Here’s how New Orleans, Jefferson Parish voted on ballot measures in 2024 election

By Sophie Kasakove

Source: The Times-Picayune | Nola.com

November 5, 2024

New Orleans voters on Tuesday overwhelmingly backed a city affordable housing fund and symbolic support for private sector workers, while Jefferson Parish voters agreed to allow city government to fire certain staffers at will.

In an election that also saw voters select the next U.S. president and representatives of Congress, New Orleans’ plan to dedicate millions of local tax dollars a year to affordable housing programs won 75% of the vote. The city’s push to add a “worker’s bill of rights” to the city’s charter, assertions that have no practical impact on employers, won 80% of the vote.

And Jefferson Parish’s plan to remove protections for clerical staff working in parish president and council offices was favored by 60% of voters.

New Orleans’ housing plan, proposed by its City Council, will permanently dedicate 2% of existing general fund dollars — roughly $17 million this year — to homebuyer assistance programs, affordable housing developments, and fortified roofs for homeowners, plus other needs.

The plan is intended to help people afford their homes as the cost of living in the city has skyrocketed in recent years.

“With the Housing Trust Fund, we’re paving the way for more affordable housing, preserving neighborhoods, and supporting families across our city,” organizers behind the housing trust fund’s political campaign wrote on social media Tuesday night.

The campaign, Yes to NOLA Housing, had been bankrolled by developers in the River District Neighborhood Investors consortium. They and housing advocates argued that consistent local funding is long overdue in a city that has relied on sparse, mostly federal funds to address affordable housing needs.

The ballot measure enshrines the funding in the city’s charter, which would maintain it even as councils change.

But the initiative had its critics. The Bureau of Governmental Research, a research nonprofit, said in October that a permanent housing fund would tie the city’s hands, making it impossible to shift money around in the future should new needs arise.

The group instead supported a “back-up” ordinance passed by the council that would have taken effect if the ballot measure had failed — a temporary funding measure that could be undone by future councils.

In a statement, BGR president and CEO Rebecca Mowbray wrote that the organization “recognized the clear need for new investment in affordable housing, even though we preferred a different way to pay for it” and would follow the fund’s progress to “help make those investments as effective as possible for the public.”

The fund will be overseen by the quasi-public Finance Authority of New Orleans and the New Orleans Redevelopment Authority. A seven-person advisory panel with members appointed by the council, the mayor and housing nonprofits, will help dictate how the cash is divvied up.

Another city charter change that won most voters’ support Tuesday asserts that New Orleans residents are entitled to job security, solid wages, and other workplace benefits. The new “workers bill of rights” will be added to New Orleans’ municipal bill of rights, a section of the city charter that lays out the city’s values.

Other values listed include the protection of natural resources and the need for government to be unmarred by corruption. The entire section is symbolic, with no binding effect on employers.

The initiative drew no organized opposition. Supporters have said it will set a standard for workers’ rights in the city.

“The people of New Orleans have spoken loudly and clearly to folks in power that we stand with the workers that drive this city,” said Britain Forsyth, legislative coordinator with workers rights group Step Up, in a statement. “The Mayor and Council now have a clear directive that the City must do everything it can to protect the rights of workers.”

The organization and other advocates will push for the creation of specific policy changes in line with the charter amendment, including creating a Healthy Workplace Incentive Program for employers and establishing a statewide Workers’ Commission, according to the statement.

In Jefferson Parish, voters readily agreed to remove job protections for clerical workers under the council or parish president’s administration.

Those staff were previously protected from dismissal until the end of the elected official’s term. Under the change adopted Tuesday, they may be fired at will.

Staff writer Lara Nicholson contributed to this report.

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