elections

Allan Katz and Danae Columbus: Local legislative candidates hope lightning strikes this fall

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With qualifying less than 60 days away, local candidates are wanting lightning to strike to drive interest and money into the fall legislative races. Will lightning strike twice for School Board member Leslie Ellison as she takes on popular State Sen. David Heitmeier? As a physician and Chair of the state senate’s Health and Welfare Committee, Heitmeier played a leadership role in the passage of medical marijuana. Ellison beat out OPSB incumbent Lourdes Moran four years ago during the African-American sweep of elected offices in Algiers. Jackie Clarkson, who had lost her previously solid black Algiers base, also fell during that sweep to Councilmember Nadine Ramsey.

elections

Allan Katz and Danae Columbus: Has Huckabee already wooed would-be Jindal voters?

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Because our ancestors hailed from countries where freedom was not free, we firmly believe that a big part of the American Dream is the freedom to run for public office. Actually, we are eternally grateful that so many Americans in cities large and small are willing to risk their personal privacy and accept inevitable criticism while articulating their ideas on how our democracy should operate. Whether we like the positions candidates take or not, we still appreciate their First Amendment right to speak up – which our ancestors could not do without fear of death or reprisal. Earlier this week we spoke with two-time presidential candidate Mike Huckabee, a Republican religious rights conservative and former governor of Arkansas, who was meeting with a small group of supporters at Ralph’s On The Park. Huckabee is clearly fulfilling his vision of the American Dream.

elections

Allan Katz and Danae Columbus: Bobby Jindal reaches out to true believers in the crowd in Kenner

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Conservative religious-freedom advocates still exist in America, and Gov. Bobby Jindal must connect with every single one of them if he is going to break out from the bottom of the pack to become a real player in the Republican presidential nomination race. The ballroom at the Pontchartrain Center was packed to the gills yesterday with mostly white, flag-waving believers as Jindal made his highly structured announcement for President of the United States. The event started out with recorded messages from Archie Manning and former Gov. Mike Foster, Jindal’s mentor and former employer. His logo is a sparkling red and blue “J” that almost looks like a Christmas decoration. Tickets (pre-registration that is) were required for the event.

elections

Allan Katz and Danae Columbus: Statewide elections coming before voters

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Obviously hungry for new leaders at the state level, New Orleans voters had three opportunities yesterday to hear from various candidates for state-wide office, now that campaign season is ramping up after the conclusion of the 2015 legislative session. State Rep. John Bel Edwards, Lt. Governor Jay Dardenne, and PSC Commissioner Scott Angelle were generally congenial and complimentary of each other as they addressed a group of 1,000 predominately Westbank voters at the Alario Center very early yesterday morning. Edwards, a state representative, lawyer and West Point grad, has a sincere, measured approach and delivery that belies his West Point training. Dardenne reminds listeners of his many years of scandal-free service in the State Senate, as Secretary of State and finally Lt. Governor. With a cadence and delivery style ala Edwin Edwards, Angelle is a relatively conservative Cajun populist who started as a young Acadiana elected official and made his way up as Bobby Jindal’s head of the Department of Natural Resources, a Jindal-appointed Lt. Governor, and finally to the PSC.

city government

Allan Katz and Danae Columbus: Domestic abuse by officers is just another hidden police problem

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Generally speaking, we like Police Chief Michael Harrison and the NOPD. We think Chief Harrison is at least trying to do a good job within the budget and directives set by Mayor Landrieu. But there are serious neglect-of-duty and abuse-of-power issues hovering over the NOPD including yesterday’s City Council dialogue on the mishandling of sex-crime and child-abuse cases. It is unfortunate that Chief Harrison did not address this problem before being forced to do so by a scathing report from IG Ed Quatrevaux. Even though Deputy Chief Arlinda Westbrook complied some frightening statistics that found wide-ranging administrative policy violations, no officer has been disciplined in the seven months since Quatrevaux’s initial report because of the prevailing good-old-boys network inside the NOPD where they protect their own.

city government

Allan Katz and Danae Columbus: MacArthur grant only a first step to solving New Orleans jail problems

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Yesterday’s announcement by Mayor Landrieu that the MacArthur Foundation was providing $150,000 for a study regarding our high incarceration rates was good news indeed. New Orleans has the highest incarceration rate per capital of any jurisdiction in the country — quadruple the national average. Since 2010 we have jailed more than 10 out of every 1,000 residents. Why does New Orleans and Louisiana incarcerate so many people — especially African-American males, who make up 90% of the prison population? Criminal justice public policy trends during the Clinton era and beyond encouraged incarceration for all offenders, including those awaiting trail and parole violators.

elections

Allan Katz and Danae Columbus: Republican Scott Angelle hopes third time is the charm in gubernatorial bid

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As Acadiana-based gubernational candidate and Public Service Commissioner Scott Angelle made the rounds at a Cajun Fais Do Do held in his honor last night in New Orleans, he reminded the close to 100 attendees that Louisiana voters have a history of electing governors who hail from Acadiana — Edwin Edwards and Kathleen Blanco — and that several of our recent governors — Mike Foster and Buddy Roemer — were early dark horses. One of nine children whose father headed up the state’s Wildlife and Fisheries department and passed down his passion for the environment, Angelle was quick to differentiate himself from front-runner U.S. Senator David Vitter and his old boss Bobby Jindal. Angelle is promoting himself as a populist; a bottom-up (not top-down) politician who believes that legislators have earned the right to be equal partners in government and who will listen to the needs of everyday citizens. “I’ll be someone you and your family can come to with your problems,” Angelle said. Angelle started out as a problem-solving Democratic local elected official in St.

elections

Allan Katz and Danae Columbus: Abraham Lincoln still inspires those seeking freedom and justice

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Americans rich and poor, old and young, paused yesterday to remember the 150th anniversary of the assassination of America’s first martyred commander in chief, Abraham Lincoln. Lincoln is often considered America’s greatest president, polling way ahead of even George Washington. A self-educated lawyer born in Kentucky’s western frontier, Lincoln became an early leader in the newly formed Republican Party and always spoke out against the expansion of slavery. Lincoln won the presidency by sweeping the North, causing the Confederate States of America to be created even before he was sworn in as America’s sixteenth president. Unlike many of our current elected officials, Lincoln felt very strongly about the need to reunite our nation which slavery had bitterly divided.

elections

Allan Katz and Danae Columbus: Jeb Bush and David Vitter may make a tempting combo for conservative voters

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Louisiana donors will get their first chance to view former Florida Governor Jeb Bush’s all-but-declared presidential candidacy up close and personal when Bush comes to New Orleans on April 15 as the special guest at U.S. Sen. David Vitter’s fundraising reception. Dozens of Louisiana’s heavy-hitter Republican donors — and a few Democrats too — are sure to find their way to the Metairie estate of Joe Canizaro, one of the most prolific bundlers in the Gulf South. In the most recent polls we’ve seen, Bush is neck-and-neck with Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker for the lead but the race has barely begun. On the Democratic side of course, Hillary Clinton’s support has simmered down from a couple of months ago. But there is still no challenger on the horizon.