Citizens Participate in New Orleans
by Charlie London
New Orleans’ neighborhoods have never had it so good.
Why? Because now, due to the efforts of the Mayor’s Office of Performance & Accountability, neighborhoods don’t just get lip service.
Mr. Oliver Wise and his department have made it plain that their goal is to further the interests of New Orleanians.
The Office of Performance & Accountability are the “behind the scenes” folks. They gather information, make user-friendly reports, and genuinely care about what the citizens they serve have to say about how things are going in New Orleans.
As an example, every BlightStat meeting has the entire presentation’s slides printed on handouts available to anyone who attends and the meeting is open to the public! Not only that, but each handout at every meeting includes a comment page where citizens can write down anything they feel needs attention.
Why is this important? Because I’ve seen results. The Office of Performance & Accountability has proven that it reads and takes action on suggestions from the public. So much so that a recent visit from a Japanese businessman resulted in a statement that he will be bringing back the New Orleans BlightStat program to Japan!
When was the last time you heard New Orleans City Government being the model for citizen participation and interaction?
Whether it be by strong intervention or gentle reminders, the Landrieu
Administration has proven it’s goal is to move New Orleans forward and
move it forward NOW!
The Office of Performance & Accountability has proven that what gets measured gets managed. All City Departments know that, not only do they now, not operate in a vacuum, but their efforts are being monitored and SUPPORTED by other departments and the Mayor’s Office.
Friendly competition between departments still exists but now everyone is focused on the same goal… making New Orleans all that she can be!
I believe the Office of Performance & Accountablity is serving New Orleanians well and look forward to more of their innovative new ideas, implementation of citizen-centric ideas, and interaction with and from the citizens of New Orleans.