Mayor C. Ray Nagin 2004 State of the City Address

May 3, 2004

Good evening everyone, and thank you for your warm applause. I do consider it a privilege to stand before you as Mayor of the City of New Orleans.

I would like to welcome all Federal, State, and Local elected officials here today; all honored guests, family, and friends; and all citizens of the great city we lovingly call "The Big Easy."

I thank God for the opportunity to address you again. I also feel very humbled and blessed by all of your generous support, advice and prayers since I have been in office. I also want to especially thank the members of the City Council. Could you please stand? The Council has been our willing partner in improving city government.

The past 24 months have been the most dynamic, fast-paced, challenging, and rewarding experience of my life. I thank you, New Orleans, once again for this incredible opportunity.

We have accomplished much, have had our share of challenges, and we have positioned this City to maximize its full potential.

We have made a difference. You can see, touch, and feel the change and the energy.

When we came into office, we found a city that had made some progress, but we weren't competitive with our peer cities. Young people were leaving in droves. To be frank, we seemed to be stuck in Mississippi mud.

Perceptions of corruption and graft caused businesses and jobs to leave or not even consider us. Our city coffers were bone dry with two days of cash in the bank, leaving us on the verge of bankruptcy. Federal dollars that the city deeply depended on were also spent, and commitments were made for future dollars that are still to this day not able to be fulfilled. To make matters worse, contracts were awarded that unnecessarily tied our hands in the future with inefficiencies.

I had been looking for the ultimate challenge all my life, and I found it, big time, as your new Mayor with no previous political experience.

What fun I had!

Now we fast-forward to today. We have avoided back-to-back budget deficits. We are fiscally sound. We know exactly what resources we have. We have been very careful to spend within our means. We have stretched the public dollars in many, many areas. All of this …and no new taxes.

Contracts have been restructured for the benefit of all citizens and not just the well-connected few. And our image locally, statewide, and nationally has improved dramatically. We have accomplished a great deal in the past two years.

As a result, for the first time in history, we made Inc. Magazine's list as the 18th best city in America in which to do business. We also showed up in two other national publications with positive rankings. Our CBD ranks as the fourth hottest in the nation, and we jumped from 48th to 32nd place as one of the top cities for entrepreneurs, according to Entrepreneur magazine.

Investment dollars are now flowing back into our City with a couple of billion dollars of infrastructure and construction work in progress or near starting. Jobs grew by 4,000 in 2003. The forecast for 2004 and beyond is very good. Wages have been reported to be up by 6 %.

Our workforce development office has been restructured to focus on skills training, job placement, and youth development. We have serviced over 14 thousand individuals, resulting in direct job placement of over 1,000 citizens. That is a 300 % increase over previous years.

Our police force ranks are growing after years of decline.

On the housing front, neighborhoods throughout the city are being revitalized with back-to-back double digit increases in real estate values.

Our bread and butter industry, tourism, started out the year with a bang. Our numbers are up from last year and we are stronger than other destination cities.

Our film industry is bursting at the seams. Movie and TV projects are popping up throughout the region.

We are focused on our local musicians. We're helping them earn a decent living by teaching them to understand the business of music.

We've made city government more transparent, where you can go online and find out about properties you may want to buy, or apply for a permit or even pay a parking ticket. The City and City Hall are no longer a "road block" to the growth of new business, but rather "a brand new access road" leading to information, solutions and the growth of commerce.

We have also changed the way the city contracts for goods and services. We demand accountability from any person or business that has a contract with city government.

We've embarked on the most aggressive drainage, street, and pothole repair program in the history of New Orleans.

In addition, we've issued more than 1,000 permits to begin work on removing blighted properties from our community.

We have focused on small and emerging businesses.

The DBE (Disadvantaged Business Enterprise) certification process has been streamlined, consolidated and put online. Women and African American-owned firms are now growing and enjoying the challenges of managing that growth.

And the street cars are rolling on Canal Street. My plan is in motion to significantly upgrade this grand boulevard.

I could go on and on. But simply put, the state of the City is good. Our progress is great and we have laid a solid foundation.

Some people have said, "Mr. Mayor, why haven't you shouted from the top of City Hall all these accomplishments?"

My answer is, "We have, but perhaps we could have done a better job of helping you connect the dots." Since we moved so fast and tackled so many issues simultaneously, our changes happened at lightning speed. But we promise to communicate better in the future.

Although our foundation is set, I want to be very clear that we still have many challenges in front of us for reaching our full potential as a world-class city.

Two years ago, you made it clear that you shared my vision of a united, vibrant city with a transparent government that works for all of us. You wanted a world-class city that plays a prominent role in the global economy. And you wanted to live in a safe city with good paying jobs and good schools for our children.

I am here today to tell everyone we are well on our way to achieving many aspects of this vision. Now, we must move to the next level of change, our future.

And make no mistake about it, change is hard. We talk about it a lot. You voted for it. But often, we are only comfortable with change as long as it happens to someone else.

While I can't guarantee comfort, I can guarantee that I'll be sensitive to how change affects you and our community. To continue and accelerate progress, we must constantly look at ourselves in the mirror, and decide whether more change is needed to make New Orleans a true world-class city.

The men who came before me as mayors faced the same struggles my administration faces in trying to bring about change. Only through perseverance and strong community support were they able to accomplish what they did.

In the early 70's, it was Mayor Moon Landrieu who opened the doors for all New Orleanians to be part of the City's growth. Mayor Dutch Morial proved, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that a black man could run this city. And he did it with strength, style and grace. Mayor Sidney Barthelemy should be given full credit for laying the foundation for the development of our world class tourist and convention industry. And, Mayor Marc Morial, showed us how we could unite this community to fight crime and focus on developing the inner city. And he now serves in a national leadership position as head of the Urban League.

But let me be clear and brutally honest. In many ways, New Orleans is still a very divided city. Dr. Silas lee pointed this out so eloquently in his May 2003 report entitled, "New Orleans: A Haunted City."

Like most urban centers in the United States, we have people who are living well, people with high hopes, people who make a good living, and whose children attend classes in good schools. On the other hand, we have far too many people who live in rundown neighborhoods, without jobs, without hopes or dreams.

We have many citizens who can't even read at the sixth grade level and those whose children attend classes in dilapidated schools without the basic necessities for learning. Our public school system ranks at or near the bottom of most surveys. And our healthcare system barely meets some of our citizens' most basic needs.

I say this to you-- not just as Ray Nagin, your mayor, but as Ray Nagin, your neighbor -- born in Treme, Grew up on the West Bank, attended Catholic and public schools, went away to work, and like many others, returned to the City I love to be with family and friends, to make a difference in New Orleans.

But here's one of our key challenges. We've identified 5,000 good-paying jobs available right now in three key areas: shipbuilding, construction, and healthcare.

Just take healthcare. These are good paying jobs that start at 42-thousand dollars a year. Yet employers tell me they're having a hard time finding trained and qualified workers to fill those jobs.

One of our real challenges is helping the under-employed, people in New Orleans who are currently working in jobs that may not fulfill them. Maybe they are working as a clerk or hotel worker who has stopped dreaming and just gets by from day to day.

I propose a different approach going forward. Let's focus on these individuals who have a good work ethic, are trainable and want more in life. My belief is that the people are here, but we need to motivate them and link them to training programs. We've committed to bridging that gap.

Another underutilized segment is those who have made mistakes in the past. We are working on a program with the Criminal Sheriff's Office called "Project Second Chance." Under this program we will work with men and women who are set to be released from jail to find gainful employment.

Also, I envision a true medical district that ties in all components of healthcare:
From Tulane and LSU with their bio-medical research, Xavier University with its world-renowned pharmacy program, and Delgado, where I stand before you today, poised through its allied health program to help us fill those high paying jobs that I mentioned before.

Government can set up the framework. But we have to seek the training and go after it. That's happening right now.

My administration has tripled the number of people that we've helped find jobs through our Job 1 Workforce Development office. Eugene Gibson and Kelvin Scott are here today. They went through the Job 1 program and found jobs at Harvey Press.

Harvey Press has committed to hiring four-teens from New Orleans through Job 1's YouthWork Summer Jobs program. Ken Allen, the president of Harvey Press, is here today. Stand up Ken. Ken's business is expanding, and he sees the benefit of giving back to the community by hiring our city's youth. And I want to thank him for helping us make a difference in the way we grow and develop businesses and our workforce.

While businesses like this are growing, we are expanding opportunities for more people. In a city where over 50 % of the population is women and 67 % of the population is African American, our record of providing opportunities for women and minorities is stellar. If you check the record, you'll know that this administration has, and is working very hard to increase the opportunities for disadvantaged business enterprises.

Here are a few facts:

DBE's hold 32% of Sewerage and Water Board contracts;
They've collected more than 40% of federal dollars spent on construction and professional services contracts;
In 2003, black owned companies received 100% of the DBE work at the RTA (Regional Transit Authority.
At the airport, black-owned companies received 95% of DBE dollars, compared to as little as 17% in the past.
42% of the street projects went to qualified minority engineers, with black firms acting as prime and subcontractors for entire projects for the first time in city hall history. Some of those engineers are here today. Gentlemen, please stand up.
We have encouraged and seen the benefits of 50/50 joint ventures between minority and majority firms.

I've been visiting businesses on a weekly basis. They're telling me that it is easier now to do business at City Hall. And they are telling me they are expanding.

Standard Parking Executive Vice President Herbert Anderson, Jr. gets it. His national company partnered with Parking Solutions, a company 100 % owned by three local, qualified, young African Americans. Together, they're implementing a new, high-tech parking meter system in New Orleans. We didn't force them to work together. They saw the benefits of working with each other. This is just one of many examples of minority and majority companies building partnerships and building capacity.

To the group of engineers here today, to Harvey Press, to Parking Solutions, To Standard Parking, and to all the other businesses that understand that there is plenty of room at the table for all -- thank you all for helping us make a difference in the way this City does business.

As we create jobs and open the doors of opportunity, we are also rebuilding our communities because of its positive impact on our quality of life. Therefore, we have embarked on an aggressive drainage and street repair program. We've filled 130,000 potholes. And we moved $150 million dollars of street work out of the bank and into your neighborhoods.

Our street sweepers are also out in your neighborhoods. We've cleaned more than 34,000 miles of streets, which equals the distance from New York to Los Angeles 12 times. And, we've cleaned out about 1,200 vacant lots throughout the city.

But community development is more than just cleaning and repairing. It's also building neighborhoods and building wealth through homeownership. High end to medium homeowners are experiencing back-to-back double-digit increases in home values.

We are balancing that by serving more than 98-thousand low to medium income people through our CDBG (Community Development Block Grant) funds. And we are leading the nation through a HUD (U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development) pilot program where 30 Section 8 homeowners have been able to use their Section 8 rental vouchers toward home ownership.

We are comprehensively helping all aspects of the community through homeownership, even though the federal government cut our housing funds by $6 million.

And the kicker is when it comes to first-time home buyers, we are making history again, with 82 % of our soft-second money going to female heads-of-households, like first time home buyers, Latoya Thomas, Priscilla Foster and Chi-kal Franklin.

For years, their dream of home-ownership was deferred. Now, their dream has come true. Thank you all for your strength and perseverance and for helping us make a difference in the way we rebuild our communities.

But we can't stop there. Over the next 24 months, I pledge to continue focusing on eliminating blight. As a matter of fact, we are going after a high-intensity of blight in the Lower Ninth Ward.

After focusing in on seven strategic zones, we now turn our attention and resources to the Ninth Ward. We have a special program to develop ten-blighted houses to jumpstart the process of rebuilding that community by offsetting the heavy investment challenges there.

In neighborhood development, we have definitely made a difference together. That's part of what we've done over the past 24 months. But all of the progress that we've made will mean nothing if our citizens don't feel safe.

Let me give you an example of what I'm talking about. About six-weeks ago, I visited an eight-year old girl who was hit by a stray bullet while playing outside her aunt's house. I asked her mother how we could help make the City safer. She said..."Mr. Mayor, I know you are working hard, but I don't think you can do anything."

I heard that, but I respectfully disagree.

To that eight-year old girl, her mother, and the other victims of senseless violence that plagues our community, I promise to make this city safer for you to play, to go to school and to grow up to have a family of your own someday.

To do that, I am committed to continuing our efforts to bring the police force up to 2,000 officers. Attrition and turnover have abated and we are well on our way.

Here with us today are NOPD recruit classes 149 and 150. They are more than 100 strong. Thank you for being here. This is the first time that we've had two recruit classes underway simultaneously. One class graduates in June, the other later this summer.

We also have 250-people behind them going through the application process to be part of the next recruit classes. But we aren't stopping there.

I've called on the faith-based community to help us find more police officers and cut crime through neighborhood involvement. A group of ministers here today has committed to recruiting through their congregations. I'm also asking them to adopt several blocks around their churches.

We need to create heavenly zones around the churches to remove blight and trash, and improve public safety. This is a call to all faiths to help us find people who can become police officers.

Let me take this opportunity to commend Chief Eddie Compass. He's making people believe in the police department. When he finds out about a problem, he goes in and fixes it. We're not perfect, but the men and women of our police department do a great job. And we need to commend them and thank them for all their hard work.

And we're doing better police work. We know where the crimes are and we're sending the troops in to fight it. We've identified that half the city's murders were taking place in a seven-mile area in the 7th Ward. So, we sent more than 100 officers into that area to make a difference under a plan called "Operation Full Court Press."

We are arresting more criminals. We're processing them more quickly. And, we're getting more community support.

We also got creative and set up a network of crime surveillance cameras throughout the city. This is critical because these are potential witnesses to crimes that cannot be intimidated by any crook or thug on the street.

This work is paying off. Less than 24-months after we took office, the federal government closed its file on a ten-year investigation of the police department. Overall crime dropped by 7 % last year. Murders were down by 20 % during the first three months of this year... compared to the same time last year.

Over the next 24-months, we will continue to do an even better job of recruiting.

We got the positions. We got the money. Now, we need the people.

We also need the three legs of the criminal justice system -- Police, DA, and Criminal Court Judges working as one to make New Orleans one of the safest cities in America.

I have ordered a zero tolerance policy for illegal guns in New Orleans. We need to make it clear that illegal gun use will not be tolerated in our community. We are making sure that if you have a gun in our city, you better have a permit.

This administration is committed, but we clearly realize that we can't do that alone. With the limited resources we have, we need each of you to be part of the process.

We need more efforts like those of Rev. John Rafael of New Hope Baptist Church. He has motivated members of his congregation to stand out on the Claiborne Street corners holding signs with the simple message "Thou shall not kill." It's the right message!

Another church leader who has led by example is Pastor Fred Luter. The Franklin Avenue Baptist Church has adopted the McClure playground next to the church. Franklin Avenue Church provided $10,000 of its own money to renovate the park, and more importantly, has recruited people from their congregation to be supervisors and mentors for the kids in that neighborhood so that they have organized activities in the park everyday.

Pastor Luter and Reverend Rafael, will you please stand up?

And now my friends, I believe we're ready for the next level of change. And I've just laid a roadmap to get there. Over the next two years our key focus will be on keeping the city safe and reducing crime. We will also seize the opportunity to develop a new economic development thrust, beginning with our health care industry. We're going to continue to grow and train our citizens so that they will be ready for the new jobs created! And, I'll do all I can to help fix our public school system.

I've offered administrative and financial assistance. If proper authority is formally granted, we are confident we can find $50 million per year in savings that could be bonded to provide brand new, state-of-the-art classrooms for every child in New Orleans. Our children deserve better and we must take care of our own.

Let me reiterate, I want to let you know that the State of the City is good, and we've laid a firm foundation to take this city to the next level of greater change. …

But let me stop the teleprompter for a minute, and -- you know --don't get sweaty over there, my staff. They get nervous when I do this. But, ladies and gentlemen, these past two years has been an extreme challenge.

It has been challenging from a standpoint that I never experienced the type of scrutiny that this administration has been under, and now that the facts are out there and we have proven that we got a lot of things done and compliments are out there, I just want to point something out to you. There have been constant comparisons of this administration to past administrations. "Ray Nagin should be doing things differently. He should be doing this -- you know, like we did it in the past." And I'm just here to tell you that I hear all that, and I've gotten a lot of advice.

But I suggest to you that there is a new standard that we need to develop as it relates to our political leadership. And if you want me to make you feel good all the time, I'll work on that like you've never seen before. But the main thing I want you to understand is that we don't have time to always feel good and happy. It's more about accomplishments and getting things done so we can compete with the Houstons and the Dallases and the Atlantas of the world.

Some of the politics of old may not apply for today's environment. I'm not suggesting that we throw out all the old politicians now. There are some good ones, and I think the citizens said that we want to keep the good things that we have, but we want some fresh, new, different ideas. And I get lots of critiques and lots of editorials and all that good stuff and lots of suggestions that I should change.

Well, you know one of the greatest poets in America said it best. Otis Redding was 'Sitting at the Dock of the Bay.' If y'all don't remember that song, here is what he said: 'I can't do what ten people tell me to do, so I guess I'll remain the same …'

Ladies and Gentlemen what I'm trying to say to you is the future of the city is bright and the city is moving in just different than what you've seen in the past. We are going through a transition. This community … loves to practice self flagellation. We love to point out that we don't do this well and we keep it in front of our face all the time. We need to practice that the glass is half full versus the glass is half empty.

From the Mayor's office, I can see it all. I have panoramic view of this entire city and all its potential is standing right there as I focus and look at the health care industry just waiting to explode on us. The medical district -- we're getting ready to redefine it to included Xavier University so that we can bring in the pharmaceuticals and some manufacturing.

I also look at the riverfront the great river that made this city. I also look at the cruise ship industry that is just waiting to adopt us. They want to come in and they are just saying "New Orleans, build an infrastructure and you will have so many boats that you will have a convention in and out of your city every week like you couldn't believe."

I also have been visiting various companies; we have globally competitive companies of excellence right here in New Orleans.

Textron is building a hovercraft for the Navy. They are also building an armed vehicle that they are using in Iraq right now that is protecting lives. The Humvee vehicle that's over there, they had to put steel on the bottom because when they rolled over the mines they were killing people. This vehicle ran over two mines simultaneously tilted and kept on going without anybody getting hurt. This vehicle is being manufactured right here in New Orleans.

Bollinger Shipyard -- I think we've almost got them to agree to come here … They have a ship that they are building in Australia that will be the model ship for all the armed forces that will be manufactured right here in New Orleans.

Trinity Yachts have these "bling-bling yachts." I'm serious, if you haven't seen these yachts you got to go. They're $20 million a piece. They have a 147 foot [yacht] and 180 foot one that looks like a cruise ship to me. The craftsmanship and the work that is been done in New Orleans will blow your mind.

Jason Perry, a young African American who is in the technology game, he basically is competing with international companies to do websites around the world.

Dr. Tichenor's … my favorite company. Dr. Tichenor's has been manufacturing for over 100 years in this city , and they have robotics at the plant. They have a new product called Boudreaux's Butt Paste. It's diaper rash ointment and it's selling all over the world.

And let me tell you my final one -- NASA. I went talk to the head of NASA a few weeks ago with the "new" New Orleans Chamber's Sandra Gunner and the gang, and we talk a minute about the opportunity with NASA and what was going on at Michoud. And you know the head of NASA told me? 'Your media covered the fact that we laid of 65 people in New Orleans.' The glass is half empty. He said, 'What they didn't report on was that we simultaneously hired 200 engineers to deal with the foam in the tank. And they didn't let you know that we have 20 to 30 more space shuttle trips that we must do to complete the international space station; that's going to keep Michoud busy for the next five to six years. And they're not telling you again that the president announced that the next generation of spacecraft will most likely be nuclear. Nuclear power cannot provide the thrust to get the aircraft up in orbit. So he said once it gets into orbit then we can use nuclear power.' He said, 'Guess who has the only manufactured facility in America that can produce the tanks that bring nuclear ships up in orbit?' He said, 'Michoud.' He said, 'You're in the cat bird's seat. I would get all of my young people excited about aerospace and I would start to work diligently on developing a workforce for all these jobs.

Ladies and Gentlemen, the glass is half full. It isn't half empty, and New Orleans can be the kind of place where everyone else around use envies all aspects of people who are living in this city.

It my thesis that we can embrace change a little bit better than what we do; we can continue to protect our history and prepare for the future. There are many projects out there that are kind stuck.

I'm asking the legal beagles to put your sword down and let's get the Convention Center project re bid and get those jobs going for the City of New Orleans. I asking my friends in the hospitality industry put the legal sword down and let the World Trade Center deal go forward. Let's put that building back in commerce.

I also asking my City Council friends, if the federal government wants to give us $300 million to renovate some of the poorest neighbor hoods in the community and all we have to do is put $20 million or $30 million, take the money! Nem di gelt (Yiddish for take the money.)

The State of the City, ladies and gentlemen, --as I close-- is good. We have some challenges. We need to fix our educational system. We need to deal with some of the young people who have given up, and all they see is a life of crime. We need the men to step out and grab some of these young people. If we do this and if we get the two hundred police officers and if we fix the school system, this city will be the world class city we all know it should be.

I pledge to you over the next two years this administration will continue to work hard. We will make some mistakes. I challenged some people. I may have offended some people. If I have, I apologize. That's not my intention. I'm working for the children. Everything else is immaterial, and I'm going to do what it takes for us to move forward so when we leave office this city will be in a much better shape than it was when we got here.

Thank you so much for listening and God Bless all of you.