A quiet storm has been brewing among New Orleans musicians and music business people who have read the now famous “Seven Essentials” noise ordinance proposal currently circulating City Hall by way of French Quarter neighborhood interest group the Vieux Carre Property Owners and Residents Association (VCPORA). This document is the one signed by every member of the New Orleans City Council last month as the outline or base draft for the new New Orleans noise ordinance, which City Council announced they plan to update and vote on this month.
Members of New Orleans' all-female ska band The Local Skank represent the opposition to the "Seven Essentials" noise ordinance in this ad for the Dirty Coast "Listen To Your City" T-shirt.
If New Orleans musicians, and music business owners and workers, do not act now — before the “Seven Essentials” document is reviewed, edited and approved by City Council — everyone who participates in New Orleans’ rooted culture or makes a living from live music in the city will be drastically affected. With researched knowledge of the seriousness of this reality, the Music and Culture Coalition (MACCNO) grass roots community group has organized a series of informational teach-ins and strategy sessions to prepare to counter the “Seven Essentials” on the floor of the City Council chambers during the special committee hearing on the noise ordinance taking place this Friday, January 17 at 12 p.m.
Registered New Orleans residents who are working music industry persons or are Orleans Parish residents opposed to the “Seven Essentials” plan as it currently stands at City Hall are asked to attend a demonstration rally and organized civil protest for this special committee hearing at City Hall Friday. The MACCNO group is organizing a gathering on Duncan Plaza just outside City at 11 a.m. where official comment cards will be provided for those musicians and residents that wish to speak on the “Seven Essentials” proposal and the process by which City Council is going about drafting a new noise ordinance. This is to prepare for the citizens comment section of the special committee hearing.
In addition to organized citizen comments on the City Council floor Friday, those opposed to the “Seven Essentials” proposal are also asked to wear “Listen to Your City” T-shirts (by local company Dirty Coast) and display “Music is Not a Crime” (available from MACCNO) bumper stickers in solidarity of the opposition. MACCNO also has copies of both the current New Orleans noise ordinance and the “Seven Essentials” document available. For a complete journal of the past year’s events on this topic, and for more details on Friday’s rally, please visit www.maccno.com.
