There is a sales tax proposal on the April 24th ballot that would fund three times the number of supplemental NOPD blue light patrols operating in the French Quarter, and would hopefully reduce the lawless and out of control behavior there. To get the details, Newell invited Gail Cavett and Glade Bilby from the group French Quarter Citizens onto the program Monday morning.
“We've gone through early voting now and are heading into election day, and it’s very important for folks to get out to vote on behalf of this sales tax,” Newell began. “Who's aligned with it, and who's not?”
“It's a very unique situation where we have everyone aligned with it. All of the French Quarter organizations are supporting the initiative, because it will give us three times the NOPD blue light supplemental patrols that we currently have,” Cavett said. “They also support it because approximately 95% of the tax is paid by tourists who visit our community. It's a quarter of a sales tax that was voted on five years ago and then had sunset and it's up again. It's been really beneficial to our community and it provides that extra layer of supplemental patrols that we need in the French Quarter. The Quarter is now open and we have visitors who are coming back and we need that extra layer of protection.”
“Maybe now more than ever!” Newell agreed. “Glade, there's hardly a day that goes by where you don't hear of some crazy criminal happenstance going on in the Quarter or right around there. In fact, Canal Street has taken on a new life as it relates to the level of violence there.”
“Well, you're right,” Bilby said. “This past weekend, we had a shooting at Canal Street and near Bourbon at the edge of the French Quarter each night. I don't think people realize how open the French Quarter is. I think that having the blue light patrols, which we've had for the past five years, has been really beneficial for the residents. It's one thing that you have the NOPD, but we can actively see the efficiency of the blue light patrols and the French Quarter task force app that we've been using.”
“Absolutely, information is power, and the more that you can share, the better off it is,” Newell said. “We have these unusual circumstances - in less than a year, this is going to be a ballot initiative twice, and actually some organizations ended up campaigning the proposition the last time, because the mayor had a different perspective as to where she wanted it to go. Where does the mayor and her administration stand at this at this time?”
“As far as we know at this point, the city is in lock step with our community,” Cavett said. “Because now the ballot language is quite clear that we will have supplemental police patrol. That's why we have buy-in from everyone. Our organization actually supported it the first time. Other organizations in the French Quarter did not, because they wanted the language to be more specific. So now the language is more specific. It clarifies supplemental police patrols. That's why we have buy-in from everyone this time.”
“I was kind of taken aback with that,” Newell said. “The city took the position that they really felt that there was maybe this potential for a lack of accountability, but those are relatively easy hurdles to jump over and overcome when you have an audit function and things of that nature. Your feeling, Glade?”
“I think sometimes there's a little reticence to trust things that come out of government,” Bilby said. “But built into this, there is a little bit more transparency. One of the things that we were adamant about is we wanted post certified officers in all of these positions. This is an institutional problem. This is a big problem. It's not just small little misdemeanors in the Quarter. So post certified officers was very important to us. And I think that if we have adequate transparency, which in the original ballot was problematic, or not clear, we have a better chance of making sure that the money gets spent properly and it's used for security and safety for the French Quarter.”
Hear the entire interview in the audio player below.
