Dear Governor-Elect Jindal,
Congratulations on your victory in the governor’s race. But before the state celebrates your overwhelming success, this young city-dweller would like to pose some questions.
How much do-gooding can Baton Rouge do? Your 31-point proposal for ethics reform actually could clean up the capitol. If passed, it will significantly improve accountability and transparency among state and local officials from New Orleans to Shreveport. But legislators from Shreveport to New Orleans will resist change. So how much ethics can they handle?
How will you correct Blanco’s blunders and the federal government’s gaffes in rebuilding? In your victory speech, you said, “We are not simply going to try to rebuild … we are setting our sights much higher.” Your words inspire residents of the city. Your lack of details scares us. In the campaign, you consistently failed to specify plans for rebuilding southern Louisiana. The absence of strong rhetoric remains worrisome.
How accurately can you make a cut? You campaigned heavily on “stopping out-of-control spending.” No one wants out-of-control spending, but what will budget cuts entail? Often, operational funding for schools, hospitals and community groups receive the axe before pork-barrel construction projects do. Communities around New Orleans barely survive on budgets weaker than the levees. Will your cuts stifle these vital programs?
Will we still have a coast in 30 years? Your victory speech failed to even mention the existential threat to the state: a lack of flood protection and a receding coastline. Will you provide the dynamic leadership necessary to fashion a system that provides regional flood protection?
Have sex offenders taken over the Crescent City? Your “Bringing Security” plan for fighting crime makes it seem as if the city is overrun with sexual predators. The plan misses the target of stopping crime. Increased sentences for sex offenders and a stronger police presence will not solve the plague of citywide crime here. Will your “tough-on-crime” talk translate into results by addressing the root causes of crime and drug trade in the poor neighborhoods, or will sex-offender sentencing changes just score you political points?
How will you convince young Wolfpack alumni to stay? At the end of your hopeful victory speech, you called for “young people trying to decide where you will make your home” to stay in the state. Many young graduates and professionals want to stay and improve Louisiana. But we need assurances that the most important problems – not the politically popular ones – will actually be addressed.
If you don’t try and solve the problems in an attempt to “turn the state around,” we residents will only have one question left, as our coast falls into the Gulf and we flee this crime-ridden city: What state?
