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| Cynthia Willard-Lewis 
Democrat
Current Position: New Orleans City Councilwoman, District E
(elected in 2002, re-elected in 2006, ineligible for re-election in 2010 due to term limits)
[Biography sources: http://www.nolacitycouncil.com/meet/meet_lewis_long.asp
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cynthia_Willard-Lewis
http://sunshinereview.org/index.php/Cynthia_Willard-Lewis]
As an Administrative Assistant and then Bureau Chief in the Housing Division of the City of New Orleans under Mayor Ernest N. Morial, Councilmember Willard-Lewis was introduced to the governmental process. She also served as an Urban Planner in the Office of Policy Planning and Analysis. Councilmember Willard-Lewis was Louisiana State Representative for District 100 since 1993, prior to her election to the Council in October 2000. She ran unsuccessfully for the Councilmember-at-Large seat in the 2007 special election to replace Oliver Thomas.
Councilmember Willard-Lewis chairs the Ground Transportation & Parking, Sanitation & Environmental Enforcement, and Special Remote & Evening Meeting Feasibility Study committees; and additionally, she co-chairs the Housing & Human Needs and the Special Disaster & Recovery committees.
Councilmember Willard-Lewis has been honored with the 1997 Friend of the Parish Award, the 1996 Spirit of Greatness Award from Christian Faith Church, the 1995 T.O.P.S. Ladies of Distinction Service Award, the 1994 Outstanding Legislative Leadership Award from the Orleans Levee Board of Commissioners, and the Alphonse Pierre Auguste Award from the Knights of Peter Claver. She has also been recognized by the Victims and Citizens Against Crime with the Legislator’s Award, and by the Louisiana Police Jury Association. Councilmember Willard-Lewis is a member of the NAACP, SCLC, Amnesty International, National Black Caucus of State Legislators, and the National Organization of Women in Government, and serves on a host of committees.
She was an honor graduate of Xavier University where she received the University’s Gold Medal and Service Awards. As a member of Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, she began her service to the community. A former Miss Black New Orleans and Miss Black Louisiana, she was first runner-up in the Miss Black America pageant. Ms. Cynthia Willard-Lewis is the daughter of Dr. and
Mrs. Elliot Willard Sr. She is also the eldest of 12 children, the
mother of two, Rudy and Rianna, and the grandmother of two beautiful
girls, Kelci and Rhea.
Websites:
http://www.cynthiawillardlewis.com/
http://www.nolacitycouncil.com/meet/meet_lewis.asp
Photos:
http://www.nolacitycouncil.com/images/meet_lewiscandid.jpg
http://www.noaa.gov/blackhistory/images/cwillardlewis.jpg
http://www.helpholycross.org/images/2008/03/27/cynthiawillardlewis.jpg (New Orleans City Councilwoman Cynthia Willard-Lewis talks with planners from Brad Pitt’s Make it Right organization at the groundbreaking event.)
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| CANDIDATE'S RESPONSES
CULTURE
1. How will you work through budget challenges while preserving funding for the arts and for cultural programs?
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
2. How will you address bureaucratic challenges that currently hinder economic development?
ENVIRONMENTAL
Recycling & Waste Disposal Services
3. Many view recycling as a safe and affordable method to manage New Orleans’ trash and debris. How would you promote citywide recycling knowing that the City finds it more economical to continue contracting with waste companies?
Illegal Dumping & New Orleans East
4. New Orleans East is disproportionately affected by illegal dump sites and landfills. How will you ensure that New Orleans East is no longer a site for illegal dumping?
INFRASTRUCTURE
Blight & Streets
5. How will you address neglected properties, both public and private, such as city-owned buildings, the Hyatt Regency, recreation centers, and the old Tulane Public Health School building; crumbling neighborhood streets; and widespread blight left in disrepair since Hurricane Katrina?
GOVERNANCE
Access to Public Records & Access to Non-English Speakers
6. What specific steps will you take to ease citizens’ ability to work with city government and to access public records, information, and services? Also, how will you make city government more accessible and responsive to non-English speakers?
Council-Mayor Relations
7. Our city has suffered in recent years because of ongoing quarrels and a culture of distrust between the Mayor’s office and the City Council. What immediate steps will you take to work with the Mayor on critical issues facing our city? Please be specific.
Budgeting
8. Some say the budget approval process does not provide enough time for thorough review, does not allow for community participation, is not readily available for public scrutiny, and lacks full disclosure of each agency’s budget. How will you address each of these criticisms?
Office of the Inspector General
9. Citizens and organizations such as the NAACP and the Louisiana Justice Institute have voiced concerns about a number of issues involving the Office of the Inspector General, including: Inspector General turnover; OIG office and Ethics Review Board misconduct in spending, hiring, and firing; allegations of racism and sexism in the office; and the lack of a policy and procedures manual. How will you address these concerns working in coordination with the new advisory committee, and make changes that are both needed and acceptable to concerned citizens?
COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT
10. What specific measures will you take to increase the ability of the Council to work in partnership with neighborhood and community groups?
EDUCATION
11. Research shows that the most crucial time to reach children and set them up for success for the rest of their lives is before age 5. Quality early childhood education ties into solving some of our city’s biggest problems, including poverty, crime, and economic development. What specific plans do you have for improving educational opportunities for children 0 to 5 years old and for making sure that they enter school ready to learn?
HOUSING 12. Inclusionary zoning ensures that a neighborhood contains a mix of low-income, affordable, and market rate housing. How will you ensure that the Council enforces the inclusionary zoning ordinance to create an equitable distribution of mixed-income housing throughout the city?
PUBLIC SAFETY
Youth & Crime / Rehabilitation of Youths
13. Given that there is a high rate of juvenile crime in Orleans Parish and a shortage of funds for all programs, what will be your priorities in budgeting for services for youths? What is your plan for ensuring that there are adequate community based services, including re-entry programs and alternatives to incarceration and detention, to serve the youth of our city?
Funding NOPD, District Attorney & Office of the Public Defender(OPD)
14. The courts, district attorney, and public defender receive revenue from bond forfeiture and bond administration fees as well as a portion of the fines and fees levied against defendants after conviction. There is an inequity in funding whereby the DA’s office has a budget of $13 million and the Orleans Public Defender (OPD) has a budget of $6.5 million. What will you do to fully fund the OPD and ensure reliable and dependable funding sources for indigent defense in New Orleans?
Recidivism
15. Formerly incarcerated persons compose ten percent of New Orleans’ population, and the recidivism rate in our community is fifty percent within five years. What efforts will you take to create incentives for businesses within Orleans Parish to hire formerly incarcerated persons in our community?
Funding Sheriff's Office
16. The Sheriff’s budget request to the City Council in 2007 consisted of one page and five items. In 2009, the Sheriff submitted a two page request to the council for an additional $13.5 million. If fulfilled, the sheriff’s budget will be $36 million, one of the largest items in the city budget. What will you do to ensure that the Sheriff submits a comprehensive budget detailing the manner in which his office expends city funds?
| | ADDITIONAL DATA [link to source where available]
ENVIRONMENTAL
Cynthia Willard Lewis, also running for Council at Large, said "green is indeed economic development. Green is not just energy efficiency but it's also affordable. [A Green Platform for New Orleans' Next Mayor and Council, hosted by Global Green 1-26-2010]
Blight & Streets
[Fox8, 1/15/2010]
“We’ve got to make sure that NORA does what it’s called — rebuild.”Proposes expanding the Lot Next Door Program to the Lot on the Block program so that anyone in the block can buy properties and use it for “an appropriate purpose.”
Access to Public Records
[Fox 8, 1/15/2010]
“Having a database that shows online the RFP’s, the bid process and invites everyone participate in an open manner will eliminate alot of the behind the scenes, cloak and dagger appearance of impropriety or just concerns about what is happening. Have it fully vetted using technology and also making sure that the IG is involved on the front end and recommendations that he has offered are indeed weighed and vetted moving forward.”
“We do need a new City Hall but we need a comprehensive plan that looks at how we get it done in a transparent manner, even vetting it in a public hearing to make sure that public input is a part of the process.”
Budgeting
[Fox 8, 1/15/2010]
“We have to start the budget process earlier. Everyone says beginning
of November is too much of a crunch.” Council and the new Mayor’s CAO
has to “be in a dialogue” how to move the city forward when the new
mayor takes office…“there has to be an open communication beginning day
one.” “Call the revenue estimating conference and get the budgetary
projections from the city’s economist and let’s move forward together.
In addition to that, I think one of the big things that we must do and
we’re falling short on is getting in the field and doing internal
audits and external audits in the field. We’ve got a lot of tax dollars
that are not being collected and not from big business but from a lot
of the businesses down there collecting taxes but not remitting taxes,
so we’ve go to have those auditors out there getting the job done so
that the fuel of city government, the revenues, the taxes, that
citizens are paying are indeed being collected. I don’t believe that we
need to raise one new tax penny until we’ve collected every single
dollar owed to the city of N.O.”
Office of the Inspector General
[Fox 8, 1/15/2010]
“Having a database that shows online the RFP’s, the bid process and
invites everyone participate in an open manner will eliminate alot of
the behind the scenes, cloak and dagger appearance of impropriety or
just concerns about what is happening. Have it fully vetted using
technology and also making sure that the IG is involved on the front
end and recommendations that he has offered are indeed weighed and
vetted moving forward.”
PUBLIC SAFETY [Fox 8, 1/15/2010]
“Short term we have got to make sure that every single district has the manpower deployment necessary to effectively protect our citizens…and that they have the equipment, resources, and technology to do the job. You can’t have enough people out there and not enough vehicles.”
“We need to complement the task force strategy with the zone strategy. That’s the baseline for policing community. That a particular officer with a particular vehicle is patrolling a particular area. There’s a level of accountability, responsiveness, and there’s also trust and confidence built at the block level…”
Youth & Crime / Rehabilitation of Youths
[Fox 8, 1/15/2010]
“Long term we’ve got to deal with adequate educational and afterschool programs that have our children that have our children in a safe haven so that their talents and skills are developed.”
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