A new mayor will take over the New Orleans City Government in four months from now, and the New Orleans City Services Coalition has developed a plan to help the new mayor overhaul the city government and the services the city provides to its residents.
"Our fundamental goal was to make fixing city services a household word," Pres Kabacoff, project director for the New Orleans City Services Coalition, said to WWL's Newell Normand.
According to Kabacoff, city leaders need to focus on five basic city services: Street and Infrastructure Maintenance, Drainage and Water Management, Permitting, Public Safety and Justice, and Trash and Clean Public Spaces. Kabacoff says if the new mayor and the city council work in unison, they can effectively implement a city services plan while staying within the city's budget.
"You can't do 20 things. We're down to five. If you can't do the five, then you probably can't do the other 20," Kabacoff said. "If you know where you want to go, and if we get the council and the mayor to align where they want to go, you can develop a strategic plan--a tactical plan--to cost out."
According to the plan, the coalition says improving the city government's technology will play a major role in that overhaul. That includes revamping the chief information officer position.
"We're trying to really roll up our sleeves and present to the council a way to take advantage of technology and to identify measurable goals," Kabacoff says.
Coalition member and Tulane professor Chris Reade said that making changes in the CIO post could help city leaders become more efficient in passing along information to both residents and to city work crews.
"I drive past a construction site where the road's closed for no apparent reason," Reade said. "How do you get rid of a mattress? You want to throw out a mattress in the city, how do you get rid of the thing?"
Kabacoff says the candidates for mayor have read the document and have committed to making changes, but he admits that the new mayor and council are not obligated to follow their report when they take office in four months.
"We'd like them to be organized in such a way, and the mayor and the council don't have to accept our recommendations," Kabacoff said. "That's they're call, but we hope with the amount of homework, we'll make it easy for them. Those recommendations then will be presented."
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