The decision by City Hall to cut funding to reduce blight is outrageous and irresponsible. People who own their own homes, have made a commitment to living in New Orleans, raise their families here, and who pay their taxes have a right to expect that the rule of law will be respected by everyone.

I sympathize with every victim of Katrina. My own home was flooded, robbed, and vandalized. So I know what it means. Still, residents have had over four years to make a decision on whether to rebuild. There is a broad consensus that buildings that constitute blight should be treated as blight. The people of New Orleans deserve more respect in dealing with blight. They are taxpayers, and they deserve to be treated fairly. I call on the mayor to throw his full weight behind restoring full funding to fight blight. On the City Council, that will be a top priority for me. It’s a challenge that we are going to overcome, and on the Council, I will work every day, seven days a week to solve this problem.