By Matt Davis, The Lens staff writer | The New Orleans Coalition on Open Governance is holding a training session for citizens Wednesday to teach them how, when, and where best to speak up so that their voices are included in the city’s budget process, which is already underway. The coalition, of which The Lens […]
Posted inGovernment & Politics, Opinion
Not self-evident: Our founding documents weren’t created equal
My family and I drove to central Florida to visit relatives and celebrate the Fourth of July. Unfortunately this coincided with the Casey Anthony trial, which culminated this week in a not guilty verdict on the major felony charges. Suffice it to say that my favorite holiday wasn’t favorably enhanced by heading into the main […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, Government & Politics
Council tells district attorney, criminal clerk to do a better job of measuring effectiveness
By Matt Davis, The Lens staff writer | Three City Councilwomen pushed the District Attorney’s Office and the Clerk of Criminal District Court to set better performance measures for how they spend taxpayer money this week. Their remarks came at the last of three joint meetings of the council’s Criminal Justice and Budget committees Thursday. […]
Posted inGovernment & Politics, Land Use
Flap over Magazine Street Pilates center prompts city to shape up notification rules
By Karen Gadbois, The Lens staff writer | Once it opens, the new Romney Pilate Center on upper Magazine Street promises to help the workout crowd shape up. But because of neighborly unhappiness over the way the building itself bulked up after original designs were approved, the development has already begun reshaping the way the […]
Posted inLand Use
Interview: St. Roch art impresario holds forth from Tasmania on the wreckage left behind
By Ariella Cohen, The Lens staff writer | In the years after Hurricane Katrina, Kirsha Kaechele made a name for herself as a kind of art world impresario. The city’s cultural elite flocked to soirees where they consumed fine food and edgy, disaster-inspired art — all this in St. Roch, a low-income, violence-plagued neighborhood where […]
Posted inOpinion
Pedicab success pivots on City Council opting for merit selection
By Alan Williams, The Lens contributing opinion writer | Finally, New Orleans has joined the ranks of cities that permit pedal-powered cabs to carry residents and visitors around town. Soon, New Orleanians and tourists alike will be able to cruise Magazine Street, roll to the Superdome for a Saints game, or get from a downtown […]
Posted inOpinion
New public comment rules inspire confusion as well as criticism
“Read the directions and directly you will be directed in the right direction.” — Alice in Wonderland By Karen Gadbois, The Lens staff writer | See related video at end of story. Broadcasts of City Council proceedings cut cleanly from the dais to the speakers microphone — omitting the confusion […]
Posted inGovernment & Politics
A look at the city's books shows New Orleans poised to end 2011 in better shape than 2010
By Ariella Cohen, The Lens staff writer | Despite significant reform to the way the city collects fines, taxes and permitting fees, New Orleans collected slightly fewer dollars in the first six months of the year than it did in the same period of 2010. Even so, the city is on track to end the […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, Government & Politics
Suspended deputy loses part-time constable job after being accused of beating woman
By Matt Davis, The Lens staff writer | An Orleans Parish Sheriff’s deputy arrested and suspended Monday after being booked with simple assault also has been fired from his second job as a deputy constable after being accused of a separate assault this month, records show. And even before being fired from his part-time position […]
Posted inOpinion
City blight blitz is overlooking key allies: owners trying to rebuild
By Tess Monaghan, The Lens contributing opinion writer | Nearly six years after Hurricane Katrina, tens of thousands of residential properties in New Orleans sit vacant. Some have been blighted for decades. But many remain in disrepair simply because their owners lack the funds to repair damage from Hurricane Katrina. City Hall has set a […]