Sen. Landrieu will win if we vote for our interests & other runoff recommendations
1st December 2014 · 0 Comments
The December 6, 2014 election will be tighter than the political pundits suggest. Any Democratic candidate who earned 45 percent of the vote in Republican Jefferson Parish and over 80% of the vote in Orleans cannot be counted out. Mary Landrieu can win this election, if the African-American community turns out in numbers equal to what she earned in the November 4th primary, and the metro area’s white voters who have so benefited by having a local with such seniority in Washington also turnout, Landrieu will win.
Remember how wrong the polls were in 2012, predicting a Romney victory. It was not the pollsters lied. It was just that the surveys underestimated that African-American voters would turn out to the polls in levels even above 2008, and that young voters of all races would rush to vote.
Replicate that commitment, and Mary Landrieu remains the U.S. senator from Louisiana. In fact, all that is needed is for the Greater New Orleans area to remember the importance of having a local as the ranking member of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee.
Losing that seniority, even with the Democrats in the minority, would be catastrophic. In fact, it would be suicidal for Louisiana.
New Orleanians must realize that choosing not to cast a ballot for Senator Landrieu means you are effectively voting against your self-interest. She cares about New Orleans and its citizens, unlike Congressman Cassidy, who has barely bothered to step into the Crescent City since beginning campaigning.
Without Landrieu, would we have gained more than $120 billion for the Gulf Coast following Katrina and Rita? Or would the community disaster loans incurred as a result of those hurricanes have been forgiven by FEMA? Would there have been a RESTORE Act which dictates that 80 percent of the fines from the BP disaster is allocated to the Gulf Coast states for environmental and economic recovery? Or would there even be an African-American U.S. Attorney, much less the cadre of minority Louisianans who have advanced in the judiciary?
And let’s be pragmatic. Those Republicans thinking of putting party loyalty above common sense should also consider a reality. In 2014, the GOP won control of the U.S. Senate thanks to the Red State Democrats up for re-election. However, in 2016, the reverse is true.
A record number of Blue State Republican Senators will be defending their seats. The U.S. Senate could easily switch back to Democratic control. What would you prefer? A pro-Energy Democrat like Landrieu running this most powerful committee, or one of her colleagues who is committed to shutting down fracking, off-shore compression, and coastal petroleum refining?
Other Runoff recommendations
PSC District 1: Eric Skrmetta
This race has been filled with acrimony, but an essential fact has been overlooked. Eric Skrmetta grew up in Gentilly and has never forgotten his New Orleans roots. While accountable to his metro area constituents, he has remained focused on his responsibilities to his New Orleans constituents. Skrmetta spends an inordinate amount of time working with the city, even though some would argue that he has no need to do so.
After all, Orleans Parish governs its own utility rates. Please do not underestimate the importance, however, of having a local as Chairman of the Public Service Commission. Such seniority provides a resource for the particular needs and challenges of our community—still recovering from Hurricane Katrina.
Judge Civil District Court, Domestic Section 2: Monique Barial
This race presented a particularly hard choice for our editors. Janet Ahern has built up a sterling reputation as a Family Court Attorney and expert in domestic law. In another race, she might have had our clear support. Yet, we could not ignore the passion and the ideas of Monique Barial. Nor could we ignore her experience at the CDC itself.
As Chris Bruno’s Minute Clerk, she already knows how the inside of a Judge’s office operates, how to run an organized & efficient docket, and how to manage the myriad of tasks to create a successful judicial chamber. Our editors made this call on practical experience in the back office, rather than years at the Bar. Monique Barial is ready to assume her judicial management responsibilities at the CDC from day one.
Judge Juvenile Court, Section E: Desiree Cook-Calvin
The seventh of nine children from a working-class background, Ms. Cook-Calvin has worked her way into a definite expertise on youth and criminal matters. She hopes to respond to the budget cuts in programming by working together with community organizations and schools for prevention, creative programming and meeting the needs of at-risk youth and to use her court to aggressively address the high school dropout rate.
LOCAL PROPOSITIONS
PW- Orleans Parish Schools Millage – .4.97 Mills – 10 Years: Vote NO
Originally our editorial board thought that it might support this measure. It seemed innocuous enough, without an increase in taxes, an existing millage would only be redirected from paying off bonds, upon their maturity, to providing a regular maintenance fund for school buildings, based upon their enrollment.
However, too many questions remain unanswered as to the future disposition of Orleans Parish Public Schools. Will state charters ever return home to OPSB oversight? If not, will the citizens of New Orleans underwrite the upkeep of properties operated by state entities?
Whether a supporter of Charters or opponent, these unanswered points put into question the disposition of these millage funds long-term. Moreover, our editors have long been critical of government bodies that roll forward millages after rising property assessments have rolled them back—to maintain the same level of funding.
To roll them forward without a public vote constitutes a stealth tax increase, and it is a practice against the spirit—if not the letter—of the La. Constitution. By enacting these roll forwards, Orleans Parish homeowners have already paid higher property taxes for schools in the last seven years. Without a commitment that future millages would not be increased without a public vote, this newspaper’s editorial board has a hard time recommending this millage.
In point of fact, with a “no” vote, the current millage will phase out over the next decade, restoring the effective tax rate pre-Katrina. And, without any clarity provided in the administration of New Orleans Public School management, voting to cut your property taxes seems the next best alterative. Vote “no.”
JEFFERSON PARISH
District Judge 24th Judicial District Court, ES 1, Div. O: Thomas Anzelmo, Jr.
He may carry a name famous in Jefferson Parish legal circles, but Anzelmo himself has earned a reputation as an expert at the 24th JDC, on both criminal and civil matters. As a former Magistrate for the City of Harahan, he has experience adjudicating on the bench, and spent his early career helping run Judge Henry Sullivan’s court room. His commitment to fairness and an efficient docket speaks to his qualifications for election to the 24th Judicial District Court.
Judge 1st Parish Court, Division B: John “Johnny” Lee
First Parish Court constitutes Jefferson Parish’s Municipal and Traffic Courts combined, and therefore has joint responsibility for the little old lady that may not have kept her lawn cut regularly, and the driver who was found to have drunk a bit too much. Johnny Lee is one of the few candidates that is expert in all areas of the court. He has served as prosecutor and defense attorney, and has worked with the judges for over three decades.
Not only would Lee enter office prepared from day one, but he also happens to be one of Louisiana’s leading experts on DUI law, and for a court that has badly underworked the backlog of cases on this scourge of our roads, that expertise would be well-employed. Lee also seeks to clean out the backlog of attachments that could net Jefferson Parish millions in unpaid fees.
This article originally published in the December 1, 2014 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper.
