Council District A Candidate Forum
The four candidates running for New Orleans City Council District A have agreed to attend the forum organized by the Central Carrollton Association. The event will be held on Monday, 11 January 2009 from 6:30pm to 8:30pm in the main sanctuary at St. Matthew UCC (1333 South Carrollton Avenue–S. Carrollton at Willow). This forum will feature a Q&A format allowing the audience members to ask the individual candidates questions.
City Council District A Candidates:
John “Jay” Batt
Virginia Blanque
Susan G. Guidry
“Fred” Robertson
You are cordially invited to the 2009 CCA Annual Meeting and Holiday Party on Thursday, December 10, 2010 from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. It will be held at Riccobono Panola Street Cafe at 7801 Panola Street. We hope you will join us for a brief program to elect CCA officers and board members for 2010. Please come and celebrate our neighborhood and the holidays with old and new friends.
You are encouraged to bring a dish or food item for the potluck party such as a salad, appetizer, casserole, snack or dessert. Please email Michele Sartor on what you can bring at michelleS922@aol.com. Thanks to Panola Street Cafe for warmly hosting us and providing coffee and soft drinks!
If you have not paid your 2010 dues this would be any easy way to drop off your check and support the neighborhood for 2010! Thank you!
To see proposed CCA Bylaws, click here.
Subject: 2nd District NOPD NONPACC Meetings Notes for the 111709 Meeting
Neighbors,
Meeting conducted by Maj. Little and Lt. Montalbano. Turnout of neighborhood people was light. The two “Quality of Life” officers were also present.
1. Statistics:
- There were only 140 total crimes reported for the month of October.
- In our neighborhhod extending to Louisiana Avenue there was 1 aggravated battery, 1 auto burglaries, and 1 auto theft.
- There were no rapes nor murders in the 2nd District.
- Since the first of the year there have been 630 narcotics arrests, 146 guns seized, and 2,479 total arrests.
2. We discussed specific crimes in the district not in our neighborhood. Auto burglaries have been up significantly since the beginning of November in the district, most just on the Lake side of St. Charles between Jefferson and Louisiana Avenues however there are down this week.
4. Maj Little has again urged us to remove valuables (computers, GPS’s, cell phones and the like) from sight in our autos and to always keep them locked. Some people have been leaving the extra set of keys inside their cars resulting in a crime where after the car break in and the discovery by the criminals of the keys (sometimes just in the glove box) and they then use them to drive off. Do not leave your extra keys inside the car.
5. Turn your outside lights on after dark. It costs so little and is a great deterrent. Criminals do not like lights shining on them.
6. Graffiti was discussed briefly.
7. There will be no NONPACC Meeting in December.
There will be Christmas Caroling in Palmer Park (Carrollton & Claiborne) on December 13th at 5:00 PM. All are welcome.
Notes thanks to
Bob Smith
Co-leader
Faubourg Marengo Neighborhood Association
Councilperson Shelly Midura is advocating for neighborhood leaders and organizations in District A to get informed and involved in the 2010 budget process. Here are ways you can participate:
Councilperson Midura will hold 2 more meetings with citizens of District A to update them on the budget process and seek their input on priorities for funding and budget cuts. These meetings are scheduled for: (1) Wednesday, November 11, 2009, 7:00 p.m., City Council Chambers and (2) November 18, 2009, 7:00 p.m. City Council Chambers.
A schedule of budget hearings and budget informmation can be found on cityofno.com website, as well as live video of the budget hearings.
NONPACC (New Orleans Neighborhood Police Anti-Crime Council) MEETING FOR OCTOBER 2009
Notes provided by Tom Jacobson of Faubourg Marengo and Adrienne Miester of Central Carrollton
Major Little was out sick this evening, so the meeting was presided over by Lt. Montabano and Officer Staehle in his absence.
STATS
The stat sheets were handed out and the September stats were definitely down. It appeared to be a record low–at least for me, who has been covering these meetings for years. And it seemed to be pretty typical for the district as a whole. “A very easy month for us,” as Montabano put it. There was a total of 149 crimes in District II, with no homicides whatsoever. The Lt. called it one of the best months ever. Crime is down 14% City wide. 98% of cases are being accepted by the DA. Those that aren’t are reviewed to see how they can be improve. More criminals are being kept in jail.
COMPARING YEARS
A stat sheet representing crime totals for the years 2002 to 2009 YTD (end of third quarter) also showed remarkable improvement over time. There was a total of 5332 crimes committed in the district in 2002. That was reduced to 2805 through 2008 and 1750 through the end of September this year. These numbers were pretty much reflective of all categories of crimes, except for homicides. There were 29 homicides in 2002 and 31 in 2008, down to 21 this year (to date). Montabano preferred to draw our attention to the reduction in crime overall.
WHY A REDUCTION IN CRIME
Someone asked to what we should attribute this reduction of crime in the district. Montabano suggested several possibilities (including luck), but he was also effusive in his praise of the present district commander. “The major is a very good about disseminating information to his officers, maybe the best I’ve ever seen. He’s sharp.” To which the officer who is in charge of security at Tulane and who was a member of the NOPD for 30 years added: “[Little] is an outstanding cop, and he wants his men to be cops–not secretaries. He holds his officers accountable.” He went on to say that only one other district commander that he knew of in his 30 years was comparable to Major Little.
It wasn’t all praise, as Montabano said that Little “aggravates” a lot of people. He doesn’t take no for an answer and continues to pursue issues doggedly.
This caused one person to ask, “If he’s so good, how long will we have him here.” Montabano didn’t know, but he said there will definitely be many changes when the new mayor is elected in 2010.
GRAFFITI
At the end of the meeting Fred Ratke, who has been erasing graffiti throughout the city for 10 years, spoke briefly about their program. For more about it, visit his website www.operationcleansweepnola.com. And he encouraged citizens to call him about graffiti in their neighborhoods. The number to call is 486-9694. It is a free service.
50% of the stop signs can now be cleaned. The amount of graffiti has tripled since Katrina. They will respond within 7 days of when you call.
MAGAZINE FESTIVAL SATURDAY
Don’t forget the Magazine Street Blues Festival on Saturday from noon to 8 pm at the corner of Magazine and Napoleon. Napoleon will be blocked off in both directions. There will be a lot of music and food, and the proceeds will go to COPS II, which supports the Second District NOPD.
CENTRAL CARROLLTON ASSOCIATION (CCA)
OCTOBER 2009 NEIGHBORHOOD/BOARD MEETING MINUTES
19 October 2009
Present were Joe Tucker, Amy Collins, Phyllis Jordan, Bary Kohl, Paul Baricos, Happy Johnson, John Pecoul, Kurt Buchert, Adrienne Miester, John DeFraites, Gabriel Bordenave, and Robert Desmarais Sullivan.
As first order of business, it was agreed that Nagendra’s son, Vijay, would be memorialized by a tree and by donation to his camp.
BYLAWS AND NOMINATIONS
By the November 9 meeting, John Picou and Paul will have reviewed the present bylaws to prepare recommendations for change. If possible, Barry with Adrienne will have a list of proposed officers for 2010. If not then the list will be available for the December meeting. John Pecoul requested resignations early, so they could prepare the correct number of candidates. He also noted that the role of the nominating committee was not clearly described in the bylaws, as the responsibility of the board for fiscal affairs and for the goals of CCA are also not clear. He recommended that these changes be included in the proposed changes to the bylaws.
YARD SALE
The postponed yard sale will take place on some date after Mardi Gras 2010.
NIX LIBRARY
Elaine Leyda submitted a written report on her work about the library. To resume her main point, she believes it unlikely that closure of Nix will be removed from either the Library Master Plan or the City Master Plan. She mentions some peoples’ doubts that there will actually be a CMP, but she expresses her own expectation there will be one. For that reason, she notes the importance of getting word out to the public about the suggested closure of Nix. She intends to attend the City Planning Commission meeting in the City Council chambers on October 27 from 3:30 to 5:00 and invites as many as possible to attend with her. She also recommends that everyone read the master plans. She noted that the Northwest Carrollton Associaton has sent a statement to the CPC opposing closure.
Barbara recommended approval of Elaine’s position; Phyllis moved and Robert seconded a motion to approve Elaine’s position and action, and the board voted unanimously in favor. Barry brought up the possibility of expanding and modernizing Nix. Carl Becnel is interested in working on the building design.
Elaine also needs help in fund-raising and other actions connected with Nix.
The discussion of the board concentrated on Elaine’s request that we help inform the public about the recommended closure. It was also noted that closure is threatened because Nix is not sufficiently used, so it is also necessary to encourage and invent uses for Nix.
In connection with this discussion, John Pecoul observed that comments made to the CPC during public meetings about the CMP were usually not considered. He contrasted the attitude of the CPC with the willingness of the United New Orleans Plan leaders to include immediately all public comments.
TREASURER’S REPORT
Joe announced an unexpected deposit in the CCA account. A sum of $1800 left over from the defunct Upper Carrollton Association is now in the CCA account. This is added to the deposits from dues, leaving about $3000 in the account.
Also, Joe attended a review of the city’s 2010 budget process. There he received an internal memo which he was able to see that the budgeting system was ‘broken, if not illegal’. In particular, he criticized the fact that the Mayor prepares a budget without input from the City Council, which can only amend what the mayor proposes. Barbara recalled that Shelley Midura had asked us at our last association meeting to become more involved in the budgeting process. John Pecoul noted that the process does not follow the city charter. Shelley Midura will hold a Townhall meeting on October 27th, apparently in the morning, to which everyone is invited.
During this discussion, Barry spoke of the interest of environmental groups, like the Sierra Club, in the Mayor’s race. He proposes a prepared series of questions about environmental matters for all candidates to answer. He said the Sierra Club will send a questionnaire to all candidates and the CCA could do the same. Barbara encouraged cooperation of many neighborhood associations in this project. Amy noted the League of Women Voters is preparing a list of questions and is planning a series of five for January.
Barbara proposed an executive-committee meeting for next week and perhaps another one in the beginning of December to make decisions that the whole board need not be present to take.
MEMBERSHIP LISTS AND RECRUITMENT
Phyllis distributed a membership committee report. She and Amy are planning a membership campaign for early December. She will prepare a list of those who have paid and those who have not. Those who have paid recently will be considered paid for 2010. Phyllis noted that the application form is available on-line, and John DeFraites stated he has the website organized so that each committee has its own page now, including the membership committee.
With that, the question was raised about training on how to upload documents to the page. John offered to train those interested from 6:00 to 6:30pm before the next meeting on November 9.
John noted that he would continue his ‘blasts’, so that we would have regular communication in addition to the website, now at http://ccanola.org/ , though the old site at centralcarrolltonassociation.org will be readable until the domain expires. Barry suggested recuperating the old name when it becomes available. John also asked that information for his blasts be sent to him by the 1st and 15th of the month. Committee chairs in particular are asked to respect those dates, if they important information to communicate. He also stressed that the membership should learn the address of the new website to avoid delays in communication.
Phylllis concluded this part of the membership report by noting there are now 49 block captains stepping forward out of 70 possible.
Amy recommended that one person be in charge of designing recruitment and another for matching volunteers to tasks in the neighborhood once they are members. Barry stressed the importance of inviting non-board members to assume roles in order to prevent ‘burn-out’ on the board and to cultivate new leaders for the association. Barbara suggested that the nominating committee keep potential non-board leaders in mind as they list potentially interested members.
Amy announced that the membership renewal drive will begin November 2. An email reminder will go to all listed members with addresses. If necessary, regular mail will be used as a follow-up or for those without email. The 2010 dues will be $20 per household and $10 for individuals. She requested that the board pay $50 for the year. The membership year will go from November to November. A paypal account will be opened for those who prefer in that way.
THE ‘BLIGHTED’ COMMITTEE
Kurt and Joe went to a city seminar on blighted properties and found that the Central Carrollton area was in much better condition than New Orleans East, Lakeview, Gentilly, and other ‘wet areas’ of the city. He also found that no solid system exists to address blight. Residents continue to live in their blighted houses without repairing them, and nothing is being done by the city. He noted that Lakeshore is compiling a list of blighted properties, and as an association it is sending letters to property owners. Kurt had compiled a list of 30 properties in Central Carrollton, complete with all necessary information on owners, values, nature of blight and severity of blighted condition. Since the city is addressing only the worst blight, he recommended that CCA imitate Lakeview and begin by addressing the 30 properties on his list. He will draft a letter based on the Lakeview letter and give it to the executive committee to approve at the meeting next Monday. Amy moved and Barry seconded that the letter be written on formal stationary, approved and sent to the owners of at least the first ten properties on Kurt’s list. The motion passed.
Phyllis asked whether non-payment of taxes constituted abandonment and what that would mean for blighted properties. In discussion, it was noted that the Riverlake properties required watching. John DeFraites noted he had had difficulties with them about the property at the corner of Willow and Short pre-flood. There is also a property on Adams and Jeannette for sale but unoccupied.
MISCELLANEOUS
Phyllis spoke of a loud Lift Pump at the corner of Lowerline and Cohn that has been there for three years, and Barry said he had learned it would not be corrected until 2012. The question was raised about the possibility of a baffle over it. Residents that actually live in that block were noted and they will be asked to write a letter of complaint about it, which the CCA could then support.
Adrienne spoke of the COPS II street festival to take place at the corner of Magazine and Napoleon from 12pm to 8pm in support of education, training, and counseling.
Respectfully submitted,
ROBERT DESMARAIS SULLIVAN, CCA Secretary
