Council President and NORD Citizens Advisory Panel Announce
BGR’s Endorsement of Proposed NORD Reform
New Orleans, LA – September 14, 2010 - Today, the Bureau of Governmental Research, BGR, endorsed the amendment of the Home Rule Charter of the City of New Orleans to reconfigure the governance of City recreation services and facilities. The amendment, unanimously supported by the City Council and the Mayor, will be up for vote on October 2nd and will create a public private partnership for recreation that mitigates the pitfalls of political turnover and encourages financial support from the private sector as well as increased funding from the City’s general budget.
An excerpt from the BGR report reads: The proposed recreation commission would provide more stable, long-term direction for the City’s recreation offerings. This would allow much-needed reforms to take hold and be sustained. It would also facilitate private fund raising. While the Mayor and the City Council must still address funding problems, voters should take the first step by creating the basic vehicle for delivering future reforms.
BGR is a private, non-profit, independent research organization dedicated to informed public policy making and the effective use of public resources for the improvement of government in the New Orleans metropolitan area.
BGR Chairman Hans B. Jonassen said, “For too many years, the city’s children have paid the price for NORD’s decline and dysfunction. The new commission promises a fresh approach to tackling these problems and improving the quality of City recreation.”
“I would like to thank BGR for thoroughly analyzing the proposed NORD reform and recognizing its value. The legislation up for vote is the result of years of study by the NORD Citizens Advisory Panel, which is led by three co-chairs who tirelessly examined the ‘best practices’ of other cities’ recreation systems. The result of their dedication is a sound reform that will bring equity to NORD facilities and the opportunity to change the lives of our kids and seniors for years to come,” said New Orleans City Council President, Arnie Fielkow.
“A good recreation system will keep kids off the street and out of trouble, as well as provide invaluable lessons outside of the classroom, from team work to healthy living. Seniors, the pillars of our communities, also deserve the opportunity to have facilities in which to congregate. In short, recreation is a necessary staple of a healthy community,” said NORD CAP co-chair Roy Glapion.
“As a parent, I see the inequity from playground to playground, and it is time to close that gap, to ensure that kids in every neighborhood have jerseys, helmets, ballet classrooms and fields that are mowed. We can’t do this without a system that maintains a long-term vision and has adequate funding, which are at the forefront of the proposed reform,” said Bobby Garon, NORD CAP co-chair.
The BGR report is available on their website: www.bgr.org
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Contact:
Danielle A. Viguerie
Office of City Council President Arnie D. Fielkow
daviguerie@cityofno.com
(504) 658-1063
