news + views
scuttlebutt
Quotes of the week “i want to apologize to Lee. i never intended to make him feel uneasy or uncomfortable about this or increase the state of anxiety he may already live in because of the nature of what he does. i hope he accepts the apology of me and the department because there was never any ill will or threat intended by it.” — st. Bernard sheriff Jack Stephens, explaining that his officers’ use of Lee Zurik’s face on the department’s target practice range indicated no “ill will” toward the wvUe-Tv investigative reporter, who had uncovered voting irregularities in the parish in a report last year. “we’re just, like, these swamp rats from Louisiana …” — William Joyce, accepting the Academy Award for Best Animated short Film at the Academy Awards Feb. 26. Joyce and Brandon Oldenburg, partners in the Louisiana south production company Moonbot studios, won for their critically acclaimed short subject The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore.
A Minor Issue
Two ordinances aimed to combat underage drinking, both introduced by New Orleans City Council president Jackie Clarkson, have drawn criticism from New Orleans musicians. Clarkson hopes to curb violent crime by curbing underage drinking. The law currently allows 18to 20-year-olds in bars, but patrons must be 21 to consume alcohol. Meanwhile, some musicians and live music supporters are writing to the council and their fans, warning those under 21 they could be prevented from performing or watching music in clubs that serve alcohol. Local music blog Barryfest.com published “An Open Letter to the New Orleans City Council,” writing, “The new rules would create a climate disproportionately hostile towards bars that regularly feature live music events and put scores of New Orleans residents at an economic and creative handicap, disenfranchising both those below the legal drinking age and those above it.” Jared Marcell, 26, of the band
Parks and Rec
NEW “POCKET PARK” FOR TREME The Lafitte Greenway’s footprint has been approved for park and recreational zoning, which would offer “one more level of protection” for the space, says New Orleans City Council District A Councilwoman Susan Guidry. The action came at the council’s March 1 meeting. Later this month, planners will host a final round of meetings to approve the ambitious designs for the Lafitte Greenway, which will run for three miles through the heart of the city. (“we’re all big fans,” says District C Councilwoman Kristin Gisleson Palmer.) Council members also approved a zoning change for a smaller venture — a pocket park in Treme — despite a recommendation from the City Planning Commission to deny the change. students from Treme’s Craig elementary school appeared before the council to urge approval of the park on Henriette Delille street between esplanade Avenue and Kerlerec street. The site currently is an empty lot behind an apartment building. Community organizers Diana McDermott and Dabne Whitemore argued a park is “a better use of space than housing” in a neighborhood with high vacancies. Letters of support from neighborhood residents, FutureProof, Perez Architects, st. Anna’s episcopal Church, the Trust for Public Land and the Historic Faubourg Treme Association all recommended the zoning change from a neighborhood business district. Future plans call
for a playground, green space and other park amenities. — ALeX wOODwARD
Advice on consent NOPD AND CITIZEN SATISFACTION
The New Orleans Police Department late last month released a request for proposals (RFP) seeking contractors to measure community perceptions of, and concerns about, local cops. According to the RFP, which is available on the city’s website, the results will be used to measure the department’s progress under the forthcoming consent decree with the U.s. Department of Justice (DOJ). NOPD and DOJ have been quietly negotiating the terms of the agreement, with few details of the highly sensitive talks released to the public. whatever agreement eventually comes out of the discussions will likely address last year’s scathing DOJ investigation of NOPD. That report, which criticized NOPD for unconstitutional stops-and-searches, discriminatory arrest patterns and mishandling of misconduct complaints, among other problems, said that officers throughout the department “either do not understand or choose to ignore the boundaries of constitutional policing.” One of the recommendations in the report was that police “develop and implement mechanisms, such as recurring community surveys, to assess recent experiences and current attitudes about NOPD among all communities throughout the City, and changes in these experiences and attitudes over time.” DOJ did note nearly a year ago that the city was in the process of seeking funding and preparing a request for proposals to do just that. The RFP was released Feb. 22, with a bid opening date of March 23. The survey will measure concerns about the department, not only among residents or NOPD employees but also “detained arrestees” and the local and federal employees involved in the consent decree negotiations themselves. The ultimate goal, according to the document, will be to “create a set of baseline measures against which the outcomes of the DOJ Civil Rights Division’s collaboration with NOPD can be assessed over the next several years.” — CHARLes MALDONADO
Mon-Sun 10am-6am Come Ge t Your erinrosebar.com G
REEN O N
811 Conti Street
504-523-8619
Wake Up & Live Specials Every Day 10AM-2PM Hi-Life Specials • Mon-Thurs Midnight-2am
Gambit > bestofneworleans.com > march 6 > 2012
RAISING THE AGE LIMIT AT BARS
Bantam Foxes, performs in the band with two 19- year-olds, brothers Collin and Sam McCabe. in Marcell’s letter to Clarkson, he wrote, “what bugs me, though, is that at venues … that provide live music, an 18- 19- or 20-year-old can reasonably be within the walls of such an establishment to hear music without drinking and without causing any sort of crime. ... Live music should not have to suffer at the hands of that which happens outside of a strip club or a daiquiri shop.” Clarkson’s ordinances were referred to the council’s Criminal Justice Committee for consideration later this month. — ALeX wOODwARD
11