- 23 hours ago
Symone Sanders with Mayor Landrieu, Mayor Sharon Broome and Mayor Pugh
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LifestyleTranscript
00:00I am so excited for the opportunity to be a part of the empowerment experience, and I am so, so honored to be here this afternoon to sit with three amazing mayors who are dedicated to the betterment of their cities and are doing real work.
00:16So before we begin our big panel discussion with everybody, I would like to invite the 61st mayor of this fine and fabulous city who really needs no introduction.
00:26So please give a warm, warm round of applause and join me in welcoming Mayor Mitchell Landrieu to the stage, the people's mayor, y'all.
00:41Shout out to the people's mayor. Grab your mic.
00:42Thank you, ma'am. How you doing?
00:44I'm good. How are you?
00:44I'm doing great. Welcome to New Orleans.
00:46You know, thank you.
00:46You know how to say it?
00:48New Orleans.
00:48They are, you see?
00:49New Orleans. My mama lived in New Orleans for a little bit, okay?
00:52Your mama and them.
00:53My mama and them. And them with an apostrophe at the end.
00:57Your mama and them.
00:58So I'm sure this is like a bittersweet time for you, yeah?
01:01No, I'm all sweet.
01:03This is your last essence as mayor?
01:04I'm all sweet.
01:06I'm talking about the end of your second term as mayor of New Orleans.
01:08Yeah, I know, but we're going to finish strong. It is.
01:11Look, the people of New Orleans, for everybody out there, how many people out there from New Orleans?
01:14Anybody out there?
01:16All right, so look, I love everybody from all around the world, but the best people in the world are from New Orleans.
01:22I know you're from Nebraska, and they've got somebody back there from somewhere else.
01:25I do love the people from New Orleans.
01:25But the people in New Orleans are so open and so loving and so caring and so unconditional.
01:33It's hard to know that your time is coming to an end because they've been so wonderful to me, and I just really appreciate it.
01:40So what are you most proud of in your tenure?
01:42I know you've done a lot, but if you could pick your top two, I'll give you two.
01:46If you could pick your top two things, what are you most proud of?
01:48You know, actually, I don't think about it like that.
01:51What I'm most proud of is that the people of New Orleans, after having suffered so tremendously from so many things,
02:00Katrina, Rita, Ike, Gustav, the National Recession, the BP oil spill, the recent tornado.
02:07That's a lot.
02:07The people, yeah, like when are the locusts coming?
02:10I got that.
02:11But the thing I'm most proud of is the people of New Orleans, if you can believe this, put down their differences and tried to figure out a way to walk together in a direction to make the city really,
02:25really good and to correct all the mistakes that we've made in the past, understanding that our future is better than our past.
02:32And so our 300th anniversary is coming up.
02:34It's next year, and we have together completely saved the city from falling off a cliff, coming back, and actually I think show the rest of the country what it looks like when different people come together,
02:44think about different things, and then find a pathway forward based on common ground.
02:48And that is just a new, I call that the new New Orleans way, and that's the thing that's allowed us to produce new schools, new health clinics, all the stuff that we have.
02:56I think that could be a blueprint for the country, actually.
03:00We're going through some things, if you haven't noticed.
03:02Y'all can clap for that.
03:02We're having a moment.
03:03The blueprint.
03:04I think New Orleans could be the blueprint.
03:07So you got a new job.
03:09You're still the mayor, but you're also, what, the 75th president now of the U.S. Conference of Mayors?
03:14Yes, ma'am.
03:15So how is that going?
03:16Can you tell us what you're looking forward to?
03:18I will, but let me be clear.
03:19I only have one job.
03:21My job is to be the mayor of the city of New Orleans for the next 319 days, 8 hours, and 22 minutes.
03:27But nobody's counting.
03:27That's my job.
03:28But nobody's counting.
03:29I'm clear about who I work for, just all you New Orleanians out there.
03:33But I have been, and it's a testament to the city because our little bitty city punches way above its weight.
03:38I'm actually the fifth man from New Orleans to be able to lead all of the mayors across America.
03:44Sims Walmsley in 1932 was the first, and then they had my dad, then Mayor Morial, then another Mayor Morial, and then I've gotten there.
03:51So New Orleanians, this was really all for you guys.
03:54But as one of the things that the mayors of America are really focused on is getting our job done and not being confused by tweets, not being confused by the lack of action in Washington, but just kind of getting it done.
04:07Because everybody out here knows the garbage needs to get picked up, trains need to run on time, folks need to be able to get to work, there need to be good jobs, streets need to be safe, we need to save our children.
04:17And so mayors across America are just kind of getting it done.
04:20And you're going to have two mayors that come out here in a minute that can just show you that, you know, at the end of the day, and here's the big difference, mayors govern in real time, and we govern in reality.
04:30And so we all have time.
04:31Unlike the current president of the United States.
04:32Well, I think that's true.
04:35I'm just saying.
04:35I'm just saying.
04:37So, speaking of getting it done, you recently gave a very, what people are saying is the best speech ever on the topic about the removal of Confederate monuments and statues of the Confederacy in New Orleans.
04:53But I also think it was definitely, it spoke to people across the country.
04:58So, tell us why was that so important to you?
05:02Well, as we take this march towards freedom, which, as everybody reminds us, never seems to end, with that old Haitian proverb that every time you get over a mountain, there's another mountain.
05:17And we walk towards that more perfect union.
05:20It's really important that in the country we see each other as human beings and we dignify each other and lift each other up rather than push them down.
05:28And what we found in the city was these Confederate monuments were really a historical lie.
05:34You remember the Civil War only lasted for a couple years, four years.
05:38And yet that adorned most of the public areas in the city and it was public space at the people of the city of New Orleans' own.
05:45So, if you think about the city of New Orleans today, the 67% African American, having to drive by every day Confederate monuments that were put up for a specific purpose of reminding everybody who was still in charge, even though the Confederacy lost the war.
06:00It just seems absurd and it seems as though they weren't inviting, they weren't open.
06:08And if you just think about it for a moment, having the Confederate monuments stand less than 300 yards from where the Essence Festival meets.
06:15Come on, come on, come on.
06:17That juxtaposition seems like it just doesn't work.
06:19And so the people of New Orleans wanted to think about their future and, more importantly, they wanted to remember all of their past and all of our past.
06:27What makes us special, you heard gumbo, you heard jazz, all of those art forms, either in music or in food, were put together by having different cultures across time all merge in to produce something different, which kind of sounds familiar to us.
06:43The founding fathers actually gave us a term, e pluribus unum, out of many we are one and when we're together we're stronger.
06:49And so those monuments did not reflect who we were and it did not reflect the best of America.
06:54So we thought it would be better if we used that space a better way.
06:57Y'all give it up for Mayor Landry.
06:59Thank you, Mayor, for taking a few minutes to talk.
07:03Now I think it's time to welcome the rest of our panel.
07:05So first up, we have a public servant for over two decades.
07:10Ms. Sharon Westenbroom is the first female mayor president of East Baton Rouge Parish.
07:16She is a native of Chicago.
07:17So shout out to the Midwest and a very long time Louisiana resident.
07:21She has served as both a Louisiana state representative and a senator.
07:26And she continues to lead.
07:27And now she is calling for what she's talking about, building a new Baton Rouge.
07:33So ladies and gentlemen, please give a warm welcome to Mayor Sharon Westenbroom.
07:38Mayor Broom, where are you?
07:38And we're going to keep that applause going because our next panelist is the 50th mayor of Baltimore, ladies and gentlemen.
07:48During her 15 years of serving in public office, she has offered an innovative voice at the intersection of business, urban development, politics, culture, pop culture, political culture.
08:00She's the co-founder and the chairwoman of Baltimore Design School and the Baltimore Marathon.
08:07And she also serves as the 11th president of the National Black Caucus of State Legislators.
08:12So please give a warm, warm, warm round of applause to Mayor Catherine Pugh.
08:16We're going to hug it out over here.
08:34Perfect.
08:35All right.
08:35Y'all give these mayors a good round of applause.
08:38So Mayor Pugh, Mayor Broom, thank you for joining us to share your thoughts about how to strengthen our cities.
08:44You know, I believe that the mayors are on the front line of what I like to call the resistance across the country.
08:50Because it's the mayors, as Mayor Landry said, that get things done.
08:54So I'd like to begin by asking both of you about the issues that you believe require the most attention in our communities as a whole and in your individual cities in particular.
09:06Well, I'll start.
09:07Certainly in Baton Rouge, we had a very challenging year last year.
09:12And some of it went under the radar in that we had the great flood of 2016, a thousand-year flood.
09:20And over 36,000 of our citizens and residents in East Baton Rouge Parish were impacted, including myself.
09:28And I'm still pressing my way to get back in my home.
09:31And so we have right now over 2,000 people who are still in FEMA trailers.
09:36So for me, it's very important that I make sure that people get back into their homes and that they are restored.
09:45So we do have a program that we've initiated with $11 million of HUD funding, and we're calling it Baton Rouge Rebuild.
09:53And the focus is for landlords to get their rental property back up into commerce to help many low-income residents get back into their homes.
10:04So flood recovery is a big issue for us, economic development, especially in underserved communities.
10:13And we've implemented our equity and business program around that.
10:18And certainly for me, closing the gap between police and the citizens of our community is a priority.
10:27And one of the first things I did when I came in office was to bring together a group of citizens from throughout our community,
10:35as well as faith-based leaders and law enforcement, to come up with some best practices surrounding use-of-force policies.
10:44And those are now implemented in our police policies in Baton Rouge Police Department.
10:50Love it.
10:50Mayor Pugh?
10:51Well, I walked into office, and about two days after being in office, I was told that I needed to sign a consent decree.
10:57Well, there wasn't a consent decree on my desk.
10:59And so I did in 60 days, which most cities took 13 to 14 months to do, and that was to get a consent decree done.
11:08Because I believe that improving police and community relations means having a police department that understands its relationship with the community
11:16and the community with the police department.
11:18So we did get that done.
11:20And then immediately following that, I learned that my school system had a $130 million structural deficit
11:26and that I needed to come to the aid, and we did that as well.
11:30But what I'm focused on is really looking at how do we create economic opportunity in neighborhoods that have been neglected for decades.
11:38And so what we've begun to do is focus economics on corridors of the city that have been neglected
11:43and then focus on how do we employ the 76,000 people who are unemployed.
11:48So we've created mobile units to go out to neighborhoods, into communities, because so many people have given up hope.
11:54And to give them hope, and to inspire them, and to get them employed.
11:58And we realize that drug addiction, mental health issues are major problems in most of our cities.
12:03But how we focus together, and I think that's part of what I love about being a part of the U.S. Conference of Mayors,
12:09is that you get a chance to interact with mayors from around the country and focus on best practices.
12:15And for that, I'm grateful.
12:17Get that.
12:18So speaking of these mayors and these best practices, how have each of you worked,
12:24and also how do you work through the U.S. Conference of Mayors, to ensure full engage,
12:29to make sure people are engaged in their communities?
12:31And so it's one thing for the mayors to, quote-unquote, be working, because I do believe mayors be working.
12:36But it's another thing to engage your residents in the community.
12:40So how do you start?
12:41Well, the first thing, you have to make yourself available.
12:45So for every year, and I'm sure these mayors do this as well, but when we put our budget together every year,
12:50before we do it, we actually, for the last seven years, have gone out into the community, had community meetings.
12:55This may be a little strange for people in Washington to hear, but we kind of consider our budgets to be moral documents
13:01and to try to reflect what the community's desires and needs are, and you have to hear from them,
13:07which means that in some way, through technology or being there in person, you engage them so that you can hear them,
13:13and then subsequently make sure that you have community engagement that you build into your government.
13:17So in New Orleans, we have something called the Neighborhood Engagement Office,
13:21where we have an individual that's responsible for making sure that certain citizens in certain neighborhoods are engaged.
13:26We have 73 neighborhoods in the city, and we have a Neighborhood Engagement Office,
13:30and an individual is responsible, and then on a regular basis, we make sure that we hear from them.
13:34And then, of course, through your city council meetings, they need to be open, they need to be transparent.
13:39Folks have to have the opportunity, and then, of course, we have to listen,
13:42because, you know, they'll let us know if they don't listen.
13:46So we do that across a whole bunch of different platforms, and then, as the mayor said,
13:50and this is one thing that's going on now, mayors, it's not that we are for Washington or against Washington.
13:56We would like the federal government to do its job, to be where it's supposed to be, and to be thoughtful,
14:00but what the mayors are saying is if Washington's not going to act...
14:02The mayors are going to act.
14:03We're not going to wait, because we can't wait.
14:07We, again, as we said in real time, when something happens on the streets of a city,
14:11the mayor hears about it, like, immediately, and when the mayor acts,
14:15something else goes back to the ground immediately.
14:17So it's a real-time dynamic that requires you to be ever-present and ever-thoughtful
14:23and ever-in-tune, or you're going to get run over.
14:25So one of the things that I did was I realized that you really have to have people engaged,
14:30and instead of just having town hall meetings, we did what we call call to actions,
14:35and then we called upon people to ask themselves, how do you get engaged in the action?
14:39Are you going to mentor a child? Are you going to provide a job for them?
14:43Are you going to work with the police department? Are you going to mentor a young person?
14:46Because at the end of the day, it's what we do for our young people that will change the trajectory of your city.
14:51And so the other thing that we start doing is looking at young people,
14:55and I'm sure many cities across the country will say this.
14:58Those children stand on the corner with those, we call them squeegee kids.
15:02We decided that what we were going to do was work with them, because I see them as future entrepreneurs.
15:07So we created what we call the squeegee core, and this summer we're doing pop-up car washes all around the city,
15:14employing those young people, giving them the opportunity to grow and interact with government,
15:19and at the same time be mentored through the process.
15:23Yes, that's great, that's great.
15:25And so I realized that if we're going to make a difference in our communities as leaders, as mayors,
15:32that we have to have our citizens engaged.
15:35I took office in January, and the first thing I did was gather a transition team of over 300 volunteers
15:44from throughout the community, from all walks of life.
15:48And then we set up committees representing not only the internal workings of city-parish government,
15:55but the exterior concerns around issues, issues like race relations, law enforcement, economic development,
16:02North Baton Rouge revitalization, you named it, and we had people who took part of that.
16:08And so these individuals came up with a document, which I consider my blueprint that I'm looking at
16:16to move our city and parish forward.
16:19And these individuals, including millennials who had the millennial agenda.
16:24Shout out to the millennials.
16:25Yes.
16:25I'm a millennial.
16:26Are now part of a conversation, and not only part of a consistent conversation that I have with these groups,
16:33but they're also part of changing the dynamics of our city and parish,
16:40because their ideas are now being implemented in the process.
16:44So I hear you all saying that not only are you making yourselves available, holding town halls,
16:51but you're also giving people tangible ways to be engaged.
16:54Absolutely.
16:55And tangible ways to be engaged is one way to move the needle in the city.
16:58You touched on millennials, and I'm partial to the millennial conversation.
17:02I'm a millennial.
17:02I'm 27 years old.
17:04And I'm sure, as you all might realize, in this last election that we had,
17:08millennials were not necessarily engaged and galvanized in the last presidential election.
17:14So what is the solution to move some young folks like myself who care about the issues,
17:21but just don't see what they care about necessarily reflected in some of the elected officials that they see?
17:28How can you bring us to the table?
17:30Well, that's exactly what we have to do, is deliberately and intentionally bring millennials to the table.
17:37One of the things that I did when I came into office is I hired millennials.
17:42Come on now.
17:42Give us a job.
17:43Hire a millennial.
17:44There was a young man who actually ran for mayor, and he was 20-something,
17:49and after the campaign was over, I invited him to come and work in my administration.
17:55Next week, we will soon be launching our fellows program,
17:59which will certainly incorporate millennials from throughout the Baton Rouge community
18:04to be a part of our revitalization in this recovery process.
18:08So you really have to be intentional.
18:10You have to be deliberate and invite millennials to come to the table,
18:14and that's one step I've taken.
18:15Yeah, I think that's really important, and we did the same thing,
18:19hired young people in millenniums in our office, but we've also hired young people.
18:24This summer, we will hire 9,600 young people to work in city government and in the private sector.
18:32We raised over $14 million, but this is what I've said to companies and corporations.
18:37I don't need you to just give me money so those young people can work.
18:40I need you to take them into your companies, into your corporations,
18:44and then creating transparency with city government and communicating how they communicate,
18:50using social media, creating transparency so that they get to see every day what you're doing
18:56so they can believe that what you say you're going to do, you're going to do.
19:00And I think one of the things that in a conversation with Mayor Landrieu, he said,
19:04you know, we have a bully pulpit in a sense that we get to direct our city,
19:09and so that means bringing everybody together, not just the millenniums, but the resources as well.
19:15You know, we get to say to the private sector, to the philanthropic community,
19:19if you're with me, allow me to lead.
19:21If you're with me, go with me into those communities, into those neighborhoods.
19:25Help me galvanize those young people so that they see a reason to be a part of government,
19:30to be a part of the solution, and that's what our call to action is.
19:33Can I say something about this?
19:35Yes.
19:35Now, I know I don't look this old, but I have two daughters older than you.
19:39You're not a day over 30.
19:40I don't know what you're talking about.
19:42But I adopt everything that they said.
19:45But can I say something to you, millennials?
19:48You don't need to wait to be invited.
19:51That's like it's somebody else's party, and you're getting invited to it.
19:54It's your party already.
19:56I'm just telling you, it's your party already.
19:58And you have got to – this is what I believe.
20:02If you don't show up, somebody else is going to show up.
20:05I got a question, though.
20:07I got a question.
20:07Hang on, let me finish.
20:08But if you don't show up, somebody's going to take your stuff.
20:12I mean, that's just how it works.
20:14And so, yeah, you got to get included.
20:17And by the way, don't support anybody that doesn't include you
20:19or doesn't have your view or doesn't understand.
20:21Because you have a lot to teach us about what needs to be.
20:25You know, there's a generational gap that just normally happens
20:29for people that are trying to pay attention,
20:31like learning how to use my iPhone.
20:34Or that selfie, you know, the forward face camera.
20:36Yeah, I got it, exactly.
20:37So I fully believe – so I fully believe that we have told young people
20:41for far too long, you just put your head down, do the work,
20:43and somebody will recognize you.
20:44And for our young people, particularly our young black folks,
20:47sometimes they won't.
20:48You can be the best in the room, and they'll still look over you.
20:50But I fully believe we need to bring our own seats to the table.
20:53Sometimes we got to jump through the back window.
20:55If the door is locked, pull up our own table or chair and say,
20:58I'm sorry you missed me.
20:59But at some point, should we not have to continue to jump through the window?
21:04Should our seasoned leadership, people that say they care,
21:08people that say they want millennials at the table,
21:10shouldn't they just open the front door and say, come on?
21:13I think we did that.
21:14I think that's what we're saying, is the door is open.
21:16And so for some folks, they are waiting for an invitation.
21:20But just like Mayor Landry has said, and so has my colleague here said,
21:24you know, the door – we've opened the door.
21:26We want you to come in.
21:27And every opportunity we get to bring you in, we want you in.
21:31And you don't even have to just come in.
21:33You can provide the information, share it, and prop up your own opportunities.
21:39And we ought to be able to pave the way,
21:41because it's not necessarily doing it the way that I do it.
21:43I want you to be able to do it in such a way that it's effective,
21:47that it brings about change.
21:48And if you've got solutions, we're open.
21:50I love it.
21:51Well, look, they got a lot of – you know,
21:54you're going to talk about how to rebuild, you know, leadership in America.
21:58When there's an opening for a school board, all you have to do is be 18.
22:02You don't have to wait until you're 30 to run.
22:05Same thing is true for the state legislate.
22:06Same thing is true for the city council.
22:08And in your instance, same thing is true for mayor.
22:10And there are examples around this country where young people have decided to step up to the plate
22:16and capture the imagination.
22:18Who thought – you work for Bernie Sanders, right?
22:20Who thought an old white guy like that could run –
22:23From Vermont.
22:24– President of the United States from Vermont and actually win the millennial vote?
22:28A long time ago, you would have said, no, that would have had to be a young person.
22:31What it means is that ideas can cross ages, and it can go up, and it can do that down.
22:36And I think people just need to step forward, be who they're going to be, step into their strength, lean forward,
22:41and then take responsibility for their future.
22:44And when that is met with open offices –
22:46That's right.
22:46– and lifting people up and giving them experience, all of a sudden, you're going to rock the world.
22:51It's a two-prone strategy.
22:52What do you got, man?
22:53And I have to commend the millennials in Baton Rouge and East Baton Rouge Parish.
22:57I have to give them a shout-out.
22:59Shout-out to the East Baton Rouge millennials.
23:00Yeah, because they reach out to me on a very, very consistent basis.
23:05They come to my office.
23:07They call me.
23:07They talk to me.
23:08They bring me ideas.
23:09And so I'm glad to have such a rich group of millennials.
23:12And I can't help but think of what India Arie sings in her song.
23:17You know, when young people talk to old people and old people talk to young people,
23:22it makes us better people.
23:24And so that's what I'm aiming at is to make –
23:26You sing that.
23:26I love India Arie.
23:28So we're going to bridge the gaps out here.
23:31Well, I think this was an engaging panel.
23:34What did y'all think?
23:36So before we go, I want you all to leave me with one thing that you would like the folks here at Essence Fest to know
23:42about what you're doing in your communities.
23:45If you could just give them one thing, one nugget, what would you give them?
23:48Mayor?
23:49The one nugget that I would give is that mayors are certainly part of the catalyst to change our communities.
23:58But we all have to feel, from every age group, from every demographic, we all have to realize that we have a moral obligation as individuals,
24:09as citizens, to uplift and advance our community.
24:13And when everyone gets in the game and gets off the bench, we can see a big change in our neighborhoods and in our communities and in our cities.
24:22Absolutely.
24:23Mayor Pugh?
24:23Inclusiveness and diversity is like a great soup.
24:27The more in the mix, the better the taste.
24:30So the more inclusive we are, the more diverse we are of everyone that lives in our cities and our communities, the greater our cities can become.
24:37Come on now, inclusion.
24:38We're just not talking about diversity.
24:40We're talking about inclusion.
24:41All right, Mayor Landry.
24:42What are you going to leave the nugget with the people?
24:44Even though you'll be back.
24:45I'm sorry.
24:45We're in a moment in this country.
24:48You need to recognize, which is what the theme of this whole thing is about, you need to stay woke.
24:53Because people will take your stuff if you don't show up.
24:56And essentially, what the mayor said, diversity is a strength.
25:01It's not a weakness.
25:02And when we are together, you cannot be beat.
25:04So stay together, stay focused, stay real, and stay present.
25:08I love it.
25:08Y'all give this panel a round of applause.
25:10Mayor Landry, Mayor Broom, Mayor Pugh.
25:13We're going to stay woke and working.
25:14These are some of the mayors of America that are doing the work, folks.
25:18Thank you so much.
25:18We've had a great time with y'all today.
25:20Thank y'all.
25:21Bye.
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