If history were any guide, the crowded contest to fill the vacant at-large seat on the New Orleans City Council should be in full swing by now. But less than a month before voters head to the polls, evidence of a campaign is hard to find.
The reason: This is a race no one was ready to run.
The city's political establishment was caught off guard last month when Oliver Thomas -- widely considered the front-runner to succeed Ray Nagin as mayor in 2010 -- resigned his citywide council position after pleading guilty to felony charges of taking bribes from a political operative.
Thomas' sudden exit forced a scramble. Thirteen candidates signed up to run, but with little time to raise money and amass support.
Perhaps reflecting the basic degree of planning that remains undone four weeks before election day, none of the candidates even bothered to stage the traditional announcement event, complete with brass bands and balloons. And prep work that's typically completed well in advance of qualifying -- from hiring consultants to printing mailers to ordering lawn signs -- is happening now.
"This came out of nowhere," said Jay Banks, a top official in Thomas' political organization, BOLD, which has not yet backed a candidate. "No one was prepared to do this. No one expected to have to do it. People are numb. It's still hard to believe this went down the way it did."
Thomas stepped down Aug. 13, just three weeks before the qualifying period for the Oct. 20 ballot. A citywide campaign for one of the top offices in city government that typically lasts six months was sliced to mere weeks.
The timing of the special election also has dissipated the typical spotlight on City Council races, which tend to be marquee events that keep candidates at the center of voters' attention. This go-round, at-large hopefuls must solicit votes alongside dozens of candidates running for governor, other statewide offices and the Legislature.
Veterans of the city's political wars say the truncated election schedule favors the better-known candidates.
"I just think it's a lot for a lesser-known candidate to get together in such a short period of time," said Constable Lambert Boissiere, a former City Council member and state senator. "It's unfortunate that it had to happen this way because, ideally, you want to give everyone an equal opportunity to get their messages out and wage a good campaign."
Using that political rule of thumb, the fight for two spots in what appears to be an inevitable Nov. 17 runoff may come down to four or five hopefuls.
Topping the list are three women with extensive political experience: term-limited state Sen. Diana Bajoie, who is winding up three decades in the Legislature; former Councilwoman and state Rep. Jacquelyn Brechtel Clarkson; and Councilwoman Cynthia Willard-Lewis, the current council's senior member, who also served in the state House before heading to City Hall.
Two others who enjoy a degree of name recognition are lawyer Virginia Boulet, who ran a spirited campaign for mayor last year, and accountant Tommie Vassel, a 2002 City Council candidate who recently resigned his seat on the Sewerage & Water Board to take another shot at the council seat.
The rest of the field is made up of community activists and political newcomers.
Political landscape
Thomas' unexpected exit had a ripple effect across the city's political landscape.
For example, Boulet, Vassel and Willard-Lewis -- who have made no secret of their desire to stay involved in government -- were forced to accelerate their ambition. Meanwhile, Clarkson and Bajoie, who might have opted for retirement from politics, each saw an opportunity to extend already lengthy careers.
Among the front-runners, political handicappers say Clarkson enjoys several advantages.
She ran a citywide campaign for an at-large council seat in the spring of 2006. Though she lost a runoff to Arnie Fielkow, she picked up more than 47,000 votes -- 44 percent of the vote -- in the hard-fought contest. And as the council's former District C representative, Clarkson has an established base of support to draw from in areas mostly spared by Hurricane Katrina: her native Algiers, the French Quarter, Faubourg Marigny and Bywater.
Clarkson's potential liabilities could be her image as a career politician and the fact that she will celebrate her 72nd birthday in January. Clarkson says her age is not an issue, citing the busy schedule she continues to keep.
Bajoie and Willard-Lewis also have voter bases they can count on, although their districts suffered great destruction as a result of the storm.
They both easily won re-election the last time they ran.
Willard-Lewis, the council's District E representative since 2000, picked up 71 percent of the vote in 2006. Bajoie, the 5th District senator who has represented most of Uptown and the Central Business District since 1992, was returned to office for her final term with 88 percent in 2003.
Last year, Willard-Lewis did a good job of reaching out to eastern New Orleans and Lower 9th Ward voters still displaced by the hurricane. Bajoie, however, has not run a race since the storm.
Like Clarkson, Bajoie and Willard-Lewis must convince voters that their years of government experience should be considered an asset. Meanwhile, Boulet and Vassel may have the opportunity to offer the opposite argument by emphasizing their status as outsiders.
While he has never been elected to office, Vassel is no stranger to politics. He served an interim appointment to the Orleans Parish School Board in the 1990s and ran for an at-large City Council seat in 2002. Mayor Ray Nagin appointed him in 2003 to a seat on the water board; he had to resign that position to run for the council again.
In her first foray into politics, Boulet ran a high-energy race for mayor last year, finishing fifth in a field of 22 candidates. But she picked up only 2 percent of the vote.
'Money is tight'
How the race plays out could depend on fundraising, which political insiders say is proving difficult as they compete with gubernatorial and legislative candidates for contributions.
"There's only one way to say it," said businessman Roy Glapion, who is advising Vassel. "Money is tight.
Campaign finance reports were due Sept. 20, but most were not posted on the Internet by week's end. For the most part, those reports are not expected to provide many clues because they only cover activity through Sept. 10, the week after qualifying. The next reports are not due until Oct. 10.
But campaign consultants say a clearer picture of who has the cash to run an effective campaign should become evident over the next week as candidates launch media campaigns.
First out of the gate was radio talk show host Kaare Johnson, who is making his first bid for elected office. Johnson aired the first TV commercial of the contest Friday night, part of what he said will be a $20,000 expenditure over the next week.
Meanwhile, Boulet released her report last week and it shows that she has raised $127,000, including $77,000 of her own money.
She has purchased air time during the New Orleans Saints' appearance on Monday Night Football when she says she will unveil three TV spots. Boulet's advisers said they plan to air commercials for several days next week, then take a break before resuming on Oct. 1 and continuing through election day.
Clarkson and Vassel said they are both planning to air television and radio spots and erect billboards by next weekend, but could not provide definite dates as of Friday.
Representatives for Bajoie and Willard-Lewis said they are planning media campaigns, but were not ready to discuss specifics.
For the most part, elected officials and political organizations have not yet announced endorsements in the race.
Clarkson has picked up the support of the Alliance for Good Government, the Regular Democratic Organization, the Orleans Parish Republican Executive Committee and the Homebuilders Association of Greater New Orleans. Willard-Lewis is expected to have the backing of LIFE, the political organization that is run by associates of former Mayor Marc Morial.
Unspoken rule
The X factor in the race may become the degree to which the candidates address the so-called "unspoken rule" that has kept the two at-large council seats divided between white and African-American politicians since the mid-1970s.
The unspoken rule does not mean the winners are chosen ahead of time based on their race, since obviously voters decide the election. It is more of an agreement in which African-American political groups coalesce behind a single African-American candidate, while a white candidate emerges as the front-runner for the second seat.
It's a practice that dates back to 1978, when Sidney Barthelemy, who is black, and the late Joe Giarrusso, who was white, ran for the at-large council seats and went so far as to appear at campaign events together. Both men were elected and re-elected four years later.
During the 2006 election, Thomas easily won the "black" at-large seat, while Fielkow took the "white" seat formerly held by the term-limited Eddie Sapir. On political blogs, some commentators already have raised the issue that Thomas' departure might provide an opportunity to upset the racial balance in the at-large seats.
City Council members maintained the unwritten policy last month when they named lawyer Michael Darnell, who is black, to temporarily fill Thomas' seat. By accepting the appointment, Darnell is barred from running for the position.
Among the major contenders, Bajoie, Willard-Lewis and Vassel are black and Clarkson and Boulet are white.
While none of the candidates has tackled the topic of racial balance yet, it has generated considerable debate in political circles.
Boissiere, an African-American who served on the first majority-black City Council, said he doesn't think the racial makeup of the city's legislative branch should be the pivotal issue as New Orleans struggles to recover.
"Right now, finding someone who can do the job is more important than anything else," Boissiere said. "I think we have a good field of candidates to choose from.
"I'm looking for the one that will be able to bring cohesion to the council, work with the mayor and get this city turned around. And I don't care if they're black or white."
Cheron Brylski, a white political consultant who served as press secretary to the city's first black mayor, Dutch Morial, said when she entered politics 30 years ago, she adopted the idealistic view that "race doesn't matter."
"Well, now I know that it does matter," she said. "And I do think there will be psychological shock to this community if the two at-large seats go back to being one race.
"It doesn't mean we won't get fair government and it doesn't mean we won't get representative government. But there will be ramifications. And how that would play out remains to be seen."
Banks, the political director of the BOLD organization put it this way: "I hope race is a factor and I hope the makeup of the council is on voters' minds, because this is a diverse community and we need diverse leadership."
Ron Nabonne, a black lawyer who has advised politicians of both races for three decades, said the unwritten rule that's been observed since the 1970s has worked well during a time when African-American voters have been the majority.
Changing it now, Nabonne said, could fuel fears among black residents that certain interests want post-Katrina New Orleans to be a whiter city.
"The big question is how do voters react if there is a candidate that is a spokesperson for that point of view," Nabonne said. "Someone has to elevate this issue from parlor talk to public discourse.
"This is a rule that has been acceptable to blacks and whites who understand both the reality and the perception of fairness. It's not just an African-American argument. It's an argument of fairness under which this unwritten contract was based upon."
Frank Donze can be reached at fdonze@timespicayune.com or (504) 826-3328.
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| Permalink (Learn More)Oh -so we don't don't want to be **that* color blind.
LOL
What a bunch of morons. So if we have a good white candidate we aren't supposed to vote for them because they are white? TP, you didn't have to go to Jena to look for racism.
How retarded has this city become? We are justifying race politics now?
Only on thing matters to these imbeciles and that is the color of the candidate's skin. Well, Nagin you have your chocolate city.
Unwritten rules - like the one's that says we can not have a white police chief or a white superintendent of public schools - I'm sorry - we can have one after all the money's gone and the system is in a physical and financial and human (post-hurricane) disaster.
No group of people deserve good government more than those that depend upon it most - the indigent and the poor and the handicapped and in New Orleans, that is for the most part black people.
Instead we get three or four black political groups that take turns getting elected and having their chance to "handle the money" - all the while the City and its government slips further downhill in a lack of services and in corruption while the connected (mostly black, but with a goodly share of white contributors, bloodsuckers and business partners) get fatter and happier.
I would perhaps agree with the "contract" theory if the even one member of the black majority on the council could have brought itself to vote with the three white members to pass the ordinance prohibiting the constant profane and sometimes physical intimidation and harrassment of white citizens and guests speaking before the council when it came to a vote last year. They could not muster the courage to pass such a rule - less they be considered "sell-outs" by the unemployed, profane, intimidating mess of 'black activists" that have moved their spectacle to the City Council chambers now that they have helped push the School Board into receivership and disintegration.
No, the black majority couldn't bring itself to do that, or to quickly move to fund an Inspector General, or to hold the almost exclusively black "non-profit" groups that receive millions in grants from city gov't to submit budgets to account for their expenditures, or to hold NOPD accountable for failing to show up to violent crime scenes in a post-Katrina New Orleans where we have more police officers per capita than at ANY TIME IN OUR CITY'S HISTORY !!!. No, they could not, wuld not, and never will as long as the very corrupt BOLD, SOUL, LIFE, Progressive Demos, etc. have a hammer-lock on electing their own in a majority of council districts.
For those and 100 other good reasons, I am supporting either Clarkson or Boulet. Either will be a vote on the council to stretch the dollars we do have to deliver the most services - which is what we - particularly those most dependent upon government - deserve
NOW AND EVERY DAY.
I don't mind a black majority anything - but this scene (N.O. City Gov't.) is a poor imitation of Broderick Crawford's "All The King's Men" - a disgusting stalemate of corruption and downward spiral. The ONLY WAY we will ever get a black-led or riented reform movement is to force black reform candidates to run for office.
And the only way to grow a black reform candidates to take power away from the corrupt black groups that have driven this city into the sewer. If that means voting for a Clarkson or a Boulet, that's what I will do.
I just love the crappy reporting. The article only mentions the "known" candidates and leaves out the rest. Designating them "political newcomers and political activists".
So? Who are they? We need a fresh face. Look at how well the new members on the Council are doing? Had anyone heard of Head or Midura before the last election?
Let's have more of the same. I'm tired of reruns.
Just about every person mentioned in this article has been feeding off the public for years. Lambert Boisierre was part of the infamous Orleans Parish Levee Board. I am more interested in the other candidates than the same old reruns from the same old corrupt political organizations. Can anyone tell me what if anything has anyone in this article done for the elderly, disabled and poor since the August 29, 2005 federal levee failure. Forget race, the people suffering cross the entire racial divide. Has any of the individuals in the article gotten their hands dirty helping to rebuild New Orleans, or have they been like Marie Antoinette who said of the poor and starving citizens of Paris, "Let them eat cake." The T-P needs to runs articles on the lesser known candidates. Don't be fooled by the smoke and mirrors of politics. Money and publicity have given New Orleans the most inept and incompetent leadership in this entire state and country. If none of the 13 candidates are capable than a responsible electorate should boycott the election, and ultimately boycott City Hall. If all else fails, we can celebrate Bastille Day 2008. by impeaching every politician at City Hall.
This city and state is in enough trouble...people laugh at us b/c of racism and lack of leadership in our state and city. We should not look to what color a person is but can they lead and do a great job and can bring a city together....stop playing the race card and let us vote for the best candidate that can assist and lead this city to a more diversified city in employment opportunities as well as moving it into the 21st century....
You can rest assured it will add to the roster of "the Chocolate City All Stars". What a croc of impotent losers running the City into its massive tail spin out of control.
No more of the same old politicians please! They've been part of the problem since even before Katrina. For years they've had their chance and have squandered it. We need someone new who doesn't play the backroom deal games. Please New Orleans, our problems are too big for the same tired old answers that haven't worked. To paraphrase the old joke about the definition of insanity: Electing the same people over and over, but expecting different results."
NOT THE WHOLE STORY-Amen!
On balance, I like Jackie. But Frank Donze, who should know better- didn't talk to the people in the Marigny and Bywater about her. You can't consider those areas to part of her power base. After Nagin and Compass reined in her reforms in the Quarter-she was annoying the bar owners, tsk, tsk, she went back to Algiers and disconnected from the east bank, not returning calls, not talking to community leaders etc. People in the Marigny started hating her, which was a shame, but she didn't bother to talk to folks there until it was too late and emotions were too high. Maybe she's learned that lesson. I'd rather see her in office than some of the other names mentioned.
Clarkson, pull up one of the benches in front of the Cathedrl that you are so fond of and give it a rest...Politics is not your forte!
N.O. dysfunctional politics as usual.
In the middle of a hastily contrived race for a spot on the city council....some idiot pundit has to bring up race.....immediately polarizing the contest and negating the chance of any candidate, regardless of race, gender, species, genus, whatever....getting elected solely on merit.
It almost makes folks from all sides of the 'race fence' to vote along racial lines versus actually making an informed decision because of the fear mongering that this, as every other election,,,,is all about race....SAD.
This decrepit system will never flourish with this kind of crap.
Kaare Johnson is the only balanced canidate in the whole thing.
as always people talking to here there self i really don't think that we should look at the candaite as being people hell these the same people that left as high and dry during katrina. now they want our vote sat back and ask yourself what have they done for you sence katrina it all goes basck to dog eat dog. i would vote for a infant frist at least he or she don't know what there doing.
Will any candidate in the race legalize marijuana? That way, everyone can chill out a little bit.
I am absolutely appalled by this article. The blatant discussion of the "unwritten rule" of splitting the at large positions based on race and not qualification is incredible. For all the cries of "Justice", where is the justice in that??!? Regardless of color, the sole determining factor should be the candidate's political positions and not his or her race. That being said, I agree with the earlier post that all of the featured candidates other than Virginia Boulet having been sucking off the body politic teat for decades. It is time for new blood, regardless of race. Cythia Willard-Lewis would be a total disaster and more of the same old problems this city has tolerated for way too long (remember the donated SUVS post-K?). It is time to cast off these funky poitical parties like LIFE and BOLD and COUP and vote your conscience and not the way someone tells you.
This article is unacceptable. It is racist and it fails to reveal just who is running in this race. "The rest of the field is made up of community activists." The folks you mentioned must not be "community activists."
What a disgrace for the local paper to succumb to this kind of journalism at such a critical time in our history. We need information not racist diatribes aimed at galvanizing support for a re-tread. This is sick stuff.
-River-
Let's make like a lost south american rugby team....
Swordoftruth - you should run for mayor because you know what bastille day is and like the original GW, you would fear your own power......
Critterhead and flanksteak69 - you guys have to run for council, the bumperstickers will make you both shoe-ins.
Nolalarry - you can have vitter's job.
Quarterite - you can have jindal's job (whatever that is).
ShawnL - I guess you get to be governor.
And since I decided all of this I demand to made head of the RTA.
No, seriously.....
-River-
Riversliver
Thanks for the ringing endorsement for city council. Do you think we have time for the requisite lobotomy and ethics purging before election day? Do I sell my soul before or after election?
My only problem is dining on the leg of the guy sitting next to me like a lost south american rugby player in the Andes just is not too appealing to me.
We need Kaare Johnson to get in there and clean up the Nagin mess!!
critterhead.................The speeding SUV was Cynthia Hedge Morrell, not Cynthia Willard-Lewis.
Oh, I forgot that we all look alike (LOL)!
The lobotomies occur automatically by switching to tap water, and heck we can sell our souls any ole time down in the quarter.
And walla, we have a platform ....
This new Axis Of Access is against cannibalism. We won't stand for it, we won't accept praise or claim any victories until that glorious day that it is wiped out.
(wow, the insanity gets too real too quick)
We will now spend the rest of the taxpayer's day putting over-sized signatures onto the over-sized proclamation we had our over-paid computer consultants create that proclaims the Saints will cover the spread tonight.
-River-
How did I forget to address "ethics purging" .......
(maybe I did by mentioning "spread")
I pledge to purge my ethics by the side of the river at cafe du monde in a haze of sugar and caffeine. On the way there I will drive 2.5 feet behind the car in front of me down St Charles so that no one, and I mean no one, invades my right to get from point a to point b (man, I cant wait till flanksteak69 gets me that light/siren deal). Also, I promise to pretend that my blinker doesn't exist.
Even public office won't get me to litter.
-River-
This article is ridiculous and states nothing pertaining to the issue. Who are the other candidates? We all know the other screw ups running for the position. Can TP run a story about the other candidates and their platforms? I'm not voting for Bajoie, Lewis, Clarkson or Boulet. It's time we get sone new faces and ideas into this city!!!!
This article is ridiculous and states nothing pertaining to the issue. Who are the other candidates? We all know the other screw ups running for the position. Can TP run a story about the other candidates and their platforms? I'm not voting for Bajoie, Lewis, Clarkson or Boulet. It's time we get sone new faces and ideas into this city!!!!
lower9p:
My reference was to the Dodge SUVs that Chrysler donated immediately after the storm, which Cynthia Willard (along with the rest of the council members) so happily used rather than providing to the fire dept and other depts that they were intended for, so before you play the racist card, read the post carefully.
As always a lot of empty, senseless comments with no intellect or thought behind them. This is why New Orleans struggles to become the great city we perceive it to be. Racial division will always keep this city back from accomplishing great things. Atlanta and Houston were behind New Orleans and then boom, serious corporate economic develoment. New Orlans needs to get off its ass and become proactive in bringing about serious change. The only way its going to happen is when it becomes a chocolate and vanilla swirl...In order to be better we have to demand better..And that means recalling those who are inept in doing their jobs and replacing them with more competent leadership..
GET RID OF FEILKOW,HEAD AND MIDURA VOTE THEM OUT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Monkeysaints: what's your beef with fielkow, head and midura?
