Transcription
In elections on four special, the New Orleans mayoral debate. Evening everyone, and thanks for joining us for this 2025 debate for the mayor of New Orleans. It is hosted by us here at WWL Louisiana and the Committee for a Better New Orleans, our partners. I'm Katie Moore, along with Shereice Gibson, and we will be tonight's moderators for the debate.
Well, the primary election is Saturday, October 11th. If no one wins 50% of the vote, the top two candidates will head to a runoff election in November. Yeah.
The candidates joining us for tonight's debate are State Senator Royce Duples, City Council at Large member Helena Moreno, and District E Council member Oliver Thomas. Each of these candidates pulled higher than 5% in our exclusive WWL Louisiana poll. The rules are simple here. Katie and I will be asking most of the questions tonight. Each candidate will have one minute to answer. If another candidate is called out by name, that is during someone's response, that person will get 30 seconds for rebuttal.
And we begin tonight with a set of questions that all of the candidates will have an opportunity to respond to. Our first topic is roads. So, let's listen in to a Broadmoor resident who explains one of the problems with them.
"My name is Ryan Shapiro. I live over here by in the Broadmoor area. We have this uh pothole that became a sinkhole. I believe I've reported this probably three times now over the last year and a month. Over the last I would say about three months. They've been doing all kinds of road work over this whole street, tearing up the street, repaving the street where they tore up. But for some reason, this sinkhole, nobody sees it. It's so frustrating. It's a it's, you know, it's an eyesore. I pay a lot of money to live here and you know this isn't part of the plan the payment plan you know."
And our first question: When Mayor Kent Trail took office, there were $2 billion or 2 billion dollars on the table from FEMA for road repairs, and the management of those projects has been messy. They've had extended deadlines, stalled projects, and complaints and frustrations, as you just saw there from residents, at a boiling point. How will you tackle those 200-plus projects, and when can residents expect them to be done? We begin this evening with Senator Duples. Again, you have one minute to respond.
"Thank you all for having me tonight. This pain is real. The pain that people feel with the potholes that have been so systemic. This isn't a new problem for the city of New Orleans. But when you think about the fact that we had over $2 billion to spend down, and here we are 20 years post-Katrina where we see those same problems. When I was a chief of staff in City Hall 20 years ago, we had similar problems. Lack of coordination between Sewage and Water Board and Public Works. We have a public-facing dashboard that really doesn't do much. Lack of transparency and accountability. We see pending problems, pending potholes that have been reported. But the issue is that we have a lack of staff and in-house capacity to get out there and fix these solutions. We need a coordinating cabinet so that everybody's on the same page. Within my first 100 days, we're going to identify the top 20 projects through all s all city council districts and make them a priority. Within my first 100 days, you will begin to see progress on getting those basic city functions like getting street repairs. Uh, it's just unacceptable what our citizens are dealing with."
Senator Duplasses, thank you. Council member Moreno.
"Thank you. One of the biggest issues that we face is that work that we should actually be doing in-house or outsourcing, and things we should be outsourcing or doing in-house. So you talked about the $2 billion. That $2 billion that came in, the first tranche was over a billion dollars. And myself and Council member Deruso sat down with the Cantrell administration and we said, 'For this amount of work going out on the streets, we absolutely need to have project managers.' And this administration said, 'No, no, no, no. We want to handle that type of oversight in-house.' And obviously, because the level of oversight wasn't there, unfortunately, a lot of these dollars were wasted. But when we talk about these projects though, what also needs to happen is really an urgent level of coordination and collaboration, Super Bowl style. Because when we have that level of urgency, coordination, and collaboration, we actually can get these things done. And at the directive of the mayor, we got some of these projects done in time for Super Bowl."
All right, Council Member Moreno, thank you so much for that. And we now go to Council Member Thomas.
"Mismanagement uh at the highest level. We had too few contractors to deal with too much work. One of the things as mayor that should have happened on the front end was develop capacity and develop smaller contractors with apprenticeships to match up with contractors who could deliver and break down those multi-million dollar projects into smaller pockets. That's been done before. Had we done that, then projects who would have been finished on budget and on time. Projects that people knew would be an inconvenience turned into a hardship. And once they turned into a hardship, it was nightmares to people in the community. So, as mayor, I want to work with the contracting community. I also want to work with up-and-coming young young contractors who want to get involved in infrastructure work and make sure we partner them with experienced contractors so that they can develop the work ethic and the training so that when large projects come up again, we got enough contractors to do the work."
All right, Council Member Thomas, thank you so much for your questions. Now to our next question on drainage and flooding. Yeah, a Mid-City business owner is laying out this problem for us, and he is no stranger to flooding.
"My name is Brian Knighton, and I am the owner of the Broad Theater located at Broad and Orleans, and I was featured in your 2017 documentary called 'Down the Drain.' Why? Because this location has uh flooded over the years. This building is 100 years old. While the city was preparing for the Super Bowl in February of '24, we landed a site visit with the Players Association to host one of their big parties, which would have been a a big win financially for us. On the day that they were scheduled to come was the last day that I believe one of the last times we ever flooded. So, I was standing in the street, they were scheduled to come at 3 PM. I was standing in the middle of the street popping storm drains to try to get the water down. And a black SUV pulls up, and it's the NFL Players Association, and they saw the site with the flood and didn't bother even getting out of their car, which they couldn't have because I was standing in about knee-deep water at that point. That says it all."
Our "Down the Drain" investigation uncovered maintenance failures and mismanagement within the Sewage and Water Board that, among other things, left the city sinking billions into outdated infrastructure. Significant change has been made as a result of that investigation. Yet, it still doesn't take a hurricane to flood the streets of New Orleans. Summer thunderstorms can easily overwhelm the city's drainage system. So, how will you ensure that the city's most critical drainage projects are prioritized and completed while investing in that critical maintenance that is so badly needed? We are beginning this question with you, Council Member Moreno.
"Sure. This question is really twofold. One is some of the major projects as to how we transform New Orleans into a city where we're really living with water. And so we have received federal funds that have come in for different types of resiliency type of projects, um, different retention pools and ponds and things like that. But unfortunately, some of that money has been mismanaged. But what you're talking about specifically has to do with the Sewage and Water Board. And there still need to be significant efficiencies and a complete revamp of the Sewage and Water Board, particularly when it just comes to the basics of cleaning catch basins. There are 72,000 catch basins and lines that the standard is that they're supposed to be cleaned every five years. Right now, we've been notified by the Sewage and Water Board that potentially there's short money to clean all of those catch basins every five years. But the question is, what if you only clean the catch basins which are dirty? Because I can tell you that just right there alone, we will save millions of dollars. So that's an inefficiency right there that why are we cleaning catch basins that are clean."
All right. And next, Council Member Thomas, you have a minute.
"First of all, I'm thankful that I was part of the new effort to at least consolidate that part of what Public Works works used to be uh with the Sewage and Water Board. I was fortunate enough to be one of the contributors to the 'Down the Drain' series because of my institutional knowledge. We have to find out what is the condition of those 72 or 73,000 drains. Which ones have to be restored, replaced, or repaired? What is the condition of the 37-inch drains that drain into the outflow system? We found out during that series that in many cases, even if the drains were free, many of the canals and large pipes that flow into the outflow system was backed up. So, how often do we check to see that there's not overall general maintenance, but clear the cars, get the shopping carts uh uh uh out of it? So, that's something that as mayor, I'm going to expect the Sewage and Water Board to have annual inspections of all the drain lines, make sure the drain lines are clear, because guess what, guys? If the water can't get to the outflow system, the water's going to stay in his theater in his business."
And Council Member Thomas, I just want to set the record straight. I don't remember your role in 'Down the Drain' in working on that project.
"Yes. Yes. Uh, I was one of the people that uh uh uh Mr. Walker and and and and Pearlstein and them called about institutional knowledge of the system because I was hosting the 'Good Morning' show and we were also using you guys to do segments on the on the condition of the Sewage and Water Board. So the connection with people like Rudy August and many of the top-level people who worked in general maintenance, they got that information from me. Okay. But the original documentary, you were not a part of that."
"I wasn't a part of, but I was a part of giving the station information into who were the key people and how the system worked. You can fact-check that with your general manager."
"Okay, we'll do. Thank you so much. Just uh just clearing the record there. So, Senator Duplesis, what are your thoughts on drainage?"
"Anytime there's a heavy rain, businesses, residents, everyday citizens feel anxiety. We have a new executive director at the Sewage and Water Board who I look forward to working with. I'm proposing that we do something bold, something different. Currently, the mayor serves as the president of the Sewage and Water Board. I'm willing to give up political power. Remove the mayor from the Sewage and Water Board so we can focus on performance outcomes and performance uh benchmarks at Sewage and Water Board. Remove the politics. Let's just get the job done for the people. What we've also realized is that most solutions, the good solutions are community-led. That's why we're going to work with organizations like uh Healthy Community Services with Angela Chalk and other organizations like Water Wise and TMA Consortium and uh Cheryl Austin, all the leaders who've led the the investments for bioswales and rain gardens and gutters and so many other uh investments in our community to deal with the issue of rain and climate change in in the city of New Orleans. We have to work with community."
All right, thank you so much for your answers. We want to move on to a topic that is affecting all of us here. Crime in New Orleans. According to the NOPD, overall violent crime, it is down 20% year-over-year. Now, while the progress is encouraging, public safety is still top of mind for many residents. And the Pentagon confirmed over the weekend that the Trump administration has drafted a plan to deploy 1,000 Louisiana National Guard troops to New Orleans and Baton Rouge. Two questions here: As mayor, would you support the deployment of those troops? And what is your plan to make sure the downward crime trend continues? We begin this time with Council Member Thomas. One minute.
"First of all, every life is precious. So anything you can do to make sure that people are not losing lives and losing their property, we have to consider. But I would much rather the president and the governor give us the money that it costs every day, the million-plus that they're spending in Washington D.C. so that we can invest in early child education, universal universal child care for children to make sure that every child reads at grade level, after-school programs. I'm the only council member with an after-school program, tutoring, mentoring. Let's do outreach. We know that 69% of violent juvenile offenders are functionally illiterate. Let's begin to invest in young women and single women who earn 49 cents on a dollar uh here in Louisiana. Let's make sure that the disparity gap is closed economically. We we we'll continue to be on this roller coaster for crime if we don't deal with the root causes. Shereice, some of the stuff that you tracked and follow the line. Now, if we understood that series and its importance, how do we make sustainable change? We make sustainable change by dealing with the root causes that affect crime. Then we'll have sustainable uh effort in crime reduction."
All right, Council Member Thomas, thank you again. Senator Duplass, the question: As mayor, would you support the deployment of the National Guard troops, and what is your plan to make sure the downward crime trend continues? One minute.
"So, first, we have to be honest about what's really going on here. Crime is down at historic lows in some areas. So, why is New Orleans being singled out as a place we want to have National Guard troops walking around patrolling our neighborhoods? Doesn't make sense. We don't need that. We know what's working. We know how to police our cities. New Orleans is a home-ruled charter city. We are a city of self-determination. We will work with the state. We will work with the with the president to receive the resources to invest in young people, to invest in job training, job opportunities, to invest in the New Orleans Police Department to make sure that they're properly resourced so that we can do what we know how to do, which is continue the path of getting the crime down. And I want to thank all of the organizations that have been doing the on-the-ground work to bring our crime to a historic globe. But we cannot stop there. New Orleans should be a leader, a global leader for intervention and prevention. I'm a product of NORD. I know what that means when we have a well-functioning recreation department and what that does to offset crime."
All right, Senator Duples, thank you so much. Council member Moreno, the same question to you. One minute.
"Thank you. Well, first, let me start by saying that of course public safety is a top priority of mine. But when it comes to bringing in federal resources, really our police chief along with local leadership should be consulted as to what the city of New Orleans actually needs. And what the NOPD needs is they need assistance on getting some of our most violent criminals off our streets. They need assistance getting illegal firearms off our streets. And that is not the role of the National Guard. The National Guard actually doesn't help toward crime reduction. The National Guard can assist us when we have a major emergency like a hurricane or when even when we have a major event in town to assist us with crowd control and things like that, but they actually don't help toward crime reduction. And when it comes to the prevention piece, that is where we do need heavy investment from the federal government. Unfortunately, we've seen cuts there when it comes to workforce opportunities. We've we've seen cuts when it comes to mental health assistance and substance abuse assistance. I would ask for the federal government to reconsider and actually amp up those those grants because that's what we really need."
All right, Council Member Moreno, thank you. Moving on now to technology. The National League of Cities recently published a report on the use of facial recognition technology and said cities had a duty to explore it and other emerging technologies, especially in law enforcement. Now, here in New Orleans, a private citizen actually controls most of our facial recognition technology. So, should the NOPD use it? And if so, what guardrails should be put in place so that civil rights are not being violated and that people are not being wrongfully accused of crimes? We begin this round with Senator Duplexes. You have one minute.
"Right now, it's becoming harder and harder to recruit men and women who want to serve in the New Orleans Police Department. But that's not unique to New Orleans. That's across the country. We should embrace technology. We know that more crime cameras have helped New Orleans Police Department with investigations. It's helped close cases and it's helped with uh deterring crime, quite honestly. But when it comes to live facial recognition, it's something that I am inclined to explore, but at this time I cannot support. Uh, it is uh too much of um a test and the impact that we know studies will disproportionately have an impact on people of color. Uh, so I have concerns regarding constitutional violations at this time. I'm I'm concerned about its use. I'm glad that the ordinance was parked at the uh, City Council, but I will work with Chief Kirk Patrick. I will work with the law enforcement community, and I will work with all stakeholders to figure out how we can best utilize crime to keep our community safe, but not at the expense of people's constitutional rights."
Council member Moreno, thank you.
"So currently, what the NOPD is allowed to use is facial recognition. If they have, let's say, a photo or a video of someone, and then they can put that into a database to see if it, that that face is recognized. What we are talking about now is live facial recognition, which is really the scanning of our city, the constant surveilling of our city to look for certain people. And when this was first brought before the City Council, I can tell you that myself, my staff uh looked very closely at this and started to see what other cities were even doing this. And there were no other cities where there were any ordinances that put in the guidelines as to how to even utilize this technology. And so as we tried to figure out the different safeguards, it became increasingly harder and harder to figure out the safeguards. So certainly at this point, I can't support the live facial recognition. Um, but I do know that Chief Kirkpatrick is calling on additional experts. Okay."
"Council Member Thomas."
"Well, first of all, I was proud to be part of the first effort when Chief Ferguson was on his way out to work with the NOLA Coalition to talk about how we combine technology and a package to incentivize our police department. Council member Green and I had in introduced an ordinance based on what the chief and other law enforcement people asked us. We did our due diligence. Uh, we had panel discussions about it. We talked to the ACLU, vote our own surveillance, and other concerned people. And then once the federal government and the state got involved, that threatened our ability to have our own home rule charter or to use it that we the way we saw fit and threatened constitutional rights. We thought the best thing to do was withdraw it until we could find a way that it wouldn't intrude on people's constitutional rights and that it wouldn't be used to target especially black and brown people in communities like I grew up in. So until we can find a way to do it where it's fair, where it doesn't target c certain communities, that effort is not only tabled, it won't even be considered."
All right, thank you so much for your answer. As we move on now to another question, this one on population loss in our city. According to data by the U.S. Census Bureau, the New Orleans area has experienced a steady decline in population since 2020, with the latest data showing a nearly 4% decline in population just last year. So, as mayor, what specific policies will you implement to not only stop this decline, but to grow New Orleans' population again? We begin this time with Council Member Moreno.
"Thank you. Well, people are leaving the city of New Orleans because they feel like it is just too difficult to live here. I actually had someone tell me at one of my meet-and-greets that the city of New Orleans has a way of ruining your day before your day even starts because as she gets on the road, it's a construction project, and then as she gets on another road, the traffic lights don't work. And that's why within my first 100 days of office, my main focus is to get our city services right and to get them back. Making sure that our streetlights stay on, that our traffic lights stay on, that we get a real street maintenance program. Right now, our street maintenance program, we have one pothole crew for 500 miles of streets. And then at the same time, it's time to make sure that our city departments are working for the people of New Orleans and not creating hurdles for the people of New Orleans. Our Department of Safety and Permits unfortunately is such a barrier to doing business in our city. Whether you want to open a business, weeks to get an occupational license, whether you want to do an expansion on your home, takes forever to get a permit. My main focus is revamping these broken city departments as well."
All right, Council Member Moreno. Thank you. Council member Thomas.
"In Otfest.com, we have 10,000 new homes, affordable new homes. Work with housing experts to make sure that we can provide that. Uh, that's nothing new. Let's take a look at CDBG funds and reprogram them to provide soft seconds like administrations have done uh in the past. Work with young professionals. Too many people have the stereotype of affordable housing as being that subsidy of that person on Section 8. No. Affordable housing for young reporters, politicians, MBAs. They're looking to be able to afford to stay in the neighborhood that they love. Another thing we can do is let's diversify our economy. But there's something that I talk about that no one else has ever done: regional cooperation. I was the first council member to have a regional meeting with our friends in Jefferson Parish. The state and much of our region is losing population. We ought to coordinate how we play on each other and build on the assets in the community so we can incentivize growth and development, but also make sure we're putting 250,000 new people in this region in the next 10 to 15 years."
All right, Council Member Thomas, thank you so much. We want to go now to State Senator Duplesis.
"Potholes need to be fixed. Infrastructure needs to be fixed. But let me tell you, potholes are not the reason that over 20,000 people have left the city of New Orleans. People left this city because it's too costly to live here. The people who are leaving the city and being pushed out don't even have cars to drive down our streets. They need opportunities. They need affordable housing. That's why I'm proposing developing over 40 and developing and preserving 40,000 affordable units in the city of New Orleans. I want to stand up a fortified roof program to support and supplement what's happening at the state level so that we can fortify 25% of the roofs in New Orleans to bring down insurance costs. We also have to be serious about economic development. The Port of New Orleans is an opportunity for people, for our people to get jobs, $75,000 on average so they can stay in the city of New Orleans. People are being squeezed out not because of potholes, because it's too costly to live here. People leave and go to other cities for opportunities. And that's what we need to create in the city of New Orleans while we're fix while we're fixing the potholes."
All right. Thank you so much. Now, the Bureau of Labor Statistics, this is something that you all just touched on a little bit, but the Bureau of Labor Statistics says that food service is the second largest employment sector in New Orleans. And the average wage for one of those workers is about $14 an hour. Yet MIT's living cost of living wage calculator shows that the average working parent with two kids needs to make around $20 in New Orleans to be able to afford to live here. Which industries will you target to create living wage opportunities and how? We begin with Council Member Thomas.
"Well, the first thing uh I like to do is go back to being a government that believes that people shouldn't make minimum wage. Make sure that municipal employees and people who do business with the city have not just a living wage but a state but a saving wage. I was part of the first city council that adopted its own standard for minimum wage. The courts went against us. They defeated it. I'd love to have relationships with people like Senator Rush Duplexes where we can get the Senate to give us the freedom to be able to negotiate our own ability to to control wages and minimum wages here uh here in our community. But also the mayor can set a tone and use a bully pulpit to talk about how people are being pushed out of our city. And the senator is right. If we don't make this city affordable, we're going to be the sliver by the river. We're going to be a pass-through where people come to visit, but people can't stay. That's a joint effort with the state with the city and all of our officials as well as the business community. We can't leave them out. Too much money passes through our city, but it doesn't stay with our citizens."
"Any specific industries that you were going to target?"
"Well, I I mean, the the tourism industry, I think we can sit down and talk to them about how more of that money stays uh with their workers. Uh uh uh to me, as we diversify our economy, we can expand working with the port uh working with the biomedical research center. Uh, those are areas where we can sit down and talk to, especially when ecotourism, we have Bayou Sage, that's an area of growth that we don't even take advantage of. Okay. And we got miles of land. God didn't make any new land. We got new land in Upper Nine, Gentilly, and New Orleans East. Okay. Thank you."
"Now we move on to uh State Senator Duplexus. Which industries would you target to create living wage opportunities here?"
"Sure. Sure. First, when I first got to the legislature, one of the very first pieces of legislation I filed was to give the city of New Orleans the ability to set its own minimum wage. Unfortunately, it wasn't successful, but we have to continue to push for that so that we can uh do what we need to do in the city. When I was in the 10th grade, my basketball coach pulled me aside when I had dreams of being like my older brother in basketball. He at the end of the year, he said, 'Royce, you know, good season, but have you ever thought about speech and debate?' What I learned from that was that we should play up our strengths. We're a maritime city, so we need to focus on growing the port. $75,000 on average. Our people can benefit from that, particularly in New Orleans East. So, I will focus on the expansion project uh for the container terminals. I will also focus on redeveloping Charity Hospital, investing in healthcare, biotech, bioengineering. We have to play up our strengths and by doing that we can attract more investment, but we also attract more investment by focusing on keeping our city clean, keeping our city safe, and keeping our city efficient and operating, getting permits out the door."
All right, Council Member Moreno, you have one minute.
"If you look at how other cities were able to really diversify and grow their economies, they did a couple of things. One, they really focused in on assisting their small businesses. And two, they also really focused in on entrepreneurs, people with new ideas, and creating that pathway for them to find capital so that these ideas would go from just something in their head to ultimately down the road a multi-million dollar company. Now, in a city, and so my plan is to grow our Department of Economic Development. Whether you're looking at just the economic development department, which has one and a half employees, or including the office of community and economic development, which has another five. Bottom line, that is not enough to really focus in on our underserved areas like New Orleans East. Okay. It's whether it's it's someone said they have seven people, right? Well, that was my that was my time real quick. So, yeah. So, first, let me just back up. Um, whether you have two people in economic development and then you add the office of community and economic development, which is another five. So that's seven people. That is still certainly not enough to be able to handle all of the economic opportunity that is necessary in this area. So I would build a team to make sure we're focusing in on our underserved areas. Focus in on building up our entrepreneurs. Focus in on helping our small businesses because the city of Austin, they have 58 employees and a $32 million budget, and we have two to seven employees working in our economic development office."
All right, thank you so much for those responses. Now, we want to move on to a a little change, just change things up a little bit, and in this segment, you each are going to have a chance to ask each other a question. You get to decide who you want to ask that question to, and you will have one minute to answer the question if you are selected as a question recipient. Uh, so we want to begin now with you, Council Member Thomas. Who would you like to ask a question to?
"Uh, Council Member Moreno."
"Uh, you know, I'm from New Orleans true and true. And I spent a lot of time from one end of this community. Yes. Uh, to the other. Uh, the people in this community uh they have asked me to ask you a question. They see uh the paid actors on social media. They see the massive campaign. They see the massive amounts of money uh that you've raised. But what they've also seen is that you morph or change into different people depending on who you're who you're talking to, which group, this group or that group. So what they wanted me to ask you is that can we trust, can they trust that you won't change on us?"
"Well, I'll say this. What's been so great about our campaign is one, that everywhere I go, it is the same message time and time again. And that is about elevating our entire city and getting basic services right for our city. Because it doesn't matter whether you're in Lakeview, whether you're in the Cutoff, whether you're in New Orleans East, whether you're in Holly Grove, everyone wants the city to function and the city to work. It doesn't matter what neighborhood you're in. If you're trying to do some kind of renovation to your house, or whether you're starting a business, you're going to Safety and Permits. And if Safety and Permits doesn't work, it impacts you. So bottom line, my message is always clear in every neighborhood, which is why I have built such a broad and diverse coalition from all across the city, in all different neighborhoods to support my campaign because ultimately that is what the people of New Orleans want, a better city. And they know because of my track record, I will stop at nothing to get the job done for them."
All right, Senator Duplasses, who would you like to ask a question of?
"Uh, I'd like to ask a question to Council Member Moreno as well."
"Council Member Moreno, a few weeks ago, I received an email. I received an email from one of your top donors and supporters, a very powerful businessman in this city. Uh, that person used to be a supporter of mine until he realized that I could not be controlled. He sent me an email, but he sent me an email by accident. And I knew it was by accident because he asked me afterwards if I would delete the email. Let me tell you what was in that email. I think you know what was in it. In that email, he falsely claimed that someone from my team referred to you and people on your team as 'white devils.' Now, I was offended by that because not only is it not true, because nobody on my team thinks like that, and we don't use that kind of language, 'white devils,' uh, it was used in an email to try to gin up white rage and and divide our city by using racially charged terms that were false, that were not true, as a way to make money and raise money for you. Why have you not denounced that?"
"So, first, let me start. That email of course was not to me. It was to you, and it was from someone who was a very longtime supporter of yours. And I agree that term, that term should absolutely be denounced. No doubt about it. But it is now in the court's hands as to whether or not someone on your campaign called me by that absolutely, you know, horrible type of term that I would hope that you would admonish if it is realized and if there are witnesses and if there are affidavits that end up coming forward that someone in your campaign did call me by that terrible term. And ultimately, I'll just say this. You know, there's been a lot of distractions coming from your campaign and a lot of untruths. You've called me everything from incompetent and corrupt without any type of fact. And so, this again is yet yet another type of distraction where you'd rather come and attack me than actually talk about the issue."
"No, ma'am. So, you're saying it's not true. You have no evidence to suggest that there's any truth to anybody on my team referring to you in that way."
"Mr. Hammock asked that the email be deleted. He even acknowledged that he sent the email. So, uh, you have no evidence to suggest that anybody on my team said that. In fact, black people anymore don't even talk like..."
"Hang on. The question is to me. The question is to me. Yes. We'll give you a few seconds to respond and then we'll move on to this is now in the hands of the court. So, you're blaming it on the court?"
"No, there's this is now in the hands of the court and there will, you know, see what happens whether or not there are affidavits or any witnesses who come forward as to whether or not someone in your campaign said this. And I hope that if it is found out that that did happen, that you absolutely admonish the person who did this and then that you did it. You did it."
"You should check the court record. Okay, let's move on now. Uh, now it is time for you, Council Member Moreno, to ask a question of one of your opponents."
"Okay, let's see. Well, since last time I did you, Council Member Thomas, this time I'll go ahead and ask uh Senator Duplex's a question. Senator Duplex's, you have criticized the City Council when we have fought on behalf of the people of New Orleans. Um, when the mayor, when we thought that the mayor really didn't have the people's best interest. And one of those situations happens to be the the recent issue with, of course, the school board settlement. This was a situation where we all got in a room together, and we all worked out a deal, the CEO, council members, mayor's team, so that we could move forward with the settlement. And then at the last minute, the mayor decided, 'No, no, no, no. I don't, we don't want to do this deal.' Once again, people got back in the room trying to make this happen. Ultimately, when we couldn't get any type of resolution, the City Council decided to move forward and actually take the mayor to court, really on behalf of the children of New Orleans. So, my question is, do you support the council's continued fight for the children and taking the mayor to court, or would you have allowed the mayor to win and the children to lose?"
"I've said before, I support the children."
"So you then support the council taking the mayor to court, which is something that you've always said that we should just get into a room and work it out. So you support the fact that we actually had to take the mayor to court to deal with this issue."
"I support the children getting their funding. So thank you for supporting the council. And if there was a if there was a deal that was entered into, if there was an agreement, then that agreement should be honored. Thank you for supporting the council. You have you had one minute to answer that question. So is there anything else you'd like?"
"Let me let me say this. When when this says that I've been critical of the council, I have not just been critical of just the council. I've been critical of the crisis in leadership that we've had coming out of City Hall. Yes, the the mayor and the council have not been able to get in the room. So, I'm glad they were able to I mean, she's citing one issue, but this issue ended up in court. How many issues have ended up in court? We had a sanitation contract to go all the way up to the Louisiana Supreme Court. So, I mean, you you actually made my point that you all have only been able to work issues out by going to court."
"After we got into a room with everyone because I don't I don't want to lose on behalf of the people. The people of New Orleans got me elected into office so that I would fight for them and protect them and protect our..."
"You can also rebut that because it was addressed to the council."
"Yeah, I think it's known I offered an open letter. I think you guys covered it. It was in the Tribune, the Times-Picayune. Uh, when I first got on the council, I saw it would be highly competitive. I knew that there were people who would be looking for political titles and advancing their political careers. So my letter asked C council president to uh lead a retreat similar to the way other council members had done, similar to the one that I did when I was council president, where Edgar Chase and Glenn Yancey got the administration and the council in the room together. I knew it would be important to establish some decorum and establish collaboration."
All right. Thank you so much to all of you for those great questions and for your answers. But we want to go back now to our section where Sherice and I ask you some more questions that we developed with the members of the community. Yeah. And our next topic is centered on the culture bearers of the Crescent City. Many of them, they are struggling. Here's Akaya Bennett with one of our city's social and pleasure clubs.
"My name is Akaya Bennett of the Old and New Style Fellas. And um, I'm a culture bearer in many ways. New Orleans doesn't thrive the way it thrives without the culture of Second Line Clubs and Black Mask Indians. Everyone reaps off the benefits of us. The price is outrageous. We pay for an event that the city will capitalize off, and we have to pay a steep price for it."
Well, New Orleans' cultural and arts communities are the backbone of our identity and economy. I think we can all agree that you have many of these artists, they are culture bearers that are struggling with housing costs, displacement, and and lack of resources. So, not only is there a lack of support for those culture bearers, but they're also being forced to pay excessive fees to produce the culture that makes New Orleans great. So, as mayor, what is your plan to both protect and provide for those communities? We begin with Senator Duplexes. You have one minute.
"First, when we talk about the culture, we need to understand how we define the culture. I'm true New Orleans. My grandfather was part of the original Square Deal, Second Line Club, TMA. He got to his 90s, had dementia, never lost sight on how to second line. My uncle Townsley, Black Men of Labor. My wife's grandfather, Lionel Furbos, played the trumpet till he was 104 years old. So when you talk about the culture, the culture is in my veins. And when we talk about protecting the culture, it's easy to say that through words. But when you look at why the City Council most recently allowed for NOPD to impose a $5 million insurance policy requirement on some of our Second Line Clubs, you're saying, why are we working against our second our our our culture? And we come and we try to save the day and give these excuses that we're standing with the culture, but every time we look up, we're attacking the culture. So, it's really about showing up, making sure that they have the healthcare they need, the housing that they need, censoring the culture, and not just talking about it."
All right. Thank you so much, Senator Dis. Council member Moreno, what is your plan as mayor, again, to both protect and provide for these communities? One minute.
"First, a a correction. It was actually the City Council that blocked NOPD's enforcement of this $5 million policy. We're the ones that it was not an ordinance. It was not It was an NOPD policy. Check your record. So anyway, but bottom line, it's all about fairness and communication. And the fairness piece, particularly for our Second Line groups, they are being treated so differently than our Mardi Gras crews, and they don't feel like they're being engaged with and and and really uh being able to collaborate with the city as to how to make everything work. And so that's what I would provide this level of collaboration and coordination with our Second Line crews so that we're all on the same page. But at the same time, when we talk about protecting our culture, we have to ensure that our culture bearers are valued. Which is why I moved forward with the musicians ordinance, making sure that every time the city hires a musician, they're paid at least $200 an hour."
All right, Council Member Moreno, thank you. Council member Thomas.
"Uh, well, first of all, the New Orleans Police Department tried to enforce and increase penalties and coverage because a lot of Second Line parades and organizations had added characters, had added trailers, and added floats, which means that there wasn't a real understanding of how that culture has grown. That's a perfect question for me because I'm the only elected official to ever be king of two social and pleasure clubs, Bug Jumpers and TMA Side Muck Steps, where my my wife uh was the queen. And then if you watch TMA season two, they did an entire episode on how former Council member Oliver Thomas helped save and fight for the culture. The culture is my family, my uncle Benny, my auntie Jerry, my mom, and all of the folk in my family from the music to how we second line to how we enjoy that particular culture. Big Chief Rudy Boage and Nightw Hunters, Creole Wild West, and all of the great culture bearers of this community. So, not only is it in my blood, I'm the only elected official who's actively participated as part of it."
All right, thanks so much. We want to move on now to housing. It's obviously a big issue here in New Orleans and the New Orleans young people. Actually, the young people. Yes. I think we're going to move forward over to young people now. Okay, let's check that out. All right, let's move over to them. We want to hear from a young woman who's been working on the youth on the youth report. She's been working on the youth plan for the city of New Orleans. A youth justice advocate.
"Unlike the libraries that close at 7:00, NORD is open till 9, 8 at night. It gives you somewhere instead of going straight home, it gives you somewhere to relax, a space that is for you, somewhere that you know that is safe, that the lights are going to be on, that the bathrooms are going to work. And sometimes people's safe space and when those places are closed or shut down or don't have the adequate um amenities that they're supposed to have, it really breaks young people down."
All right. Well, so we are now five years into the Youth Master Plan with mo many of you familiar with with the 10-year strategy. Yet, you, like Sierra, you just heard from, say still not enough is being done to see this plan through. The Committee for a Better New Orleans reports only...
4.9% of the city's 2025 budget is allocated towards youth-related investment. So, as mayor, would you be willing to first commit more money towards youth investment? And if so, where will that money come from? We begin with Council Member Thomas.
I mean, the first thing we need to do is go back and take a look at what worked. Uh, when the city was at the tail end of 17 years of 300 and 400 murders, the first thing that the Morial administration did, former Mayor Mark Moriel, when he came in, was he doubled the budget for the recreation department. Sallyanne Roberts and Kathy Harris started each one, save one. I won the Jefferson Award for the boys mentoring program for taking kids who were failing and putting them on the honor roll. We had a robust Chevron program during that time where over 2,000 kids had apprenticeships and summer jobs. I think everyone should do what what I do, have after-school programs and tutoring programs. So, I was really, uh, kind of amazed when during the Landrew administration, they recognized 33,000 opportunity youth without an opportunity. Young people in this city don't need a seat at the table. When when I'm mayor, they're going to help build a new table. And if you build the new table, you don't have to ask for a seat. It's your table, young people. All right. Thank you so much, Council Member Thomas. Senator Duples. One minute.
My parents put me on Puncher Train Park when I was 5 years old. Me and my three brothers were all raised on that playground. We know what a robust New Orleans recreation looks like. We know what a healthy New Orleans recreation department looks like. My dad used to cut the grass at Puncher Train. He maintained the lights. He ran the concession stand. But that's not the same recreation department that we have today. See, we love to talk about how much we love our children and how much we listen to our children. But budgets are reflections of our priorities. They're moral documents. And until we, until we properly invest in our youth, we're not going to get the outcomes that we need. So, we have a wonderful youth master plan. The problem is that we haven't properly, uh, invested in it. I will make it a priority to ensure that the New New Orleans recreation department gets increased funding. Uh, but we're not going to stop there. I want to stand up and create a zero to three universal prek program. I want to make sure that all children in the city of New Orleans are reading at grade level by the age of eight because we know what that will lead to, and that's only positive outcomes for our young people. All right. Thank you so much. And Council Member Marino, thank you.
The issue is once again, it's implementing these plans. So, we have the youth master plan. We also have this other plan called the Big Green Easy Plan. And that particular plan was about really revamping NORD and being able to provide as many recreational opportunities for our children. And unfortunately, none of the Big Green Easy Plan has been implemented at all, including really doing a full assessment of all of our recreational facilities across the city. So, as mayor, I will implement this plan and find different ways to ensure that we revamp NORD to provide as many opportunities for our kids. But at the same time, also find the best way that we can partner with our schools so we can have the best outcomes when it comes to after-school programs and then work with our health department to focus on a big issue impacting our city, and that's truancy. And truancy levels in our city are the highest in the state of Louisiana. Having crisis teams to really focus in on the child and figuring out what is going on within the household that this child is being truant could lead to positive outcomes. All right. Thank you so much, Council Member Moreno.
Moving on to the topic of New Orleans East. Despite making up a very large portion of the city's landmass, residents in New Orleans East say they still don't see the same retail, dining, and economic investments as other neighborhoods. So, what is your concrete strategy as mayor to attract new economic development and quality retail to New Orleans East? We begin with Senator Duples. You have one.
The first thing that we're going to do is change the way that we talk about New Orleans East. New Orleans East has a perception problem. We cannot continue to talk about New Orleans East as though it's one neighborhood, as though it's one lost cause. I remember as a child going to New Orleans East with my grandparents. They lived in Kenner. We used to go to the Kenner Theater. We used to go to the A&P right there on Morrison. We all remember going to the Plaza. That's when I first saw my wife. I was in the seventh grade. But we may not get that New Orleans back, but we can get a better New Orleans. It starts with how we talk about New Orleans East. New Orleans East is not just one neighborhood. Two-lane Avenue just got a Trader Joe's. When you talk about crime statistics, you probably have more crime where that two, where that Trader Joe's got, uh, place than in certain parts of New Orleans East. So, we're going to change the way we talk about it. We're going to enforce blight. Any, uh, negligent property owners are going to be dealt with. We're going to clean it up. We're going to cut the grass. We're going to deal with overgrown lots. And we're going to restore the pride in New Orleans East. All right. Senator Duples. Thank you.
Council Member Moreno, your concrete strategy as mayor to attract new economic development and quality retail to New Orleans East. Sure. So, when I build up my economic development team and office, I will have a specific group within that office just focused solely on New Orleans East, making sure that we're retaining businesses there, making sure that we're recruiting businesses there. Also, ensuring that some of the city-owned properties that we have in New Orleans East, that those are put back into commerce. We have this old dilapidated, uh, incinerator site in New Orleans East that actually could be a great job center now that we have the new port terminal coming in in St. Bernard. But we have unfortunately lost businesses in New Orleans East due to the fact that there's been this lack of attention. We lost Farber Brewery, one of the, uh, businesses there, due to the fact that the city really wasn't paying attention to their needs, and there were simple needs of beautification. They had an outrageous Sewage and Water Board bill. And so that is why this level of attention is so important. And I'll also mention that I'm the only candidate up here who actually has a plan on their website that fully lays out my vision for New Orleans East because I see so much tremendous opportunity there. All right. Thank you so much.
And Council Member Thomas. Uh, let me say, I think I'm, I'm the only council member that's actually changed the stereotype and the perception of New Orleans East. Now, New Orleans East is a conversation. People didn't talk about it before. Council Member, Senator Duples is actually, actually right. It's not the other side of the high-rise. 7,000 acres of developable business park. Two of the busiest waterways in North America, then coast of the industrial access by railway and interstate from Jacksonville to Santa Monica. 27 subdivisions of the highest African-American earners of any municipal district. Ecotourism by you survives 340 different bird species. If birding can be popular in New Jersey, surely ecotourism, birding can be, birding can be popular in here. But the leaders, the titans in business and industry also have to look at the East as an asset. Why are we not promoting that New Orleans East is leading the way in violent crime reduction? And if you check the permitting office, there have been more permits to open up new businesses by young entrepreneurs in New Orleans East than many other parts of the district. We have an $11 million investment about to go to Corner Crowder and Chef. All right. Thank you so much, Council Member Thomas.
Okay, now we want to move on to housing for real this time. New Orleans' 2024 housing ecosystem report cites a shortage of 47,000 affordable housing units. At the same time, thousands of homes have been converted to Airbnbs and, uh, short-term rentals, really driving up rents and reducing the long-term housing stock. As mayor, how many affordable units do you realistically plan to bring online each year of your term? And how do you plan to pay for that? We want to begin with Council Member Marino.
Thank you. So, we have to take a look at what other cities have done to really boost up their affordable housing. And one of the, uh, kind of more unique ideas that I think is very doable in the city of New Orleans is taking their publicly owned properties and then ending up turning those into affordable housing. So that what I would do is I would take, we have about 80 different structures, um, that the city owns and move those, and we also have a couple hundred parcels of land that the city owns and move those over to the New Orleans Building Corporation. And then I would have the New Orleans Building Corporation really work to put those back into commerce and then ultimately with the main priority being turning these into affordable housing. At the same time, as you all know, the City Council has been very strong in their STR legislation, and we recently just won a huge court battle against Airbnb where now they are having to take off their site thousands of listings that are not permitted. And so, by not allowing these on the site, this could allow for additional affordable units. All right.
Council Member Thomas. First of all, you, the one thing is, as an elected official, you can say what you want, but your vote really shows where you are. I was the only first person who voted against, uh, the River District, and that was because of the, the affordable housing plan, $630,000 per unit. You know what we could do with $630,000 if we did that in Gentilly or Central City or the Ninth Ward or Uptown? Let's bring a lot of the housing experts back to the table. Lauren Anderson, Fred Johnson, Raj Peso, Wilbert Thomas, the folks who did it during the '90s and late '80s where we saw tremendous growth in infield, especially when ACT was challenging the mayor and his city government to build more affordable houses. Let's take a look at how we make old indigenous communities affordable. Let's work with the state to raise the homestead exemption. That would bring down costs about 20%, especially with, uh, raising insurance costs and other, other factors that are that are raising prices and making it more affordable. But let's sit also, uh, sit down and how do we reprogram CDBG funds to use a soft sec, soft. Okay. Thank you so much, Council Member Thomas.
Now, Senator Duples, you have one minute. So, Katie, you said we need 47,000 units. What I've said is that I'm proposing to build 40,000 units over the course of 10 years, building and preserving affordable units because it's something that we simply have to do. After Hurricane Katrina, we did 80,000 homes. So when people say, "Royce, you have to stop saying you're going to build 40,000 units, you can't do it." I said, "Nope. I'm going to keep saying it because that's what we need." Miss Loretta in the Seventh Ward, she doesn't care. She needs it done. Mr. Tommy Uptown, he doesn't care. He needs it done because he needs an affordable place to live. People are getting pushed out of our city not by choice because they don't have any place to live, and housing is a right. I'm going to create the office of Chief Housing Officer that will coordinate between NORA, HANO, Finance New Orleans, and we're going to administer the new affordable housing trust fund that I publicly supported with my own resources to ensure that it got passed, thanks in large part to the leadership of Council Member Leslie Harris. We're going to administer those $20 million to leverage funds working with the leadership of Damon Burns at Finance New Orleans to get these projects completed. All right.
Thank you all. And now we want to move on to one of our final sections of tonight's debate, which is a rapid-fire round where we ask you all a series of yes or no questions. Yes or no are the answers to these questions. Uh, so we're just going to go through these quickly just to get these topics out of the way and, uh, to hear how you all feel about some pretty key issues we feel, um, are involved in the city of New Orleans. So, we're going to begin with Council Member Moreno. And the first question is this: After her historic indictment, should Mayor LaToya Cantrell step down?
No, because she's not convicted.
Council Member Thomas? No.
Senator Duples? No.
Right. Our next question. Would you support making a section of Bourbon Street a pedestrian mall as recommended for safety after the Bourbon Street terror attack? Uh, we ask first, yes or no.
Council Member Thomas, no.
Senator Duples? Yes.
And Council Member Moreno? No. Sorry. No.
Should the city use red light cameras?
Council Member Thomas. No.
No.
Senator Duples, no.
No.
Council Member Moreno is a no. And the next question here, will you keep Anne Kirkpatrick as NOPD Chief? That is if she is willing to stay.
Council Member Moreno. Yes.
Council Member Thomas. Right.
Senator Duples. Yes.
Thank you. Do you plan to keep the Office of Cultural Economy?
Council Member Thomas. Yes.
Senator Duples. Yes.
Council Member Moreno. The next question. Do you plan to keep the Office of Youth and Family Services?
Senator Duples? Yes.
Council Member Moreno. Yes.
Council Member Thomas. Yes.
All right. Well, we are now approaching the end of tonight's debate. We can't thank you enough for being here with us, but we do want to give you all the chance to let the audience know exactly what it is that you're thinking. Uh, we have a special poll on our website where you can rate these candidates. Scan the QR code you see on the corner of your screen and tap the link that pops up to weigh in. Now, in our final section, again, we will allow the candidates to make a closing statement. Yes, you all are going to have one minute to speak directly to the voters. No rebuttals will be allowed in the closing statements. And we want to begin this round with Council Member Thomas.
First of all, I want to thank WWL, uh, for this opportunity. I also want to thank my colleagues, man. To put yourself out for public service, uh, isn't an easy thing to do. I want to be your mayor, and it's not an easy job. Understanding how governance works, public policy, how the system works. That can be a difficult thing. But as I walk in my divine purpose, every morning I get up, I think about your family. I think about my family. I think about your business and how it operates and how can we be proud of the city that we live in. I think, what can we do to make a city that used to work, work? How do we demand more accountability? How do we have benchmarks and performance plans? How do we have elected officials that know that the sanitation bone is connected to the law department bone is connected to the code enforcement bone? And how do we flip the social order? Too often it's been politics, business, and people are last. I want it to be people, business, and politics as a supporting entity. I'm Oliver Thomas. Please join this movement, number 26.
All right. Next up, we have Senator Duples.
New Orleans has always been known as the Big Easy. But the fact is that living in New Orleans these days isn't that easy. We've lost over 20,000 people over the past four years. We've had multiple energy rate hikes. We are facing a $100 million deficit. But it's not all doom and gloom. I'm running to be your mayor to make New Orleans an easier place to live. To make it a more affordable place to live. Yes. And to fix the potholes. My wife and I, we're raising our seven-year-old daughter in the heart of Central City. I recently ran an ad, and in that ad it says, "He's one of us." I'm proud to be one of us. I'm proud to be of this city, from this city, born and raised, true and through. I'm thankful for my parents raising me and my three brothers. My mother's birthday is today. Happy birthday, Mom. For instilling in us the values that we're instilling to try to make our city better. New Orleans, we have a choice. We can turn the page on the chaos and dysfunction and get this city back on track where we know it belongs. Thank you.
Council Member Moreno.
Well, thank you. First, thank you to WWLTV for having tonight's forum. You know, when I was thinking about running for mayor, it did take me some time to make the decision because I take the decision to run for mayor so seriously. To be mayor of the city of New Orleans, you are responsible for the people of the city. And it is a sacrifice because to be a good mayor, you have to be a 24/7 mayor. You really can't ever take a day off. And thank God that I have the full support of my family in this journey because I would not be able to be standing before you if I didn't, because they too will be sacrificing when I am your 24/7 mayor. And I get it that there have been times that, you know, I've had to really get out there and fight for the people of the city. But let me be very clear. I will continue fighting for the people of the city, and I will continue ensuring that I protect the city of New Orleans. So, I hope that on October 11th, you hire me to be your next mayor. Thank you.
Right. Thank you all for your responses and for sharing your stance on the issues that are important to New Orleanians here. We want to thank the candidates for joining us for tonight's debate, as well as our coverage partners at the Committee for a Better New Orleans. And most importantly, we want to thank you, the audience, the voters of New Orleans. We hope you're going to stay with us because our campaign coverage continues live right now on our streaming app, WWL Plus, with WWL political analyst Clancy DuBos offering analysis plus some post-debate interviews with the candidates. That's all coming up live on WWL Plus. And if you're not already watching, Bear, we'll give you a moment to switch on over. And if you haven't tried WWL Plus, all you need to do is download the app on your smart TV, and you can watch anytime for free.
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