Sidney Barthelemy
Encyclopedia
Sidney John Barthelemy (born March 17, 1942) is a former American
political figure. He served as Democratic
mayor
of New Orleans from 1986 to 1994. The second African American
to hold the New Orleans Mayoral chair, he was a member of the Louisiana State Senate
from 1974 to 1978 and a member at-large of the New Orleans City Council
from 1978 to 1986.
family. He grew up in the Seventh Ward
, and attended Corpus Christi Elementary School
and St. Augustine High School (New Orleans)
. From 1960 to 1963, in preparation for entering the priesthood, he studied at Epiphany Apostolic Junior College in Newburgh, New York
, and then entered St. Joseph Seminary in Washington, D.C.
, where he received a Bachelor of Arts
degree in philosophy
and pursued graduate study in Theology
. While in seminary, he worked summers as a laborer in a stevedoring
company.
In 1967, having made the decision not to enter the priesthood, Barthelemy returned to New Orleans and became an administrative assistant in the office of Total Community Action. From 1969 to 1972 he was director of the Parent Child Center of Family Health, Inc. During these years he also completed a Master of Social Work degree
at Tulane University
in New Orleans, worked part-time for the Urban League of Greater New Orleans
and assisted with various political campaigns, joining COUP, a political organization based in the 7th Ward of New Orleans
.
From 1972 to 1974 Barthelemy was Director of the Department of Welfare under Mayor Moon Landrieu
. Backed by COUP, Barthelemy was elected in 1974 to one term in the Louisiana State Senate from District 4; he was the first African-American to serve in that body since Reconstruction. While he served in the Legislature, he also joined Xavier University
as assistant director of the Urbinvolve Program and as an instructor in the Department of Sociology
and became an adjunct faculty member in the Applied Health Sciences Department, Maternal and Child Health Section, of Tulane University.
In 1978 Barthelemy was elected to an at-large seat on the New Orleans City Council, a position he held for two terms. While in the council, Barthelemy become known for his longstanding rivalry with Mayor Ernest "Dutch" Morial. He defeated Bill Jefferson in the 1986 mayoral election
to succeed Morial.
added to these budget woes. Louisiana's energy-dependent economy, already slowing as the price of oil declined from its 1980 high point, was pummeled in early 1986 by a sudden collapse in price per barrel from over $27 to less than $10. While the U.S. economy benefited from lower energy costs, falling inflation and declining interest rates, unemployment in New Orleans soared to 11%. Barthelemy and his Chief Administrative Officer, Kurt Steiner, responded by privatizing garbage collection and by imposing a four-day workweek for all city employees.
Taking a less hands-on approach to economic development than his predecessor, Barthelemy preferred to let the private sector be the primary engine of growth. This was probably in line with the inclinations of the majority of white voters, who had overwhelmingly supported him in his election bid. Though Barthelemy took a pro-business stance, his unfocused, laissez-faire approach to attacking the city's problems was harmful in the post-Oil Bust period; it was during his and his successor's
mayoralties that New Orleans lost its remaining attractiveness as a center for corporate white collar employment. As recently as the late 1970s and early 1980s, downtown New Orleans
had experienced a building boom, with multiple office towers constructed to house the headquarters, or large regional offices, for companies such as Freeport-McMoRan
, Pan American Life Insurance
, Exxon
, Chevron
, Gulf Oil
, Amoco
, Mobil
, Murphy Oil
and Texaco
. In the mid-80s these firms, along with other large employers such as Royal Dutch Shell
, Louisiana Land and Exploration and McDermott International, employed thousands of white collar workers downtown, with thousands more employed by others providing services to them. Only Shell
and Pan American Life Insurance remain as significant entities in New Orleans today. Though Barthelemy probably couldn't have averted the consolidation of Big Oil white collar employment to Houston, he was unsuccessful in creating an economic climate sufficiently conducive to the growth of replacement white collar employers downtown, or elsewhere in the city. A big disappointment occurred in 1988, when defense and space contractor Martin Marietta
lost its bid to construct the crew modules for NASA's Space Station Freedom
. Martin Marietta would have fabricated the space station hardware at its Michoud Assembly Facility
in Eastern New Orleans
, already the manufacturing location of the Space Shuttle
's external tank
. The contract, won by Boeing
, resulted in thousands of jobs created at that company's chosen assembly site, Huntsville, Alabama
. More disappointment followed the creation of the Metrovision regional economic development partnership, as that body largely failed to diversify or attract additional investment to Metro New Orleans'
economy.
Barthelemy's administration was not without economic development successes, as he managed to bring additional investment to New Orleans East
, most notably by attracting the giant Pick 'n Save
distribution center to the New Orleans Regional Business Park (then known as the Almonaster-Michoud Industrial District). The Pick 'n Save project embodied the city's renewed efforts to leverage the existing infrastructure of the Port of New Orleans
, then experiencing a resurgence under the leadership of Ron Brinson, by attracting modern warehousing and distribution facilities to the city. In the wake of the Oil Bust, however, the Barthelemy administration most forcefully advocated for the continued development of New Orleans' tourist and convention industry. Tourism was the only sector of the city's economy to exhibit meaningful growth under Barthelemy. Several high-profile wins occurred, including attracting the Republican
National Convention to the city in 1988 and the NCAA
Final Four tournament in 1993. Barthelemy also oversaw the opening of the Aquarium of the Americas
, the Riverfront streetcar line
, the New Orleans Centre and Riverwalk
downtown malls, and encouraged the first expansion of the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center (then known as the New Orleans Convention Center).
In administering city government, Barthelemy managed to gradually eliminate the $30 million budget deficit he inherited in 1986, but his methods of raising revenue - attempting to impose an "earnings tax" on the personal income of suburbanites who worked within the city limits, legalization of a land-based casino
and riverboat gambling - were controversial. He took control of agencies such as the Housing Authority of New Orleans (HANO) and the Regional Transit Authority
(RTA), providing appointments to members of COUP and other political allies.
Other highlights of the Barthelemy administration were the visit of Pope John Paul II
in 1987, the passage of the controversial "anti-discrimination" ordinance affecting the membership in Carnival krewes, an unsuccessful, city-sponsored effort to redevelop Louis Armstrong Park
into a Tivoli Gardens-style recreation park/amusement center, an unsuccessful proposal to construct a new international airport in New Orleans East, in what later became the Bayou Sauvage National Wildlife Refuge
, the post-World's Fair
gentrification and redevelopment of the downtown Warehouse District
, and the securing of funding for a new sports arena
next to the Superdome
. Consistent with the city's increasing economic tilt to tourism and the cultural economy, Barthelemy's mayoralty also supported a large addition to the New Orleans Museum of Art
, in which the museum attained its present size, as well as the creation of the Louisiana Children's Museum in the Warehouse District. Plans to re-use portions of the former Canadian Pavilion of the World's Fair, including its IMAX
theater, as a new Louisiana Science Museum came to nothing, however.
In April 1993 Barthelemy succeeded in accomplishing two notable things. He destroyed the old Canal streetcar barn, listed on the National Register of Historic Places as probably the oldest surviving carbarn in the country, and assisted the US Department of Transportation in destroying section 4(f) of the Transportatiion Act of 1966, one of the oldest and most important environmental and historic preservation laws in the country, a law that could have protected the carbarn.
In 1993 Barthelemy was responsible for bringing a little-known statewide political perk to the attention of the state's voters. At his son's graduation ceremony from Brother Martin High School
, it was announced that he would be receiving the "Mayor's Academic Scholarship to Tulane University
." This drew a mixed reaction from the crowd in attendance. The next day, the story was featured on the local news in New Orleans. By the end of the week, the story was the talk of the state, and it was revealed that in addition to the Mayor, all members of the Louisiana Legislature could grant scholarships to Tulane University. Louisiana legislators were permitted to award the scholarships to anyone they saw fit, provided that the nominee was a bona fide citizen and resident of the district or parish and "shall comply with the requirements for admission established" by the university's Board. Through further investigation, it was revealed that politicians regularly gave these scholarships to their own family members and to the children of political allies. In some instances, the scholarships were given in exchange for political favors.
In the wake of these revelations, Mayor Barthelemy and four state lawmakers, Republican
s Jim Donelon
, Kernan "Skip" Hand
, and Ken Hollis
and the Democrat Steve Theriot
, all from the New Orleans suburbs, admitted to having awarded Tulane University
scholarship
s to family members. Specifically, it was learned that state officials were able to request a tuition waiver — worth some $17,000 in 1993 - to one student per year under an 1884 state law approving the conversion of the public University of Louisiana
into a private institution, Tulane University, upon the school's receipt of Paul Tulane's and Josephine Newcomb's bequests.
Throughout his political career, Barthelemy carried a reputation as a quiet and mild-tempered politician, in marked contrast to his fiery predecessor Dutch Morial
, and to typical New Orleans politicians in general. His critics interpreted this as a sign of passivity and poor leadership. Under his mayoralty, the city's population declined significantly, the crime rate increased dramatically, and performance of the city's public school system
continued eroding - though in fairness the schools were controlled by the Orleans Parish School Board. National trends were also unfavorable to cities during Barthelemy's mayoralty; New Orleans was far from alone in grappling with economic stagnation and rising crime. Still, many of the alleged deficiencies of the Barthelemy administration were already acknowledged as fact by the public by the end of Barthelemy's first term. His re-election campaign
in 1990 was marked by widespread criticism of his administration, and of his perceived lack of leadership - but Barthelemy managed to defeat his challenger Donald Mintz in a runoff election.
Fritz Windhorst
, who served as a Republican member of the Louisiana State Senate
from Jefferson and Orleans parishes from 1972 to 1992, described Barthelemy this way: "Sidney doesn’t whine or complain when things go badly…He doesn't threaten people who cross him. Just having him as mayor has sharply reduced the anti-New Orleans feelings in the legislature."
development group based in New Orleans. On January 7, 2006, Barthelemy joined former mayors Moon Landrieu
and Marc Morial
in a meeting with parish presidents from the New Orleans metropolitan area to discuss post-Katrina
plans for regional flood protection .
Ashton, Gayle. "Mayor's runoff: one goal, two contenders." The Times Picayune, February 23, 1986
Whelan, Robert, Alma Young, and Mickey Lauria. Urban Regimes and Racial Politics: New Orleans during the Barthelemy Years. University of New Orleans, CUPA Working Paper, 1991
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
political figure. He served as Democratic
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
mayor
Mayor
In many countries, a Mayor is the highest ranking officer in the municipal government of a town or a large urban city....
of New Orleans from 1986 to 1994. The second African American
African American
African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
to hold the New Orleans Mayoral chair, he was a member of the Louisiana State Senate
Louisiana State Legislature
The Louisiana State Legislature is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Louisiana. It is bicameral body, comprising the lower house, the Louisiana House of Representatives with 105 representatives, and the upper house, the Louisiana Senate with 39 senators...
from 1974 to 1978 and a member at-large of the New Orleans City Council
City council
A city council or town council is the legislative body that governs a city, town, municipality or local government area.-Australia & NZ:Because of the differences in legislation between the States, the exact definition of a City Council varies...
from 1978 to 1986.
Early life and career
Barthelemy was born in New Orleans, the third of six children in a CreoleLouisiana Creole people
Louisiana Creole people refers to those who are descended from the colonial settlers in Louisiana, especially those of French and Spanish descent. The term was first used during colonial times by the settlers to refer to those who were born in the colony, as opposed to those born in the Old World...
family. He grew up in the Seventh Ward
7th Ward of New Orleans
The 7th Ward is a section of New Orleans, Louisiana. It is geographically the second largest of the 17 Wards of New Orleans, after the 9th Ward.-Boundaries and geography:...
, and attended Corpus Christi Elementary School
Elementary school
An elementary school or primary school is an institution where children receive the first stage of compulsory education known as elementary or primary education. Elementary school is the preferred term in some countries, particularly those in North America, where the terms grade school and grammar...
and St. Augustine High School (New Orleans)
St. Augustine High School (New Orleans)
St. Augustine High School or "St. Aug" is an all-boys parochial high school in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States. It was founded in 1951 and covers grades 6 through 12 .-History:...
. From 1960 to 1963, in preparation for entering the priesthood, he studied at Epiphany Apostolic Junior College in Newburgh, New York
Newburgh (city), New York
Newburgh is a city located in Orange County, New York, United States, north of New York City, and south of Albany, on the Hudson River. Newburgh is a principal city of the Poughkeepsie-Newburgh-Middletown metropolitan area, which includes all of Dutchess and Orange counties. The Newburgh area was...
, and then entered St. Joseph Seminary in Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
, where he received a Bachelor of Arts
Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...
degree in philosophy
Philosophy
Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing such problems by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on rational...
and pursued graduate study in Theology
Theology
Theology is the systematic and rational study of religion and its influences and of the nature of religious truths, or the learned profession acquired by completing specialized training in religious studies, usually at a university or school of divinity or seminary.-Definition:Augustine of Hippo...
. While in seminary, he worked summers as a laborer in a stevedoring
Stevedore
Stevedore, dockworker, docker, dock labourer, wharfie and longshoreman can have various waterfront-related meanings concerning loading and unloading ships, according to place and country....
company.
In 1967, having made the decision not to enter the priesthood, Barthelemy returned to New Orleans and became an administrative assistant in the office of Total Community Action. From 1969 to 1972 he was director of the Parent Child Center of Family Health, Inc. During these years he also completed a Master of Social Work degree
Social work
Social Work is a professional and academic discipline that seeks to improve the quality of life and wellbeing of an individual, group, or community by intervening through research, policy, community organizing, direct practice, and teaching on behalf of those afflicted with poverty or any real or...
at Tulane University
Tulane University
Tulane University is a private, nonsectarian research university located in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States...
in New Orleans, worked part-time for the Urban League of Greater New Orleans
National Urban League
The National Urban League , formerly known as the National League on Urban Conditions Among Negroes, is a nonpartisan civil rights organization based in New York City that advocates on behalf of African Americans and against racial discrimination in the United States. It is the oldest and largest...
and assisted with various political campaigns, joining COUP, a political organization based in the 7th Ward of New Orleans
7th Ward of New Orleans
The 7th Ward is a section of New Orleans, Louisiana. It is geographically the second largest of the 17 Wards of New Orleans, after the 9th Ward.-Boundaries and geography:...
.
From 1972 to 1974 Barthelemy was Director of the Department of Welfare under Mayor Moon Landrieu
Moon Landrieu
Maurice Edwin "Moon" Landrieu is a Democratic politician from Louisiana who served as Mayor of New Orleans from 1970–1978. He also is a former judge...
. Backed by COUP, Barthelemy was elected in 1974 to one term in the Louisiana State Senate from District 4; he was the first African-American to serve in that body since Reconstruction. While he served in the Legislature, he also joined Xavier University
Xavier University of Louisiana
Xavier University of Louisiana , located in New Orleans, Louisiana, in the United States, is a private, coeducational, liberal arts college with the distinction of being the only historically black Roman Catholic institution of higher education...
as assistant director of the Urbinvolve Program and as an instructor in the Department of Sociology
Sociology
Sociology is the study of society. It is a social science—a term with which it is sometimes synonymous—which uses various methods of empirical investigation and critical analysis to develop a body of knowledge about human social activity...
and became an adjunct faculty member in the Applied Health Sciences Department, Maternal and Child Health Section, of Tulane University.
In 1978 Barthelemy was elected to an at-large seat on the New Orleans City Council, a position he held for two terms. While in the council, Barthelemy become known for his longstanding rivalry with Mayor Ernest "Dutch" Morial. He defeated Bill Jefferson in the 1986 mayoral election
New Orleans mayoral election, 1986
The New Orleans mayoral election of 1986 resulted in the election of the black Democrat Sidney Barthelemy as mayor.- Background :Elections in Louisiana—with the exception of U.S. Presidential and Congressional elections—follow a variation of the open primary system...
to succeed Morial.
Barthelemy as mayor
Barthelemy's mayoralty began under difficult circumstances. Federal government revenue sharing to municipalities had been progressively reduced from 1981 onwards, and had ended by the time Barthelemy took office in 1986. A regional economic slump, the so-called Oil Bust1980s oil glut
The 1980s oil glut was a serious surplus of crude oil caused by falling demand following the 1970s Energy Crisis. The world price of oil, which had peaked in 1980 at over US$35 per barrel , fell in 1986 from $27 to below $10...
added to these budget woes. Louisiana's energy-dependent economy, already slowing as the price of oil declined from its 1980 high point, was pummeled in early 1986 by a sudden collapse in price per barrel from over $27 to less than $10. While the U.S. economy benefited from lower energy costs, falling inflation and declining interest rates, unemployment in New Orleans soared to 11%. Barthelemy and his Chief Administrative Officer, Kurt Steiner, responded by privatizing garbage collection and by imposing a four-day workweek for all city employees.
Taking a less hands-on approach to economic development than his predecessor, Barthelemy preferred to let the private sector be the primary engine of growth. This was probably in line with the inclinations of the majority of white voters, who had overwhelmingly supported him in his election bid. Though Barthelemy took a pro-business stance, his unfocused, laissez-faire approach to attacking the city's problems was harmful in the post-Oil Bust period; it was during his and his successor's
Marc Morial
Marc Haydel Morial is an American political and civic leader and the current president of the National Urban League. Morial served as mayor of New Orleans, Louisiana from 1994 to 2002. He is married to Michelle Miller, who has won awards as a CBS News Correspondent.- Early life and educations...
mayoralties that New Orleans lost its remaining attractiveness as a center for corporate white collar employment. As recently as the late 1970s and early 1980s, downtown New Orleans
New Orleans Central Business District
The Central Business District is a neighborhood of the city of New Orleans. A subdistrict of the French Quarter/CBD Area, its boundaries as defined by the City Planning Commission are: Iberville, Decatur and Canal Streets to the north, the Mississippi River to the east, the New Orleans Morial...
had experienced a building boom, with multiple office towers constructed to house the headquarters, or large regional offices, for companies such as Freeport-McMoRan
Freeport-McMoRan
Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc., often called simply Freeport, is the world's lowest-cost copper producer and one of the world's largest producers of gold...
, Pan American Life Insurance
Pan American Life Center
The Pan American Life Building, located at 601 Poydras Street in the Central Business District of New Orleans, Louisiana, is a 28-story, -tall high-rise building. Designed by Skidmore, Owings and Merrill, it was built in 1980 as the headquarters for the Pan-American Life Insurance Co.In December...
, Exxon
ExxonMobil
Exxon Mobil Corporation or ExxonMobil, is an American multinational oil and gas corporation. It is a direct descendant of John D. Rockefeller's Standard Oil company, and was formed on November 30, 1999, by the merger of Exxon and Mobil. Its headquarters are in Irving, Texas...
, Chevron
Chevron Corporation
Chevron Corporation is an American multinational energy corporation headquartered in San Ramon, California, United States and active in more than 180 countries. It is engaged in every aspect of the oil, gas, and geothermal energy industries, including exploration and production; refining,...
, Gulf Oil
Gulf Oil
Gulf Oil was a major global oil company from the 1900s to the 1980s. The eighth-largest American manufacturing company in 1941 and the ninth-largest in 1979, Gulf Oil was one of the so-called Seven Sisters oil companies...
, Amoco
Amoco
Amoco Corporation, originally Standard Oil Company , was a global chemical and oil company, founded in 1889 around a refinery located in Whiting, Indiana, United States....
, Mobil
Mobil
Mobil, previously known as the Socony-Vacuum Oil Company, was a major American oil company which merged with Exxon in 1999 to form ExxonMobil. Today Mobil continues as a major brand name within the combined company, as well as still being a gas station sometimes paired with their own store or On...
, Murphy Oil
Murphy Oil
Murphy Oil Corporation is an international oil and gas company, founded in 1944 as C.H. Murphy & Co by Charle H Murphy Sr., that conducts business through various operating subsidiaries. Murphy produces oil and/or natural gas in the United States, Canada, Malaysia, the United Kingdom and Republic...
and Texaco
Texaco
Texaco is the name of an American oil retail brand. Its flagship product is its fuel "Texaco with Techron". It also owns the Havoline motor oil brand....
. In the mid-80s these firms, along with other large employers such as Royal Dutch Shell
Royal Dutch Shell
Royal Dutch Shell plc , commonly known as Shell, is a global oil and gas company headquartered in The Hague, Netherlands and with its registered office in London, United Kingdom. It is the fifth-largest company in the world according to a composite measure by Forbes magazine and one of the six...
, Louisiana Land and Exploration and McDermott International, employed thousands of white collar workers downtown, with thousands more employed by others providing services to them. Only Shell
One Shell Square
One Shell Square is a 51-story, skyscraper designed in the International style by Skidmore, Owings and Merrill, located at 701 Poydras Street in the Central Business District of New Orleans, Louisiana. It is the tallest building in both the city of New Orleans and the state of Louisiana. The...
and Pan American Life Insurance remain as significant entities in New Orleans today. Though Barthelemy probably couldn't have averted the consolidation of Big Oil white collar employment to Houston, he was unsuccessful in creating an economic climate sufficiently conducive to the growth of replacement white collar employers downtown, or elsewhere in the city. A big disappointment occurred in 1988, when defense and space contractor Martin Marietta
Lockheed Martin
Lockheed Martin is an American global aerospace, defense, security, and advanced technology company with worldwide interests. It was formed by the merger of Lockheed Corporation with Martin Marietta in March 1995. It is headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland, in the Washington Metropolitan Area....
lost its bid to construct the crew modules for NASA's Space Station Freedom
Space Station Freedom
Space Station Freedom was a NASA project to construct a permanently manned Earth-orbiting space station in the 1980s. Although approved by then-president Ronald Reagan and announced in the 1984 State of the Union Address, Freedom was never constructed or completed as originally designed, and after...
. Martin Marietta would have fabricated the space station hardware at its Michoud Assembly Facility
Michoud Assembly Facility
The Michoud Assembly Facility is an 832-acre site owned by NASA and located in New Orleans East, a large district within the city of New Orleans, Louisiana, United States. Organizationally, it is part of NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center...
in Eastern New Orleans
Eastern New Orleans
Eastern New Orleans is a large section of the city of New Orleans, Louisiana. Developed extensively from the 1960s onwards, it was originally marketed as "suburban-style living within the city limits", and has much in common with the Algiers neighborhood of New Orleans...
, already the manufacturing location of the Space Shuttle
Space Shuttle
The Space Shuttle was a manned orbital rocket and spacecraft system operated by NASA on 135 missions from 1981 to 2011. The system combined rocket launch, orbital spacecraft, and re-entry spaceplane with modular add-ons...
's external tank
Space Shuttle external tank
A Space Shuttle External Tank is the component of the Space Shuttle launch vehicle that contains the liquid hydrogen fuel and liquid oxygen oxidizer. During lift-off and ascent it supplies the fuel and oxidizer under pressure to the three Space Shuttle Main Engines in the orbiter...
. The contract, won by Boeing
Boeing
The Boeing Company is an American multinational aerospace and defense corporation, founded in 1916 by William E. Boeing in Seattle, Washington. Boeing has expanded over the years, merging with McDonnell Douglas in 1997. Boeing Corporate headquarters has been in Chicago, Illinois since 2001...
, resulted in thousands of jobs created at that company's chosen assembly site, Huntsville, Alabama
Huntsville, Alabama
Huntsville is a city located primarily in Madison County in the central part of the far northern region of the U.S. state of Alabama. Huntsville is the county seat of Madison County. The city extends west into neighboring Limestone County. Huntsville's population was 180,105 as of the 2010 Census....
. More disappointment followed the creation of the Metrovision regional economic development partnership, as that body largely failed to diversify or attract additional investment to Metro New Orleans'
New Orleans metropolitan area
New Orleans–Metairie–Kenner, or the Greater New Orleans Region is a metropolitan area designated by the United States Census encompassing seven parishes in the state of Louisiana, centering on the city of New Orleans...
economy.
Barthelemy's administration was not without economic development successes, as he managed to bring additional investment to New Orleans East
Eastern New Orleans
Eastern New Orleans is a large section of the city of New Orleans, Louisiana. Developed extensively from the 1960s onwards, it was originally marketed as "suburban-style living within the city limits", and has much in common with the Algiers neighborhood of New Orleans...
, most notably by attracting the giant Pick 'n Save
Roundy's
Roundy's Supermarkets is a Milwaukee, Wisconsin-based supermarket chain with 154 stores in Minnesota and Wisconsin, and 4 stores in Illinois...
distribution center to the New Orleans Regional Business Park (then known as the Almonaster-Michoud Industrial District). The Pick 'n Save project embodied the city's renewed efforts to leverage the existing infrastructure of the Port of New Orleans
Port of New Orleans
The Port of New Orleans is a port located in New Orleans, Louisiana. It is the 1st in the United States based on volume of cargo handled, second-largest in the state after the Port of South Louisiana, and 13th largest in the U.S. based on value of cargo...
, then experiencing a resurgence under the leadership of Ron Brinson, by attracting modern warehousing and distribution facilities to the city. In the wake of the Oil Bust, however, the Barthelemy administration most forcefully advocated for the continued development of New Orleans' tourist and convention industry. Tourism was the only sector of the city's economy to exhibit meaningful growth under Barthelemy. Several high-profile wins occurred, including attracting the Republican
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
National Convention to the city in 1988 and the NCAA
National Collegiate Athletic Association
The National Collegiate Athletic Association is a semi-voluntary association of 1,281 institutions, conferences, organizations and individuals that organizes the athletic programs of many colleges and universities in the United States...
Final Four tournament in 1993. Barthelemy also oversaw the opening of the Aquarium of the Americas
Aquarium of the Americas
The Audubon Aquarium of the Americas is a renowned aquarium in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA.Recognized as one of the leading aquariums in the United States, it is run by the Audubon Institute, which also supervises the Audubon Zoo and Audubon Park...
, the Riverfront streetcar line
Streetcars in New Orleans
Streetcars in New Orleans have been an integral part of the city's public transportation network since the first half of the 19th century. The longest of New Orleans' streetcar lines, the St. Charles Avenue Streetcar, is the oldest continuously operating street railway system in the world,...
, the New Orleans Centre and Riverwalk
Riverwalk Marketplace
Riverwalk Marketplace is a mall located in the Central Business District of New Orleans, Louisiana. The mall is located along the Mississippi River waterfront stretching from the base of Canal Street upriver to the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center...
downtown malls, and encouraged the first expansion of the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center (then known as the New Orleans Convention Center).
In administering city government, Barthelemy managed to gradually eliminate the $30 million budget deficit he inherited in 1986, but his methods of raising revenue - attempting to impose an "earnings tax" on the personal income of suburbanites who worked within the city limits, legalization of a land-based casino
Harrah's New Orleans
Harrah's New Orleans is a casino located in New Orleans, Louisiana near the foot of Canal Street a block away from the Mississippi River. It is a casino with approximately 2,100 slot machines, over 90 table games and a poker room. There are several places to eat ranging from buffet style to fine...
and riverboat gambling - were controversial. He took control of agencies such as the Housing Authority of New Orleans (HANO) and the Regional Transit Authority
New Orleans Regional Transit Authority
The New Orleans Regional Transit Authority is a body established by the Louisiana State Legislature in 1979; since 1983 it has controlled bus and streetcar service in the City of New Orleans....
(RTA), providing appointments to members of COUP and other political allies.
Other highlights of the Barthelemy administration were the visit of Pope John Paul II
Pope John Paul II
Blessed Pope John Paul II , born Karol Józef Wojtyła , reigned as Pope of the Catholic Church and Sovereign of Vatican City from 16 October 1978 until his death on 2 April 2005, at of age. His was the second-longest documented pontificate, which lasted ; only Pope Pius IX ...
in 1987, the passage of the controversial "anti-discrimination" ordinance affecting the membership in Carnival krewes, an unsuccessful, city-sponsored effort to redevelop Louis Armstrong Park
Louis Armstrong Park
Louis Armstrong Park is a park located in the Treme neighborhood of New Orleans, Louisiana, just across Rampart Street from the French Quarter. It was designed by New Orleans architect Robin Riley. The park contains the New Orleans Municipal Auditorium, the Mahalia Jackson Theater of the...
into a Tivoli Gardens-style recreation park/amusement center, an unsuccessful proposal to construct a new international airport in New Orleans East, in what later became the Bayou Sauvage National Wildlife Refuge
Bayou Sauvage National Wildlife Refuge
Bayou Sauvage National Wildlife Refuge is a region of fresh and brackish marshes located within the city limits of New Orleans. It is the largest urban wildlife refuge in the United States.-Location:...
, the post-World's Fair
1984 Louisiana World Exposition
The 1984 Louisiana World Exposition was a World's Fair held in New Orleans, Louisiana. It was held 100 years after the city's earlier World's Fair, the World Cotton Centennial in 1884. It opened on Saturday, May 12, 1984 and ended on Sunday, November 11, 1984...
gentrification and redevelopment of the downtown Warehouse District
New Orleans Central Business District
The Central Business District is a neighborhood of the city of New Orleans. A subdistrict of the French Quarter/CBD Area, its boundaries as defined by the City Planning Commission are: Iberville, Decatur and Canal Streets to the north, the Mississippi River to the east, the New Orleans Morial...
, and the securing of funding for a new sports arena
New Orleans Arena
New Orleans Arena is an indoor arena in New Orleans, Louisiana. It is located in the city's Central Business District, adjacent to the Mercedes-Benz Superdome....
next to the Superdome
Louisiana Superdome
The Mercedes-Benz Superdome, previously known as the Louisiana Superdome and colloquially known as the Superdome, is a sports and exhibition arena located in the Central Business District of New Orleans, Louisiana, USA...
. Consistent with the city's increasing economic tilt to tourism and the cultural economy, Barthelemy's mayoralty also supported a large addition to the New Orleans Museum of Art
New Orleans Museum of Art
The New Orleans Museum of Art is the oldest fine arts museum in the city of New Orleans. It is situated within City Park, a short distance from the intersection of Carrollton Avenue and Esplanade Avenue, and near the terminus of the "Canal Street - City Park" streetcar line...
, in which the museum attained its present size, as well as the creation of the Louisiana Children's Museum in the Warehouse District. Plans to re-use portions of the former Canadian Pavilion of the World's Fair, including its IMAX
IMAX
IMAX is a motion picture film format and a set of proprietary cinema projection standards created by the Canadian company IMAX Corporation. IMAX has the capacity to record and display images of far greater size and resolution than conventional film systems...
theater, as a new Louisiana Science Museum came to nothing, however.
In April 1993 Barthelemy succeeded in accomplishing two notable things. He destroyed the old Canal streetcar barn, listed on the National Register of Historic Places as probably the oldest surviving carbarn in the country, and assisted the US Department of Transportation in destroying section 4(f) of the Transportatiion Act of 1966, one of the oldest and most important environmental and historic preservation laws in the country, a law that could have protected the carbarn.
In 1993 Barthelemy was responsible for bringing a little-known statewide political perk to the attention of the state's voters. At his son's graduation ceremony from Brother Martin High School
Brother Martin High School
Brother Martin High School is an all-male, Catholic, university preparatory school located in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States operated by the Brothers of the Sacred Heart. It was established in 1869 by the Brothers of the Sacred Heart, establishing the school as St. Aloysius College...
, it was announced that he would be receiving the "Mayor's Academic Scholarship to Tulane University
Tulane University
Tulane University is a private, nonsectarian research university located in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States...
." This drew a mixed reaction from the crowd in attendance. The next day, the story was featured on the local news in New Orleans. By the end of the week, the story was the talk of the state, and it was revealed that in addition to the Mayor, all members of the Louisiana Legislature could grant scholarships to Tulane University. Louisiana legislators were permitted to award the scholarships to anyone they saw fit, provided that the nominee was a bona fide citizen and resident of the district or parish and "shall comply with the requirements for admission established" by the university's Board. Through further investigation, it was revealed that politicians regularly gave these scholarships to their own family members and to the children of political allies. In some instances, the scholarships were given in exchange for political favors.
In the wake of these revelations, Mayor Barthelemy and four state lawmakers, Republican
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
s Jim Donelon
Jim Donelon
James J. "Jim" Donelon has been the Republican insurance commissioner of Louisiana since February 15, 2006.Donelon won a full-term as commissioner in the October 20, 2007 nonpartisan blanket primary. He finished with 606,534 votes and defeated three opponents, the closest of whom, Democrat Jim...
, Kernan "Skip" Hand
Kernan "Skip" Hand
Kernan August Hand, Sr., known as Kernan "Skip" Hand , is a retired state court judge of the 24th Judicial District from Kenner in Jefferson Parish, Louisiana. A Republican, Hand served in the "Division H" judgeship from the spring of 1994 until his retirement on December 31, 2008...
, and Ken Hollis
Ken Hollis
Jesse Kendrick Hollis, Jr., known as Ken Hollis , was a Republican Party member of the Louisiana State Senate from Metairie in Jefferson Parish in the New Orleans suburbs...
and the Democrat Steve Theriot
Steve Theriot
Steven J. Theriot, known as Steve Theriot , is a Certified Public Accountant from Marrero in Jefferson Parish, Louisiana, USA, who served as his state’s legislative auditor from 2004–2009 and as a Democratic member of the Louisiana House of Representatives from 1988-1996.-State legislator:Theriot...
, all from the New Orleans suburbs, admitted to having awarded Tulane University
Tulane University
Tulane University is a private, nonsectarian research university located in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States...
scholarship
Scholarship
A scholarship is an award of financial aid for a student to further education. Scholarships are awarded on various criteria usually reflecting the values and purposes of the donor or founder of the award.-Types:...
s to family members. Specifically, it was learned that state officials were able to request a tuition waiver — worth some $17,000 in 1993 - to one student per year under an 1884 state law approving the conversion of the public University of Louisiana
University of Louisiana
University of Louisiana may refer to:* University of Louisiana System, public multi-campus university system** Northwestern State University of Louisiana...
into a private institution, Tulane University, upon the school's receipt of Paul Tulane's and Josephine Newcomb's bequests.
Throughout his political career, Barthelemy carried a reputation as a quiet and mild-tempered politician, in marked contrast to his fiery predecessor Dutch Morial
Ernest Nathan Morial
Ernest Nathan Morial was a U.S. political figure and a leading civil rights advocate. He was the first black mayor of New Orleans, serving from 1978 to 1986. He was the father of former New Orleans mayor Marc Morial.-Early life and career:Morial was born in New Orleans of Creole ancestry and grew...
, and to typical New Orleans politicians in general. His critics interpreted this as a sign of passivity and poor leadership. Under his mayoralty, the city's population declined significantly, the crime rate increased dramatically, and performance of the city's public school system
New Orleans Public Schools
New Orleans Public Schools is a public school system that serves all of New Orleans, Louisiana, United States. Schools within the system are governed by a multitude of entities, including the Orleans Parish School Board , which directly administers 4 schools and has granted charters to another 12,...
continued eroding - though in fairness the schools were controlled by the Orleans Parish School Board. National trends were also unfavorable to cities during Barthelemy's mayoralty; New Orleans was far from alone in grappling with economic stagnation and rising crime. Still, many of the alleged deficiencies of the Barthelemy administration were already acknowledged as fact by the public by the end of Barthelemy's first term. His re-election campaign
New Orleans mayoral election, 1990
The New Orleans mayoral election of 1990 resulted in the reelection of Sidney Barthelemy to a second term as mayor of New Orleans.- Background :...
in 1990 was marked by widespread criticism of his administration, and of his perceived lack of leadership - but Barthelemy managed to defeat his challenger Donald Mintz in a runoff election.
Fritz Windhorst
Fritz Windhorst
Fritz Heinrich Windhorst is a Gretna, Louisiana, attorney who served from 1972 to 1992 as a member of the Louisiana State Senate from Jefferson and Orleans parishes, originally District 8, and later District 7. Windhorst was a conservative Democrat from 1972 to 1985, when he switched to...
, who served as a Republican member of the Louisiana State Senate
Louisiana State Legislature
The Louisiana State Legislature is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Louisiana. It is bicameral body, comprising the lower house, the Louisiana House of Representatives with 105 representatives, and the upper house, the Louisiana Senate with 39 senators...
from Jefferson and Orleans parishes from 1972 to 1992, described Barthelemy this way: "Sidney doesn’t whine or complain when things go badly…He doesn't threaten people who cross him. Just having him as mayor has sharply reduced the anti-New Orleans feelings in the legislature."
After City Hall
Currently, Sidney Barthelemy is serving as the Director of Governmental Affairs for Historic Restoration, Inc., a real estateReal estate
In general use, esp. North American, 'real estate' is taken to mean "Property consisting of land and the buildings on it, along with its natural resources such as crops, minerals, or water; immovable property of this nature; an interest vested in this; an item of real property; buildings or...
development group based in New Orleans. On January 7, 2006, Barthelemy joined former mayors Moon Landrieu
Moon Landrieu
Maurice Edwin "Moon" Landrieu is a Democratic politician from Louisiana who served as Mayor of New Orleans from 1970–1978. He also is a former judge...
and Marc Morial
Marc Morial
Marc Haydel Morial is an American political and civic leader and the current president of the National Urban League. Morial served as mayor of New Orleans, Louisiana from 1994 to 2002. He is married to Michelle Miller, who has won awards as a CBS News Correspondent.- Early life and educations...
in a meeting with parish presidents from the New Orleans metropolitan area to discuss post-Katrina
Hurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season was a powerful Atlantic hurricane. It is the costliest natural disaster, as well as one of the five deadliest hurricanes, in the history of the United States. Among recorded Atlantic hurricanes, it was the sixth strongest overall...
plans for regional flood protection .
Citations
- Nolan, Bruce. (7 January 2006) One For All, and All For Flood Protection. Times-Picayune
Ashton, Gayle. "Mayor's runoff: one goal, two contenders." The Times Picayune, February 23, 1986
Whelan, Robert, Alma Young, and Mickey Lauria. Urban Regimes and Racial Politics: New Orleans during the Barthelemy Years. University of New Orleans, CUPA Working Paper, 1991
External links
- Sidney Barthelemy's profile at the HRI Group website