September News from the Mayor's Neighborhood Engagement Office
City Hall Spotlight: Gilbert Montano
Gilbert Montano hails from Albuquerque, New Mexico and comes
to the Crescent City to serve as Mayor Cantrell’s Chief Administrative Officer.
Gilbert graduated from the University of New Mexico with a
Bachelor’s in English and Political Science and a Master’s in Business and
Public Administration. Though new to New Orleans, Gilbert is no amateur when it
comes to city government. In Albuquerque, New Mexico’s largest city, Gilbert
started out as a budget and policy analyst for the city council and rose to
eventually become Chief of Staff under former Mayor Richard Berry.
Click this link for the full story!
Neighborhood Spotlight: Robert McKnight
Mr. Robert McKnight was born and raised in the Gert Town Neighborhood of New Orleans. As a proud resident with deep familial roots in Gert Town, Mr. McKnight is actively working to make his neighborhood a stronger place to live, work, and play in.
Click this link for the full story!
City-Wide Digital Equity Initiative Launched
On Friday, August 24th, Mayor LaToya Cantrell announced the launch of the Mayor's Office's new Digital Equity Initiative. The City is working to meet people where they are digitally, engaging with residents so that everyone's voice is heard.
New initiatives include the "TELL CANTRELL" text campaign, and the @311NOLA social media platform.
Click this link for the full story.
Adopt-a-Catch Basin: Upcoming Clean-Up Days
Join us on September 29th at a Kick-Off to train volunteers on the proper way to clean catch basins. We hope to equip residents to be able to go back into their communities and lead neighborhood catch basin clean-ups.
DATE AND TIME:
Sat, September 29, 2018
9:00 AM – 11:00 AM
LOCATION:
Phyllis Wheatley Community School, 2300 Dumaine Street, New Orleans, LA 70119
The Neighborhood Engagement Office will then work with targeted neighborhood associations on coordinating district cleaning days:
District C (Eastbank) + District E (New Orleans East) - October 6th
District A - October 13th
District D - October 20th
District C (Algiers) + District E (Lower 9) - October 27th
District B - November 3rd
Click this link to register as a volunteer!
Meet Talva Burnette: Our New District B Liaison!
Talva was born and raised in Los Angeles, CA by Uptown New Orleans natives. She graduated from California State University at Los Angeles in 2002 with a Bachelor’s degree in Communication. After a short stint in the television and film entertainment industry, she decided to change careers and became a travel agent. After 10 years of working in the travel industry, she decided to embrace new horizons and an inner passion. After teaching English to hundreds of students abroad in two hundred cities and seventeen countries, she returned to America to live in the only place she could think of calling a “second home.”
In 2015, Talva returned to New Orleans and threw herself into the local nonprofit world while continuing to teach English online to foreign students. Prior to joining the Mayor’s Neighborhood Engagement Office, she actively worked with the Keller Community Center, Shalom, and in District B as a whole. Talva is thrilled to bring her passion for people and community to the Mayor’s Neighborhood Engagement Office.
The District A iteration of Coffee on Your Corner: Success!
Held on the morning of Thursday, August 30th at
the Mid-City Library, we hosted a lively discussion with the City of New
Orleans Office of Resilience and Sustainability as well as 2nd and 3rd
District NOPD. Tyler Antrup, the City’s Urban Water Program Manager, led a
discussion on how the City is implementing green infrastructure policies to
help reduce flood risk in New Orleans. Officers Edgar Staehle and Donna Hogan,
of 2nd and 3rd District NOPD respectively, provided
important public safety updates.
Thank you to all of those who came by to join the
discussion!
Big thanks to the Mid-City Library for being gracious hosts, and to Monkey Monkey Coffee and Tea for the delicious coffee!
Community Office Hours Update
We continue to be located in your communities at NORD
recreation centers from 10:30am-2:30pm on Mondays and Wednesdays. The new
locations are listed in the link below (by city council district).
Community Office Hours enables City Hall to be accessible
and helpful to more residents within neighborhoods. This effort creates a
two-way street of effective communication and information flow for addressing
neighborhood level issues.
We look forward to seeing you!
Click this link to view Community Office Hours locations by District.
What's Your House's Flood Risk?
Climate and topography make
flooding a reality in New Orleans. With Ready for Rain, a new web app by NOLA Ready—the City of New Orleans’
emergency preparedness campaign—you can learn details about your property’s
flood risk, how you can reduce that risk, and why flood insurance is so
important. Plus, get information on green infrastructure projects that can
absorb and hold rainwater, get connected with non-profits dedicated to
stormwater management, and learn about what the City is doing to reduce
flooding and improve resilience. With these resources, you can be ready for
rain in New Orleans.
 Community Adaptation Program: Updates from Gentilly
The Community Adaptation Program (CAP) is a grant
opportunity for low to moderate income homeowners in Gentilly that is made
possible by HUD’s National Disaster Resilience Competition award to the
City. The NORA-CAP grant will fund up to
$25,000 of green infrastructure improvements on each eligible owner-occupied
residential property. Since the kickoff
in July 2018, NORA has received over 485 completed pre-applications from
interested homeowners. For more
information, please visit http://redevelop.nola.gov/cap.
Smoke Alarms Save Lives!
The New Orleans Fire Department
(NOFD) would like to remind residents that “Smoke Alarms Save Lives”. The NOFD will supply and install free 10-year smoke alarms in the home of any Orleans Parish resident in need. If you or someone you know needs a
smoke alarm installed, please click the link below or
call (504) 658-4714.
Click this link to register for your free smoke alarm installation.
Big Easy Streets this Saturday, September 15th!
Come out and
participate in New Orleans very first Big Easy Streets! The event will promote
healthy eating and physical activity in the community through the conduit of 2
miles of public streets starting at Basin Street and looping through Canal
Street. The programs included range from PlayBuild Imagination stations for
children, free yoga, health screenings, and so much more!
Date: September
15, 2018 at 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
 Movies in the Park with NORDC
Join us weekly for family-friendly movies at NORD
playgrounds through November 16. Movies begin at sunset but come early for activities
with Fit NOLA @ NORD and the New Orleans Public Library. Blankets and picnics
are welcome. No cost and open to the public.
For more information, please visit
www.nordc.org or call (504) 658-3052.
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