Residents of City Council District E can put in their 2 cents about how the city should spend its money at a community meeting in the Lower 9th Ward tonight from 6:30 p.m. (doors open at 6 p.m.) to 8 p.m. at Martin Luther King Charter School (1617 Caffin Ave.). Mayor Mitch Landrieu and District E Councilman Jon Johnson organized the meeting, which also will include Police Chief Ronal Serpas, New Orleans Fire Department Supt. Charles Parent, city deputy mayors and department heads.

Read Matt Davis’ Aug. 3 blog post about the first District E community meeting held Aug. 2 at House of Faith in eastern New Orleans to see what concerns were voiced and how Landrieu responded.

The mayor has planned a series of community meetings in various districts during August as part of his stated commitment to seeking public input concerning how New Orleans is rebuilt and the challenges it faces with $67 million in red ink.

Ryan Berni, the mayor’s press secretary, says Landrieu plans to release a calendar of future community meetings tomorrow.

A report by the Brookings Institute shows that New Orleans has become more “resilient” than it was before Hurricane Katrina based on measures of civic capacity.

But not everyone is better off, with poorer New Orleanians increasingly being pushed out to the suburbs, or leaving the metro area altogether, says the report. And disparities of opportunity persist along racial lines.

Mayor Mitch Landrieu announced the report at city hall this morning along with Amy Liu, Deputy Director and co-founder of the Metropolitan Policy Program at Brookings, and Allison Plyer, Deputy Director of the Greater New Orleans Community Data Center.

Liu (right) points to statistics, accompanied by Plyer and Mayor Landrieu this morning.

The report found that despite suffering from Hurricane Katrina, the national recession, and now, the BP oil disaster, New Orleans has been rebounding over the last five years, with the city back to a population of 354,850, almost 78 percent of pre-Katrina population levels. There was relatively mild job loss in the recession compared to other cities, and there is emerging growth in the Crescent City’s “knowledge-based” industries like higher education, legal services, and insurance — diversifying the city’s economy from traditional industries like tourism, oil and gas, and shipping and ship building.

There have been strides made in citizen involvement, public education and community-based health care since Katrina, according to the report.

The number of poor people living in in Orleans Parish has halved to 68,000, with median household incomes rising to $47,585 — just as household incomes declined nationally over the same period. There is a healthier share of middle class families downtown. However, these statistics are largely a result of people leaving the city after Katrina and not returning, said Plyer. There are now 93,000 people living in poverty in the six surrounding parishes around Orleans Parish — “suburbanization of poverty is actually a national trend,” Plyer said — and there is a growing disparity in income in the greater New Orleans area, with African Americans earning 44 percent less, and Latinos earning 25 percent less, than whites.

New Orleans needs to develop a diversified economy, an educated workforce, wealth to be strategically invested in a crisis, social cohesion, and community problem solving abilities, if it is to transform itself going forward, said Liu.

“This is the first time New Orleans has had a really clear look at where she stands,” said Mayor Landrieu. “This is not just about helping some folks down South. Rebuilding New Orleans is important to the United States of America. We’re the place where the United States is going to find herself.”

The mayor was asked what implementation steps are in place to move forward on the report, and said the first step is for the community to “read and digest it.”

Today University of New Orleans (UNO) officials presented the school’s budget plan before the Louisiana State University System (LSUS) Board of Supervisors, the governing body for the state’s universities, as UNO faces $14 million in cuts with the 2011 fiscal year (beginning July 2011) — when its share of federal stimulus dollars run out.

UNO will aim for a leaner, more efficient and nimble university, retaining programs and departments determined by three criteria: economic interest and viability to the city and region, student demand and interest, and reputation. Programs of interest to the university include its jazz, hotel and tourism administration and engineering studies. (Download UNO’s budget presentation here.)

UNO Chancellor Timothy Ryan sent this letter to the school’s community earlier this month:

“… This plan is a serious restructuring plan for the University of New Orleans that much thought has gone into. It is not an attempt to make a few cuts around the edges and continue to do the same things we have always done at a reduced level. UNO has always provided a terrific education to a large number of students at a low cost. Our restructuring, as presented in this plan, will require that we focus on academic areas that have high student demand, have the maximum economic impact, and that have achieved high levels of distinction.

Second, be assured that we will take care of our existing students. If a program that you are majoring in is on the list of programs to be eliminated, we will make sure that you are accommodated. We will facilitate transfer to other, closely related programs. Our faculty will work with those of you who are very close to your degree to get the necessary credits to graduate in that field. You are all UNO students and we want you to graduate from UNO. If all else fails, we will work with you to transfer to another university if that is what it takes to serve you. We will do what it takes!

Third, the programs that will be retained reflect a complex matrix of student demand, program costs, and academic reputation. Those programs that are being discontinued are not bad programs. We have no bad academic programs at UNO. If you are a faculty member in one of these programs, this action is not a reflection on your quality or of the quality of the program. It is simply a reflection of the very difficult economic times we are in and the tough choices that need to be made in order for UNO to prosper.

Finally, don’t let the fact that we have prepared this plan lead you to believe that we have stopped fighting for you, our students, our staff, and our faculty. Nothing could be further from the truth. I will continue to fight as hard as I can for adequate funding for the University of New Orleans as long as I am alive.

Read the rest of this entry »

In another body blow to the New Orleans economy, Northrop Grumman announced yesterday it has decided to move all its Gulf Coast shipbuilding operations to Pascagoula, Miss. when current construction projects at Avondale are completed in 2013. That means the 5,000 people who now work at Avondale will have to find new jobs. Another estimated 7,000 jobs also depend on the shipyard.

From Northrop Grumman’s perspective, it’s just good business to consolidate operations for the sake of efficiency and the bottom line. The company said it further plans to separate shipbuilding from its other enterprises. “Recognizing our company’s long-term strategic priorities, we foresee little synergy between shipbuilding and our other businesses,” says Wes Bush, CEO and president of Northrop Grumman. “It is now appropriate to explore separating shipbuilding from Northrop Grumman.”

Rep. Anh “Joseph” Cao, R-La., says he will try to keep the 5,000 jobs in the New Orleans area. “Taking away thousands of shipbuilding jobs in an area known worldwide for its shipbuilding is a real blow to us,” he said in a statement. “This couldn’t have come at a worse time because we are still dealing with the effects of (Hurricane) Katrina and, now, the economically debilitating effects of the oil spill. … We have real possibilities for bridging the funding gaps. This isn’t the end for these jobs, and I will continue to fight to keep them here in Southeast Louisiana.”

Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., vows she will try to get company officials to reverse the decision “to turn its back on Louisiana and the thousands of workers in the state,” she says. “While the company might believe this decision will have a positive effect in the short term on its bottom line, the long-term consequences for Louisiana’s economy, our national security and Northrop Grumman itself will be devastating.”

Northrop Grumman says it only has two transport ships to be built at Avondale by 2013 under current contracts. In February, the Navy canceled plans for two amphibious ships that were to be built at Avondale. With declining contracts for seagoing vessels, Northrop Grumman says it may get out of shipbuilding altogether.

Unity of Greater New Orleans is receiving an $804,912 grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to provide permanent housing to low-income people in the area living with HIV/AIDS so they can receive support services and manage their illness.

The funding is provided through HUD’s Housing Opportunities for persons with AIDS Program and is part of $30.2 million in grants awarded to 29 programs in 19 states to help HIV/AIDS patients.

In late April, the National Alliance to End Homelessness gave Unity of Greater New Orleans its 2010 Non-Profit Sector Award at a ceremony in Washington, D.C. The award is a top honor among homeless services. (The video was shown during the awards ceremony on April 22.)