The Mayoral Candidates’ Forum on Music was interesting, but not controversial enough (you know I like to stir things up). Surprisingly, not one of the candidates objected to putting music industry development into their administration. It really does sound like a good idea. But we had a mayor who promised us that eight years ago, opened a music office, didn’t fund it and then abandoned it. So you can’t really trust what politicians say. It’s been nothing but lip service.
New Orleans is plagued by a lot of serious problems–our ongoing recovery, which has been way too slow; educational issues; a population that’s drifted away post-Katrina; a lot of corruption (not unusual in New Orleans since the city was established); blighted homes and buildings (another ancient issue in New Orleans; our decay is part of our “charm,” or so they say); economic development problems (the city has yet to acknowledge its almost total dependency on the hospitality industry as the backbone of the economy); and of course, rampant crime. All of these issues are probably more in the forefront of the candidates’ minds; so that’s what they’re pitching to the voters.
The fight (my lifelong effort) for the city government and business leaders locally to take the issue of the music industry seriously is ongoing. If you don’t remind ’em, it’s easy to forget because the vast majority of the people who live here take our music for granted. They don’t comprehend that music, food and our historic architecture are the cornerstones of our culture and what makes New Orleans a great city to live in and also to visit. Thus the lip service: “Yeah, we love music! We support music! Blah, blah, blah.” Yet, when it comes to putting a real effort into truly developing and branding New Orleans as a music city, city government, tourism officials and business leaders have really done nothing. In Monday’s forum, James Perry said that New Orleans has “invested in tourism but it hasn’t invested in culture.” This is so true. But the reason why this has happened is that the hospitality industry is organized; hoteliers, restaurants and their respective trade organizations literally control the way the city is perceived and marketed. They carry a lot of clout. The musicians and music businesses are not. So no one listens to them. There is no inroad into the back rooms where the real decisions that affect policy is created, economic development initiatives are crafted, marketing and branding are decided upon and the deals are made. That’s just the truth.
Until the music community steps up and demands that they are taken seriously, all the forums and my ranting will go nowhere. Asking the candidates to sign off on a pledge to create a music and cultural agency or office and a pledge to fund that office is something that we have to hold our leaders accountable to. We asked all the candidates to sign a pledge of this nature. Only Mitch Landrieu and James Perry signed off. That takes chutzpah for a politician and I applaud both of them for it.
We still have until February 6 to hear all the rest of the promises. But I believe that the next mayor will be the linchpin in the city’s commitment to its music and culture. Stay tuned.
