Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry has made it clear: he will continue to impose his will on the city of New Orleans.
During a press conference on Tuesday, Landry said the rest of the state will determine the Crescent City's future, not the other way around.
"It used to be the saying was: where goes New Orleans, where goes the state. Let me tell you what happened today. That has changed. Where goes Louisiana will determine the fate of New Orleans," Landry said. "The state of Louisiana is tired. New Orleans thinks it's so special. They used to have four assessors, two clerks, a sheriff that ran at a different time. It's just on and on. That parish is going to operate exactly like the rest of this state, and the people of this state want that."
Landry made those comments as the war of words between him and Mayor Helena Moreno escalates and months after lawmakers approved bills eliminating the Orleans Parish Criminal Clerk of Court's Office and three Orleans Parish criminal judgeships.
According to one political analyst, Landry's attempt to dominate New Orleans is just beginning.
"There's a whole host of legislative ideas that could be at play," University of Louisiana political science professor Joshua Stockley said. "Governor Landry and his team probably will spend the rest of the year thinking up legislation that can help them in the next session that can help them with New Orleans."
Stockley told WWL's Tommy Tucker that those ideas that includes rewriting the Louisiana Constitution to give the governor and the state government more control over the city of New Orleans.
"He wants to administer New Orleans the way he thinks he should be run as opposed to the city itself," Stockley said. "They could downsize. They could eliminate even more positions. They could reduce funding. They could eliminate projects. They could get legislation to allow the governor to put even more people on certain boards."
Stockley says is Landry were to stack local boards and commissions with his appointees, he would be able to influence future casino sales or tourism deals.
"Landry has always had a little bit of a beef at the way New Orleans has been run, and now that he is in the highest office in the state, he's looking to do something about it," Stockley said. "I think he wants to see a city that is lockstep in line with his criminalization policies, basically to take a stronger stance on crime and locking people up."
According to Stockley, Landry's beef with New Orleans goes all the way back to his time in Congress in the early 2010s. Stockley says Landry carried his grudge against the city with him as attorney general and during his campaign for governor.
"In those offices, he routinely took actions that were at odds with the policies of New Orleans," Stockley said. "He ran for governor criticizing New Orleans on a whole host of issues to include its crime rate and its fiscal spending, which is the issue that we see today."
According to Stockley, Landry's long game against New Orleans will succeed as long as voters and lawmakers go along with his plan.
"They've been able to reduce positions. They've been able to demand new elections. They have exerted influence on the state bond commission," Stockley said. "As long as there's political backing, I think there's a whole host of resources potentially at Governor Landry's disposal in this conflict--far more than what New Orleans has."
