B4U Scroll with JD Carrere

 A couple of weeks back, JD posted a viral clip of a New Orleans City Council member saying they believed party buses are problematic. After that, many party bus operators took offence and have begun to take steps to become more legitimized to operate in the city. One of the larger companies, We Live Party Bus, is owned and operated by this episode's guest, Jonathan McCray, who is also leading the charge to organize local operators.

Mayor Helena Moreno has officially completed her first 100 days serving as Mayor of New Orleans. She called a press conference to highlight these achievements and had a really extensive handout going over the accomplishments (download here). In this episode, we explore some of the top achievements and hear from the mayor on these accomplishments.

Joined this episode by Steve Nelson, the Deputy CAO of Infrastructure for the City of New Orleans. We discuss the effort to fill 1500 potholes a week, the Lights On Initiative aimed to make communities safer, the process of hiring 50 new city workers, and how he's dealing with leading the charge of working with Sewerage and Water Board to take the crazy amount of water main breaks in the City of New Orleans since the new administration has taken office. 

This week, I am joined by Dr Ashonta Wyatt, whom I have always known to be an advocate for New Orleans youth. She has stood by families navigating the justice system, there as communities mourn the lives lost to gun violence and has been on the front lines advocating for better educational opportunities for young people in New Orleans. She now serves as a Vice Chancellor at Southern University New Orleans under the leadership of Dr Joe Bouie.

Councilman Freddie King joins the podcast to discuss the latest from the Council Criminal Justice Committee, including what he calls the "10 pillars of a safe community." We also discuss the latest information on the French Quarter Drones and his thoughts on the legalization of party buses in the city.   

Aimee McCarron is one of three new council members in New Orleans representing District A. She may be new to the seat, but not new to the office. She served under the former Councilman Joe Giarrusso. We discuss her efforts of making sure her entire district feels seen, her dealing with the frequent water main breaks and her thoughts on the soon coming sanitation fee increase.

When it comes to modern day advocacy in New Orleans, not many can hold a candle to Reggie Ford. But he wasn't always the activist that we know him as today. He went from playing semi-pro football to being one of the youngest art gallery owners in the French Quarter. However, one day, duty called him to clean up the historic Lincoln Beach site. The rest was history. You can now catch him selling art on Jackson Square, where we condecuted this very interview.  

New Orleans Deputy Mayor of Public Safety joins the podcast to discuss the drone as a first responder program sought after by NOPD and the French Quarter Management District. The police department is seeking $740,000 from the FQMD to launch the initiative. Some howver have taken to social media to spread misinforamtion about the program comparing these drones to bombing and surveillance drones. So I wanted to give Deputy Mayor Harrsion an opportunity to shed light on this situation. 

Had a chance to speak with the New Orleans City Couincil President JP Morrell about the upcoming post-Mardi Gras meeting. This comes after several riders had to be removed from riding and even removed from a Krewe altogether. Councilman Morrell says if you experienced float riders throwing beads aggressively, throwing unapproved beads, or even folks who tried to claim space on the parade route you are encouraged to email [email protected].

When Mayor Helena Moreno Talks about "Super Bowl Level Service, shes speaking directly about the job of GNO Inc President Michael Hecht did to make sure every infrastructure need was met to host a successful Super Bowl in New Orleans. I was able to speak to him about how he's continuing this work for the sake of the whole community. We also discuss his role in helping fund the Mardi Gras DJ's as well as how YOU can get in touch with him to invest in YOUR idea to help New Orleans prosper.  More on GNO Inc: Greater New Orleans, Inc. is focused on economic development for the 10 parishes found in Southeast Louisiana. Economic Development is about creating the conditions where companies want to invest their capital and people want to raise their families.

In this conversation with Renee Lapeyrolerie, we take a deep dive into the new Deputy Mayor system and discuss her role as the Deputy Mayor of External Affairs. We break down how her role and the role of the other deputy mayors are designed to create more direct points of contact for the community with the mayor's office. This has been on full display out of the gate as Lapeyrolerie says the first 100 days are an extension of the transition. The deputy mayor system was re-establed when Helena Moreno signed her first ordinance taking office.    Take The Survey - https://www.newdirectionnola.com/survey

In this episode of B4U Scroll with JD Carrere, Louisiana Congressman Troy Carter discusses his role in Congress that allows him to have oversight over federal agencies such as ICE and Border Patrol, he says he supports the impeachment of Kristy Noem, the United States Secretary of Homeland Security and gives praise to New Orleans Mayor Helena Moreno for how she handled her meeting with President Donald Trump.   

I couldn't think of a better person to sit down with to introduce the concept of B4U Scroll than Councilman Freddie King. We have done a lot of work in the community together, mainly the guns for games trade in iniative. In this pilot epsidoe, we discussed his new role as the chair of the New Orleans City Council Criminal Justice Committee, how to continue on the work of the former chair, Oliver Thomas who saw a 50% reduction of violent crime under his watch, how to prevent violent crime spilling over into cultural institutions like Dookie Chase Restaurant, how he wants the public to engage with him and the committee and his response to misinformation shared by Louisiana Governer Jeff Landry - all I packed into an easily digestible 15 minute or so show. Contact information for Councilman King: Phone: (504) 658-1030 - email: [email protected]

Thank you for listening to the introductory episode of B4U Scroll with JD Carrere. I wanted to share my heart with why I'm creating this podcast. There's no way to keep up with the misinformation machine and what they cook up on a weekly basis. This will be our running verifiable public record of the truth. I will have have in-depth conversations with Public Officials, City Stakeholders, and Community Leaders. We are starting a new conversation about the matters affecting you at home, in the workplace, and in our community.