Thank God for the Super Bowl

In a joint news conference this week the Mayor of New Orleans and Governor Landry talked about how they were going to “make the city shine” by tackling blighted buildings, infrastructure problems, safety issues, the homeless problem, etc. Governor Landry even made the prediction that by the time they are finished "New Orleans will be one of the safest cities in the country," a lofty prediction that I find unattainable given its present societal problems. 

What struck me as sad about all these promised improvements was that they clearly demonstrate how New Orleans leaders continual to use a ‘reactive approach’ in management of the city, rather than a ‘proactive’ one.

Apparently making the city better just for the sake of those that live there isn’t a good enough reason to tackle its pervasive problems; for the sole reason for all this laser focus attention is because of the city’s hosting of the Super Bowl. During the news event hundreds of projects were rattled off that were to be addressed. These included over 150 road, curb and sidewalk repairs, 75 upgrades to city lighting, 40 drainage problems, the removal of blighted properties, and plans to remove the homeless from downtown streets. 

Why did these problems have to wait for the Super Bowl hosting to be addressed? Certainly addressing them would have made the quality of life better for its residents and why wasn’t that a good enough reason to deal with them?  Again, it’s called ‘proactive’ city management.

And you know what the real heart-breaking part about all this excitement is? Once the Super Bowl is over, unless city leaders change their ways, the city will once again return to the where it was before the Super Bowl came to town. This has been clearly borne out by historical evidence.

Almost every time New Orleans received grant money to fund projects, as soon as that money was spent and the city had the responsibility of taking over the funding of these projects, they fell into disarray and neglect. Armstrong Park is a perfect example. How many monetary grants has the city received to continually improve it after repeatedly falling back into dilapidation?

Maybe someday the city of New Orleans will value its residents enough to proactively make their quality of life better for their sake alone, but I seriously doubt it.