New Orleanians are unhappy about their quality of life in survey
11th October 2021 · 0 Comments
Many New Orleanians, especially Black residents, evacuated before Hurricane Ida – without a mandatory order from Mayor LaToya Cantrell.
We’ve been there and done that, and many of us refused to go through the inevitable consequences of dangerous hurricane-force winds and, God forbid, massive flooding.
Those riding out the storm prepared for the way too fast winds, power outages, low water pressure, boil water advisories, and property damage hurricanes and, sometimes, hard rains bring to New Orleans. Now we can add to the certainty of death and taxes, power outages, rising food and gasoline costs, and out-of-pocket expenses when it comes to hurricanes in New Orleans.
Even before hurricane season arrives, every resident, except the wealthy, newer well to do, and transplants – who brought huge savings and elite job skills and bought property in New Orleans – face the dire consequences of living in a city where the quality of life is low and the cost of living high.
The price of living in this beautiful city is enormous given the cost of electricity, water, tax rates – you name it. Louisiana has the nation’s highest combined state and local sales tax rate. Louisiana now has the highest sales tax rate in the country.
Undoubtedly, New Orleans has the highest utility rates in the state, and gasoline and food prices continue to escalate daily.
The quality of life is indeed low here. Louisiana has never passed a liveable wage law. Instead, it supports paying human beings the ridiculous, inhumane federal poverty/starvation wage of $7.25 per hour. Try renting, buying a home, feeding a family, educating a child, and paying for utilities on $15,000 per year or $31,000 per year for that matter. It’s not realistic or doable.
Low to moderate-income residents have no choice but to stay and pay. They can never save up enough to escape the plantation mentality of politicians who allow corporations like Entergy, Cox Cable and other service providers to empty the wallets of hard-working, decent people each month.
A recent poll of Orleans Parish registered voters confirms that the majority polled are dissatisfied with the quality of life or lack thereof in New Orleans. However, most respondents support a $15 wage increase and enforcement, bringing Entergy in line, improving garbage collection and police protection.
The poll also gauged respondents’ satisfaction or dissatisfaction with the job performance of Mayor LaToya Cantrell. The mayoral and city council seats are up for grabs November 13 – Open Primary/Orleans Municipal Parochial Primary Election. November 13 – Open Primary/Orleans Municipal Parochial Primary Election, December 11 – Open General/Orleans Municipal Parochial General Election.
Conducted September 29 and 30, 2021, the poll funded by ACORN International, Local 100 United Labor Unions, and A Community Voice, an ACORN affiliate, has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.4 percent.
In a city divided by race, income, and political affiliation, dissatisfaction and support from residents on the quality of life issues broke along those lines.
For example, the survey respondents were almost equally divided on their satisfaction with garbage contractor services. While 44.1 percent voiced satisfaction, 43.3 percent expressed dissatisfaction, and 12.5 percent were undecided. White (57%) and Other (45.7%) were more pleased than Blacks (36.8%). Support was also highest among Republicans (51.1%), white males (59.1%), and residents of the French Quarter/CBD/Warehouse District (73.3%). Dissatisfaction was most adamant in the Lower 9th Ward, where more than 75 percent voiced displeasure.
Attitudes about Entergy were also divided by race and political affiliation. Overall, 47.4 percent voiced disappointment with Entergy. Satisfaction was highest among Republicans (44.4%), Other Males (50.0%) – Hispanics, Asians), as well as Lakeview residents (53.8% – 93.9% white population). Support for Entergy’s performance is lowest in the Lower 9th Ward (14.3%-98.3% Black people).
The racial divide in the poll around Mayor Cantrell’s performance was not surprising to us, but maybe to her. Some Black residents have expressed dissatisfaction, in private conversations, about the number of whites Mayor Cantrell hired for critical positions in her administration. Yet, survey results show that Blacks have her back, while whites don’t.
According to the survey regarding Cantrell’s COVID response and post-Ida management, her support is most substantial among Blacks (58.8%), Democrats (52.7%), and Black males (53.8%), as well as residents of New Orleans East (56.8%). Cantrell’s support for her post-Ida response efforts is weakest in Lakeview and the French Quarter/CBD/Warehouse District.
Ten mayoral candidates are running against Cantrell in the upcoming municipal election of November 13, 2021. New Orleans voters will also elect candidates to fill the following offices: city council, sheriff, assessor, coroner, civil district court clerk, and criminal district court clerk. If a run-off is necessary, voters will go to the polls again on December 11, 2021.
The bottom line is that many New Orleanians are not satisfied with the lack of advancement, lack of good-paying jobs, access to affordable housing, potholes in their neighborhood, crime, taxes, and high utility costs.
The upcoming election is a referendum and reckoning for all of the above. Being shut in and getting stimulus checks during the deadly Coronavirus pandemic gave residents a chance to reflect on the quality of life in New Orleans and the lack thereof for the majority.
Incumbent politicians know this. On the eve of the election, where they might be booted out of office, they offered an olive branch. The New Orleans City Council voted to raise the minimum wage of city workers to $15 per hour by 2023. The question is, though, who is going to pay for it? And what is the City Council going to actually do to stop Entergy and the other utilities from bankrupting low-moderate income residents?
Will the incumbents, if returned to office, and new office-holders, if such is the case, make the wealthy pay their fair share so that we can have a better quality of life? Wealthy, meaning French Quarter merchants, sports authorities, convention center managers, hotels, and other entertainment venues that benefit significantly from tourism and residents in New Orleans.
Time will tell. One thing is sure. The doors to justice, fairness, and economic equity are now open.
This article originally published in the October 11, 2021 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper.
