During times that demand vision and execution, skillful, committed visionaries can seem in short supply. But the Downtown Development District has had the fortune of assertive and dependable leadership in the form of Kurt Weigle. Not content to accept the status quo, Mr. Weigle has called for creative changes in pursuit of world-class standards. He is also tackling problems that have long bedeviled downtown.

Consider the product. If downtown were a city unto itself, few would level the criticisms often leveled at the city at large: unsafe and unkempt. On the contrary, downtown is one of the safest areas of the city in large part due to the efforts Mr. Weigle spearheaded to rework the DDD’s contract with the New Orleans Police Department, beef up security and patrols, and seek aggressive enforcement against minor offenses and petty crimes. He has also pushed for enhanced measures against blight, code violations and litter. In short, Mr. Weigle and his staff have positioned downtown as a bulwark against naysayers, a place of promise at the core of a depleted city.

Mr. Weigle and his staff have also looked to the future, crafting a legislative agenda to stimulate economic activity. Mr. Weigle has reached out to leaders across the metro area to gather support for one of the city’s most critical economic engines, its medical district. He has also sought code revisions to remove long-time barriers to the restoration and full use of buildings along Canal Street. And Mr. Weigle’s efforts haven’t stopped at policy concepts or abstract strategies: He personally intervened to entice financing for the Krauss project on Canal. If recovery efforts could be spoken of in terms of currency, then the competence Mr. Weigle brings to downtown is pure gold.