Gov appoints Music Commission then announces impending retirement
After 3 years of neglecting music, Governor Blanco finally appointed 15 people to serve on the Louisiana Music Commission, see the list here. Within a week, the governor then announced that she was not running for re-election. Thus, the new LMC has less than a year to somehow re-start, re-staff, relocate and (presumably) craft legislation to fix what the current administration has broken. Good luck.
The first meeting is scheduled for April 26 at 1:30PM in the Hainkel room in the basement of the Capitol (I had a hard time finding this out despite the fact that the LMC is subject to the state’s Sunshine Laws requiring public notice of meetings), at a time when at least 6 of the new members will find it difficult to attend, that week being the start of the state’s 2 biggest music events, Festival International and the N.O. Jazz & Heritage Festival.
Among many questions that should be raised are: what is the LMC budget? What is the status of the LMC files, plans and reports? Why did the current administration abandon the LMC website and allow the domain name to be lost? Why is there no LMC office in the New Orleans area, as decreed by law? How can the current LMC be effective if their tenure likely will be a year or less? There are more questions and I’m sure some of the new members will have plenty to both ask and say. I plan to be there.
So, considering the governor appointed 2 members who spent 14 years undermining the work of the LMC, and Lynn Ourso, who titles himself Director despite Louisiana law which indicates that he is not legally holding the position, I wonder what this group can and will do. And it will be equally fascinating to see how these particular members assert themselves. If the past is any indication, these 2 members are sure to say and do something interesting, if not outrageous.
I will don my armor, attend the meeting and return here to tell the story.
For those of you who care enough to read some of the missing reports and plans, here are a few good documents that I saved. I greatly appreciate any feedback and/or time you spend reviewing these detailed papers.
NOLAmotion Blog 