As the year comes to a close, the candidates for the new mayor of New Orleans are declaring their intentions as I write this. In order to run, you have to qualify for the race, and announce your intentions to run. As of this morning, there were eight announced candidates, the newest of which is now Lieutenant Governor Mitch Landrieu, who’s run for the position twice before, the last time in 2006, when he was defeated by Ray Nagin. Some five months earlier, Landrieu announced that he would not run for mayor, threw a monkey wrench into the political engine, because most people assumed he would run. But then he announced he wouldn’t. Something happened within the past few weeks because Landrieu announced—at almost virtually the last minute—that he would indeed enter the race.

Landrieu is well-known throughout the cultural community in the state as someone who is a champion of the “cultural economy,” so he seems to be the obvious choice for voters who believe that our unique culture is the linchpin for the city’s economy and key to its future growth. In fact, he comes into this race with virtually no other candidate who’s addressed this issue.

This isn’t to say that the other candidates don’t have music and cultural development in their political agenda, but none has so far added it as a serious part of his or her platform.

If you’ve read my blog or the Weekly Beat, you know that it was expected that trumpeter and New Orleans Jazz Orchestra leader Irvin Mayfield would enter the mayoral fray. But apparently he decided it wasn’t in his best interests, and opted out of the race. Mayfield could have potentially been the “music candidate,” but that ain’t happenin’. Maybe next go ‘round when he’s built up his political chops to the level of his musical chops.

In any case, a grass roots group of us, including OffBeat, has come together to hold candidates’ feet to the fire regarding the future and potential of music and culture in New Orleans.  For those of you who were around in 2002 for the mayoral race when Nagin was elected the first time, we had a similar forum. Our group, MusicSwingsVotes.org, is doing a Mayoral Forum again at Loyola University’s Roussel Hall on Monday January 11, 2010, beginning at 6:30 p.m. We’ll invite all the mayoral candidates to participate, to let their constituency (us!) know how they plan to put music and culture into their platforms. Bookmark the page and check back periodically and we’ll be able to give you more complete information and keep reading the  for updated information.

If you have a group that would like to promote this event and effort, let me know and we’ll add you organization’s logo and a link to MusicSwingsVotes.org.