parents to every troubled kid. No amount of funding or money is going to help these kids and doubling or tripling or even 100 times the number of city council members is not going to make the youth problem go away one bit.

And why is this?

It’s because those who have tried to help have already increased financial and human resources for the last 40 years by at least 10 to 100 times with the youth problem getting worse and worse.

Look at MOON LANDRIEU, father, former mayor of New Orleans, he tried to help the blacks and youth and now decades later, what’s left of the blacks and youth? Far far far worse than could be imagined in 1950. Sure, more rights, more opportunity BUT what really happened?
Let’s see 4 black mayors, however, a lost generation of black men? More black men in prison than college? Black babies having black babies? And almost all black on black crime.

All Food Stamps (EBT), Section 8 and even Youth and Job Training Programs did was remove responsibility from black parents in their poor decisions they made in life and marriage and now most black children grow up without a father or now knowing who their father is. Most black children grow up in a single black women home. Did these things happen in 1950? No it did not.

The solution? Let them suffer the consequences of their actions and hopefully some will learn. Otherwise the cycle of violence and poverty will continue and the result will be more “lost” generations.
ahc

By the way, Ms. Dana Kaplan seems like a very concerned and caring citizen. Very much like a foster mother who wants to help.

But there comes a time when the foster mother needs to let go of the child’s hand and let the child walk on their own, and that means allowing the child to fall to the ground and get hurt even badly. Otherwise, the child will never learn to walk on his/her own.

The same could be said for former Mayor Moon Landrieu and what he needed and needs to still do and that is, “Let go of the child’s hand and allow them walk on their own for once in their life.”