Thanks to Antigravity Magazine & their voter guide team for reminding me I need to check back in on my blog. It has been a minute since I've been able to sit down and write out some of the rambling, too much information posts you've come to love over the years, mainly because I've been putting my work up in other places. Twitter posts are a hell of a lot easier to think about & write than 3-7 page deep dives into New Orleans Master Plan amendments.
One other thing is that the folks at NOLA Messenger are kind enough to publish my op-eds on their site from time to time. I feel like I've got far better writing over there than I have on this site. Here's a few:
Sanitation Workers are Essential, Gentilly Messenger 5/27/2020
There's a strike going on in New Orleans, and for some reason City contractors being paid with our tax dollars can bring in coerced prison labor instead of negotiate with workers.
Shape the Region's Public Transit, Mid-City Messenger 7/8/2019
The New Links public input process was important to shaping the transit future of Metro New Orlenas, because it was one of the only official avenues to talk about transit with decision makers. Better to get in on the front end and make your voice heard than find out about changes in the news, like the proposed changes to the Canal Streetcar that caught everyone in Mid-City by surprise.
State of Surveillance, Mid-City Messenger 3/20/2018
New Orleans spent $40,000,000 on surveillance cameras in crime hot-spots, but the closest one to where I used to live in Mid-City was over the Juan's Flying Burrito parking lot. I named it "Margari2D2" because that's how my mind works.
Public Safety Questions for Candidates, Mid-City Messenger 7/19/2017
Here are questions about police & criminal system reform I encouraged people to ask of their municipal candidates for office back in 2017. That was 3 years ago. Every one of those questions could be asked again today with some light copy editing.
Housing & Development Questions for Candidates, Mid-City Messenger 6/13/2017
Questions about how municipal candidates for office plan to engage with the affordability crisis and gentrification issues. This was 3 years ago, and almost every one of these questions could be asked again today with light copy editing.
Small Successes on a Long Road, Mid-City Messenger 4/26/2017
Checking in on the NOPD Consent Decree status a few years ago. Reading this again, it seems progress plateaued a few years ago, which is troubling considering the most recent Task Force reports from 2020.
Longstanding Prohibitions on the Posession of Firearms, Mid-City Messenger 3/29/2017
In the United States, individuals convicted of domestic violence are not allowed to own or possess firearms. This is true in Federal law as well as Louisiana law. Why doesn't law enforcement spend more time working to get guns out of the hands of domestic violence offenders?
The Weeping Time, Mid-City Messenger 3/15/2017
This one is about Black history that is intentionally erased from our communities' conciousness, starting with what was hidden from us in my hometown. I have to wonder how different I would be if I grew up with more understanding of these tragedies, and how close they were to my home.
Tragedy of the Neutral Ground, Mid-City Messenger 2/23/2017
In which I misinterpret the tragedy of the commons to describe bad behavior at Carnival parades in New Orleans.
Rent Out of Shape, Mid-City Messenger 2/7/2017
Writing about the rental registry & inspections that were proposed at the time. This was back when I thought we could regulate our way out of the housing crisis. While a rental registry could still be a good idea, our civic priority should be to use public resources to deliver safe, functional social housing to those who need it, so we do not have to rely on private investment or inherited properties, debt mechanisms, or profit motive to provide the critical public service of housing.
Public Safety Wish List, Mid-City Messenger 12/9/2016
Talk about an Overton window shift. A whole lot of my thinking about the criminal system has changed since I wrote this one, and I would disagree with so much if I saw someone write this today. I probably need to revisit this and offer some updates, including some descriptions on why my thinking has changed so dramatically.
Transfer of Power, Mid-City Messenger 11/21/2016
I attend a lot of public meetings with NOPD. We talk a lot about the Consent Decree. At this meeting I asked about police response to demonstrations, how NOPD planned to respond (in 2016), and I was encouraged by the answers I got. This is why the use of tear gas on the CCC in 2020 was such a breach of trust.
Elections Never End in New Orleans, Mid-City Messenger 11/7/2016
One strange thing about life in New Orleans is how many elections we have, forcing people to spend free time keeping up with politics or mentally checking out.
The Technocratic Party, Mid-City Messenger 10/25/2016
It took me a long time to understand what "technocratic" meant in terms of political decision-making. Then I started following local development and zoning processes.
Blood on the Avenue, Mid-City Messenger 10/12/2016
The infrastructure of tragedy on Tulane Avenue. This is still a problem today.
The Transplant, Mid-City Messenger 9/30/2016
I'd been living in New Orleans a decade when I wrote this one.
