Off air, on the ballot, Arey made his point

Originally published in Current, May 1, 2006
By Karen Everhart

Among the 21 candidates vying to become the next mayor of New Orleans, WWNO-FM Music Manager James Arey knew he was a long shot.

He received only 99 votes in the April 22 election. But Arey didn’t run to win. He ran to make a point, he told Current. “We thought the notion of New Orleans art and New Orleans artists was being marginalized by the mayor and the lieutenant governor,” he said, referring to Ray Nagin and Mitch Landrieu, top candidates in the May 20 run-off.

“The notion of the city that’s being presented to the rest of the world is quaint,” Arey said. “It’s based on gumbo and jazz and alligator tours.” Classical music and dance companies, visual arts organizations, and other cultural contributors to the city have been “invisible” in discussions of how to restore the New Orleans culture and tourism economy, he said.

Arey, who joined WWNO in 1999, began planning a mayoral bid in 2004. After Katrina, some people urged him not to run. Arey opted to continue his campaign because the city’s under-recognized arts were at risk of being lost, he said.

After filing as a candidate March 3, Arey gave up his mid-morning air shift. He was back on the air days after the election.

Arey believes his campaign put the arts in the public debate before the election, but now he’s a bystander in the race between Nagin and Landrieu.

He doesn’t plan to endorse either candidate. “Now that I’m back on the air, it would be better for the station if I didn’t,” he said.

From Arey's campaign website

The 2006 Campaign

We're out to prove, in 2006, that job growth can be achieved through support for The Arts...

When you visit a club, a concert, the symphony, the opera, the ballet, Jackson Square, City Park or any venue with live music, you help support the artists AND the men and women who help that venue run -- from the doorman, to the chef and kitchen staff, to the parking valet, to the custodial services staff... Those are all jobs that are created, maintained and sustained, when
New Orleans Supports the Arts...

Let's continue to insure that local arts venues
have our support, our funding and our
patronage -- it's Good for New Orleans!

2006 Initiatives

Whether realized through City Hall funding, through public/private partnerships or through direct corporate sponsorship, here is part
of our 2006 platform to help Bring Back New Orleans:
The Arts Corps -- A group of arts instructors
available to bring a mobile, rotating,
professional art, music and dance program to
each of New Orleans' public schools that have
seen their funding reduced or eliminated...
The Arboretum Plan -- Working with private
nurseries, forestry agencies and private
landscaping firms across the country, to ask for
assistance in replacing and replanting historic
trees and gardens for New Orleans' parks,
playgrounds, schools and urban areas...
Upgrade of Coroner's Office -- Making sure that the Orleans Parish Coroner's Office has the computer upgrade it has needed for a decade...
Real Levee Reform -- Continuing to insist that any political appointees to serve in any manner on any Levee Board are thoroughly vetted by parish, state and federal authorities before the
appointment is approved...
Open Door Policy -- As one of the few major mayoral candidates that has NEVER held elected office before, I am in the proud position of not being accountable to any special interest group or political organization. That means signing the Bureau of Governmental Research
Pledge -- signing it, and meaning it...

Web page posted May 4, 2006
Current
The newspaper about public TV and radio
in the United States
Current Publishing Committee, Takoma Park, Md.
Copyright 2006