Councilman-at-large Arnie Fielkow

The kind words that rained down on Arnie Fielkow as he closed out his final City Council meeting Thursday were fervent and, at times, humorous. The parting gifts from his colleagues were Naturally N’awlins.

Best New Orleans City Council Member 1. Arnie Fielkow — The soon-to-depart councilman seems a perennial fave among our readers, having finished atop the field in this category for five consecutive years. In fact, our readers have been remarkably consistent in this category, as the second-place finisher Stacy Head likewise held that spot for five [...]

***TO SCHEDULE AN INTERVIEW WITH COUNCILMAN FIELKOW CALL C. BRYLSKI/D. JOHNSON AT 504.897.6110*** August 22, 2011 Statement from Arnie D. Fielkow Nearly twelve years ago, I received one of the best phone calls of my entire life when New Orleans Saints ownership called to offer me an opportunity to fulfill a life-long dream – a [...]

Donning a yellow cowboy hat, a red neckerchief and a red sash around his waist, New Orleans City Councilman Arnie Fielkow took his New Orleans Carnival know-how across the Atlantic a few weeks ago when he reigned as grand marshal of a Mardi Gras-style celebration in Pamplona, Spain.

Associated Press — A section of a New Orleans street may soon bear the name of one of the key figures behind construction of the Louisiana Superdome. When the New Orleans City Council meets next week, Council member Arnie Fielkow (Fill Koh) plans to introduce an ordinance that would re-name a section of the city’s Girod (jih RAHD) street to “Dave Dixon Drive.”

New Orleans City Council has a purr-fect start to its Thursday meeting July 21, 2011 – Times Picayune – A feline army briefly overtook the New Orleans City Council chamber Thursday morning as the cast of the Anthony Bean Community Theater’s production of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s award-winning musical “Cats” performed select numbers from the show, [...]

Major League Baseball to operate youth training academy in Gentilly Frank Donze, Times-Picayune June 16, 2011 Storm-ravaged Wesley Barrow Stadium in Gentilly has been chosen by Major League Baseball as the site for its latest cutting-edge training facility designed to attract more minority children to the sport. In return for MLB’s pledge to bring its [...]

Resolution Urges Administrators To Stall Athletic Department Move June 15, 2011 – NEW ORLEANS — Two of the city’s most influential leaders on Wednesday hailed passage of a state Senate resolution urging the University of New Orleans to suspend its move out of Division 1 NCAA athletics. SCR 68 — authored by Sens. Conrad Appel [...]

May 31, 2011 – Times-Picayune – Now, Councilman Arnie Fielkow, chairman of the Budget Committee, has proposed devoting a day in late July or early August to getting a detailed “report card” from the administration on how it is doing in meeting all the targets established last year as it crafted the city’s 2011 budget under the “budgeting for outcomes” approach.

May 27, 2011 – Times Picayune Give adoptive parents recognition: A letter to the editor During Monday’s House Civil Law and Procedure Committee, House Bill 288, which would allow for second parents to adopt, was shelved. Most disheartening were the ridiculous positions expressed by some of the bill’s opponents. The head of the Louisiana Family [...]

April 18, 2011 – Gambit – In an opinion piece, the New Orleans City Council president denounces the recent court decision against a gay couple who wanted their adopted child to carry both men’s names on his birth certificate.

April 7, 2011 – Times-Picayune – More than three years ago, a unanimous and unified City Council made history by voting to raze and redevelop the “Big Four” in order to create a new foundation for modern public housing. All seven council members were steadfast in their decision because of their commitment to create a [...]

April 3, 2011 – New Orleans, LA – WWL TV – Monica Hernandez / Eyewitness News NEW ORLEANS ― As Houston puts the finishing touches on hosting this year’s NCAA men’s Final Four, New Orleans is gearing up to take on the event next year. And local leaders are keeping a close eye on how Houston [...]

Times-Picayune – The fledgling New Orleans Recreation Development Commission has vowed not only to improve opportunities for the city’s children, but also to equalize the quality of programs and facilities across wealthy and poor neighborhoods.

With a helping hand from nonprofits and several local schools, New Orleans will offer a summer recreation program featuring more than three dozen day camps that will serve an estimated 6,600 children and teens and open 12 public swimming pools for thousands more.

After Five Years, MLB’s Urban Youth Academy Is A Resounding Success March 14, 2011 – Business Insider By Cork Gaines Five years ago this week, Major League Baseball opened their first Urban Youth Academy in Compton, California. And now with a second academy already opened in Houston and several others in the works, we can [...]

February 23, 2011 – Forbes Magazine – French Quarter Fest
Let’s say you are one of those people who enjoy eating crawfish étouffée en plein air and listening to a jazz band wail away the afternoon under the New Orleans sun. But let’s also say that the epic crowds–and lines–at New Orleans’ legendary Jazz & Heritage Festival (a.k.a. JazzFest) put you off.

February 8, 2011 – Times-Picayune – In its second meeting, the independent city commission charged with restoring New Orleans’ public recreation programs trudged through a slew of critical items, from opening pools and hosting children’s camps this summer to cleaning up lead-infested playgrounds to allocating its $10 million 2011 budget.

February 3, 2011 – Times Picayune – As concerns mount over how a sharp drop in funding has slowed the pace of dredging in the Mississippi River, the Army Corps of Engineers said Wednesday that it will resume dredging operations in the coming weeks but added that the work is not expected to increase river depths more than the standard needed for cargo ships to pass.

January 11, 2011 – Times Picayune  Sheila Stroup  A year ago, when I interviewed Brian Bordainick, he was trying to raise $700,000 for his 9th Ward Field of Dreams. That seemed like a lot for a 24-year-old teacher who had come to New Orleans to help rebuild the city after Hurricane Katrina. “I never set [...]

By Michelle Krupa, The Times-Picayune

To commemorate the 82nd birthday of slain civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr., the congregations of Touro Synagogue and Masjidur Raheem will renew their efforts toward interfaith understanding with a community service event and a march, organizers announced this morning.

December 16, 2010 – Times-Picayune – Taking the latest step in a push to resurrect the once-proud New Orleans Recreation Department, Mayor Mitch Landrieu on Wednesday introduced the team of community and government leaders that will assume City Hall’s authority over athletic and cultural programs for young people and seniors. “So many of us have [...]

November 16, 2010 – New Wave – Top players from the Tulane men’s and women’s tennis teams demonstrated tennis techniques before joining the A’s & Aces staff in a morning of tennis clinics and games. Andrew Shahan, the principal of ARISE Academy in the Ninth Ward, watched his 3rd grade students interact with others from Hynes School, Lafayette Academy and Milestone SABIS Academy. Arnie Fielkow, New Orleans City Council president, also played tennis with the group and talked to the children about what it means to be a student-athlete.

November 09, 2010 – Gambit – In Louisiana and elsewhere, 2010 was one of the meanest political seasons on record. Rancor ruled the day in statewide elections, and it was not a good time to be a Democrat — no matter how “conservative” you might be. The national Republican juggernaut, fueled by Tea Party fervor, was so strong that it even swept Louisiana into the national political mainstream. That’s saying something. Time now for our perennial political postmortem. Herewith our assessment of the electoral carnage, starting with …

October 25, 2010 – The Times-Picayune – by Bruce Eggler – After the contentious budget battles of former Mayor Ray Nagin’s last few years in office, the three weeks of hearings that the New Orleans City Council will open today on the city’s 2011 budget seem likely to go relatively smoothly. There certainly are potential points of controversy, not least the $35 million in higher property taxes and sanitation service fees that Mayor Mitch Landrieu is seeking.

Times-Picayune – New Orleans voters agreed Saturday to restructure the city’s much-criticized recreation programs. A City Charter amendment that will abolish the New Orleans Recreation Department as a City Hall department and replace it with a new agency, the New Orleans Recreation Development Commission, won easy approval from voters. With all precincts reporting, the amendment passed with 74 percent of the vote.

More than 60 years ago, Time magazine did a feature story on the New Orleans Recreation Department. It didn’t focus on the lack of programming or decrepit facilities, the unstable leadership or the corrupt influence of politics.

Times Picayune – Whether or not voters approve a major administrative overhaul of the long-troubled New Orleans Recreation Department at the polls Saturday, the agency should expect a major financial boost in next year’s budget, City Councilman Arnie Fielkow said Tuesday.

Today, the Times-Picayune endorsed the Charter amendment that will reform New Orleans recreation. The newspaper joins publications Gambit and City Business in urging voters to vote yes to amend …

The charter amendment to reform the New Orleans Recreation Department received a strong endorsement from Gambit. Editors at the weekly publication, which covers news, politics and entertainment, thoroughly read the proposed Charter amendment to create a recreation commission as well as the ordinance determining the governance of the commission. Read their endorsement below:

Mayor Mitch Landrieu says vote yes for NORD reform on October 2nd. Listen to what the Mayor has to say about creating a NORD that is worthy of our kids’ great promise.

City Business – September 16, 2010 – On Oct. 2, New Orleans voters have the chance to radically alter the city’s recreation system, one that has languished for close to a quarter century under poor leadership and inadequate resources that have been inequitably distributed. We strongly encourage voters to approve an amendment to the city [...]

LA Weekly – September 13, 2010 – A recent article in the Business Insider prophesying the “10 American Cities That Are Dead Forever” has got it dead wrong for including New Orleans among the ranks of these moribund municipalities. In fact, with words like “rebirth,” “recovery,” and “resilience” so commonly used here since Hurricane Katrina, I truly have to wonder what in the world the authors of this index are thinking and if they have been to New Orleans recently.

WWL TV – September 12, 2010 – Dennis Woltering talks to Councilmember Fielkow and NORD CAP co-chair Roy Glapion about the vote on October 2nd to reform the New Orleans recreation system.

Times Picayune – The flawed contractual award process which benefited technology contractor TDC is shameful and a waste of more than $ 1 million — money much needed for priority areas like recreation, blight reduction and street lighting.
Indeed, TDC received its 2009 contract through a procurement process that failed to promote fair competition and, like many past professional service contracts, had neither openness nor public scrutiny.

As the City gears up for the October 2nd vote on whether or not to reform NORD, local news coverage increases. Click here to see a September 1st broadcast from Fox 8.

Roy Glapion, co-chair of the New Orleans Recreation Department’s Citizens Advisory Panel (NORD CAP), speaks on WWL’s morning broadcast about NORD Town Hall meetings and the proposed NORD reform.

Best New Orleans City Councilmember

1. Arnie Fielkow — Once again, the affable council president finished ahead of two of the council’s most outspoken women. This time last year, there was much speculation that Fielkow might run for mayor, but he demurred. He has two qualities we really like: He’s a quiet but strong progressive voice on the council, and he’s not driven by a monumental ego.

This Power Point presentation should answer all questions about the proposed NORD reform that is up for vote on October 2nd. Click here for Power Point on NORD reform.

To learn more about the proposed NORD reform that is up for vote on Oct 2, 2010, please read these Frequently Asked Questions

WDSU – August 26, 2010 – Most people in New Orleans know who Arnie Fielkow is — he’s the president of the New Orleans City Council. But it’s a far cry from where Fielkow was when Hurricane Katrina hit the area in the summer of 2005.”Five years ago, I was in a different place. I was executive vice president of the Saints,” Fielkow said.

Times Picayune – August 24, 2010 – The New Orleans City Council tonight will launch a series of public meetings promoting a proposed City Charter amendment that would reorganize the way the city administers and operates recreation programs.

City Council President Arnie Fielkow and Tulane President Scott Cowen founded the Fleur de Lis Ambassador Program after Hurricane Katrina to spread the message that New Orleans is an economically viable, livable city with a long-range recovery plan in progress; to seek additional support in our recovery from business and philanthropic organizations. Yet, key economic, [...]

ABC National News – August 20th, 2010 – Rob Nelson, formerly with WWL TV in New Orleans, is now with ABC National News and did a series of programs linking Katrina and 911. Click here to watch the concluding segment of that series in which Council President Fielkow speaks about recovery and rebirth.

Times Picayune – August 19, 2010 – Thirteen-year-old Gentilly resident Whitman Wilcox can’t stop talking about the sense of community he felt during his recent weeklong trip to Vero Beach Sports Village in Florida. “I’ll remember the community and how we got to bond with each other,” he said. “The community was just awesome. No one really had any disagreements during the trip.”

Times Picayune – August 14, 2010 – A long-awaited public-private partnership to lead New Orleans’ efforts to retain and recruit businesses began to take shape Friday with the announcement of the names of most of the new group’s 17-member board.

On October 2, 2010 – The citizens of Orleans Parish will vote to amend the Home Rule Charter of the City of New Orleans to create an entirely new, ‘best-practices’ based, model for New Orleans recreation. The proposed Reform reflects the findings of the New Orleans Recreation Department Citizen Advisory Panel (NORD CAP), a panel [...]

July 12, 2010 – Gambit Weekly – Gambit visited 25 NORD facilities to gauge the state of the New Orleans recreation department. What we found was an agency in crisis. In the Lower 9th Ward, the Richard Lee playground — a New Orleans Recreation Department (NORD) facility — is totally deserted. A sign on a pole proclaims, “We cut tall grass,” as the grass in Richard Lee grows higher than 4 feet tall. There’s an uncovered manhole on the sidewalk on the way into the park, easily big enough to swallow a child.

July 10, 2010 – NOLA.com – The New Orleans Public Library is partnering with City Councilman Arnie Fielkow’s office to sponsor “Let’s Go From N.O. to Vero!” a contest in which New Orleans students who turn in a winning personal essay will be chosen to go on an all-expenses paid six-day trip to the Vero [...]

July 6th, 2010 – Gambit – Can’t make a New Orleans City Council meeting because you have to work in the mornings? Now you can — maybe. Beginning Aug. 26, the council will hold every fourth meeting at 3 p.m. in an effort to draw in those who can’t make the regular 10 a.m. meetings, [...]

June 29, 2010 – Milwaukee Journal Sentinel – I am what you might call a Midwestern Cajun. Born and raised in Badgerland, a Northwestern-educated Chicago lawyer and someone who moved to New Orleans a decade ago to become executive vice president of the Super Bowl champion New Orleans Saints, I am privileged to call the [...]

June 14, 2010 – LA Weekly – Sometimes in life, everything goes just perfectly and the stars align to create a truly magical moment. Well, such alignment and magic certainly occurred last Wednesday for 130 very fortunate participants who experienced a day of sports, civil rights and royalty.Our national pastime of baseball has historically played [...]

Welcome to Fielkow.net. I have been honored to serve the city of New Orleans for the past four years as your at-Large Councilman. In that time, we have made tremendous strides. We have brought to fruition the long awaited Office of the Inspector General; we have paved the way for robust economic growth through the [...]

January 2009 – New Orleans Magazine – Now that the business of electing a president and a new Congress are over, we can hunker down to tallying the votes that count the most – our readers’ selection of New Orleans’ Best. New Orleanian of the Year: Arnie Fielkow.

February 2008 – New Orleans Magazine – New Orleans City Council President Arnold “Arnie” Fielkow is 6-foot-3 and smiles easily. A former top executive for the New Orleans Saints, Fielkow exudes a mix of a Midwesterner’s optimism and enthusiasm for reforming local government that is blandly reassuring.