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Participatory Budgeting

August 2, 2013 by Charlie London

100 Trees

Participatory Budgeting (PB) is a democratic process in which community members directly decide how to spend part of a public budget. It gives ordinary people real power over real money, letting them work with government to make the budget decisions that affect their lives.

Re-Inventing Democracy Through Participatory Budgeting from meerkatmedia on Vimeo.

You can take a look at the 2013 City of New Orleans budget by clicking HERE.

The New Orleans Coalition for Open Governance http://nocog.org works as a catalyst for meaningful change by developing resident’s voices, opportunities for effective civic engagement, and real power to establish openness and accountability in local government. NOCOG’s partner organizations include The Lens, The Public Law Center, the Public Affairs Research Council, the Committee for a Better New Orleans, the Neighborhoods Partnership Network, Puentes New Orleans, the Vietnamese American Young Leaders Association, and Mary Queen of Vietnam Community Development Corporation. These organizations joined together in the spring of 2009 to focus on civic engagement, data collection, public policy research, investigative journalism, legal research and public access issues in New Orleans.

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MAYOR LANDRIEU TO HOLD SERIES OF COMMUNITY MEETINGS


Mayor Mitch Landrieu has announced a series of community meetings in each council district to discuss 2014 budget priorities beginning with District C on Tuesday, August 13. These meetings are designed to gather input as part of the Budgeting for Outcomes process.

“We’re committed to producing results for our citizens and sticking to our budgeting principles- cut smart, reorganize, and invest in the future,” said Mayor Mitch Landrieu, “The community meetings allow citizens to tell us their priorities for the budget.”

The Budgeting for Outcomes process aims to produce a more citizen-driven budget and to ensure improved government performance and accountability. A national best practice, the Budgeting for Outcomes system encourages city agencies to invest public resources based on the end result the City wants to achieve.

The Mayor will host one meeting with the district councilmember in each council district. The Mayor and Councilmembers will be joined by Deputy Mayors, NOPD Superintendent Ronal Serpas, NOFD Superintendent Tim McConnell and department and agency heads.

All community meetings will start at 6:00 p.m. Prior to the meeting, from 5:30 -6:00 p.m., the City will host a Resource Center with representatives from several City departments and agencies. During that time, citizens will have the opportunity to talk one-on-one with various departments about programs, initiatives and specific concerns.

The following lists community meetings in order of date:

District C
Tuesday, August 13, 2013
L.B. Landry High School
1200 L.B. Landry Avenue
New Orleans, LA 70114

District A
Tuesday, August 20, 2013
Edward Hynes Charter School
990 Harrison Avenue
New Orleans, LA 70124

District E
Thursday, August 22, 2013
Joe W. Brown Recreational Center
5601 Read Blvd.
New Orleans, LA 70127

District D
Monday, August 26, 2013
Lake Area New Tech Early College High School
6026 Paris Avenue
New Orleans, LA 70122

District B
Wednesday, August 28, 2013
KIPP Central City Academy
2514 Third Street
New Orleans, LA 70113

Filed Under: More Great Posts! Tagged With: #nolaprogress, budget, community, New Orleans, neworleans, nola, participate

Orleans Parish Assessor on Twitter

July 20, 2013 by Charlie London

assessortwitter

The Orleans Parish Assessor is now on Twitter.

http://twitter.com/orleansassessor

assessor-logo

Beginning July 22nd residents can appeal property tax assessments online at http://nolaassessor.com

How Can I Appeal My Assessment?

Property owners can dispute or “appeal” their assessment
When a property owner disagrees with the estimated market value the Assessor has placed on a property, the owner is allowed to personally appeal to the Assessor for review when the tax rolls are open for public inspection July 15 through August 15. Office hours are 8:30 a.m to 4 p.m., Monday through Friday. Instructions for appeals can be found on your property valuation notice or you may contact (504) 658-1300.
Appeal forms and instructions are also available at www.nolaassessor.com.

The appeals process starts in the Assessor’s Office
During the open rolls period from July 15 through August 15, be sure to bring as much information as you can to dispute the assessment during your visit to the Assessor’s Office. Helpful information includes a copy of a recent appraisal of your property (within the last two years), a copy of your homeowner’s insurance, copies of estimates of repair costs for your property from a contractor, and current photographs of the inside of your property containing the day, month and year they were taken.

Grounds for appeal on your property valuation
You do not dispute or “appeal” your property assessment to your Assessor because you think your taxes are too high. That is a discussion to take up with the taxing authorities. Property assessment appeals are made to the Assessor because you think the value placed on your property is too high because of inaccurate estimations on its size (i.e., the living area of your home is 1600 square feet not 2000), or that other neighboring properties have been valued or recently sold at a relatively lower market value than the estimated value of your property.

Formal appeals start after meeting with the Assessor
If a property owner is not satisfied with the resolution of the valuation dispute with the Assessor, an appeal can be made to the Orleans Board of Review. All appeals to the Board of Review must be submitted to the Orleans Parish Assessor’s Office no later than three days after the closing of the rolls. To submit an appeal you must:
1. Provide four copies of each appeal and any attachments;
2. Submit all documentation via regular mail, hand-delivery or registered mail – appeals received by email or fax are not accepted;
3. Completely fill-in all required information; and
4. Have all documentation delivered to the Assessor’s Office no later than close of business August 18, 2011.

The Assessor’s Office will send you a response confirming receipt of your appeal. The Board of Review appeal hearings are usually conducted within 30 days of the closing of the Assessor’s Office books. The property owner does not have to be present for the hearing but must present evidence about the valuation of the property. Generally, the Board of Review completes their rulings no later than November 15th to allow time for the Board of Review’s valuation to be included in the upcoming tax bill notice. The property owner or the Assessor can then appeal the Board of Review’s decision to the Louisiana Tax Commission (LTC). If either party is not happy with the eventual LTC ruling, the state court system serves as the final level of appeals.
PARISH OF ORLEANS

The Honorable Erroll G. Williams
Orleans Parish Assessor’s Office
www.nolaassessor.com
1300 Perdido Street | City Hall Room 4E01 | New Orleans, Louisiana 70112 | (504) 658-1300 | www.nolaassessor.com

Filed Under: Featured Tagged With: #nolaprogress, appeal, assessment, New Orleans, neworleans, nola, property tax, tax

CICLOVIA in NEW ORLEANS

July 6, 2013 by Charlie London

bikes1

CICLOVIA in New Orleans is proposed for September 21, 2013. The proposed event will start at City Park then travel down Esplanade to Rampart and end at Armstrong Park.

Jamie Wine describes CICLOVIA in New Orleans this way, “With an activity every 100-200 feet – juggling, dancing, cooking demos, etc. It’s about getting active, fit, meeting others in the community and being healthier.”

WANT TO GET INVOLVED?
  • Sign up to run an activity on the route | Help spread the word to your neighbors
  • Come to the event! |   Need more details?  Contact Jamie Wine Executive Director
    (504) 656-6224 (C)   |    (504) 861-4022 (w)   |    Join us to make bicycling safer, easier and more fun!

 

 

When

Sat, Sep 21, 2013 8:59 am – 12:59 pm

Where

Esplanade, Broad and Orleans

Cost

Free

Details

Why Easy Streets?

Long before cars arrived on the roads of New Orleans, our streets were places to meet and come together. Communities grew up around thoroughfares. They were easy streets to enjoy. We just think it’s time to reclaim the streets, just once in a while, to bring neighbors together. Let’s make the streets of New Orleans the place to be, not something to travel over at breakneck speed. That’s the mission of Easy Streets. It’s a project designed to bring the community together, safely, in a way that’s free of cars and exhaust.

Activities

We’ll have activities for people of all ages from 1 to 100. It’s the perfect place to walk around, meet your neighbors, watch a cooking demonstration, eat some fun food, even dance in the streets as Martha and the Vandellas recommended so many years ago.

Yes, we’re taking back the streets, but in a way that could only happen in New Orleans. So join us on Saturday, September 21st from 9:00AM to 1:00PM. Or better yet, join us early and be a part of bringing smiles to thousands of faces across this great city.

We are currently looking for program partners to lead, organize and create wellness activities, and also educate the participants of Easy Streets. Our goal is to have over 50 program partners for the day of the event, especially if you are willing to help make the inaugural program a huge success and lead the way for subsequent future events.

Full details of partnership (.doc) Application to be a partner – early applicants get the best locations on the route.

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FSJNA Board Meeting | July 8 | Monday | 7 pm | Holy Rosary Cafeteria | 1368 Moss
I. Guests
• Evacuteer – city evacuation planning – M. Cherney
• Easy Streets (Ciclovia) – Kate Parker & Jamie Wine (BikeEasy.org, (504) 861-4022, Jamie@bikeasy.org)

•  Noise Ordinance – 7 Essentials – Carol Allen and Meg Lousteau – go back to 1997 decibel levels

II. Approval of June 2013 Gen’l & Exec Meeting Minutes
III. Committee Reports/Updates/Actions (if any)
• Public Safety – update
• Membership Outreach Committee – successful Porch Crawl raised over $ 3,200 for Desmare Playground.
• Landscape Committee- Bobby Wozniak talked about the progress of the Coypu grant. $5,000 will go toward adding fish to Bayou St. John and $35,000 will go toward adding trees on the Parkview side of Bayou St. John along with a maintenance contract to care for the trees for a year. Bobby said a lot of indigenous vegetation was planted along Bayou St. John during Earth Day this past spring. Bobby added that the Orleans Levee Board filled the holes along the bayou with crushed granite and sand. The holes were made by nutria.• Re-Bridge – update
• Zoning Committee – the new Motown Coney Island hot dog business on Broad has applied for a liquor permit.

Old Business
• Volleyball on the Bayou – The Mid-City Volleyball Group has taken back their proposal to provide a volleyball venue on the bayou and is currently in discussion with City Park about putting a volleyball venue there.
• PRC Great Neighborhood Sellabration will take place September 14th from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.
• Urban Conservancy – Storm Water Managementsign-on letter from the Urban Conservancy
• From Floor
sign-on letter from the Urban Conservancy
7 Essential Items for a Noise Ordinance

 

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GENERAL INFORMATION ABOUT THE CYCLOVIA MOVEMENT IS BELOW

Ciclovia as defined by Wikipedia: Ciclovía is a term which translates from Spanish into English as “bike path” is either a permanently designated bicycle route or the closing of city streets to automobiles for the enjoyment of cyclists and public alike.

Each Sunday and on holidays from 7 am until 2 pm certain main streets of Bogotá, Cali, Medellín, and other municipalities are blocked off to cars for the exclusive use of runners, skaters, and bicyclists. At the same time, stages are set up in city parks. Aerobics instructors, yoga teachers and musicians lead people through various performances. Bogotá’s weekly ciclovías are used by approximately 2 million people (30% of citizens) on over 120 km of car-free streets.

The inspiration for Ciclovías is credited to the city of Bogotá, Colombia. The events have taken place since 1976 when they started through the efforts of organizer Jaime Ortiz and others. Some credit Bogotá Mayor Hernando Duran Dussan with starting Cyclovías in the early 1980s. Mayor Enrique Peñalosa deserves some credit for turning Bogotá into a safer cycling city by taking on the dominance of automobiles in the late 1990s. In Bogota, permanently designated bikeways are also known as ciclorutas, while streets temporarily closed for that purpose are called ciclovías.

Wikipedia indicates that ciclovia is popular around the world and has been used in numerous cities in the United States.


Taking the streets back on Sundays in San Francisco
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http://m.theatlanticcities.com/jobs-and-economy/2013/07/s-right-los-angeles-giving-car-lanes-pedestrians/6116/

That’s Right, Los Angeles Is Giving Up Car Lanes for Pedestrians
by Eric Jaffe

Los Angeles has a great deal of walkability despite its car-centric reputation, but much of it remains hidden to the public. In the city’s historic Broadway corridor, at least, that secret is about to come out. The city council recently voted to fund an initial redevelopment of Broadway into a legitimate pedestrian plaza — reducing six lanes of road down to three in the process.

The plan to “bring back” Broadway has been going on for about five years, but it really started to take shape in late 2009 with the public release of a street redesign. The first phase of this “Broadway Streetscape Master Plan” is a makeshift and very cost-effective ($1.8 million) conversion modeled on the pedestrian parcels implemented in New York City. The second phase, yet to be funded, is where the heavy transformations would occur.

The proposed changes will alter Broadway to its core. Instead of five travel lanes plus a “ghost” sixth lane for buses, the street will devote just three lanes to traffic and extend sidewalks and curbs for walking. Transit will be enhanced, too, with improvements to bus service and groundwork for a streetcar line the city hopes to bring to the corridor.
All told, Broadway’s reconfiguration will increase pedestrian share of the road from 38 percent, at present, up to 47 percent — just about going halfsies with cars.

The goal is to rejuvenate a Broadway strip that’s lost much of its historic charm, at least according to the master plan. While shoppers do flock to the area during the day, at night the street is largely shuttered to business. Some of the old theaters have even been converted into non-entertainment venues, though many have agreed to revive their previous roles once the street changes take place.

But Los Angeles has wisely chosen to pursue this goal by making Broadway a much friendlier place to walk around. Right now the traffic whizzes right next to the sidewalk without a buffer, and the 56-foot crosswalks are daunting. The new plan will broaden and beautify the sidewalks and, in addition to reducing the crossing length, also include mid-block refuges.

The traffic studies suggest that the plan represents a true shift in priorities. On their own, the proposed alterations will put a strain on some intersections during morning and evening rush — at least so far as car level-of-service is concerned. But the plans intend to mitigate this impact by promoting walking and transit, and the master document makes clear that vehicles will take a backseat, if you will, to alternative modes.

Instead of seeing an efficient street as one that moves a certain number of vehicles through its intersections at certain target speeds, or one that maximizes throughput, this Plan seeks to move people both through and along the street, in a multi-modal fashion, in order to achieve efficiency and maximize input and output, be that by bus, bike, streetcar, delivery truck, or car.

The plan is far from perfect. The choice for streetcars in the corridor seems inspired more by nostalgia than true mobility: as currently conceived, they will share the road with other traffic and may be redundant with some buses. While plans do call for bike racks, there’s no sign of bike lanes. And parking is a key to the new corridor, no doubt a nod to business demands, although the best new research suggests that retailers make more money over the long term from walkers than from wheels.

But there’s still time to work on the details — phase one won’t be done until the end of the year — and even in its current form the Broadway plan serves a greater purpose. The more that walkability is brought to high-profile parts of Los Angeles, the more that Angelinos can think of it as a natural part of their city as opposed to a hidden gem.

http://m.theatlanticcities.com/jobs-and-economy/2013/07/s-right-los-angeles-giving-car-lanes-pedestrians/6116/

Filed Under: Featured Tagged With: #nolaprogress, bicycle, bike, ciclovia, community, cyclovia, festival, fun, New Orleans, neworleans, nola, progress

Esplanade Avenue to be Repaved

October 12, 2011 by Charlie London

Esplanade Avenue from Moss Street to Claiborne Avenue will be repaved via the Submerged Roads Program.


This will be done under State Project number H.005898.

After reviewing the PDF in the link below, you
can submit comments by November 6th, 2011 to:

LADOTD, Environmental Engineer Administrator
P.O. Box 94245
Baton Rouge, LA 70804-9245

Click here for PDF about the paving on
ESPLANADE from Moss to Claiborne

Filed Under: Featured Tagged With: claiborne, esplanade, faubourg st john, fsjna, h.005898, moss, neworleans, submerged roads program

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