There will be a Nightlife Office in New Orleans. It’s nice to see progress, even if it takes a few years.

First, New Orleans & Co. (New Orleans’ renamed Convention & Visitors Bureau) promoted local music and local venues with their NOLAxNOLA campaign. This was a good effort that advertised local music venues both here in New Orleans and outside the city as well. The hospitality industry appears to be taking the health and vitality of the our nightlife into consideration, at last. [My note: give music a seat at the table on the board of New Orleans & Co.].

Now, there’s an even more seismic shift in the way the City of New Orleans itself is viewing local live music and the rest of the city’s nightlife: as part of the city’s economic health.

Readers of OffBeat and OffBeat.com will recall that we advocated for a “Night Mayor” several times in years past. The concept of a person in City Hall who’s dedicated to solving the issues faced by stakeholders (music venues and clubs, restaurants, bars, musicians, even hotels) is one that’s long overdue. Several cities around the world and in the US have “night mayors” (most notably New York, Seattle, San Francisco, Washington, DC, London, Amsterdam, etc.). With nightlife being one of the primary reasons people visit New Orleans, it’s crucial that the city recognizes the importance of regulation, safety, and economic development of the nighttime economy. Our nightlife is not only important for pleasing visitors—it’s an important part of the quality of life for citizens and local businesses, too.

Today the New Orleans City Council voted to approve funding for a “Nightlife Office” in New Orleans. The office has not yet been named officially, and neither is the amount budgeted for the nightlife office (it’s been rumored to be a half-million dollars for staffing and operations). The responsibilities and authority to be wielded by the office has not yet been codified, but it’s a huge start.

According to Tom Mulligan, Chief of Staff in the city’s Office of Business & External Services (OBES), the Nightlife Office is a done deal.

Mayor LaToya Cantrell created the Office of Business & External Services to provide a more streamlined, efficient, equitable process for residents and companies hoping to do business with the City of New Orleans. OBES helps coordinate the work being done by several city agencies: Safety & Permits; Code Enforcement; Workforce Development; Economic Development; City Planning Commission; Office of Performance and Accountability; Office of Cultural Economy; Historic District Landmarks Commission; and the Vieux Carré Commission. The Nightlife Office will be on par with and will interact with these city agencies and will be a part of OBES.

“This is something that’s been on the Mayor’s radar for a long time, and it’s been a priority for her,” said Mulligan. “We’ve talked to many stakeholders about this issue, and the City Council was onboard as well,” he said. “We looked at other cities and could see that several of them had nightlife offices; with the interest that’s been generated amongst stakeholders in New Orleans, we thought it was time to do it here.”

But the scope of the office’s responsibilities and authority have yet to be delineated, awaiting input from residents and stakeholders, said Mulligan. “We know that we’ll have funding to hire several positions and the operations of the office, but it’s really important for us to get input from the community and stakeholders about the what a robust office can and should be doing. We are thinking about holding several meetings where the public will be able to share their ideas and concerns about what powers and responsibilities this office could and should have,” said Mulligan. In the meantime, a director will be hired, who will most probably conduct the public input meetings. “It’s critical that people feel like they are part of how this office and its duties to the public are structured. This was done in other cities, particularly New York, with a lot of success,” Mulligan added, who thinks the office may be established and functional by the second quarter of 2022.

In the beginning stages of this process, there are five “bucket priorities” that the city feels is important is important to consider for the responsibilities of the New Orleans Nightlife Office:

Nocturnal Infrastructure: Is the current system working or not for the businesses, stakeholders and people who are in the city.
Nocturnal Software: Evaluation of the current regulatory environment, and how it can be changed to improve nightlife for all stakeholders.
Advocacy for New Orleans nightlife businesses and culture bearers so they can enjoy the fruits of their labor.
Mediation between business owners and residents and other stakeholders.
Safety issues—how do we make it safer for businesses, workers, patrons, musicians, etc.

“We think that it will take a few months to hire staff, get public input, and to actually determine the authority and responsibilities of the office,” said Mulligan.

But at least we now can be assured that New Orleans is serious about addressing nightlife concerns, which could include everything from zoning and noise regulations, parking and public safety, permitting, and more.

‘Bout time. Let’s do this right!