Marc Haydel Morial is one of America's most visionary and accomplished leaders. As Mayor of New Orleans, he led a dramatic comeback setting the standard for all of America's cities. Morial transformed a broken New Orleans into a model for the nation's urban cities. Through his sweeping police reforms, housing and neighborhood revitalization efforts, innovative global economic development initiatives, investment in infrastructure, and support of recreation, education and jobs for young people, Morial rebuilt a dying and decaying urban center into a great American city, restoring the City of New Orleans once again to its international prominence.

Across the United States, Republicans, Democrats, fellow mayors, governors, legislators, congressmen, senators and business executives recognize Morial as "a new American mayor," one not defined by the limits of his governmental responsibilities. He is CEO, Entrepreneur, Problem-Solver, Public-Private Partner, and Advocate for his city and its citizens.

Morial, as President of the U.S. Conference of Mayors developed and advocated a united national urban policy. He is a respected expert on national policy and its impact on cities. His colleagues described him as well-suited to lead the non-partisan national mayors organization, where he impacted urban public policy in the arts, transportation and infrastructure, the environment, crime prevention, housing, jobs and recreation.

Born in New Orleans, he is the second of five children of the city's first African-American mayor, the late Ernest N. "Dutch" Morial, a lawyer, and Sybil Haydel Morial, a teacher and educator. A 1976 graduate of Jesuit High School, Morial earned a BA in Economics at the University of Pennsylvania in 1980, and received a law degree from Georgetown University Law Center in 1983. He has a daughter, Kemah Dennis-Morial, a student at Tufts University. He is married to newswoman Michelle Miller and they have a son, Mason Miller Morial.

• The Police Department was considered the most brutal and corrupt in the nation.
• The city suffered more than 400 murders in 1994.
• City Hall was often spoken of as a dirty, ill-kept place.
• Many of the New Orleans Recreation Department's playgrounds had been closed for lack of funds to operate them.
• More than 30,000 residences and businesses were boarded up and in many instances had been converted to crack houses or places forprostitution.
• Many airline executives spoke of the New Orleans International Airport as a fourth-rate facility.
• We desperately needed city and state funds for the Phase III Expansion of the Morial Convention Center (named after my late father, Ernest "Dutch" Morial). The entire matter was tied up in disputes between the city and state.

During our administration, we tackled these and many other urban problems. Under a new police superintendent, Richard Pennington of Washington D.C., 600 police officers were arrested, fired, disciplined or resigned while under investigation. Chief Pennington actively assisted the FBI and Justice Department in prosecutions that sent dozens of officers to jail and two to Death Row.

Chief Pennington achieved a pledge to reduce murders and violent crime by more than 50 percent. He lifted the number of police officers from 1,285 to nearly 1,700 and said the city ought to set a future goal of 2,000 police officers.

We cleaned up City Hall with the help of hundreds of volunteers and Parish Prison inmates.

Since 1994, the budget of the Recreation Department has doubled and the playgrounds were re-opened and improved while new swimming pools were constructed.

New housing programs were begun that reduced the number of blighted and abandon property by nearly 30%. First-time homebuyer programs improved the homeownership rate from 42% to 47%. New homes have been constructed in inner-city neighborhoods.

Since 1994, the city has issued more than 18,000 building permits for renovations and additions.

In 1995, we passed the largest bond issue in the city's history to rebuild our streets, parks, playgrounds and public buildings. We called these initiatives Rebuild New Orleans Now! In 2000, we ensured continuation of our rebuilding efforts with the passage of Purposes A & B which funded an additional $150 million for infrastructure improvements and $27 million for law enforcement facilities.

The revitalization of Canal Street was a major focus of our administration. Underway is a three-year capital improvement project, which is improving sidewalks, neutral grounds, landscapes, and construction has begun on the Canal Street streetcar line, a $156 million investment.

We created a host of government innovations including a reformed city charter, the beginnings of a revised land use plan and a new comprehensive zoning ordinance. And we worked closely with the private sector to create an environment where partnerships with government facilitated private investments that benefited the entire city.

A rejuvenated New Orleans Aviation Board created an $850 million renovation, rebuilding and expansion program for the Airport. The airport was re-named the Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport in 2001. We also convinced the FAA to begin a long-delayed study of a possible new runway that could double the Airport's capacity.

The funds for the Phase III expansion of the Convention Center were secured, the expansion was constructed and plans are now being prepared for a Phase IV Expansion.

In 1994, New Orleans was not only the Murder Capital of America: the murderers included members of the New Orleans Police Department. It was clear that the Police Department had to be reorganized, purged of its lawless elements, given an entire new work ethic and pride of integrity.

	Chief Richard Pennington

After a national search, we chose Richard Pennington, a career police officer from Washington D.C. to head the NOPD. Under Chief Pennington, 600 police officers were arrested, fired, disciplined or resigned while under investigation. Dozens of officers went to jail and two went to Death Row.

The administration provided the NOPD with one of the nation's first juvenile curfews. Too many teenagers had died in late night and early morning shootings. We said that children should be home at night, working on homework, not running the streets looking for trouble. With the implementation of the juvenile curfew, murders of teenagers dropped by more than 60 percent and overall juvenile crime continues to decline on an average of 5 percent a year. Murders in 1994 were at an all-time high, with 26 percent of these crimes being committed in three public housing developments (Desire, Florida and BW Cooper). As a result, Community Oriented Policing (COPS) was implemented. Police substations were staffed and operated 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, in housing developments and neighborhoods where violence was common.

In the first year, murders fell in three developments by 75 percent and eventually a similar reduction was seen in the remaining seven public housing developments. Not only were violent crimes reduced by 50 percent over eight years, but for the first time in years families were able to sit on their porches or sleep at night without hearing the sound of gunshots.

In October of 1996, the NOPD instituted the COMSTAT program, a computerized system that recorded every crime and required district commanders to be accountable for the reduction of crime in the areas assigned to them. COMSTAT opened the lines of communication between commanders in order to share information and solve crimes that crossed district boundaries. This, combined with a "no tolerance for crime philosophy," increased the number of arrests by the NOPD from 40,000 a year in 1993 to more than 70,000 a year by 2000.

Crime in New Orleans dropped dramatically with overall crime at its lowest in 27 years. Violent crime and more specifically murders fell by over 50 percent, and in 1999 New Orleans was recognized by the National Crime Prevention Council as one of America's Six Safest Cities.

From 1994 through 2002, the administration fought for and successfully provided from 12 to 62 percent pay increases for some officers. Although still lagging behind some major American cities and the region, for the first time in recent memory police pay was recognized as a top priority and the city's leaders worked to address it.

In 2001, the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies (CALEA) awarded Chief Pennington and his department national accreditation for bringing its policies and procedures up to national standards. National accreditation represents only six police agencies in the State of Louisiana and 15 percent of all police agencies in the United States.

None of these positive achievements happened in a vacuum. Business leaders concerned about crime formed the New Orleans Police Foundation. They provided financial resources to implement COMSTAT and underwrote an advertising campaign that recruited hundreds of new officers. Chief Pennington increased the size of the NOPD to 1,700 officers and said the long-range goal should be 2,000 police officers for New Orleans.

Both the NOPD and the Police Foundation also gained strength due to support from community groups, including All Congregations Together, which brought into a single organization scores of churches and synagogues from throughout the city.

Within the last eight years, metropolitan New Orleans placed first twice or reached the top ten for greatest participation in National Night Out Against Crime. Since 2001, Orleans Parish has hosted over 300 registered Night Out Against Crime block parties.

When New Orleans went from worst to first in the nation's crime statistics, it was a community triumph that reflected the urgent efforts of an entire coalition that included every segment of the city.

New Orleans has always been too dependent on the oil industry. When it faltered due to an international drop in prices, New Orleans lurched into a 

decade-long recession known as the Oil Bust.

When we took office in 1994, it was clear that tourism was New Orleans' strongest, fastest-growing industry, directly responsible for $3 billion in economic activity each year and more than 65,000 jobs. We certainly supported tourism growth, successfully gaining state funding needed for the Phase III Expansion of the riverfront Morial Convention Center, named for my late father. But it was also clear that our economy was in need of diversification.

While gaming was not our first choice of new industries, it seemed to be a natural fit for New Orleans. When Harrah's Casino had financial problems, more than 3,000 jobs were in danger of being lost. Through the Rivergate Development Corporation, the city's interest was protected. The RDC lawyers ensured that the city was being paid rent and lease payments throughout Harrah's two bankruptcies. This entity negotiated casino leases with three different companies, oversaw design and construction of the Casino at the Rivergate Convention Center Site and helped the city achieve 100% compliance with the Open Access Plan which provided small, minority and women-owned businesses work and contracts related to the construction of the casino project. The Rivergate Development Corporation also assisted Harrah's in obtaining tax relief from the state with the goal of keeping the casino open and preserving local jobs.

We worked closely with the Port of New Orleans to get state funding for the creation of new docks to handle container cargo. Without new facilities, the Port risked losing cargo to other Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico ports with thousands of jobs in New Orleans at stake. The combination of the Port of South Louisiana, the Port of New Orleans and the Port of Baton Rouge constitute the world's largest port system. But in a very competitive global economy, we were well aware that facilities that slowly become obsolete lead quickly to a serious, potentially devastating disadvantage.

New Orleans trade accounts for 107,000 jobs and $13 billion in spending statewide. Each year more than 100,000 barges pass through the Port of New Orleans. In 1998, the port was the 4th most active in the nation.

Our Office of International Relations & Trade Development has played an important role in the City of New Orleans' re-emergence in international commerce. During the 1950s the City of New Orleans held the title of "Gateway to the Americas." It has been the primary goal of our administration to reclaim that title. Since 1994, the City of New Orleans has made significant strides in reestablishing relations with countries in Latin America, the Caribbean, Asia and Africa. Among the accomplishments of the office:

• Encuentro Las Americas '97, one of the premier trade conferences in the United States.

• U.S. Treasury Department "Summit of the Americas" meeting of Western Hemispheric Finance Ministers.

• U.S. Department of Transportation Western Hemispheric Transportation Ministers Summit.

• U.S. Department of Energy Hemispheric Energy Ministers Summit.

• 41st Annual Meeting of the Board of Governors of the Inter-American Development Bank.

• Former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev's visit in April 1997.

• The Mayor's Honorary Ambassador Program, which now has 37 Honorary Ambassadors representing New Orleans' interests in countries as diverse as China and India.

• Drafted and negotiated trade agreements with Managua, Nicaragua; Tegucigalpa and San Pedro Sula, Honduras; San Salvador, El Salvador; Santiago, Chile; Tucuman, Argentina; Port-au-Prince, Haiti; Oranjestad, Aruba; Caracas, Venezuela; Puerto Vallarta, Mexico.

• Organized trade missions to Chile, Costa Rica, Honduras, Haiti, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Austria, Mexico, Spain, Cameroon, Aruba, Ghana and South Africa.

	New Orleans African American Museum

The City's neighborhoods are New Orleans' lifeblood.  In 1994, many of our neighborhoods were threatened with extinction. There were 30,000 

abandoned and blighted properties and many of the city's neighborhoods had fallen into almost irreversible disrepair, endangering our most treasured and historic residential and commercial communities. The residential, commercial and cultural revitalization of those areas was a major focal point of our administration.

As we begin to revitalize our existing housing stock, it became apparent that there was a need to empower homeowners and create ownership opportunities. Our local partners at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac stepped up with creative financing programs and homeowner educational components.

Through community partnerships with banking institutions, the faith-based community, non-profit organizations and neighborhood groups, the City's Division of Housing and Neighborhood Development implemented the Impact Neighborhood Strategy (INS). The housing recovery strategy promoted rehabilitation efforts in cluster areas. The initiative focused on recruiting national and local lending partners to adopt inner-city neighborhoods and partner with the city and local community development corporations in pooling their financial resources.

Homeownership & Neighborhood Revitalization 

Community development and faith-based organizations, banks and the Housing Authority of New Orleans have pumped more than $1.7 billion into the local economy prompting housing recovery and new development activity in every neighborhood of the city.

New Orleans recorded more than 21,000 home sales from 1994-2002. Since 1994, homeownership has increased from 42% to 47%. Among the programs which has turned renters into homeowners are: the Mayor's Soft Second Mortgage program for low-to-moderate income families; Project Reclaim which targets the purchase and renovation of blighted and vacant properties; and Freddie Mac's "Double" Program which converts rental duplexes into homeownership opportunities.

Housing & Community Redevelopment

	Saulet Apartments

The city provided federal funding and other creative incentives for important private sector projects like the $66 million Saulet Apartments and HRI's $60 million redevelopment of the American Can Company. Local banks invested more than $50 million in distressed communities. From 1994-2002, through HOPE VI Initiatives at St. Thomas and Desire, the City of New Orleans has received more than $700 million in commitments from a combination of federal grants and private sector investment.

Assessed property value rose more than 10% since 1998, achieving the nation's 5th highest increase in home value according to the National Association of Realtors. From 1994-2002, the city issued more than 20,000 renovation permits and nearly 4,000 permits for new construction.

We developed major public facility projects such as the James Singleton Charter Middle School, Mt. Zion Multi-Purpose Building, Kingsley House Community Center's Annex, Urban League of New Orleans' Headquarter, Multi-Service Center for the Homeless, Alexander P. Tureaud Park. A number of NORD Swimming Pools, Recreation Centers and Playgrounds were restored, such as Gerttown, Fischer and the Lion's Recreation Center on Louisiana Avenue. More than $19 million in Community Development Block Grant funds were dedicated in the effort to repair our city streets.

The city's Housing and Neighbor-hood Development Division initiatives provided new home construction jobs in New Orleans' most challenging neighborhoods such as Rivers Frederick Square, Delores Francois Homes, Delta Oaks Homes, Magnolia Oaks, Tasha Place, and the AFL-CIO/ Freddie Mac's "At Home in New Orleans" project.

Two thousand five hundred affordable rental units were developed with the renovation of Windsor Village, Magnolia Gardens, Magnolia Oaks, Holly Park, Congress Square, Cabbage Alley, 1st Emanuel Homes, Filmore Parc Apartments, Putnam Plaza, Armant Plaza and others.

In partnership with the Louisiana Housing Finance Authority, $5.8 million in historic and low-income tax credits  were creatively used by public/private joint ventures on affordable rental projects by First Bank and Trust, St. James AME, Loyola Landmark, Olympus Apartments and others. These projects have resulted in millions of dollars of previously untapped resources being used by the local lending community.

Faith-Based Initiatives

The faith-based community played an integral role in the overall housing and neighborhood development strategy. Among the organizations that participated were St. David's All Congregations Together (ACT), Holy Ghost ACT and the Jeremiah Group.

Some of the notable projects completed were First Emmanuel Baptist Church's 1st Emanuel Homes, First Evangelist Missionary Baptist Church's Oasis projects, Asia Baptist Church's Edward Madison Homes, Christian Faith Ministries' Windsor Village Community Center, St. Peter Claver Catholic Church's historic restoration of St. Ann Square, St. James AME's Bienville Apartments, Progressive Baptist Church's Murphy W. McCaleb Education Center, Cornerstone Apartments, the St. Mark's Community Center, Willwood Community's Holy Angels Academy and the Watson Family Center of Hope's Community Center.

Housing Recovery & Code Enforcement

New Orleans has reduced abandoned and blighted properties by one-third, removing more than 11,000 vacant housing units from the landscape.

Six thousand blighted and substandard homes were improved through city initiatives like Project Open House, Project Nu Coat, Project Nu Roof, Owner Occupied Rehabilitation Program, Emergency Home Repair Program and Preservation Resource Center's Christmas in October.

Since 1994, 1,000 blighted cases were resolved by the New Orleans Redevelopment Authority (NORA), compared to only 84 cases prior to 1994.

Housing Code Enforcement investigated more than 5,000 active uninhabitable housing and public nuisance cases, up from a low of 400 cases in 1994.

We helped institute the Real Estate Acquisition and Land-banking Mechanism (REALM) allowing for strategic planning for the redevelopment of blighted properties.

The city and private contractors demolished more than 5,000 units of vacant and blighted properties including the former Oakbrook Complex. The demolition of the Oakbrook Complex lead the way for the development of our Strategic Inspection Force (SIF). The Strategic Inspection Force is a City of New Orleans interdepartmental clean up and code enforcement effort targeting specific neighborhoods. In addition to the Departmental involvement, area neighborhood and community groups assist and participate. Other valuable code enforcement tools instituted included: Operation Spring Cleaning, Operation Slumlord, Blight Buster's Project Lien Waiver and Senate Bill 977. To fight blight, city financial resources were leveraged with private sector investment on Liberty Bank's Corpus Christi 7th Ward Initiative, Whitney Bank's Whitney Square, Bank One's Central City Initiative, Hibernia Bank's Project Renaissance Program and Dryades Savings Bank's Treme Initiatives - all housing redevelopment projects.

Art, Culture & Historic Preservation

Our administration was instrumental in the renewal efforts of the Treme neighborhood with the restoration of the Treme Villa Meilleur. Today, the building houses the New Orleans African American Museum of Art, Culture and History. It is one of the finest examples of Creole Villa construction in New Orleans; this historic 1828 architectural jewel serves as a public venue for the visual and performing arts.

We implemented the "Restore the Oaks" public arts project along North Claiborne Avenue below the Expressway. "Restore the Oaks" is a multi-phased beautification and community revitalization project focusing on the creation of public murals serving as a permanent exhibition reflecting the culture of "free people of color," their descendants and others who fostered a unique lifestyle in the Treme community, America's first neighborhood for "free people of color."

With the City Council we allocated more than one-half million dollars in funding to the New Orleans Arts Council.

Our administration negotiated the partnership agreement with Fannie Mae and Bank One, which provided $1 million in Fannie Mae's American Communities Fund dollars and $400,000 in UDAG funds toward the restoration of the Venus Gardens Building, home of the Ashe Multicultural Center.

We provided funding for the purchase of the old Standard Life Building, which today is home to the Black Arts National Diaspora, Inc., an African-American cultural center.

The city partnered with the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Foundation's "Raising the Roof" initiative, a partnership between Hibernia National Bank, Dryades Savings Bank and others targeted to provide homeownership opportunities for local musicians and artists.

The city also provided initial funding to Preservation Resource Center's African American Heritage Preservation Council, a program that identifies and preserves the homes of jazz legends.

The City of New Orleans created a Web-based housing information portal enhancing the distribution/dissemination of information on the various programs available to the citizens of New Orleans. Documents, forms, photographs and other materials required by interested parties are available online. The Division of Housing and Neighborhood Development has been proactive in seeking out additional information on local and federal initiatives and providing links to those resources via its website.

In 1994, our objective was to jump-start the New Orleans economy. We immediately went to work reviving an under funded and dormant capital program. And, in 1995, we developed and passed a historic City-Orleans Parish School Board $300 million bond issue. Voters overwhelmingly approved Rebuild New Orleans NOW!, a five-year capital improvements program that upgraded and rebuilt neighborhood streets and boulevards, parks, playgrounds and public buildings. In 2000, voters approved Purposes A & B which provided an additional $150 million toward capital improvements and $27 million to upgrade the Orleans Parish Law Enforcement District agencies and facilities.

Among the notable projects funded under these programs: a new Crime Lab, improvements to Earhart Boulevard, construction of Tchoupitoulas Corridor and portions of Convention Center Boulevard; and renovations to Armstrong Park and the Municipal Auditorium, the New Orleans Museum of Art, and numerous of the city's public libraries.

The Louisiana Congressional Delegation helped secure federal capital funding for improvements at the Customs House, as well as the Louis Armstrong International Airport and various other federal buildings located in the city. Two other important downtown projects which received state capital funding are the Downtown Sports Arena and the LSU Clinical Sciences Building.

Two massive infrastructure improvement programs are underway-one in drainage and the other in sewerage. Some $55 million in drainage projects are under construction to add new subsurface canals along Napoleon Avenue, South Claiborne Avenue and Dwyer Road and in the Hollygrove area. A pumping station in Broadmoor is being expanded and new pumping stations are being built to serve the Dwyer Road and Hollygrove areas.

The drainage work is part of the Southeast Louisiana Urban Flood Protection Program (SELA), a cooperative effort between the Sewerage and Water Board and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. In sewerage, some $400 million will be spent to upgrade the sewage collection system under the Sewer System Evaluation and Rehabilitation Program (SSERP). The work, part of an EPA Consent Decree the Board signed in 1998, began in 1997 and will continue for the next eight years.

More than twenty-five years ago, the leaders of this city charted a course to make New Orleans the world's most attractive convention and tourist destination. They did so with unprecedented investment, building the Louisiana Superdome and a major convention center and developing the Riverfront.

During our administration, we continued that vision assisting in the expansion of the Morial Convention Center, the centerpiece of the state's and the city's economy. The mammoth $247 million Phase III expansion increased exhibit space by nearly 60 percent and has put New Orleans in an elite class for large scale conventions. A kilometer long, the Morial Convention Center has the most contiguous floor space in the country and has increased attendance by 28 percent in the first year. Currently, plans are being drawn for a fourth phase.

In 2001, the Downtown Development District began a multi-million dollar capital improvement project called The Downtown Revival! The project is being executed in a true spirit of cooperation between the DDD, the City of New Orleans, the Regional Transit Authority and Downtown Property Owners. The downtown improvements include sidewalk enhancements, landscaping and gateways and new signage. The centerpiece of the project is a Canal Street makeover and economic development plan. Canal Street will have new sidewalks, a facade improvement fund for building owners to utilize for restoration and improvement to balconies and canopies. Additionally, new light fixtures and landscaping will be installed along the street.

The DDD comprehensive capital plan is helping to make way for the return of an important Canal Street fixture - our beloved Canal Street Streetcar. Former Congressman Bob Livingston played a crucial role in obtaining funding for this project, with support from Senators John Breaux and Mary Landrieu and Congressman William Jefferson. The Regional Transit Authority has broken ground on the $157 million Canal Street corridor from the riverfront to City Park.

The construction and management of new rail lines has created new jobs and a new way of thinking about travel throughout the region. New Orleans is leading the initiative to show that reinvestment in rail and rail stations adds value to the historic neighborhoods around them. Through the U.S. Conference of Mayors, the city held the first National Rail Summit proposing a new vision to connect the entire country within the next ten years.

In 1994, the New Orleans Recreation Department was in a shambles. It was tragic to see closed playgrounds, covered with litter and graffiti. Our children  were idle. They lacked positive alternatives. We knew for New Orleans to grow and prosper, the city had to protect and invest in its children and young people. Providing constructive alternatives for New Orleans' youths was a  major focus of our administration.  We moved quickly to implement a dusk-to-dawn juvenile curfew, one of the first and the toughest in the nation. Our next step was to provide recreational activities and job opportunities for the youth of New Orleans.  Our efforts worked.

Today, more than 26,000 children and teenagers are enjoying recreational, educational and job opportunities, and juvenile and overall crime averages a 5% drop annually.

Recreation

Recognizing that young people are the city's most important asset and its key to future growth and success we revitalized NORD. In eight years, the NORD budget doubled to $9 million a year. The Friends of NORD, a non-profit group, was created to work with the private sector to provide supplemental funding for NORD playgrounds and programs. The 1995 Rebuild New Orleans NOW! bond issue dedicated more than $15 million to NORD facility improvements. Playgrounds that had been closed are reopened. New lights are installed. Pools are repaired and renovated. NORD programs, including summer camps and after-school programs have undergone dramatic expansion. NORD football, baseball, softball, basketball and soccer teams are once again among the nation's best.

NORD:

• Over $15 million in capital funding to recreational facilities

• Annually Serving 26,000 children

• 19 swimming pools

• 30 parks & playgrounds renovated

• Citywide park lighting improvements

• Joe W. Brown outdoor Hockey Rink

• Friends of NORD Project Playground

• 1st Public Sector Summer Jobs 2000 partner

• Summer camps

• Teen camps

• Swimming programs

• After school recreational programs

• Expansion of the cultural division 

Jobs & Education

Providing opportunities for young people is necessary if we are to continue moving New Orleans forward. Since 1994, the Mayor's Team has placed 2,000 students every summer in public, private and non-profit jobs. Mayor's Team recipients earn $5.50 an hour through a grant administered by the Orleans Parish Private Industry Council. Some participating employers can qualify for the Work Opportunity Tax Credit.

The enormous success of the Mayor's Team summer jobs initiative can be tracked to the local business, public and non-profit community. These entities answered the city's request for additional resources to hire young people for summer work in local offices and community-based organizations. The New Orleans partnership program offered business tax credits for participating in urban youth initiatives. This program was copied and was offered to a national audience through the U.S. Conference of Mayors. Subsequently, the Mayor's Team became the model for the Work Opportunity Tax Credit, which was signed into law in 1997 by President Bill Clinton.

Since 1994, the administration has been a partner in several projects that provide investment in the public school infrastructure and promote education programs to prepare our city's youth for the future. The administration also played an instrumental role in the creation of the Greater New Orleans Education Foundation. Some of the public school partnership projects that we initiated were: City-Schools 1995 Bond Issue, Safe Harbor - Safe Haven Initiative and the New Orleans Back to School Project.

Jobs & Education Highlights:

Since 1994, the city has been a catalyst for much of the tourism growth and for the resurgence of community pride in New Orleans. We have developed and partnered with others in the coordination and improvement of numerous local, national and international music, art and entertainment projects. These projects have had a dramatic impact on the economy. Among some of the more well-known: Mardi Gras, an over $1 billion industry, the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, the nationally recognized Louis Armstrong Jazz Camp, two Super Bowls, the annual Essence Festival and thousands of movie and television projects shooting on location in New Orleans.

Music

The Music and Entertainment Commission played an important role through its initiation of a number of projects involving the local, national, and international music and entertainment community. These efforts solidified New Orleans as a community that supports its music industry, fosters and promotes jazz education and advances jazz history projects. Some of the highlights include:

• Essence Music Festival, which draws 180,000 people over three days and generates a cumulative economic impact of more than $700 million.
• Secured a development agreement with the National Park Service to construct the New Orleans Historical Jazz Park. The City of New Orleans donated property for the park's Visitors Center, which will be located in the complex near Perseverance Hall. Louis Armstrong Park with its refurbished statue of Louis Armstrong and bust of Sidney Bechet will be a centerpiece of the National Jazz Park, scheduled for completion in 2004.
• Louis "Satchmo" Armstrong Summer Jazz Camp, the first government produced jazz education program in the city's history. The camp provides music education to youth. In its seventh year, more than 700 young people have had the opportunity to learn jazz music in the city that it was created. Staffed by a stellar group of musician educators, the program has received national media attention.International artists in residence have lent their skills to the program, making the Jazz Camp one of the most distinctive music education programs in the country. While Jazz Campers primarily live in Orleans Parish, students have traveled from Pennsylvania, Georgia, Texas, New York, as well as from Aruba, France and Norway to attend.

Film

The Film and Video Commission aggressively markets the city as a location-shooting destination for national and international film and video projects. Since 1994, those efforts have resulted in an increase in the average number of direct annual expenditures to $40.6 million with an estimated annual economic impact of $136 million.

Art

New Orleans ranks as one of the nation's top arts destinations. New developments near Lee Circle are creating an art and museum district that complements nearby galleries in the Warehouse District and on Magazine Street.

They include the Ogden Museum of Southern Art, scheduled for completion in 2002, the National D-Day Museum, which opened to sensational national and international reviews, the Ashe Multicultural Center, a centerpiece in the revitalization of Central City, and Louisiana ArtWorks. ArtWorks will be an incubator for small arts businesses that will provide the infrastructure, public exposure and marketing strategies for artists to make the successful transition to entrepreneur. ArtWorks is presently under construction and will generate 155 permanent jobs with an annual economic impact of $74 million and each year will provide over $6 million in local and state tax revenue.

Entertainment

In addition to all of its wonderful attributes, New Orleans has become known around the world as a special events and entertainment city. The 141-acre Jazzland Amusement Park, a centerpiece of New Orleans East economic revitalization efforts has enhanced New Orleans reputation as a family-oriented city. Moreover, New Orleans is the site for major international gatherings including several Summit of the Americas meetings as well as the Inter-American Development Bank Annual Meeting.

Sports entertainment has emerged as both an entertainment option and an economic development tool for New Orleans, the State of Louisiana and the Southeast Region. The completion of the Downtown Sports Arena has increased the city's capacity to host sporting events. In early 2002, the National Basketball Association returned to the Crescent City. An unprecedented coalition of business leaders and local, state, and regional elected officials worked to bring the NBA's Charlotte Hornets to the Downtown Sports Arena.

The city and the state showed their support for the National Football League when a similar broad coalition of elected and business leaders worked cooperatively to ensure that the New Orleans Saints would remain in New Orleans and continue playing its games in the Louisiana Superdome.

In 1997, New Orleans' first professional hockey team, the Brass, began playing in the renovated and historic Morris F. X. Jeff Municipal Auditorium. The team later moved to the new $100 million Downtown Sports Arena. The Brass, which competes in the East Coast Hockey League, has broadened the scope of traditional entertainment in the city.

These impressive business-government coalitions have shown that we are innovative and focused on bringing sports entertainment to New Orleans, Louisiana and the region.

For the first time since the regulation of solid waste the Sanitation Department is in full compliance with all federal, state and local regulations.

The administration implemented a long-term solid waste disposal plan, which called for the disposing of solid waste in an environmentally compliant Sub-Title D landfill. Today, we send our waste to a state-of-the art solid waste landfill, at a disposal cost that is one of the lowest in the region. The city's first recycling program continues to be popular and successful with citizens. The program saves approximately $375,000 annually in disposal costs and 51,000 cubic yards of landfill space.

Our clean-up efforts were expanded to include the city's first street sweeping machines and water trucks. We purchased several thousand trash receptacles and placed them in key locations around the city.

We secured a state grant to remove abandoned waste tires and established waste tire drop off sites. The Brown-fields Program, which identifies old and abandoned industrial sites for redevelopment targeted Lincoln Beach and American Can.

The Mayor's Clean Team and the Sanitation Posse were organized to clean-up neighborhoods. The city supported and assisted the Lake Pontchartrain Basin Foundation in its efforts to clean-up Lake Pontchartrain.

The administration rebid the Solid Waste Disposal Collection contract amending it to increase accountability and service regarding the collection of residential solid waste. Among the provisions now in place: a customer complaint hotline; fines when the solid waste collection company fails to follow collection schedules; and for public identification purposes employees in uniforms and trucks that are uniformly painted and marked.

Our administration plunged into the work of rebuilding, expanding and renovating the airport.

We soon announced an $850 million rebuilding program, mostly funded by federal and state funds along with passenger charges. Murals were created showing New Orleans jazz pioneers from Louis Armstrong to Professor Longhair. The airport restaurants began serving tasty helpings of red beans and rice and poboys. Two concourses were rebuilt. Southwest Airlines fell in love with New Orleans and today offers more than 60 daily flights. Six new airlines began service from the airport. Non-stop and direct service across America doubled and then tripled. Passenger volume went from 7 million in 1993 to 10 million in 2002, a 45 percent increase.

In 2001, we re-named the airport the Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport on the occasion of the centennial of Armstrong's birth. Two new air cargo facilities were built on airport premises, the first in the facility's 53-year history. The FAA began studying a proposed parallel runway that would double the airport's capacity. We created an airport Disadvantaged Business Enterprises program that generated $30 million in sales for minority and women-owned businesses by 2000.

In 2001, the Aviation Board hired Roy Williams as the new Director of Aviation. He is considered one of the nation's top airport administrators. Today, the airport generates more than 10,000 jobs with an economic impact of more than $1 billion.

Many of these benefits assist the City of Kenner, Jefferson Parish and St. Charles Parish where the airport is located, through the generation of jobs and tax revenue. In 2000, we held the first Regional Airport Summit where representatives of New Orleans, Jefferson, Kenner and St. Charles met to talk about future cooperation.

There is still much to be done at the Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport. We have the potential to become one of the nation's great inter-modal centers, tying together the airport's air cargo facilities and the wharves of the Port of New Orleans. My hope is that one day, New Orleans will see international flights connecting the Gulf South to Europe. Through a tremendous joint effort by many individuals and companies, we have created an airport that is lifting the economy of our entire region.

Louis Armstrong International Airport: 

The New Orleans architectural heritage, first framed by the French and Spanish colonials, is special. And, it is with reverence for our architectural heritage that we assisted in rebuilding New Orleans.

This investment has spurred local jobs and business activity, as well as offering something new and different for the city's millions of annual visitors.

When the developers of the Ritz Carlton Hotel on Canal Street took on a $200 million restoration of the old Maison Blanche and Kress Buildings, their architects responded brilliantly with a design that reflected the best of our past while providing a modern anchor for the restoration of one of America's greatest avenues.

Since 1994, more than 7,000 hotel rooms have been constructed as new boutique hotels have sprung up in our Downtown area to accommodate the more than 1 million conventioneers and 11 million tourists who visit New Orleans every year. In many instances, boutique hotel development joined forces with our food and restaurant industry, as many of the city's leading chefs and restaurateurs located establishments in the ground floor space of many of the new and restored hotels.

An example of this synergy and revitalization of Canal Street is the D. H. Holmes project which expanded to include hotel rooms, meeting space, apartments, and The Red Fish Grill Restaurant.

We forged a cooperative relationship with the City Council. Those efforts included keeping the city's budget balanced by implementing cost savings and accountability measures. Together we implemented revenue reforms to aggressively collect delinquent taxes. We gave City Employee pay raises, the first since 1989. We prioritized spending making Public Safety and the Recreation Department number one priorities. We passed a tough juvenile curfew, a domestic violence ordinance, and a citywide curbside recycling program.

At the state level, we worked closely with the Governor's Office to impact economic development, housing, and capital improvements. In 1995, the city conducted its first Statewide Goodwill Tour visiting cities across Louisiana improving communication, and establishing better working relationships benefiting all citizens in every locale.

In Baton Rouge and locally, we worked on initiatives with the MetroVision Council of Governments and the elected and business leadership throughout the region.

Our administration has continually partnered with the Orleans Legislative Delegation to advocate on behalf of New Orleans. Together, we have combined our resources to submit innovative legislation intended to rebuild the City of New Orleans. Often, our beleaguered team faced seemingly insurmountable obstacles. But, strengthened by our mutual resolve to revitalize this community, our team pushed forward. Our dedication and commitment have earned the respect of our peers with the completion of eight successful sessions, the passage of strong legislation and adequate capital funding.

The City of New Orleans was blessed to have the support of former President Bill Clinton during his eight years in the White House. In particular, President Clinton's support for America's cities led to a 40 percent increase in federal funding for urban areas, as well as such innovative legislation as the National Crime Bill that allowed cities to hire scores of police with federal funds.

Following President Clinton was President George W. Bush who appreciates and recognizes the special needs of American cities especially in the crucial area of Homeland Security.

We developed some wonderful partnerships within the federal government. Our friends at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development were often innovative and insightful. Projects like the restoration of the American Can plant could not have been accomplished without their cooperation and assistance.

One of our goals was to restore New Orleans to its 1950s status as a gateway city to the Americas. We hosted important international meetings, including the 41st Annual meeting of the Board of Governors of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), Encuentro and the Summit of the Americas meetings of the Western Hemispheric finance, energy and transportation ministers.

In 2001, I was honored by my fellow mayors who elected me as President of the U.S. Conference of Mayors, the highest honor that can be bestowed on any mayor. As President, I led the mayors in the crucial aftermath of the September 11 terrorist attacks, and helped push through Congress new aviation and Homeland Security legislation and policy.

We are all bound together by a shared love of the city that we call

home. But New Orleans requires love, care and constant renewal if it is to

remain vital and responsive to the needs of its citizens.

No political, business, labor or civic leader has the power alone to move a city.

Progress comes from partnerships and coalitions that work together to create programs for progress. My experience as a mayor confirmed my belief that the single greatest challenge for any leader in any field is to develop a vision that meets the needs of every segment of the community and shares the ownership of the vision as broadly and widely as possible.

We made great progress in New Orleans from 1994 to 2002, but only because our vision became the goal that was shared by thousands of our fellow citizens.

The most important lesson to be drawn from eight years of our

administration is that progress is possible only when political, business,

labor and civic leaders come together to create progressive coalitions.

This is more than just a collection of speeches from my first term as mayor of New Orleans. It is a chronicle of a remarkable time in our city's history. These speeches, the product of my passion and the passion of my administration, came from a deep love of New Orleans and a profound commitment to change the direction of a great American city.

Each speech marks a capsule in time. Delivered at different stages over my first four years in office, they map our progress and struggles along the way - when we were enraged by the shooting of innocent children and restaurant workers in the French Quarter, when we anxiously awaited the arrival of a new reform police chief and when national budget cuts threatened to undermine our city's infrastructure.

Marc H. Morial

Click here for a link to various speeches.

Click here to learn more

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