New Orleans has made comebacks before. On the Newell Normand show this week, Newell reflected on how the city was able to regain its footing after Hurricane Katrina even if it wasn’t able to regain all of its population. On Thursday’s show, Newell said the city is in the midst of a different kind of disaster.
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“The challenge here is different now. This time it wasn’t brought about by mother nature. This time it was inflicted by elected individuals who decided not to prioritize the right issues and decided to do other things with their time. They didn’t prioritize their time, they didn’t prioritize their issues, didn’t deal with this. They waited until it was a crisis to get involved and they waited until the electorate decided that maybe we need to take control of this ourselves,” Newell said.
The distinction of New Orleans becoming the murder capital of the U.S. has been developing for several years according to Newell. He called it the “byproduct of inaction”. It’s also a harsh reminder of the consequences that are inherent in elections.
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Newell said the campaigns to get candidates like Susan Hutson to become the sheriff of Orleans Parish and the reelection of LaToya Cantrell for mayor of New Orleans were full of “woke word salad”. They live in a world where inmates are called as “residents” of the parish jail and a teenager who carjacks three women deserves the mayors emotional support.
In Newell’s view, the empty overemphasis on diversity and inclusion for criminals and defendants has failed to provide a safe environment for every day people looking to gas up their cars without the fear of that car being taken from them or worse.
Despite the fear many citizens feel, despite the continued flow of officers leaving he NOPD, despite some residents deciding to leave the city they love, Newell says the people of New Orleans have options. One option resides in the NOLA Coalition which formed over the summer as a collective voice of the business and civic community.
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One of its main objectives is to put pressure on elected officials to get handle on the ballooning crime in New Orleans and to raise money to help that end. The other options rests with the recall effort by nolatoya.org. Its ultimate goal is to get its petition to recall mayor LaToya Cantrell on a ballot and force a referendum on her second term. Newell says this can be an empowering time for voters in New Orleans.
“Now we’re all over it. It’s a good thing I want to keep the momentum going. As I said before, involve yourself in the NOLA Coalition and sign the petition. That ought to be the two top priorities for everybody living in the city right. Figure out how you can help Nola Coalition and sign the petition,” said Newell.
The political infighting, the gaffes by Cantrell and the sharp increases in homicides has provided more than enough material for local, national and international media. Newell says this is not a situation that just affects New Orleans. He says if you think the parishes outside of New Orleans are not paying attention you are “sadly mistaken”.
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Listen to his whole opinion: