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time before, during or after the meeting did the endorsement subject come up. It was not suggested or even mentioned that anyone endorse Billy to my knowledge. Regardless, I do not endorse anyone for any office. Since your press release, I have wasted almost a whole day responding to newspapers, radio and television, not counting calls from some citizens and friends trying to clear up your misinformation.” New Iberia Mayor Hilda Curry was equally direct. “I did not endorse Billy Nungesser. I attended by request of another mayor a function at Cafe des Amis,” Curry said, noting that she, too, does not make endorsements. “He should know better,” Curry said when informed the Nungesser campaign had issued a press release touting the endorsements. Brasseaux and Curry are president and vice president, respectively, of the Louisiana Municipal Association; the organization’s bylaws prohibit its officers from making endorsements. Jack Dale Delhomme, mayor of Breaux Bridge, and St. Francisville Mayor Billy D’Aquilla also said they didn’t endorse Nungesser.
In the meantime, Camardelle sent out his own explanation, which only confused things further: “I organized this morning’s breakfast with Billy Nungesser. Some of the mayors were simply there to meet Billy. These elected officials were not identified to the campaign. It was a simple misunderstanding.” Jones — who did not attend the meeting — told The Independent she would look into the matter. — Leslie Turk
Sancho Jindal
Gov. Bobby Jindal is certainly loyal to Texas Gov. Rick Perry. Jindal endorsed Perry in the GOP presidential race on Sept. 12, less than one month after Perry threw his Stetson into the ring. At the time, Perry was the frontrunner with 37 percent support — as much as Herman Cain, former Gov. Mitt Romney, and Rep. Ron Paul combined. But what a difference a month makes. The night of Jindal’s endorsement, Perry turned in the first of several maladroit debate appearances, and Tea Party types grabbed the smelling salts over page 15
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selves, ‘If I did the same thing in Atlanta or Houston, I could be making a lot more money,’” says Lauren McCabe, who works for Zydeco Media, a new startup that aims to be a social media agency for restaurants. “That’s the point where people decide either to leave or to stay.” University of New Orleans professors Marla Nelson and Renia Ehrenfeucht of the Department of Planning and Urban Studies discovered that the “lack of possibility for advancement” also determines who stays and who leaves. In 2009, Nelson and Ehrenfeucht surveyed 80 locals between the ages of 25 and 40. In a paper presented at the 2010 New Orleans Political Economy Symposium, they reported, “Many felt they would have to leave New Orleans to progress professionally, and high quality of daily life would not supersede career options.” Nelson says this applies especially to those in the nonprofit sector. “New Orleans has a level of attraction, but knowing a lot of people in the nonprofit realm, if you don’t have that really dense job network, it’s hard to move up,” she says. The YLC’s Collins agrees and adds that the window of opportunity is closing for retaining young professionals. “You can only enjoy New Orleans so many years in a row without having the Even if educated young professionals are job you aspire to,” she said. “We’re past able to make connections and find jobs, the five-year mark, and the window of money and career mobility remain signifi- opportunity is very narrow. If we can’t integrate these people en masse into the cant issues in New Orleans. “People who have jobs here reach New Orleans workforce, they’re going to this cap in their salary and say to them- start leaving.”
Connecting talent to industries and jobs is a problem that Greater New Orleans Inc. (GNO, Inc.), an economic development agency, inherited. According to executive vice president Robin Barnes, GNO Inc. recently acquired WorkNOLA, a job site for educated young professionals looking for work in New Orleans, from 504ward. “504ward is enormously strong in outreach to job seekers and young professionals nationwide, but it was a challenge for them to get jobs posted on the site,” she says. WorkNOLA was the brainchild of Nathan Rothstein, who co-founded Young Urban Rebuildng Professionals (YURP), one of the city’s first post-Katrina groups geared toward young entrepreneurs. In 2009, Rothstein closed YURP and left New Orleans to attend graduate school at Brandeis University. Last year, he left Brandeis and founded Swellr, an education startup in Boston. Rothstein has no immediate plans to return to New Orleans. Though there are more than 1,300 jobs currently listed on WorkNOLA, Collins says she has noticed a disturbing trend. “You’re starting to see service-oriented jobs trickle into WorkNOLA, so I see that it could become just like The Times-Picayune [website] where highly talented workers are really having to weed through to find high-talent jobs,” she said.
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