The details of their support may be different, but five of the mayoral candidates agreed on the importance of music to New Orleans at the Music Swings Votes forum at Loyola’s Roussel Hall Monday night. “Music is to New Orleans what oil is to Houston,” John Georges said. Georges, Mitch Landrieu, Rob Couhig, Nadine Ramsey and James Perry agreed that the idea of redeveloping Memorial Auditorium is a good one, but the process behind the current proposal is hopelessly flawed. “I would begin the process again, “Landrieu said, then expressed his hope that Mayor Ray Nagin wouldn’t sign any agreements this late in his term that would bind future mayors. All with the exception of Couhig committed to instituting some sort of city government post to deal with music and culture affairs; Couhig refused because of concerns about the city’s budget.

Couhig often seemed the most distant from the issues at hand, addressing them as quality of life issues. “Only by making your city livable will your industry survive,” he said. He and Georges bemoaned the sad state of Bourbon Street; Couhig referring to DJs as “canned music.” On the other hand, James Perry seemed plugged in, referencing Park the Van Records, R.E.M. recording in New Orleans, and policy, at one point suggesting that the floor at which tax credits are available for promoters of live music be lowered so that club owners would have a financial incentive to book bands.

Troy Henry was to be a part of the forum, but he didn’t make it due to a scheduling conflict. He sent his daughter Monique to read a statement, and she said Henry’s campaign manager, Wendell Pierce, might show up. He didn’t. James Perry suggested that Henry’s no-show reflected his attitude toward the music industry.

All the candidates supported the idea of working to rebrand the city with music as an essential element, though Georges’ multiple uses of the phrase “the historical city” when answering the question – along with his references to Philadelphia and Charleston – suggested that his rebranding efforts might not be quite as music-centric as the others. They all supported lifting the moratorium on live music venues, but within the context of the Master Plan, which makes future live music venues less likely than their endorsements might imply.

With the exception of a detour into a discussion of Charity Hospital, the forum stayed largely on track, perhaps because of the music-oriented audience that included Terence Blanchard, Deacon John, DJ Soul Sister, Kim Roberts (of Trouble the Water fame) and representatives of a number of music-related organizations in town.

“We have to treat music as a business,” Landrieu said, and that thought became yet another point of agreement. To that end, Nadine Ramsey advocated seminars to help musicians become better money managers and business people.

While all candidates hoped to create a better creative and business climate for musicians and music-related industries, John Georges had the most extreme vision: “a Jazz Fest-like atmosphere year-round,” he said.