March 10, 2014 – Joint meeting with VCPORA to discuss parameters to an upcoming meeting with Katie Williams, Director of the Film New Orleans, Mayor’s Office of Cultural Economy. In attendance: Carol Allen, Meg Lousteau, Marlene Jaffe, and Erin Holmes. We used the Guidelines established by the Garden District and made changes to meet the situation of filming in the French Quarter. Some of the suggestions were:
- We need to count the “Block Days” used per month by the film industry
- Determine who they use for Enforcement
- Fees for parking by meters need to be increased from $1.25 an hour to $20
- The film crews should be responsible for un-bagging the meters when they leave
- No parking on the sidewalk is allowed
- There should be a Security Deposit
- There should be a fund established which could be managed by either the City Council or the Mayor’s Office of Cultural Economy (Filming division) to deal with infrastructure repairs as a result of any mishaps by the film crew
- Film New Orleans should print out the Guidelines and provide them to the Location Manager
- Inquire as to the “working relationship” between the Garden District and the filming crews
March 20, 2014 – Gail Cavett hosted our Quarterly Pot Luck at her home at 1009 St. Louis. The weather cooperated and it was a delightful evening. CM (elect) Nadine Ramsey joined us for dinner and made a few comments on her role as our new councilmember. We look forward to future gatherings where we can become better acquainted with CM Ramsey.
March 21, 2014 – Met with Carol Greve to discuss co-hosting with VCPORA an “Orientation” for the new Council members / or possibly all of the Council members to familiarize them with the French Quarter. Carol was instrumental in organizing and hosting a similar event in the past as well as one for the Legislator’s wives at one time. The event generally included either a tour by carriage or mini-van with specific locations of interest pointed out. In the past Nathan Chapman and Ann Masson provided much of the background on the places of interest. Either a lunch or dinner was provided after the tour. Some suggestions made by Carol included:
- Including ALL of the Council Members in our Quarterly Pot Luck events / this could include the Mayor as well
- Try to do this in mid-May if possible
March 23, 2014 – Conference call to discuss upcoming meeting with the Mayor on the Sound Ordinance. On the call were: Wilma Heaton, Nathan Chapman, Stuart Smith (who was not able to attend the meeting at the last minute) and myself.
March 24, 2014 – Met with CM LaToya Cantrell. Meg Lousteau and Jeff Morgan from VCPORA arranged the meeting. We primarily were there to discuss the upcoming Sound Ordinance and the role all of the vested groups play in its development. We discuss FQC, VCPORA and FQMD and the fact that CM Kristin Gisleson Palmer has “appointed” them to be the “voice” of the Quarter. We explained why this wasn’t a true representation of the residential element of the Quarter and explained the structure of the organization as it is today. We also explained the fact that the commissioners on the board of FQMD do not “represent” their appointing body, but instead they strictly vote as individuals. We primarily discussed the 200 – 700 blocks of Bourbon Street. CM Cantrell suggested that there should possibly be a workshop with the business owners to discuss ways to insulate their clubs to lower the sound in the neighborhood. We felt that CM Cantrell understood why we were objecting to certain elements of the proposed ordinance and also saw us as “reasonable” which was good.
March 25, 2014 – Meeting with Mayor Landrieu at City Hall. The Mayor called for meetings with 4 separate groups to discuss the proposed Sound Ordinance, as well as the relationship between the organizations working on the ordinance. In attendance were: The Mayor, Scott Hutchinson, Advisor to the Mayor on Cultural Economy, Leslie Stokes, Board member of the VCC, Bob Simms, Chair of the Security Committee of FQMD, Nathan Chapman and myself. The Mayor was charming and clever and engaged everyone in the conversation. He started out by defining the “inhabitants” of the FQ to be: a) Residents, b) Club owners, c) Traditional music venues, i.e. Preservation Hall and Snug Harbor, and d) Antique and novelty stores. He stated that his goal was to have an “elegant” solution for everyone so that everyone came away satisfied with the compromises. Some of his comments included:
Understandable frustration with the current lack of enforcement • Questioned who will supervise or govern the new Sound Ordinance – stating that the putting this back into the Health Department was a good start
Encouraged us to speak with ALL of the councilmembers, not just District C
Mentioned that Dave Woolworth is the “expert” charged with providing specifics for the ordinance
Suggested some type of “voluntary compliance” by the clubs causing the most problems. (It was noted that some of the clubs have a sound meter that monitors the bands who must stay within acceptable limits
At the end of the meeting, the Mayor said that he wanted to schedule another meeting and that we were to choose one person from our group to attend. Leslie Stokes, Carol Allen and I recommended Nathan Chapman. Bob Simms was very disappointed and wrote a letter stating that “Nathan did not speak for him.” A second meeting was to be scheduled.
March 27, 2014 – Carol Allen and Meg Lousteau met with Stephen Perry, President & CEO New Orleans Convention and Tourist Bureau and their attorney, Robert Walmsley, Jr. (I was out of town and unable to attend.) The meeting was to discuss the pending CEA agreement between the NOCTB and the City regarding the proposed new tax ~ part of which was to go towards infrastructure repairs in the FQ. (You might recall that this is the Bill that was endorsed by last year’s FQC Board and against the strong recommendation by Brian Wiggins that FQC ask for this caveat to be included in the bill. Linda Malin, former president refused and supported the Bill as presented. To date, this CEA has not been approved or signed by the Mayor. (One year later.)
I am including an excerpt from a recent email from Stephen Perry re the CEA Agreement.
March 17, 2014 – Under the referendum terms, the assessment will now commence on April 1, 2014 and will be charged to visitors beginning on that day.
Each hotel files its hotel taxes on the 20th of every month and we have designed our assessment form to be virtually identical to that form, so that there was no learning curve for the hotel community, and so that the assessment would be due and filed the same day as taxes. This made it very simple for all. The first payment should be filed on the 20th of May and disbursed to recipient parties early in June.
While regular hotel taxes will go as usual to the state and city, the assessment, as a CVB dues assessment, will be transmitted simultaneously to a CVB owned separate restricted account in a local bank, segregated from our normal commercial banking. The dollars may not be used for any other purposes and may not be used as operating capital by any organization prior to disbursement.
By the tenth of the following month, the bank will disperse the allocation per the .75, .75 and .25 percentages to the CVB, NOTMC and city of New Orleans’ restricted account for this dedication. The collections will start slowly this summer as start-up expenses are deducted first, then the collections that flow will begin slowly as some tourist stays are not applicable due to pre-existing contracts, pre-paid status, etc.
The CVB will provide monthly collection reports for transparency purposes to the GNOHLA, NOTMC, city of New Orleans and will be happy to send you guys the monthly collection amounts being deposited to the city as well.
There have been no suggested changes to the CEA we all discussed last September. I know the city was waiting for a new city council before taking it up for consideration. Dollars should begin flowing this summer. I’ll contact Andy this week about getting the CEA wrapped up.
We are unwaveringly committed, as were you in our discussions that the dollars raised should be in a separate, tractable account, not mingled with other city dollars, be appropriated by the Council following public discussion and debate, that the dollars may not supplant existing dollars from the city….they must be incrementally above current appropriations, that the dollars may only be used for public safety and policing, quality of life enforcement measures, sanitation, and infrastructure repair and maintenance ….all within the confines of the French Quarter….and solely as determined by the City Council after public debate.
It is nice to be on the same side with you as we move forward and work together to see that the dollars raised for the FQ go for the purposes you and we so clearly agree upon.
James Stephen Perry
Shortly after this meeting the news of HB1038 surfaced regarding yet another tax on the tourist recommended by the Mayor and this is Stephen’s response to it.
April 3, 2014 – We are vehemently opposed to this bill. It is travesty for them to come with this…..but this is the story……..The mayor is desperate for money due to the consent decrees and firefighter judgment. He got lots of bills filed at the end over many groups’ objections just to have options.
If passed, this bill would bring our tax to an 18.21. % effective rate with the occupancy taxes blended in. We would be the highest in the nation. Total revolt by our guys right now. The entire industry has been working it and the good news is it has no chance. Most of our delegation is opposed and even the author isn’t crazy about it. Not likely to be heard at all. If it is heard, we know we have the votes to kill it easily on the House floor. Nobody wants this. Even the Mayor…we all went to see him to voice our adamant opposition this week in person.
We’ll let you know if this thing gets any kind of life, but we don’t see how based on our work this week. Just a pain and time consuming.
Very best,
Stephen James Stephen Perry
President & CEO
New Orleans Convention & Visitors Bureau
2020 St. Charles Ave.
New Orleans, Louisiana USA 70130
(504) 566-5049
March 27, 2014 – The announcement that a new FQ neighborhood group was being formed by Bryan Drude and Linda Malin called French Quarter Advocates surfaced. They intend to be the residential voice of the French Quarter.
April 5, 2014 – Graffiti Clean-up sponsored by French Quarter Business Alliance, FQC and VCPORA. Vincent Marcello was instrumental in this effort. I have no report on the success of this effort at this time, but have asked Vincent for one.
April 8, 2014 – Met with Rodney Villarreal and Cathy Espenan to look at locations for our “20th Anniversary Gala”. Unfortunately Jackson Square would not let us use the location in spite of an intervention by Scott Hutchinson on our behalf. As alternatives we went to Riverview Room at Jax Brewery, Beauregard Keyes House and The Mint. Rodney will report on this.
April 8, 2014 – Met with Carol Allen, Meg Lousteau, Brian Furness, Susan Guillot and Nathan Chapman, Carol Greve, Jim Babst, Wilma Heaton, Brian Wiggins and Tony Marino to discuss our continued role with FQMD. Several things were discussed:
We need to have Long term and Short term goals with FQMD
The FQMD meetings need to be recorded
We need to reschedule the meeting with Robert Watters and Kim Rosenberg, but before doing so, we should meet with Senator Ed Murray who was the author of the Bill that introduced FQMD and ask his suggestions
We need to focus on Policies and Procedures and the current system in place for FQMD
April 9, 2014 – Attended the Lakefront Reception of the Louisiana Landmarks Society’s Awards for Excellence in Historic Preservation. FQC made a $250 donation towards this event. There were 15 businesses and homes that received awards. The renovated Lakefront Airport is to be commended for the restoration of this historic structure.
April 11, 2014 – Film Meeting, part 2 – Carol Allen, Meg Lousteau, Marlene Jaffe, Evelyn Rodos and I met to revamp our original list of concerns with the Filming industry. Evelyn was formerly a Location Manager in Los Angeles and brings much insight to the table on how these companies work. Following is the list of concerns/suggestions to clarify prior to meeting with Katie Williams.
- A FQ rep needs to be included in the meetings held with the Location Managers
- A deposit should be required by all companies
- Since the Location Manager is not a “local”, someone should be hired from the film office who has FQ experience and can advise them
- Who has the authority to close down a project?
- What would cause a project to be closed down?
- What is considered a “non-essential” vehicle?
- Each company should be asked to carry $5M in liability insurance
- Security goes through Marlin Defilo who hires off duty Sheriff Deputies. We decided that we need to meet with him to discuss enforcement when incidents happen and education of his deputies so that they are aware of what is and isn’t acceptable in the FQ as it relates to filming. We are aiming for April 21, 22 or 23 depending on his schedule.