Injustice Alert: Permit-Holding NOLA Artists Forced to Choose Between Arrest and Removing Art from Fence During French Quarter Fence.

Jamie Chiarello is an extremely talented New Orleans artist who was selling her art in the French Quarter when I met her in 2004. I'm horrified to learn that she and other permit-holding artists were forced to remove their art from the fence near Jackson Square or face arrest and/or confiscation of the artwork. This treatment inflicted upon Jamie and other artists during French Quarter Festival on Saturday, April 13, 2013 should not be tolerated by Mayor Landrieu and his administration, the citizens of New Orleans, or anyone who attended French Quarter Fest.  I sincerely hope the community will support Jamie and other artists by voicing concerns to The Supreme Court Clerk and whoever else is responsible for this unnecessary abuse of power.

  
Below, I am quoting, in its entirety, the description provided by an extremely talented New Orleans artist, Jamie Chiarello

 

More frustration for New Orleans 'creative class' (that is supposed to be experiencing some kind of renaissance in the form of studio lofts priced for lawyers & poor city communications?):

I'm an artist with a Royal street/Pirates Ally zone B license. We pay the city $175.25 a year for our first come first serve fence space. I've been doing this since 2004, for 9 years. Every French Quarter Fest our legally agreed upon space is sold off to 'Louisiana state' artists for a juried art show. We have never complained about this brush off from the city or organizers & have always moved down to the the Supreme Court fence at Royal/St Louis for sat & sun of the fest.

Yesterday I got out there at 7 am to set up. French Quarter Fest is one of my peak times of year, as I have collectors that will come and find me in this spot to browse new paintings. For 8 years this is one of the most pleasant times of year and there has never been ANY problem whatsoever. Around 9 Am yesterday 'they' sent some hothead from the security team for the courts. They said the fence is State property & 'someone' suddenly didn't want us there...we were legally allowed to sell art, but not display it. (? Yeah..) We told them we needed more information & that the authority issuing this order needed to come explain themselves, since this is our livelihood & we're not just going home.

An hour or so later they sent the 'good cop' a nicer guy from the same Security team. he said his higher up is a guy named Tommy (head of security) but he couldn't come because he's in lafayette. Awhile after this they got NOPD involved & forced us to removed our art from the fence under threat of arrest & confiscation of our art work.

The compromise on our party was to 'display' our work on the ground (where it got dirty & would potentially impede the walkway) but we were allowed to 'stack them' so patrons could shuffle through artwork piled on the ground...because the supreme court did not want artowrk displayed on its fence (while there is a stage 20 feet away on the courthouse steps for frenchquarter fest.) When we mentioned that our permitted zone had been sold out from under us we got the typical city speech, a shrug that they know nothing about it & some other official somewhere else needs to figure it out. 

In Summary, this is the city harrassing local artists during french quarter fest. 

I am not even setting up today to avoid the hassle. I'm sure a survey of the million people in town for the festival would be in favor of local artists displaying their work during a local festival.

Why are we being threatened with arrest while trying to make a living selling art? Particularly since we actually pay the city to display? 

Apparently the root of the problem is John Tarlton Olivier, supreme court clerk of court, who we were told issued the order & was in Baton Rouge yesterday, so could not personally come to distrupt the livelihoods of artists. I will be writing to him, here is his info if you would like to too:
 

John Tarlton Olivier (11/85)
Spouse: Terry

Mailing/Physical Address
400 Royal Street
Suite 4200
New Orleans, LA 70130-8102

(504) 310-2300

Chief Deputy - Rachel B. Edelman
Email: jolivier@lasc.org
Website: www.lasc.org

 

More to come...

NOLA Cabbies Fear Retaliation for Speaking Out Against Unfair Inspection Situation

Earlier this week, I noticed a New Orleans taxi driver using Twitter to confront Mayor Landrieu regarding the required taxi upgrade that has left hundreds of cab drivers unable to operate during Super Bowl week. Apparently, while catering to the NFL, Landrieu's administration has been unable to adequately staff the inspection station and issue permits for updated cabs.

These cab drivers have been on my radar since September, when I saw many New Orleans cabbies circling City Hall honking their horns to protest new regulations that required expensive upgrades including the addition of credit card machines, GPS devices and security cameras that made me think of Trapwire. 

Late this morning, I went to the Taxicab & For Hire Vehicle Bureau Inspection Station on 13400 Old Gentilly Road.  Interestingly enough, the location and hours had been posted on the City of New Orleans' website earlier this week, but on February 1, the address was no longer available (the website was updated January 31, 2013).

The Gambit's Charles Maldonado just posted a great article about his experience today at the inspection station here.

After driving all the way out to the location, I confirmed that the NOLA cabbies who did upgrade their taxis have not been able to obtain the proper permit to operate during the Super Bowl because the City of New Orleans only has two employees on staff to inspect the upgraded cabs.  Moreover, it takes about twenty minutes per inspection, and the inspection station on Old Gentilly Road is neither open five days a week nor open for eight hours on Monday, Wednesday, or Friday. The line barely moved while I was there.

Most of the cab drivers seemed happy I was there to support them and were eager to discuss the fact that they'd waited in the inspection line on Monday and Wednesday but were forced to leave when the station closed. Several also explained that they are charged late fees despite the fact that they arrived as early as 5:30 a.m. However, when I asked if I could quote them, a few shrank back in fear.

This fear of retaliation kept most of the cab drivers from agreeing to interview on camera, and I respectfully only recorded the one driver who agreed to be filmed.

Part 1 Interview

Part 2 Interview

One cab driver who did not give his name wondered whether the fact that the largest company, Carriage Cab, refused to stand up to Mayor Landrieu paved the way for the lack of a voice the smaller companies and drivers now feel.

Another driver said someone should tell Mayor Landrieu that the cab drivers need to be issued a temporary permit to operate during Super Bowl week (I'd include Mardi Gras there too), reimbursement for late fees accrued while waiting in line at the inspection station (I believe the fees are 2 dollars per day), and monetary compensation for lost wages. 

Yet another driver claimed to have missed at least eight days of work while updating his cab and waiting for the inspection. He explained that the cab drivers fear speaking out because if they go to renew a permit, the city could retaliate by denying that permit, or their cabs could be targeted by NOPD. So thick was the fear of retaliation that a few drivers asked me to refrain from photographing anything near their specific cabs. 

Obviously, New Orleans and Kenner taxi drivers deserve better than the treatment they're receiving from the Mayor and City. 

The cab drivers most certainly need a voice, and with mainstream media's attention focused on the Super Bowl extravaganza, this weekend will be interesting. 

Thankfully, the ACLU's lawsuit against the City of New Orleans has made it legal to hold signs in the Clean Zone, so it will be possible for activists to raise awareness regarding the injustice inflicted upon these NOLA cabbies.

  

On a side note, I'm confident the embarrassing Nawlins Cab App (complete with Yat accent) is not exactly the remedy the cab drivers have in mind.

~ small affair





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Some background.


In September, I saw many New Orleans cab drivers circling city hall honking their horns to protest new City regulations that required expensive upgrades including the addition of credit card machines, GPS devices and security cameras that made me think of Trapwire. The cabbies protested outside City Hall every Thursday after federal judge lifted a restraining order that had blocked New Orleans officials from implementing these new regulations.


Kenner cabbies sought legal advice and promised to protest when Walter Krygowski, Louis Armstrong International Airport's chief operations officer imposed controversial new rules for taxi drivers in preparation for the Super Bowl.  Krygowski explained his enthusiasm for the Super Bowl (which received a 305 million dollar renovation) to The Advocate:  “We are looking forward to hosting the Super Bowl, and we are confident we will provide our passengers with a world-class experience,” Krygowski said. New Orleans, which owns the airport, is requiring that all cabs serving airport travelers comply with the mandates – even taxis licensed by Jefferson Parish and the city of Kenner, where the airport is located.

The new rules, imposed by Mayor Mitch Landrieu and the City Council kicked in at inspection time.

Many cab drivers complied in time for Super Bowl XLVII, with some cab owners reported spending up to the $20,000 to pass city inspections.  Cab companies like United were only able to prepare half their fleet. As Michael Patrick Welch explains in Clean Zones and Cabbies: How the Super Bowl Screws New Orleans Part 2

But the deepest financial screwing has been reserved for the city’s cab drivers. Last April, the New Orleans City Council mandated that every city cab install a new GPS, a credit card system, security cameras, and a “panic button.” Whereas similar mandates in DC, New York, and other cities were adopted slowly over the course of several years, New Orleans’s cabs were at first given 94 days to comply with what is, in many cases, tens of thousands of dollars worth of upgrades. Several legal measures bought the cabbies a few more months, but nothing will delay the real deadline: the Super Bowl.