Polls indicate that 69% of registered New Orleans Republicans plan to vote for Helena Moreno. However, that hasn't stopped candidate Frank Janusa from tossing his hat in the ring and keeping it there.
Newell Normand and Dave Cohen sat down with New Orleans native Frank Janusa to get a sense for what he sees as the city's most glaring issues, and, were he elected mayor, how he'd address them.
Revenue generation and budget cuts
As things stand, Janusa says that the city must do a better job at collecting tax revenue and finding creative ways to get tourists to spend money that goes directly to city coffers.
"Every year, these 19 million people that come to the city, those individuals, visitors, tourists, and residents of the city spend $9.6 billion in the city of New Orleans. Virtually all of that is subject to the cities 5% sales tax. The city should be collecting $480 million of sales tax each year."
However, audits show that the city isn't bringing in nearly as much tax revenue as it should. "In 2023, the last available financial statements, they collected only 260 million," Janusa explains. "So there's a $220 million uncollected gap in sales taxes."
A CPA by trade, Frank Janusa sees one of New Orleans' most pressing issues to be its budget deficit. One idea Janusa has proposed is a travel app, which would be available for tourists to purchase.
"It would turn a $100 million deficit into a $ 100 million surplus. In a couple of European cities, primarily Paris... you buy a travel app and it costs roughly in US dollars, somewhere between $80 and $100. Dollars. That travel app entitles individuals to discounts at Parisian restaurants. River cruises, sporting events, libraries, museums, you name it."
Janusa claims that New Orleans, as a tourist town, could greatly benefit from such an app.
"There are some 19 million people who visit the city of New Orleans either by airplane, by Amtrak, or by cruise boat," says Janusa. "If only one-in-ten of those tourists purchase this app. For $100, that would generate $200 million a year for every year we've got those tourists. So that $200 million a year could obviously reduce the deficit, and to an extent would actually be able to help reduce real estate taxes on the individuals and businesses that have property in the city."
The Republican candidate also states that he's identified specific areas to make cuts.
"Each city councilman, all seven of them," Janusa says, "has a budgeted spending amount of one million dollars per year, where they distribute these funds to neighborhood groups, social clubs, some schools, et cetera. How much of that is to generate political power for the distributing councilperson, and how much of that is really beneficial to some of these organizations, a lot of whom are flush with cash, and several of them don't even file the required IRS forms?"
Creating shared ownership through the Saints & Wisner Trust
Janusa also shared his thoughts on creating opportunities for New Orleans citizens to buy into New Orleans assets, such as the Saints or the Wisner trust.
"One of the ideas that I've proposed in my platform is to actually get the citizens of New Orleans to actually own a piece of the New Orleans Saints," Janusa says. "The Saints have a phenomenal fan base here. It's entirely a possibility that the NFL would approve something like that. Look at the Green Bay Packers. Their ownership base is primarily citizens of Green Bay."
"Another idea I've had that I've mentioned is to take the Wisner Trust and actually sell it back to the people of New Orleans. That way, the city can collect the $100 million that this thing is worth, assuming it has 100% ownership of it," says Janusa.
"And that would generate for those individuals who care to purchase an interest in it, where they could get the eight, nine, ten percent annual return on 33,000 acres of prime oil and gas land in three parishes in southern Louisiana, Jefferson, Lafourche, and St. John the Baptist."
Chances of winning
Most recent polling places Janusa at 7%. Yet, he claims to have felt a momentum shift in recent weeks and that he's been able to chip away at support for candidates like Moreno, who have strong Republican support.
"Five weeks ago, I was an asterisk in the poll, indicating less than 1%. Three or four weeks ago, I was polling at 7%. So something is happening somewhere. Am I draining Republican votes from the other candidate? Possibly."
Janusa cites other examples of Louisiana cities breaking away from the norm in recent years and electing Republican mayors.
"Shreveport elected a Republican mayor. Last year or so, Baton Rouge elected a Republican Mayor, Sid Edwards," Janusa explains. "I'm expecting the trifecta that New Orleans will actually elect a Republican mayor. A long shot perhaps, but I've been in this too long to stop now."
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