'Ambassadors' try to counter bad N.O. news

Section: SoundOFF

JOE GYAN JR

By JOE GYAN JR
Advocate New Orleans bureau
Published: Nov 2, 2007 - Page: 7B

The fleur-de-lis has long been one of New Orleans’ enduring symbols. Following in that tradition, the so-called Fleur-de-lis Ambassadors Program is striving to be a symbol of the city’s recovery from Hurricane Katrina.

The program, a private-public partnership led by Tulane University President Scott Cowen and New Orleans City Council President Arnie Fielkow, was created in the spring to counter what Cowen describes as an “avalanche of negative news’’ about the storm-ravaged area. “It wasn’t that they weren’t telling the truth. It just wasn’t very balanced,’’ he said recently.

Small teams of ambassadors representing business, health care, arts, higher education, religion, government and civic groups have been meeting with newspaper editorial boards, television stations and business and philanthropic groups across the nation to build what Cowen calls “a solid base of support for New Orleans around the country.’’

So far, Fleur-de-lis ambassadors have visited Atlanta, Birmingham, Boston, Jacksonville, Los Angeles, New York and Washington to — as the program’s two-fold mission statement says — “spread the message that New Orleans is an economically viable, livable city with a long-range recovery plan in progress’’ and to “seek additional support in our recovery from business and philanthropic organizations.’’

“Future market visits may include Chicago, Houston, Miami and Seattle.

Cowen, who says ambassadors have been warmly received in each city they have visited, argues New Orleans has a special cultural and economic importance. He further contends that a continued federal commitment to the city’s ongoing recovery is crucial to the country’s future.

“It is important that people around the country know that New Orleans is working very hard to help itself, including making numerous political reforms, revamping the public education system, enacting criminal justice reform, and creating and implementing a strategic rebuilding plan,’’ said Fielkow, former executive vice president for the New Orleans Saints. “New Orleans has made great strides in working to correct issues from the past, but we need to spread this message far and wide while continuing to reach out to cities around the country which continue to send volunteer groups to help our communities recover and rebuild,’’ he added.

Cowen said the ambassadors’ audiences want to know about violent crime in New Orleans, the state’s Road Home’ program for hurricane-affected homeowners, how federal recovery dollars are being spent and the condition of the levees.

“We don’t sugar-coat anything,’’ he said.

Cowen said he tells his listeners that violent crime in the city is typically criminal-against-criminal rather than random in nature and authorities are trying to get a handle on it. “We don’t excuse it,’’ he stressed.

Cowen said he explains the Road Home program got off to a sluggish start but is gaining “traction,’’ and the city is making progress — particularly in the public education arena with the largest charter school experiment in the country — in ways never thought possible before Katrina.

The two dozen Fleur-de-lis ambassadors pay their own way on their trips, including airfare, food and hotels. Advance work, handled by Peter A. Mayer Advertising and Keating Magee Advertising at a reduced fee, is privately financed by Tulane, the Greater New Orleans Foundation, the New Orleans Business Council and Bill Goldring of Republic Beverage Co.

“All of us are more hopeful about the future of our city than at any time before Hurricane Katrina,’’ Cowen said. “The future for New Orleans is a very bright future.’’

Joe Gyan Jr. is The Advocate’s New Orleans bureau chief.