It’s been said that here in Louisiana, we like our politics like our rice: dirty.  The 2005 storm turned a national spotlight on what had formerly been something of local entertainment.  In that spotlight, I’ll be damned if we didn’t give the rest of the nation one hell of a show. 

After all of the initial destruction of the storm, the nation was on our side, ready to help and help they did.  Yet, they turned to look at our city and saw the people trying to get back on their feet and saw our leaders proceeding with business as usual.

William “Dolla’ Bill” Jefferson, a longtime congressman, was caught with $100,000 in bribe money stuffed in his freezer. Despite this, he was re-elected and in 2009, was only narrowly defeated, mere months before he was convicted of 11 counts of bribery.  His older brother, Mose was also recently convicted of bribing the head of the school board upwards of $140,000.

Then there was Eddie Jordan, the District Attorney who fired 43 of his white employees immediately upon entering office and hid the perpetrator of an armed robbery for three days, avoiding even his own detectives.

Last but not least: Ray Nagin. Ray isn’t accused of corruption, just incompetence and an awful case of foot-in-mouth disease – my personal favorite quote being, “[These killings] keep the New Orleans brand out there.”

According to the Associated Press, Nagin’s approval ratings rested somewhere around 20 percent in June, and have suffered heavily since. Regardless of how we see him, he and the rest of our local government are a laughing stock for everyone else and, as such, a stumbling block to our recovery.  Let’s face it, who would want to give money to guys who tend to lose (and find) valuables in their freezers?

This winter, however, we have another chance in the national spotlight.  The 2010 mayoral election is just around the corner and everyone will be watching (despite the unfortunate fact that a Brad Pitt candidacy doesn’t look likely).  Arguably, this is the most important decision facing our city in the future. 

And let there be no mistake, this is our city – your city – even if you only moved here in August. We are part of what makes this city great, more so than any of those politicians, and this city makes us who we are.

As such, we should be taking an active role in making sure it gets what it deserves. Some campus organizations are planning to help.  For example, the Loyola Society for Civic Engagement is planning a non-partisan effort to transport voters around the city to polling stations.

It is efforts like this that show the rest of the country that we, as students and residents of New Orleans, are ready to stand up, take responsibility for the leadership of our city, and take an active role in forming a city and government that we can be proud of.

Alex Fournet can be reached at [email protected]