Tuesday, Lt. Gov. Mitch Landrieu announced that he’s joining the race for mayor of New Orleans. I suspect his opponents will make a big deal of his early announcement not to run – as if inflexibility is a trait we should seek out in politicians – but the interesting thing about his candidacy is that there is now someone in the race with a history of supporting culture. He has worked to help make food, music and art an economic engine for the state, and that experience along with the history he has of selling the city’s creative community offers some interesting possibilities should he become mayor.

If he does, though, it would be nice (to say the least) if his vision of how the creative economy works grew a bit. As is, it bears a strong resemblance to trickle-down economics – encourage money to be spent at the top in work-creating projects and that money will eventually find its way to the people at the bottom of the ladder. Speaking anecdotally, I’m not sure that that’s happening for the music community. Dave Matthews Band may get tax credits to record here, but I’m not sure how that benefits the rank and file musician. In the film industry where there are larger crews and larger numbers of people necessary, I can see how that model might have a larger impact. In music, though, I fear the efforts favor the haves and leave the have-nots hoping for the best. Since Landrieu has a history of being interested in culture, I hope he takes the next step and considers not just how to put our most successful creative members in the community to productive work, but how to ensure that the larger community that spawned them survives and thrives to such a degree that it creates more successful creative people.