LA 2 Cultural Policy Candidate Questionnaire
Get Your Brass Out and Vote! and MaCCNO collaborated on a questionnaire for LA 2 candidates that specifically focused on issues facing the cultural community. Each candidate received the same 8 questions and responses are printed below exactly as they were received.
7 of the 15 candidates sent a full response (click on their name for more information on each candidate, when available): Chelsea Ardoin; Karen Carter Peterson; J. Christopher Johnson; Harold John; Greg Lirette; Desiree Ontiveros; and Jenette M Porter. Sheldon Vincent Sr. called to verbally respond--his responses have been added to the relevant questions.
1. What does the phrase culture bearer mean to you?
Ardoin: Someone who is in-tune with their own culture and seeks ways to preserve and enhance it.
Carter Peterson: To me, a culture bearer means an individual or a group that practices arts and traditions that express a community's traditional values, aesthetics, history and needs through this work. When I think of New Orleans culture bearers specifically, I think of those who carry the culture of our city and state wherever they are...whether it's the Mardi Gras Indian Chief, the Social Aid and Pleasure Clubs that lead the Second-line, the brass and funk bands that tour the globe, and even the Bell Hops at the French Quarter Hotels that charm and greet our guests as they arrive.
John: A culture bearer is someone who protects, promotes, and preserves music and the Arts. They share it with others and make sure it stays around for the generations and ages. They are the guardians and also the spreaders of our Music and Arts.
Johnson: A culture bearer is one who, through their art and their contributions to a community, upholds a way of life. They are those who take it upon themselves to keep a lifestyle and cultural identity alive. In New Orleans, there are the people who spend their own money to form second line krewes. There are the musicians who fill our parade routes and clubs and they are paid less than they deserve for upholding one of the nation’s strongest musical traditions. They are the chefs in our restaurants and the painters in our galleries and the bartender who create New Orleans for tourists, only for them to have to take two buses back to New Orleans East because they’re not paid enough to afford a car. These are the people who uphold the culture of one of the nation’s most unique cities and they deserve to be treated as such.
Lirette: A Culture Bearer embraces and promotes the unique cultural atmosphere of New Orleans and Louisiana.
Ontiveros: Cultural bearers are individuals or groups who uphold, influence, and perpetuate the culture and history of a community through a variety of methods which must be rooted in a deep knowledge, respect, and love of that community. In doing so, culture bearers are physical representations and promoters of the values and soul of a community.
Porter: Culture Bearer: someone who carries and thus diffuses cultural values and traits throughout societies.
2. Musicians and culture bearers are the catalyst for Louisiana’s tourism industry, the largest employer of the New Orleans workforce, and the most neglected of the sector because of the pandemic. What will you do to ensure that a greater amount of the tax revenue generated by the cultural economy of New Orleans finds its way back into the hands of the people responsible for creating it?
Ardoin: Most of these local tax dollars are generated and collected by local and state governments. There is little the federal government can do about distributing federal money directly to these individuals. Some areas that we can affect include PPP funds for small businesses, COVID Emergency payments to individuals and forgiving the federal portion of unemployment compensation costs to the states that paid their unemployed workers. I support all of these measures.
Carter Peterson: I believe that the government must serve as a safety net for our musicians, culture bearers, hospitality workers, single mothers, children and senior citizens. That is why throughout my 20 plus years in the legislature I have authored legislation to raise the minimum wage, to require employers to provide sick leave for workers, to create a Louisiana version of the family and medical leave act, equal pay for women and minorities and more.
It is not acceptable for our culture bearers to be struggling when they are the driving force for tourism. When I am in Congress, I will propose a plan to give more support to those that add flavor to our city. I will support expanding the unemployment insurance system to cover more workers, including independent contractors and gig, part-time, and tipped workers. I recognize that many of our culture bearers work multiple jobs to provide for themselves and their families, while still engaging in their artistic passions, so I will fight for a living wage including raising the federal minimum wage to $15/hour. I will support enacting robust paid sick leave protections as part of the COVID-19 response for gig workers and the self-employed so that one trip to the hospital does not bankrupt them, while protecting rights to organize, join a union, and collectively bargain.
John: We have long neglected and taken for granted those who made New Orleans what it is today. From music and arts in the schools to taking care of our locals for all of the major Festivals. Those who bring the tourists in should be taken care of by a dedicated hotel, motel, and restaurant tax which is strictly for the performers above and beyond other compensation. This fund could be used for teaching, training, equipment purchases, and also as a rainy day fund for struggling musicians and those musicians and artists who are up in age. Those most responsible should share in those tax revenues.
Johnson: One of our primary campaign proposals will be to rework the federal small business loan program to target community based minority based entrepreneurs in underserved communities. Under our plan, after five years, the loan will be regarded as a grant if the owner can demonstrate that their business has provided cultural and economic benefit to an underserved community. Through this program, we will shift the ownership of New Orleans’ tourism industry into the hands of those communities who are responsible for its success. Additionally, we will propose a requirement that any company receiving federal assistance of any kind must unionize, and we will work closely with the hospitality workers union to increase unionization rates in the French Quarter.
Lirette: As a congressman I support fair distribution of rescue funds to all 2nd District residents regardless of their employment and would work hard to keep from excluding any workers or businesses from receiving needed federal funds.
Ontiveros: As the daughter of a janitor, I know what it means to start from nothing. People like us are always one disaster away from backsliding into cycles of poverty. Just when you think you are finally getting ahead Louisiana families are back at square one, experiencing food and housing insecurity.
Congresses job over the next 4 years is to ensure economic relief and recovery. I believe that policy should be created by those who are closest to issues, and I have deep personal experience with running a business during the pandemic and navigating retaining my team with benefits.
When people think of the New Orleans tourism industry, they often forget that it’s locally owned small businesses, including musicians and culture bearers, who prop the industry up. We need to tackle things like small business relief through main street recovery -- small businesses create 47% of the jobs in our region. I want to help support current and encourage new small businesses so we can recover many of the lost jobs, including creating a dedicated SBA minority fund that does away with historic barriers to access, like credit scores.
To close the income disparity felt by Black and brown communities as well as ensure families can remain debt free and are made whole by the end of the pandemic, I also support a guaranteed income as we work toward economic recovery and sustainability.
Porter: There should be plenty of grants for cultural and historical agents of Louisiana income to give out. You are the reason the people come. The music.
3. Law enforcement agencies are routinely used to police “quality of life issues” like street performers or “loud music,” which, due to systemic racial inequities in the criminal justice system, can put BIPOC community members--especially Black boys and young men --at increased risk of arrest, detainment or receiving a summons. What policies would you propose to reduce these types of interactions?
Ardoin: I sympathize with your plight. Again, these are local issues. I will do all I can to support local efforts.
Carter Peterson: We must fix an unjust criminal justice and policing system that too often targets black and brown men and children. I believe the safest communities are those that invest in community resources instead of police presence and the militarization of the police.
In Congress, I will support legislation that seeks to divest federal dollars from the main programs and agencies that have been fueling mass incarceration at state and local levels. Instead, those funds should be invested to build a new model of public safety and create a new Community Public Safety Agency which will use grants to replace the harmful criminal legal systems locally with evidence-based public safety infrastructure.
Additionally, I support ending cash bail with respect to the fact that any system that allows for poor people to remain in jail before trial simply because they cannot afford bond should be completely overhauled. I believe it is the job of Congress to come up with a bail system that is fair and keeps violent criminals behind bars but allows for the release of those who are not a threat.
John: New Orleans is being gentrified at an accelerated rate ever since Hurricane Katrina. Sometimes people who weren't raised here don't appreciate what the street vendors and performers bring to the table. A lot of times the streets are where they hone their crafts and skills. Certain areas should be Zoned as performance areas. If you purchase or rent in those areas, you do so at your own peril. Calls where noise is an issue should be handled by agencies such as Code Enforcement or a Hazard Mitigation force. The police should only be there to back them up or if a situation like crowd control becomes a major issue.
Johnson: Though noise ordinances are something that plainly cannot be regulated at the federal level. We have committed to fully supporting the federal decriminalization of marijuana and the enforcement of the mass deregulation of police departments nationwide. Under our proposal, cities would be required to demilitarize their police departments and put in place new strict protocols, which severely limit use of force and make police brutality easier to prosecute. We would also fully support proposals on the local level to make unarmed enforcers (not police) responsible for quality of life ordinances.
Lirette: As a Congressman, I would use my platform to influence local decisions as much as legally possible to work to make sure that all residents, regardless of race, neighborhood, or other identifier are treated equally and fairly, as I have stated publicly many other times. The systemic racism is a big problem with no easy answers or solution. I recognize this issue and am willing to listen to everybody in a quest to begin to make needed change to our culture.
Ontiveros: Racist policing and state violence is an injustice targeted at Black communities in this country. It also destroys lives and separates families in Latino communities, in the form of police brutality, ICE detention centers, and Customs and Border Patrol abuses.
The problem requires comprehensive and systemic policy changes and the reappropriation of funds, such as establishing national standards for police departments; requiring training on racial, religious and discriminatory profiling; and, making federal funding for state and local police contingent on the passage of state laws banning practices like chokeholds and no-knock warrants. We should also prohibit military equipment from being transferred to civilian police departments, require federal officers to use body cameras and have cameras on the dashboards of their vehicles, and instruct local departments to use federal funds to do the same.
Finally, we must fight for restorative practices to replace the harmful ones, including investment in Crisis Intervention Teams and unarmed police units for calls not likely to result in arrest to prevent escalation and decrease fatalities, the expansion of accessible mental health services for all, and support local efforts to prioritize community policing efforts.
Porter: If the police cannot articulate that you committed a crime, then there is no crime.
4. Pay for musicians has, on average, not increased in several decades, and the tipped minimum wage remains stuck at $2.13 an hour. This creates serious economic instability for the majority of cultural, tourism, and service industry workers. How can we create a stronger economic safety net for these communities, and how can those who exploit the workers of these three sectors be held accountable? Follow up: Do you support raising the minimum wage to $15/hr?
Ardoin: There are currently labor laws on the books to protect unfair labor acts. All abuses of these laws should be immediately reported to local authorities. When elected, my office will accept those calls and forward them to the proper agencies. As for the minimum wage, I absolutely support an increase.
Carter Peterson: Louisiana’s minimum wage hasn’t budged from $7.25 an hour for well over a decade. Even before the pandemic, that was nowhere near enough. Now, frontline and essential workers are putting their lives on the line to keep our communities running, but too many still aren’t paid enough to take care of themselves and their families. It’s past time to give workers the raise they deserve.
I filed legislation in 2020 again this year at the State legislature to raise the state minimum wage to $15/hour. This bill is a much-needed boost to the economy, puts more money in the pocket of hard-working families who need it the most, and will lift thousands of Louisianans out of poverty. It’s time for us to act and raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour, because nobody should have to work two or three jobs to put food on the table and keep a roof over their heads.”
John: Club owners are raping our musicians lately. Musicians should not be playing for tips.(Period) The club owners benefit from the presence of the musicians and then don't want to pay them. They should get part of the admission money as well as part of the drink monies. We need to treat our musicians and artists like Vegas does. There should be a standard minimum fee for all performers. If they want to tip on top of that, that's lagniappe. A $15 dollar minimum wage would go a long way towards solving a lot of these issues. There should be minimum fees for all groups and performers. Those club owners who don't adhere to the set rules should be fined and eventually lose their license.
Follow up: Do you support raising the minimum wage to $15/hr? My extensive labor background would not have it any other way. That should be a starting point.
Johnson: We support a $15 minimum wage. We would increase the social safety net for these individuals by eliminating the requirement that individuals be unemployed to collect federal welfare. Welfare must be available to those who are employed, but need government assistance to make ends meet. Additionally, we support universal healthcare and if feasible in the near future, the enactment of UBI policy.
Lirette: While the Federal Government sets a national minimum wage, states and local communities can set higher minimum wages as they see fit. Minimum wage jobs were never meant to be a career. I have run on a message of improving education, tech training and bringing businesses that offer higher paying careers to the District so that anybody who wants opportunity has it. I do not support a specific dollar amount minimum wage as much as I support a more livable wage and more opportunities for the residents to move up the economic and career ladders.
Ontiveros: The subminimum wage for tipped workers is a legacy of slavery. White restaurant owners sought to hire Black workers as bussers and servers without paying them, forcing them to live exclusively off tips. This was made law in 1938, when the United States enacted its first federal minimum wage law yet continues to exempt restaurant and service industry workers, allowing them to be paid mostly in tips. To add insult to injury, during the pandemic, many of these workers have been unable to access unemployment benefits because their wages were too low to qualify.
I will unapologetically fight for a $15 minimum wage that is indexed for inflation so that we don’t have to fight for livable wages decade after decade as well as advocate for the removal of the subminimum wage, ensuring workers are paid a full, livable wage. Ideally, Congress is able to accomplish this through the Raise the Wage Act, which I fully support.
Porter: You have to come up with a new approach to the company that hires you. I can be your liaison to the increase in in wage. I work for my own company, so wage is important.
I support the minimum wage increase to $15.
5. Cultural businesses have been hit especially hard by the COVID-19 pandemic. What will you do to support targeted federal relief for the arts and culture sector?
Ardoin: I will support the National Foundation on the Arts and Humanities and encourage greater efforts in our K-12 schools to include mandatory Arts and Humanities classes. I support all COVID-19 pandemic emergency relief funding opportunities for gig and part-time workers including the arts and culture sector.
Carter Peterson: I have been meeting directly with local with venue owners and operators who in many instances are barely hanging on. I support the Save Our Stages Act and implementation by the Small Business Administration shuttered Venues Operator Grant to ensure grants released to our local venues.
John: We take care of all of the other businesses so our cultural businesses should be no different. Dedicated funds to tide them over until they can resume performing should be given to them like all other workers.
Johnson: In addition to our targeted loan program, which would also offer reopening loans to existing businesses, we intend to cosponsor the Save Our Stages Act to bring federal relief to performance venues around the country.
Lirette: I am willing to support relief for all affected by the pandemic regardless of of business sector. All businesses that need assistance should have the opportunity to apply for and receive it.
Ontiveros: The recently passed America Rescue Plan includes $470 million for arts and culture relief. In addition to the economic recovery priorities geared toward local businesses I stated above, I will fight to ensure our state receives its fair share of these allocated funds as well as advocate for additional dollars as future recovery bills are proposed.
Porter: As of right now, there are strict guidelines for opening and closing of businesses in New Orleans, Louisiana and the other 63 parishes. Advertise in each Phase of the state hours of performance and who stays in the lowest Phase 1. Make sure it hits who it is designed for and make sure who it is designed for receives it.
Vincent: Vincent expressed that because of the passage of the stimulus package this was largely taken care of.
6. Gentrification and displacement continue to be major--and growing--issues in New Orleans and cities across the country. Black, working class neighborhoods and businesses, which are the birthplace and incubators of most music and cultural traditions specifically, are highly at-risk. What is at least one policy that could be implemented to help mitigate the harm done, and/or reverse this?
Ardoin: Please refer to answers for questions 1-5 for policies that can be implemented to mitigate the harm done.
Carter Peterson: Housing is a fundamental human right. Every person should have the right to live somewhere in security, peace, and dignity, no matter who you are or how much you make. As a State legislator, I have been the lead author on legislation that supports access to low-cost financing for residential and group housing programs that support low-income families. Our city is defined by its neighborhoods and its diversity. In addition to financing resources that make access possible, I will always be willing to author and champion legislation that protects the rights of all individuals to live where they are able without discrimination. That’s why in Congress I will continue to support targeting new affordable housing in low-poverty neighborhoods near job centers and transit, while simultaneously increasing infrastructure and economic development investments in higher-poverty, underserved communities.
John: We need to address the issue of short term rentals, which I feel has affected the amount of affordable housing. We also need to implement a smart housing mix for all new construction. More affordable housing should also be built, and discriminatory practices like source of income should be outlawed.
Johnson: Community small business development (see our previous answers) will be a crucial part of ensuring that low income individuals maintain control of their own neighborhoods. Additionally, we plan to propose federal regulations on Air BnB, which requires cities to limit the number of short term renters in low and medium income areas. Finally, we propose affordable housing incentives, which offer subsidies to developers to build affordable housing, with stipulations that developments meet a certain level of quality and prioritize applicants from the existing community.
Lirette: Gentrification and displacement are remnants of the current systemic racial issues our country is facing today. There are no simple answers to these problems and most answers lie at the local level, not the Federal level. I believe the best policies are made by the residents closest to the issues.
Ontiveros: The pandemic is threatening the housing security of tens of millions of Americans. At the federal level, I support the passage of the Emergency Affordable Care Act of 2020, which has expands Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) to house more families, including the most vulnerable; secures current LIHTC deals that are now on shaky ground due to the pandemic and faltering economy; and preserves tens of thousands of affordable housing units.
Particularly relevant to our region in this bill is closing loopholes to preserve and promote affordable housing. The bill repeals the “qualified contract” option that allows LIHTC owners to convert properties to market rate after just 15 years. The bill also prohibits the consideration of local support or opposition, or local government contributions in deciding where to build affordable housing.
Porter: Music is everything in New Orleans. Diversification. Everyone may have to do something else until things come back into normalcy.
Vincent: Vincent expressed that policies that helped renters should also take into account landlords, and landlords should also receive assistance.
7. Affordable and accessible health care remains a significant barrier in many of our communities, and is a particular issue for gig workers, like musicians. How will you work to ensure everyone has access to needed care?
Ardoin: I believe a primary role of government is to protect its citizens including healthcare coverage for all, ensuring the government protects those citizens who cannot protect themselves. I support the Affordable Care Act and revisions that will make it more affordable and accessible to our needy citizens. I believe all citizens should have access to needed healthcare including access where appropriate to Medicaid, Medicare, and/or private competitive insurance.
Carter Peterson: Throughout my 20 year tenure as a progressive state legislator, I have proudly fought for affordable healthcare, advocated for protection and expansion of Medicare and Medicaid, increased funding for substance abuse and mental health treatment, women’s health access, community-based health clinics, lower costs for prescription drugs, and more. And, when Gov. Bobby Jindal refused to expand health care in Louisiana, while serving as a member of the Obama White House Health Care Taskforce I led the charge and demanded the state expand Medicaid to save lives and improve health outcomes for the working people of our state. Today, 442,000 Louisianans are now covered by health insurance, have more access to primary care, and pay lower out-of-pocket health care costs.
Still, I believe we can and must do more. As a member of Congress I will fight to expand coverage, support policies that lower drug prices, reduce premiums and cost sharing, and increase support for long-term care. I believe that healthcare is a fundamental, human right, not a privilege for the few and that the best way to achieve universal health care is Medicare for All.
I believe in providing health and long-term care benefits to all U.S. residents with no out-of-pocket costs. In Congress, I will support policies that eliminate copays,
deductibles, premiums, and surprise billing. I believe that covering medical, dental, vision, hearing, prescription drugs, maternity care, comprehensive mental health services and substance abuse treatment can be achieved and that it is the right thing to do. Even if they say it can’t be done.
John: Well the obvious answer is pass Medicare for all. Healthcare should be a right not a privilege. Let's quit making people go to work injured or sick. Medicare for all would solve all of those issues.
Johnson: We intend to fully support the establishment of Medicare for All. This nation needs a quality public healthcare option.
Lirette: Currently, almost everybody, including gig workers has access to healthcare on the Affordable Care Act’s Marketplace. We all know that the Marketplace is still an expensive option for citizens, but it is an option. I will work with other republicans to changer parts of the ACA to make it more affordable for those most in need.
Ontiveros: It can be hard not to feel hopeless when trying to find basic medical coverage and care. The whole system is confusing, and it feels like almost every time you scroll through Twitter someone is trying to pay off their medical bills through a GoFundMe.
I know that the healthcare system was not equipped to give the best level of care to low income individuals. My father, a former Marine, died at 57 years old of throat cancer after a two year battle. The VA declined to help with medical costs related to his cancer, so his care was relegated to substandard care afforded by the Medicaid system. This experience stands in direct contrast with my mother’s experience with cancer treatment in 2019 when I was able to provide her with the best medical care available. My father may have been alive today had my family’s economic status been different.
Healthcare is a basic human right, and I support Medicare for All. As we work toward universal basic healthcare, we need actionable items immediately, like making life saving drugs free and protecting the rights of women to make healthcare decisions for themselves. I will fight to ensure that no one dies or goes bankrupt because they unexpectedly get sick or require medical attention.
Porter: Everyone needs healthcare. They started Hospitality Healthcare Worker already. Goes according to income.
8. How do you envision regularly engaging with and including New Orleans’ cultural community members as stakeholders when you are elected to office?
Ardoin: I will have a satellite office in New Orleans and Baton Rouge that will have regular business hours and accept calls, complaints and suggestions from any interested groups. As much as possible, I will personally attend meetings in my district of cultural community groups and when not available, I will make sure our staff considers this a priority group.
Carter Peterson: Instead of spending my career defending big business, I have spent my years in public service working for the people in the trenches fighting for policy and building coalitions to implement real reforms for real people, not corporations. This experience has prepared me to be able to introduce and carry out the kinds of legislative changes necessary to meet the goals of the New Orleans cultural community to which I am also deeply committed.
Constituents know from experience that I listen, engage and come up with solutions for complex problems. I’ve spent my life working to empower communities that were underrepresented in politics – from knocking doors in New Orleans as a kid to help elect the city’s first Black mayor, to my time as DNC Vice Chair of Civic Engagement and Voter Protection protecting voting rights against attacks from the Trump Administration. The voices of working people and families in our communities – not special interests – will always be the most important. That’s why I’m proud to answer to grassroots supporters and constituents, not a single corporate PAC.
John: I am on the Executive Board of the GNO AFL-CIO. My relationship with Unions and Union members will be enhanced if I am elected. Those who are not Unionized will still have a seat at the table if I'm elected. I recognize and value the worth of all workers, including artists and musicians. Our gig workers need to be treated with the same respect as all other workers. I will have a staff that reflects the Community and that will be sensitive to the wants, needs, and desires of all workers.
Johnson: Simple; we plan to speak to our community. This will largely entail myself, as well as members of my district office, making a priority to set meetings with New Orleans artists and entertainers on a regular basis, as well as regularly attend local arts and cultural events to make contact with culture bearers who are less directly accessible.
Lirette: As a leader in the Arts and Cultural Community, I would regularly engage the MCCNO and its members to make sure I was representing the interests of the community members in a beneficial manner. As I stated previously, I want to serve ALL residents of the 2nd District.
Ontiveros: I am committed to convening a number of working groups around important policy issues, such as economic equity and criminal justice, and am committed to ensuring the cultural community is represented throughout those groups not just in the convening most directly related to culture bearers and the arts. I also plan to continue my engagement and collaboration with the arts and culture community as I do not intend to move to D.C. full time. I hope to be an incredibly present and responsive representative while fulfilling my legislative responsibilities.
Porter: The music industry in New Orleans is epic. There is always inclusion, no doubt.