Broken street lights will soon be a thing of the past in New Orleans--that's if New Orleans Mayor Helena Moreno's first initiative proves successful.
This morning, Mayor Moreno and other city leaders launched the Lights On initiative, which is designed to replace street lights that are not functional and, in many cases, have not been functional for years. Those officials say the effort is part of the city's ongoing effort to drive down crime.
"It's the mayor's promise to the people of New Orleans that she would give attention to East New Orleans," Deputy Mayor of Public Safety Michael Harrison said, adding that the problem of broken lates predates his time as the New Orleans Police Superintendent more than decade ago.
Deputy Mayor of Infrastructure Stephen Nelson said officials don't know exactly how many lights are out. According to Nelson, he and other city leaders will rely on information from residents to find out where lights are out.
"I don't have an exact number for you," Nelson told reporters. "It's based on that 311 data. Wherever we have 311 reports and/or crime data, we'll be doing canvassing in house."
Mayor Moreno says there's money in the public works budget to lift the hiring freeze in the Department of Public Works to bring electricians in house. That, she says, will allow the city to work more quickly to fix these lights.
NOPD Superintendent Anne Kirkpatrick, said she's all for the plan. She also called on residents to call 311 to report light outages.
"Where there's darkness, evil lurks," Kirkpatrick said. "We have to be a team. I can't fix your lights, but I sure can be on the team to say, 'Hey, Director Nelson! We need some lights out here!'"
"It's time to get to work urgently," Moreno said, adding that her team will work with urgency, increased coordination, and better management to fix these lights. "I do expect from everyone on my team is excellence--to work urgently, and I expect excellence. You know why? Because we all work for you."
According to Moreno, the city will move away from copper wire to other materials to prevent copper thieves from disabling those lights.
"Just a few days ago, I was like, 'Steve, can we go to aluminum?' He was like, 'Of course! We can go to aluminum,'" Moreno said. "It's just, once again, let's get things done. Let's stop doing things the same because we were getting any different results."
District Attorney Jason Williams believes turning the lights back on and taking measures to prevent criminals from taking those lights offline will help the city in its fight against crime.
"Light means visibility," Williams said. "Light means accountability. Light means that no part of the city feels forgotten or is forgotten. We don't want any of our neighbors left in the dark."
