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When he wasn’t lambasting Landrieu, Couhig rightly pointed out that New Orleans has recovered to the extent it has because of the passion and commitment of its citizens — and not from the help of the government. He said the goal of the next mayor should be to support that grass roots effort. It was also encouraging to hear the commitment all the candidates have to enhancing and improving the city’s existing public transit so that there is increased service with greater reliability.

Disappointingly, though, the majority of the candidates missed several opportunities to link housing and transportation issues to the obstacles facing New Orleans’ youth. Because of this, despite the apparent relevance of the forum’s topic to the problems facing the city, the discussion often seemed more esoteric than practical. Only Nadine Ramsey repeatedly addressed the link between the lack of reliability of the city’s public transit system and the difficulty encountered by kids trying to get to afterschool programs.  Before leaving early, James Perry discussed his vision for an expanded public transit plan but failed to mention why this is a necessity for one of his key iniatives – the augmentation of NORD. Simply put, regardless of how much money is pumped into NORD, how are kids supposed to access the city’s facilities if they have no means of transportation from school? And until the candidates provide the details on how they’ll fund and implement the bold initiatives they seek, it’s difficult to know what is attainable and what is simply wishful thinking.

The candidates gave almost unanimous approval for extending the current Recovery School District set-up for at least the next 3-5 years and for the burgeoning charter school movement here in New Orleans. Aside from that, discussion of youth concerns were limited to Mitch Landrieu voicing his support for NORD in his closing statement and John Georges saying that rebuilding the city’s playgrounds will be a key imperative of his administration. Too much attention was paid to whether the candidates would be open to hiring a police chief from New Orleans or a local parish instead of the qualifications each candidate is looking for in a new police chief — including how the new chief will help to address and reform the juvenile justice system and reduce arrests for minor offenses. But we do hope that future forums are as substantive as last night’s — with the primary just a little over a week away, voters deserve to be as informed as possible.

The focus of the debate was largely on crime and the need for a new police chief and greater accountability within the NOPD. The candidates did not address ways to foster better understanding and relationships between youth and the NOPD, though Nadine Ramsey nicely highlighted the link between New Orleans’ historically faulty education system and the city’s high crime rate and also spoke of increasing mentorship opportunities in local businesses for city youth. James Perry and Troy Henry both reiterated their commitment to expanding and improving NORD, with Perry contending that if NORD received the funding levels it has had in the past, the city’s crime rate would plummet in the summer months. However, throughout all the debates, despite the attention they’ve paid to it, the candidates have yet to seriously commit to or even really discuss a restructuring of NORD that would place the department in a separate district outside of city government — one of the Afterschool Partnership’s 10 for 2010 priorities for the next mayor. NORD can’t remain dependent on the whims of city government.

Rob Couhig has constantly hammered home his point that high taxes in New Orleans drive away residents and potential businesses and his promises of budgetary transparency remain the most encouraging of all the candidates in the field. But until the candidates start to provide concrete funding plans, it’s hard not to remain skeptical of the potential of many of their promised initiatives actually coming to fruition.

But, before the whole town heads for Miami on the 7th, we have a citywide election on Saturday, Feb. 6th.  On that day, voters will be electing a mayor, an entire city council, a new juvenile court judge, a sheriff, and numerous other municipal positions.  We continue in our efforts to bring attention to the needs of children and youth through our “10 for 2010″ platform, our mayoral forum and, most recently, our “Who Dat for Kids?” youth rally this past Saturday.  It was an amazing event, attracting over 400 youth from around the city, who marched down Poydras Street to City Hall, holding signs calling for greater attention to issues that matter to them.

The great press continued on Sunday as the Times-Picyaune ran a lengthy feature on the New Orleans Recreation Department (NORD) and the reform necessary to improve that agency.  Every Sunday the paper has been highlighting major city issues and sharing the candidates’ positions on those issues.  The idea that recreation even made the list and received such significant coverage was a huge accomplishment and validates the work we have doing on this issue.

As Saints quarterback Drew Brees said last night, “The work is not yet over.”  While our accomplishments in this work have been significant, we still have a ways to go.  However, like the Saints we are focused on our goals and determined to be successful.  I was putting last night’s game into perspective this morning as I thought about the fact that none of those players on the field last night started out as professional athletes.  They started out as kids – on playgrounds – coached and mentored by caring adults who taught them leadership, teamwork, and determination.  What we need in New Orleans is a mayor who is determined to give each child their Super Bowl.

Thank you all for your continued support and Go Saints! Black and Gold in the Super Bowl!

There was also near universal support among the candidates for depoliticizing NORD and the school system and not allowing either to become havens of sinecures for friends of the mayor. Rob Couhig had an especially strong answer on the need for increased transparency in the city budgeting process. He wants line items in the budget rather than lump sums assigned to departments so that every New Orleans resident can see where the money in all facets of city governance, including NORD, are being directed. Perry spoke of remodeling NORD on Baton Rouge’s afterschool programs and boosting spending from the $3 million currently allocated to NORD to a figure closer to the $40 million Louisiana’s capital spends on their recreation department. John Georges voiced his support for a new millage dedicated to funding NORD, which was especially notable because it’s the only area in which he would advocate a tax raise.

Where the debate got somewhat murky is when many of the candidates turned to discussing changing the culture of schools in New Orleans. It’s all well and good to encourage the promotion of “equity” and parental involvement in the education of their children both inside and outside of school. But support alone for an idea won’t make it a reality. Candidates were only given a minute to answer each question and perhaps this structure helps to account for the lack of specificity the candidates offered on numerous issues. But New Orleans’ youth need more than a mayor that can say all the right things. They need a mayor who actually has a concrete plan for funding and rebuilding the opportunities available to them in this city.

If you were able to attend, please take a minute to complete our short survey on the Forum. Your feedback will help shape future events.