Tensions rise between street musicians and the NOPD in the French Quarter

Post revised on 6/18/2010 to include the full statement by Chief Serpas, a statement issued by Mayor Landrieu and Councilmember Kristen Gisleson-Palmer, and a Gambit blog story about a protest in Jackson Square led by musician Glen David Andrews.
Don’t Stop the Music. Let New Orleans Street Musicians Play is a newly-formed advocacy effort to support… »

Neighborhood leaders learn how NolaStat supports citizen participation

A presentation delivered to Neighborhoods Partnership Network members on April 21st. The handout can be downloaded here… »

New Orleans open government in just one day?

You could be sending 311 complaints to city officials, and receiving 311 updates, using Facebook and Twitter, in just about a day.
All that’s lacking is a mayor willing to make the commitment to this kind of open government. Well, that, and … um … turning the 311 system on again. Actually, there’s more to… »

Mitch: “The best ideas come from people in neighborhoods”

“I understand that often times the best ideas come from people in neighborhoods across the city.”
A refreshingly enlightened perspective on post-Katrina leadership from Mayor-elect Mitch… »

Seattle open data policy will improve public access to city information

Seattle is the next city to follow in the footsteps of open data reforms implemented by San Francisco, New York City, the District of Columbia, and other cities. Data.Seattle.gov is planned as a Web site that will publish city data sets to be downloaded by citizens, or used by citizen programmers to build Web-based applications… »

Which candidates understand this central lesson of Katrina recovery?

Which candidates understand the lesson of Katrina recovery — that by their very nature, disasters overwhelm the capacity of government, but when government works as a partner with neighborhoods, the sum is greater than the parts?
The role of government should be to help stand up the capacity of neighborhood associations and civic efforts, and respond… »

President Obama: A “presumption of openness”

What does President Obama think about government transparency?
The three principles of transparency, participation, and collaboration form the cornerstone of an open government. Transparency promotes accountability by providing the public with information about what the Government is doing. Participation allows members of the public to contribute ideas and expertise so that their government can make policies… »

How New Orleans spends your tax dollars

Does this chart reflect your priorities?

Council Members Shelley Midura and Stacy Head hosted a budget town hall meeting last night. Among the strongest points made was that the lack of community participation in the budget process may have led to a misalignment of expenditures with respect to community priorities.
See the town hall Powerpoint… »

Upcoming City Council budget meetings

A schedule of upcoming City Council budget meetings:

Thursday, Oct. 29, 2PM – Budget Committee Meeting
Friday, Oct. 30, 10AM – Mayor presents his budget

Budget hearings begin, Nov. 6, 9:30AM: Throughout month of November, departmental budget committee hearings during day in City Council chambers.

Weekly Budget Review Sessions with Councilmembers Head & Midura:

Wednesday, November 11th, 7:00 PM, City… »

How do we live within our means without cutting essential city programs and services?

The public has been invited to City Council chambers tonight to comment on what the city’s budget priorities should be:
As you know, during the month of November the Council will undergo the harrowing process of adopting the 2010 budget, AND we are facing a nearly $68 million deficit based on the 2009 budget.
I am writing… »