Banks: The term culture bearer applies to those who know, understand and practice the cultural values and traditions of a group or society. Culture bearers can be musicians, artists, dancers, writers, etc. and should be actively transmitting or disseminating the cultural practices.
Bloom: The term culture bearers encompasses so much in our city. Musicians, street performers, artists, Social Aid & Pleasure Clubs, and masking organizations like Mardi Gras Indians all contribute to our city’s culture. Any person or group that advances our city’s heritage and unique traditions fit that definition.
Banks: Affordable housing must be available. First, we must untie the restrictions on the thousands of the blighted houses throughout the city and use incentives to develop those properties into affordable housing units. Second, we work to freeze residential property assessments to not penalize long term residents because new residents have driven up property values.
Bloom: Our city is unique and vibrant, and the people who live here make it that way. We need to protect our residents and ensure they have safe and comfortable places to live. As a councilmember, I will work to create discourse between the council and the departments of Community Development, Economic Development, and HANO to find comprehensive solutions to housing. I will work with developers who are applying to build new structures, to create a percentage of housing units for working class and low-income residents, in accordance with proposals from the Smart Housing Mix policy. I plan to entice developers to do this by offering positive incentives, rather than enacting restrictive legislation, wherever possible.
Legislation to safeguard housing should not have the opposite effect: it should not serve to effectively de-incentivize development, but should encourage smart and responsible development to flourish by offering positive incentives that attract inclusive housing development. Having more economic opportunities available to residents will help us all succeed. I will lend my support to any effort to join together the varying interests of residents, government, developers, and community groups to create smart housing solutions.
To achieve this holistic approach to housing, I will work to ensure that business and economic leaders, those in the city's departments of Community Development, Economic Development, and HANO have the opportunity to hear from community stakeholders. Again, I will work hand-in-hand with city leadership to create incentives for development to provide residents with access to needed resources like transit, services like pharmacies and groceries, and recreational opportunities. I will place pressure on city governmental departments to work together to create comprehensive plans and requests for proposals that will address the needs of working people in our city.
Banks: We must make jobs and housing accessible in more widespread locations by increasing transportation options. We can assess RTA rider data for busses and streetcars to see where additional routes are needed. We can also evaluate options for bikes, scooters, reasonable parking and child-care locations that are near transit.
Bloom: I absolutely support increased public transit for our hospitality workers. In my discussions with constituents and stakeholders in the industry, I constantly hear how difficult a commute on public transit can be for those who work late shifts and must travel home at off-peak hours. Inconsistency and delays result in people being late for work or other appointments, often opting to either take a costly cab or ride service, or to leave much earlier than they should, spending unnecessary time away from their families, due to poor on-time performance with bus routes. I will support a comprehensive accounting of existing routes on RTA lines, and call for public input on creating new options to better serve our working communities.
Banks: Our culture bearers must be compensated fairly. I will work to insure that organizations and business that employ our musicians and other artists pay a living wage.
Bloom: I currently sit on the NOCCA board, where I have the pleasure of experiencing art and performance from youth in our vibrant city. I pledge to support dedication of funding to programs for the arts among youth as well as adults who contribute to our culture. We should remember however that the best way to help our culture bearers to move beyond poverty to a comfortable living, is to ensure that they have adequate opportunities for steady work. Funding campaigns to attract tourism is an important part of that, and one I will also work to maintain. I also favor educating tourists on how they can support local culture and will partner with tourism and hospitality groups as well as artists and coalitions, to further this goal.
Banks: I participate in the parades as a member of Zulu and I support a fair and equitable parade fees for our Social Aid and Pleasure clubs.
Bloom: Our Mardi Gras parade fees are based in law on the fact that Mardi Gras parades along the traditional routes create tremendous economic revenue for our city, and that Mardi Gras is a production of the city of New Orleans. Second lines produced by Social Aid and Pleasure clubs, since they are productions by the individual organizations, must provide their own security in the form of paid NOPD officer details, while Mardi Gras parade security is provided by the city directly.
I understand that these fees can be onerous for Social Aid and Pleasure Clubs. I pledge to seek equitable solutions, and will welcome culture bearers, Social Aid and Pleasure Clubs, and the Social Aid and Pleasure Club Task Force to provide input and proposals to modify current processes for permitting and security.
Banks: I will review the data for the current plan to determine what has been effective and what has not. Security must be effective for the entire city, for our residents as well as tourists.
Bloom: I support anything that makes our streets safer. If the presence of State Police in the French Quarter creates more confidence in public safety in the area, helps to decrease delays in response times, and works as a valuable partnership with NOPD 8th District officers, then I would support maintaining that limited partnership until such time as NOPD can fully operate and meet policing needs within the Quarter. I am currently quite frustrated with the infrastructure component of the strategy, with the entry point and first block of Bourbon street being blocked with unending construction, especially when local entertainers and hospitality workers cannot easily access their work in the French Quarter. We must solve both our infrastructure and crime problems.
It is imperative that both residents and visitors feel and are safe. We all have too much at stake.
Banks: I will listen to the concerns of these businesses and work to insure that we do not inhibit the ability of those who work and perform to make a living.
Bloom: I will seek to ensure that proposed policies that affect cultural contributors, venue owners, and other stakeholders are debated in a public forum, to ensure that those who would be affected have a chance to give insight and input. I will also do my part to ensure that existing laws are not disproportionately applied and levied against any single group or establishment, but instead are implemented fairly.
I also think it is important that local businesses do not have to worry about their buildings or the streets getting to them are flooded. We must address our drainage problems so that businesses can continue to thrive.
Banks: Yes
Bloom: I would remove the 8pm curfew, butalsowould advocate a more common-sense policy on noise that does not punish street musicians but also allows for some reasonable accommodations during weekday evenings, to create an environment that honors performers and also respects neighbors.
Banks: I will work in conjunction with the various entities to determine what policies may need to be added or revised to support our cultural community. Together we can institute effective policies that will enhance our values.
Bloom: I pledge to have an open door for community members and representatives to weigh in on policy decisions. Our diverse culture, music, performers, and all creative enterprises should be celebrated, and I am ready to implement innovative ideas to support those in arts and entertainment.
Banks: All of the stakeholders including tourism, business, government, labor and education must come together to create realistic opportunities for our youth so that crime is an option they never consider. We can enhance programs at NORD such as theater, music lessons and dance to provide programs that will make our youth aware of their culture. Such programs can also employ our culture bearers and allow them to pass on the culture and traditions.
Bloom: As a two term Orleans Parish School Board Member, I recognize the important role education of every kind can play in crime reduction and overall increase in quality of life. I will seek to promote education and youth empowerment throughout my work as councilman, including advocating for youth cultural programming and seeking to expand funding, publicity, and partnerships for NORDC programs to include music, arts, and performance. I will advocate for the continued expansion of arts and cultural programming in our schools. Cultural activities also provide economic development and jobs. The opportunities for employment and extra income can also benefit our youth and encourage continued development of our cultural heritage.
Banks: The City Council has no direct involvement in education but does have the power to demand that all of the stakeholders come together to create paths that our youth can take. We must support and insure that programs for the arts are included in the school curriculums
Bloom: In addition to more formal programming for youths such as arts and music education in our schools and community programming, our culture also depends on participation in neighborhood cultural groups like Mardi Gras Indians, neighborhood musicians and bands, and Social Aid and Pleasure clubs. To support participation inneighborhood based groups, it is important to maintain their visibility and recognition as vital community cultural touchstones. I will be a champion of formal and informal cultural traditions, and will again seek input from coalitions like the Social Aid and Pleasure Club Task Force, Mardi Gras Indian Council, MACCNO, and other associations that bring together culture bearers, to seek ways to continue their work and identify ways to empower young people to participate in these traditions.
Banks: Yes
Bloom: Yes, where it is feasible to do so.