New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu has taken the oath of office for his second term. The mayor must find a way to pay for mandated reforms, as well as for recovery projects launched after Hurricane Katrina.
Mayor Landrieu took the oath of office with other elected city officials at a ceremony in the restored Saenger Theater — a location selected for its own backstory.
“Look no further than this spectacular theater; $53 million renovations," Landrieu said. "Now the nicest theater in America.”
Landrieu says the biggest challenges facing the city will need big money to fix.
“We have to pay a way to pay for looming liabilities, from the firefighters' pension and federal consent decrees, and build a police department with 1,600 officers so we can make our city safe,” he said.
Landrieu wants the state to allow New Orleans voters to decide increases he’s proposing in property, hotel and cigarette taxes. That money would help pay for police and jail reforms mandated by federal consent decrees.
Term limits leave Landrieu in his final four-year term.
