April 15, 2014 – Joint meeting with the “Downtown Neighborhood President’s Council” recommended by CM Kristin G. Palmer as a possible replication of a similar group that is formed on the Westbank called “Algiers Neighborhood President’s Council, Inc.” (This group is incorporated and has Bylaws.) Attached is the original list furnished to the participants. Jonathan Rhodes from St. Claude Main Street hosted the meeting. In attendance were: Miles Swanson, FMIA; Susan Brady, NSCAN; Derrick Floyd, FSRIA; Jessica Knox, HFTA; Jonathan Rhodes, St. Claude Mainstreet; Carol Allen, VCPORA; Meg Lousteau, VCPORA; Nick Lambert sitting in for someone? and possibly a few others. (There could have been a meeting prior to this, but I was not in attendance.) From my perspective, this was a “getting to know you” type meeting and a discussion on what the value of comprising such a group would bring to the table. Since many of us already work together, it was decided that formalizing ourselves into another group with bylaws, etc., was not necessary. It would be advantageous, however, for us to meet on a quarterly basis and discuss pertinent issues that confront all of the neighborhoods. Membership in this group will be limited to Presidents of Residential Organizations and Presidents of Historic Neighborhoods. The next meeting will be held at VCPORA Headquarters. (It was set for Thursday, May 27, 2014 at 5:30 pm, but this now conflicts with the Meet and Greet for CM Nadine Ramsey, so we will reschedule.)
April 18, 2014 – A conference call between Nathan Chapman, Carol Allen, Meg Lousteau and myself to discuss possible testimony before the Housing and Human Needs Committee of the City Council relative to the passing of the Sound Ordinance. Two main issues remain problems:
- The recent removal of the curfew on street performers is not acceptable. It encompasses the entire City and this ordinance was to be for Bourbon Street issues only. There has been no time to vet this addition and have public meetings with the residents.
- Also the removal of the ability to file for injunctive relief relative to excessive noise is not acceptable.
- Changing violations from a criminal offense and making them a “civil” matter needs to be addressed. “Disturbing the peace” has always been a criminal offense.
Dr. Arline Bronxzaft from NYC, a sound specialist, was asked to come and speak before the HHN Committee relative to her findings on the Woolworth report. FQC & VCPORA will share in paying her fee and expenses.
One favorable item was that the City is shifting the noise responsibility from the NOPD to the Health Department.
Recommendation: Ask for either a deferral on this ordinance or pull parts of it that affect the entire City or kill it till it can be worked on further.
April 21, 2014 – Housing and Human Needs Committee – This meeting started late (11am vs 10am and ended early 12:15pm) Contentious testimony took place from both sides on the above mentioned items. It will be voted on on Thursday, April 24, 2014 by City Council.
Monday afternoon – Executive Director Search Committee met at FQC Office. In attendance were: David Speights, Bonnye Pardo, Kate Simister and CoCo Garrett. Marlene Jaffe was out of town. Several suggestions were made to help expedite this search:
- Ask others for names of those people who they didn’t select for their Executive Assistant position.
- Ask for the name of the payroll company that many nonprofits use
- Discussed some of the responsibilities of the Executive Director.
- We need to find out if we have to pay Workman’s Compensation. (Thought is yes.)
- Discussed starting salary with no benefits but with possible opportunities for a bonus depending on the amount of money that they might raise for FQC.
- We need to list holidays and vacation times specifically.
- Ad needs to be placed soon and then allow 3 to 4 weeks for resumés to come in. Then the interview process would begin.
- Some suggestions for ad placements:
a. VCPORA’s The View
b. FQC eBlast
c. Patio Planters’ The Punch
d. Friends of the Cabildo News
e. Faubourg Marigny Improvement Association’s Les Amis de Marigny
f. Preservation Resource magazine - Developing the ad (Kate Simister sent some suggested text.)
April 22, 2014 – Fundraiser meeting, Rodney Villarreal, Chair Also in attendance: Gary Wheat, Susan & Albin Guillot, René Fransen, Sharon Singleton, Jennifer Kelley, CoCo Garrett and Bernadette? Topics of discussion were many and varied, including:
- Possible location for the event – Saenger Theatre, Ballroom at NOAC, Custom’s House, Joy Theatre, Riverview Room at Jax Brewery, the Mint, Beauregard – Keyes House, Jackson Square, the Cabildo, Blue Room at the Roosevelt.
- Honorary Chair, possibilities – Sidney Torres, Brad Pitt, John Goodman, Sandra Bullock, Nicholas Cage.
- Celebrity Chef – John Folse (and Leah Chase), possibly
- Auction Gifts – Tiffany Jewelry (Cathy has a good contact there.)
- Music – Need to secure a place before hiring a band. Jennifer’s boyfriend, Billy, has agreed to offer his band for 1 hour at no charge. Billy’s band, THE TANGLE. Their lead singer is Darcy Malone who is the daughter of Dave Malone of the Radiators!!!
- Possibly having the 610 Stompers make an appearance as well.
I will leave the specifics and latest details to Rodney to report.
April 23, 2014 – Meeting with CM Kristin Gisleson Palmer re upcoming Sound Ordinance. In attendance: CM Palmer, Eric Granderson, Director/Local Govt Affairs, Office of the Mayor, Theresa ???, attorney with the City, Deborah Langhoff, Chief of Staff for KGP, Mark Tullos, Executive Director LSM, Diane Lease, Carol Allen, Nathan Chapman, Jonathan Harris.
Our main focus was to stress our areas of concern which were outlined above. Starting with the desire to focus STRICTLY ON BOURBON STREET! We stressed that we did not focus on street performers and now it is included. Theresa stated that this applied only to musicians and not jugglers, etc. Eric Granderson stated he sees “constitutional concerns” about this. We pointed out that this has been on the books since 1956 and it has never been challenged. Nonetheless, it is a concern now. “It goes to equal protection rights” as in the 5th Amendment.
CM Palmer stated that she was going to include that “if” passed, the enforcement would not begin until the Health Department (Charlotte Parent) is up and running. The Civil Service has received the list of applicants for positions within this department. There will be an RFP after they are selected for a consultant to provide training.
We also discussed the OSHA requirement which has 85dba as its maximum level. We also discussed the VCE and VCE-1 Districts. No commitments were made by KGP but we let her know that if our suggestions weren’t considered, that we would ask for the ordinance to be deferred or killed.
April 24, 2014 – Municipal, Parochial & Cultural Affairs Committee in Baton Rouge. Representative Helena Moreno put forth HB 789: Provides relative to penalties imposed for the violation of ordinances in the city of New Orleans. (To increase fines for the second or any subsequent offense to $1000 from $500.) Originally we were proposing an increase to $5000. Unfortunately we did not discuss what we would be willing to settle for if they made a counter proposal. Right before the hearing Chris Young (attorney for the bar owners) came in and said they would accept the increase to $1000 and the stipulation that any past fines could not be used against the violator. We said absolutely no to the stipulation of not using the fines and then agreed to the $1000. In hindsight, this was not a good strategy. We probably could have gotten a higher fine had we gone before the committee. Erin Holmes, Executive Assistant at VCPORA and I went to Baton Rouge with Brian Wiggins and met Jimmy Burland, lobbyist, while Carol Allen and Meg Lousteau went to City Council to oppose the Sound Ordinance.
April 24, 2014 – City Council hearing on Sound Ordinance, by CMs Gisleson Palmer and Head (by request) for – Sections 66-136, 66-137, 66-138. 66-139, 66-140, 66-141, 66-201, 66-204, and 66-205 of the Code of the City of New Orleans. After the hearing in Baton Rouge, Erin and I drove back to New Orleans to attend the Council meeting. During debate, CMs Guidry and Clarkson wanted to amend the curfew hours and definitions, CM Gray wanted to leave it “as is”. Louisiana Restaurant Association wanted to keep curfew “as is”. Ashley Keaton, attorney for the musicians, demanded they lift the curfew or she is going to file a law suit against the City. David Freedman, GM of WWOZ, testified against everything that we wanted and made disparaging remarks against VCPORA and Meg. Robert Watters and Kim Rosenberg represented FQMD and both spoke in favor of it. Final vote: Cynthia Hedge-Morrell, Jackie Clarkson and LaToya Cantrell voted against the ordinance ~ KGP, John Gray and Susan Guidry voting for it. It did not pass.
April 25, 2014 – Meeting with Carol Greve to discuss a Meet and Greet for Nadine Ramsey in May (May 27th ) and an Orientation for Nadine Ramsey, Jason Williams and Jared Brossett in late June. Both functions will be co-hosted by FQC and VCPORA. The Meet and Greet will be held at my home – 930 Toulouse Street from 6:00pm – 7:30pm. We will serve wine and cheese/fruit and light hors d’oeuvres. We will send the invitation to the memberships of FQC and VCPORA. We will also invite Senator Ed Murray.
The Orientation is still in the planning stages, but basically will have the following format:
- General meeting with councilmembers to orient them to our neighborhood and provide them with some educational material to emphasize the correlation between historic preservation and economic development – stressing that it is not an either/or choice. (Possibly included would be the Executive Committees of both organizations.)
- A riding tour, either in a van or carriage, to point out styles of homes in the Quarter – both lower and upper Quarter – possibly 2 homes in each section would also be available to tour.
- Finale would be a light dinner served either in a private home or a local restaurant.
Anyone wanting to help with this planning is more than welcome to join in.
April 28, 2014 – Meeting with Brian Furness. In attendance: Brian, Susan Guillot and CoCo Garrett. Based on an email from Brian dated April 25th, Brian requested some direction on how FQC saw his role with us in the future. This was partially based on the recent defeat of the Sound Ordinance as well as our “suspension from FQMD”. Susan and I met with him and discussed his role on our QoL Committee and with STR. Previously he had been a co-chair with a VCPORA rep, but they have not had a rep since the first of this year. Basically the committee has more of less disbanded. We informed him that Meg had met with Miles Swanson, President of FMIA, and they are planning an event on Tuesday, May 20th at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church on Burgundy and will invite others throughout the city to attend to discuss the growing problem of STR. Jonathan Harris at Stacy Head’s office has also been involved.
Brian also indicated that he would continue to work on the QoL Committee, but would not be the chairman.
We informed him of Vincent’s wish to move off the committee and that we will try and replace Vincent. We informed Brian that we were planning to meet with Robert Watters and Kim Rosenberg in the near future to discuss the future relationship between the residential organizations and FQMD. (Tentatively set for Monday, May 19th.)
May 5, 2014 – Conference call with Nathan Chapman, Carol Greve, Carol Allen re dates and time of the Meet and Greet for Nadine Ramsey.
May 7, 2014 – Meeting at Holy Angels hosted by NFB (Neighbors First for Bywater, Julie Jones, President) This was to discuss the NPP process pointing out that “overlay districts are exempt from the NPP process.” Robert Rivers is the Executive Director of CPC (City Planning Commission) cpcinfo@nola.gov Robert and Geoff Moen were there to discuss this process. (Mostly this was spurred on by the Holy Cross Project and the lack of public notice.)
Neighborhood Participation Program for Land Use Actions
The City Charter calls for “a system of organized and effective neighborhood participation in land use decisions and other issues that affect quality of life.” The purpose of the Neighborhood Participation Program for Land Use actions is to provide timely notification of any proposed land use action affecting a neighborhood and to provide the opportunity for meaningful neighborhood review of and comment on such proposals.
In July 2012, the City Planning Commission (CPC) adopted the Neighborhood Participation Program (NPP) for Land Use Actions, a report recommending improvements to the CPC’s public notification and engagement processes. This report has been approved by the City Council and key portions have been implemented through changes to the Comprehensive Zoning Ordinance.
May 8, 2014 – City Council Meeting. Two big issues: Holy Cross project and an appeal of a VCC denial at St. Philip and Burgundy Streets for work done without a permit.
- Holy Cross (Perez project) was approved – Jason Williams, Councilmember at Large was the only vote against it. Nadine Ramsey voted to approve the project.
- VCC Denial – Upheld. Nadine Ramsey moved and Jason Williams seconded, to overturn the denial, but were voted down – 4 to 2 and the denial stands.
May 9, 2014 – Breakfast meeting with Senator Ed Murray at the home of Carol Allen. Main topic was the structure of FQMD and the residential groups continued participation in the group. (Subsequently a meeting was scheduled with Robert Watters and Kim Rosenberg for Monday, May 19th at 3:30pm.)
Senator Murray also mentioned an upcoming Bill being sponsored by Senator Rick Gallot, D-Ruston, “to promote an economic development district”. Senators Murray, Peterson and J.P. Morrell are very upset that no one from New Orleans is on this bill which affects them. It is not clear at this time what this is all about. Possibly is related to tourism; possibly could raise money for the City. Murray recommended that we watch the bill. The NOLA delegation is being left out of the planning.
Lastly, we discussed CM Ramsey and her new role and asked Senator Murray if he would like to attend our Meet and Greet for her on May 27th. He said he would check his calendar and let us know if he is available.