Nothing makes journalists and politicians focus like a deadline. New Orleans Mayor Helena Moreno, a former journalist, will mark her 100th day in office on Wednesday by recapping her administration’s early achievements and, no doubt, promising more to come.
This is an early yet appropriate time to take stock of the new mayor. Elected officials who start slow often fail in the long run. Determined to avoid that trap, Moreno set a fast pace for herself and her team immediately after winning the mayor’s race last October.
She had no choice.
Former Mayor LaToya Cantrell left a fiscal trainwreck even before leaving office, prompting Gov. Jeff Landry and Attorney General Liz Murrill to suggest taking over city finances months before Moreno’s inauguration. Moreno and City Council President JP Morrell fended off that threat, but City Hall still faces unprecedented fiscal constraints.
All incoming mayors face two overarching, often conflicting challenges: presenting a vision for the city that inspires hope and confidence, and managing expectations.
Clancy DuBos
Moreno articulated her vision as a candidate for mayor, promising to improve city services significantly on Day One. The fiscal mess left by Cantrell makes managing expectations of promised improvements all the more difficult.
So far, Moreno’s deftly doing both.
Despite the city’s fiscal challenges, she recently proposed building a new City Hall, which would cost hundreds of millions of dollars. That’s a bold move for a new mayor. The last five mayors attempted it without success — even though the current City Hall is decrepit.
But a new City Hall, if designed and built to help mayors deliver improved city services, would literally carve Moreno’s vision (and her legacy) into concrete and stone.
Which brings us to managing expectations.
The mayor’s exceptional communication skills give her an advantage on this front, but talk will only get her so far.
As a candidate, she agreed to support, at least in principle, a plan to overhaul city government proposed by the City Services Coalition, a group of local business, civic and neighborhood leaders.
The coalition recommended getting back to basics, focusing on streets, sanitation, public safety, permitting, drainage and water (read: overhauling the Sewerage & Water Board). It also identified areas in need of structural change: civil service, technology and giving the city’s chief administrative officer more authority — and autonomy — to hire and fire department heads.
Most of those ideas aligned with Moreno’s campaign platform. So, 100 days into her term, how’s she doing?
Overall, she’s off to a good start.
She put Chief Administrative Officer Joe Giarrusso III, a popular former council member, in charge of implementing the coalition’s ideas. Giarrusso says most of the group’s proposals are either underway or already in effect.
He cites as examples the merger of several departments under Moreno’s deputy mayors. Dr. Jennifer Avegno is overseeing health, youth and human services while continuing as Health Department director; Public Works Director Steve Nelson, who formerly worked at the S&WB, is managing all infrastructure projects; and former Police Superintendent Michael Harrison is overseeing the departments of police, fire, EMS, juvenile justice and emergency management.
On a related front, Moreno supports a bill by state Rep. Stephanie Hilferty, R-New Orleans, to give the City Council greater control of S&WB rates and fees.
One coalition idea that Moreno hasn’t yet embraced is giving the CAO more autonomy.
“I don’t think the CAO should fire any department head without the mayor’s input,” Giarrusso told me. “That would be bad policy and bad politics, because all major department heads now have to be approved by the City Council. We should let that change take full effect.”
Improving technology and streamlining the permitting process go hand-in-hand, Giarrusso added, citing the enhanced Office of Performance and Accountability, which includes the Services and Innovation team, and new Safety and Permits Director Susannah Kirby.
“The data folks at OPA can build metrics on just about anything, particularly payroll and overtime,” he said. “And the S&I teams are measuring and will soon post information on the city’s dashboard related to finances and quality of life issues. They’re also working on PermitStat, which will show a permit’s ‘lifespan’ so people can see how long it takes to get a permit.”
Giarrusso calls OPA and S&I “the secret sauces” of improved technology and faster permitting, adding that those efforts are “just getting started.”
Many hurdles remain before New Orleanians can point with pride to city services. But, after just 100 days in office, Moreno has given citizens reason for optimism.
