New Orleans, Louisiana
| New Orleans, Louisiana | |
 | |
| General information | |
Mayor of New Orleans
LaToya Cantrell | |
| Last mayoral election: | 2021 |
| Next mayoral election: | 2025 |
| Last city council election: | 2021 |
| Next city council election: | 2025 |
| City council seats: | 7 |
| City website | |
| Composition data (2019) | |
| Population: | 390,845 |
| Race: | White 33.9% African American 59.5% Asian 2.9% Native American 0.2% Pacific Islander 0.0% Two or more 1.9% |
| Ethnicity: | Hispanic 5.5% |
| Median household income: | $41,604 |
| High school graduation rate: | 86.5% |
| College graduation rate: | 37.6% |
| Related New Orleans offices | |
| Louisiana Congressional Delegation Louisiana State Legislature Louisiana state executive offices | |
New Orleans is a city in Orleans Parish, Louisiana. New Orleans and Orleans Parish operate as a merged city-parish government. The city's population was 383,997 as of 2020, according to the United States Census Bureau.
Click on the links below to learn more about the city's...
- Mayor
- City council
- Other elected officials
- Elections
- Census information
- Budget
- Contact information
- Ballot measures
City government
- See also: Mayor-council government
The city of New Orleans utilizes a strong mayor and city council system. In this form of municipal government, the city council serves as the city's primary legislative body and the mayor serves as the city's chief executive.
Mayor
The mayor is the city's chief executive. The responsibilities of the mayor include proposing a budget, signing legislation into law, appointing departmental directors, and overseeing the city's day-to-day operations. The mayor also represents the city on the state, national, and international levels.[1] The current Mayor of New Orleans is LaToya Cantrell (D). Cantrell assumed office in 2018.
City council
The New Orleans City Council is the city's primary legislative body. It is responsible for adopting the city budget, approving mayoral appointees, levying taxes, and making or amending city laws, policies, and ordinances.[2]
The city council is made up of seven members. Five members are elected by the city's five districts, while two are elected at large.[2]
The widget below automatically displays information about city council meetings. The topic list contains a sampling of keywords that Voterheads, a local government monitoring service, found in each meeting agenda. Click the meeting link to see more info and the full agenda:
Other elected officials
Mayoral partisanship
New Orleans has a Democratic mayor. As of December 2024, 65 mayors in the largest 100 cities by population are affiliated with the Democratic Party, 24 are affiliated with the Republican Party, one is affiliated with the Libertarian Party, four are independents, four identify as nonpartisan or unaffiliated, and two mayors' affiliations are unknown. Click here for a list of the 100 largest cities' mayors and their partisan affiliations.
Mayoral elections are officially nonpartisan in most of the nation's largest cities. However, many officeholders are affiliated with political parties. Ballotpedia uses one or more of the following sources to identify each officeholder's partisan affiliation: (1) direct communication from the officeholder, (2) current or previous candidacy for partisan office, or (3) identification of partisan affiliation by multiple media outlets.
Elections
2024
The city of New Orleans, Louisiana, was expected to hold primaries for constables, clerk of city court, city court judge on November 5, 2024. The election was canceled after only one candidate filed for each seat. The general election scheduled for December 7, 2024, was not needed. The filing deadline for this election was July 19, 2024.
New Orleans was also expected to hold special primaries for district court judge and city court judge on March 23, 2024. The election was canceled after only one candidate filed for each seat. The general election scheduled for April 27, 2024, was not needed. The filing deadline for this election was December 15, 2023.
2023
The city of New Orleans, Louisiana, held special general elections for civil district court judge and criminal district court judge on April 29, 2023. A primary was scheduled for March 25, 2023. The filing deadline for this election was January 27, 2023.
The city also held special general elections for two civil district court judges, one criminal district court judge, and one city court judge on November 18, 2023. A primary was scheduled for October 14, 2023. The filing deadline for this election was August 10, 2023.
2022
The city of New Orleans, Louisiana, held primary elections for city court clerk, city court judges, and municipal and traffic court judges on November 8, 2022. A general election, if needed, was scheduled for December 10, 2022. The filing deadline for this election was July 22, 2022.
A special election for 2nd city court clerk was also on the ballot on March 26, 2022. A general election, if needed, was scheduled for April 30, 2022. The filing deadline for this election was January 28, 2022.
2021
The city of New Orleans, Louisiana, held general elections for mayor and city council on November 13, 2021. A primary was scheduled for October 9, 2021. The filing deadline for this election was July 16, 2021.
2020
Orleans Parish, Louisiana, held general elections for multiple judgeships, constable, and district attorney on December 5, 2020. A primary was scheduled for November 3, 2020. The filing deadline for this election was January 10, 2020.
2017
The city of New Orleans held primary elections for mayor, seven seats on the city council, and six parish offices on October 14, 2017.[3] A general election took place on November 18, 2017, for races where no candidate received 50% of the primary vote. The filing deadline for this election was July 14, 2017.
2014
The city of New Orleans held mayoral and city council elections in 2014. The primary took place on February 1, 2014, and a runoff election was held on March 15, 2014.
Mayoral incumbent Mitch Landrieu won re-election in the primary, earning more than 50% of the vote. Consequently, the mayoral runoff election scheduled for March 15, 2014, was canceled.[4]
Census information
The table below shows demographic information about the city.
| Demographic Data for New Orleans | |
|---|---|
| New Orleans | |
| Population | 383,997 |
| Land area (sq mi) | 169 |
| Race and ethnicity** | |
| White | 32.4% |
| Black/African American | 57% |
| Asian | 2.8% |
| Native American | 0.2% |
| Pacific Islander | 0% |
| Two or more | 5.3% |
| Hispanic/Latino | 5.7% |
| Education | |
| High school graduation rate | 88.7% |
| College graduation rate | 40.7% |
| Income | |
| Median household income | $51,116 |
| Persons below poverty level | 16.5% |
| Source: population provided by U.S. Census Bureau, "Decennial Census" (2020). Other figures provided by U.S. Census Bureau, "American Community Survey" (5-year estimates 2017-2022). | |
| **Note: Percentages for race and ethnicity may add up to more than 100 percent because respondents may report more than one race and the Hispanic/Latino ethnicity may be selected in conjunction with any race. Read more about race and ethnicity in the census here. | |
Budget
The city's budget process operates on a fiscal year cycle from January 1 to December 31. The New Orleans city budget is created using the Budgeting for Outcomes (BFO) process. The first step in this method is estimating the total amount of money available. Then community meetings are held to ask citizens what outcomes they would like to see from the city government. The budget is created and framed with these priorities in mind. Departments submit offers for programs with a detailed plan that includes funding and staffing needs. Result teams review and rank the offers and compile a report, which is reviewed by the mayor. The mayor submits a budget to the city council for review and approval. The budget must be adopted by the city council on or before December 1.[5]
Fiscally standardized cities data
The fiscally standardized cities (FiSC) data below was compiled by the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy to make municipal budgets comparable across cities in the United States.[6]
| “ |
FiSCs are constructed by adding revenues and expenditures of each central city municipal government to a portion of the revenues and expenditures of overlying governments, including counties, independent school districts, and special districts. The allocations to FiSCs are estimates of the revenues collected from and services provided to central city residents and businesses by these overlying independent governments. Thus FiSCs provides a full picture of revenues raised from city residents and businesses and spending on their behalf, whether done by the city government or a separate overlying government.[7] |
” |
| —Lincoln Institute of Land Policy[8] | ||
The tables below show estimated finances within city limits. As such, the revenue and expenses listed may differ from the actual city budget.
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Historical total revenue and expenditure
To see the historical total revenue or expenditures as a rounded amount in this city, hover over the bars.[6]
New Orleans, Louisiana, salaries and pensions over $95,000
Below is a map of the nationwide salaries and pensions in this city over $95,000. To search a different ZIP code, enter it in the search bar within the map.
Contact information
Mayor's office
1300 Perdido St., 2nd Floor
New Orleans, LA 70112
Phone: 504-658-4900
Click here for city council contact information.
Ballot measures
The city of New Orleans is in Orleans Parish. A list of ballot measures in Orleans County is available here.
Noteworthy events
2020: Events and activity following the death of George Floyd
During the weekend of May 29-31, 2020, demonstrations and protests took place in cities nationwide, including New Orleans, following the death of George Floyd. Events in New Orleans, Louisiana, began on May 30, 2020.[9] No curfews were issued. The national guard was not deployed.
2017: Mayor Landrieu fires city officials after widespread flooding
On August 8, 2017, Mayor Mitch Landrieu forced the removal of several executives of the city’s Sewerage and Water Board (S&WB) after Landrieu stated that the organization misled him about the operational status of various pumping stations in the city after heavy rain caused widespread flooding. While it was unclear whether the flooding would have been prevented if all pumps were operating properly, the mayor and some city council members stated that the S&WB did not provide accurate enough information about the situation to both them and the public. Landrieu called for, and received, the retirement or resignation of both the executive director and general superintendent of the S&WB, as well as the organization's top spokesperson and the city’s own public works director. On August 10, 2017, Landrieu also obtained city council approval to appoint an outside company to run S&WB’s operations until new executives were chosen. The Sewerage and Water Board is responsible for providing drinking water to city residents, making water available for firefighting purposes, and performing wastewater treatment and storm water drainage for the city.[10][11][12]
2015: Study on city's nondiscrimination laws
In July 2015, the Movement Advancement Project described New Orleans, Louisiana, as a city or county that prohibited discrimination in employment on the basis of gender identity via ordinances that apply to public and private employers. At that time, a total of 71 of America's largest 100 cities prohibited private employers from discriminating on the basis of sexual orientation, while 69 of those cities also prohibited discrimination based on gender identity. This did not include those jurisdictions that prohibited discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity for government employees.[13]
Nondiscrimination laws can cover a variety of areas, including public employment, private employment, housing, and public accommodations. Such laws may be enacted at the state, county, or city level.
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ City of New Orleans, "Mayor," accessed June 14, 2018
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 City of New Orleans, "New Orleans City Council," accessed October 23, 2014
- ↑ Louisiana Secretary of State, "Candidate Inquiry," accessed March 5, 2017
- ↑ New York Times, "Mitch Landrieu Is Re-elected Mayor of New Orleans," February 2, 2014
- ↑ City of New Orleans, "2023 Annual Operating Budget," accessed August 23, 2023
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, "Fiscally Standardized Cities database," accessed August 23, 2023
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, "Fiscally Standardized Cities," accessed August 23, 2023
- ↑ WWL TV, "Hundreds march in New Orleans, protesting George Floyd's death during arrest," May 30, 2020
- ↑ Nola.com, "New Orleans Mayor Landrieu plans to fire top officials over flooding," August 9, 2017
- ↑ Nola.com, "Mayor Landrieu to hire private firm to run Sewerage & Water Board," August 10, 2017
- ↑ Sewerage and Water Board of New Orleans, "Home," accessed August 10, 2017
- ↑ Movement Advancement Project, "Local Employment Non-Discrimination Ordinances," accessed July 7, 2015
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