By Tom McClimon
November 21, 2005

Charleston Mayor Joseph P. Riley, Jr., past president of The United States Conference of Mayors and founder of the Mayors Institute of City Design, led a team of nationally recognized experts to advise the mayors of New Orleans and the Gulf Coast communities on their communities’ rebuilding efforts following the devastating Hurricane Katrina. The institutes, which took place November 14-15, were a follow-up to the meetings held in mid'september by Conference President Long Beach Mayor Beverly O’Neill with mayors of the communities affected by Hurricane Katrina.

“The mayors of the Gulf Region have tremendous responsibilities for overseeing the design decisions that will shape the direction of their cities,” said Riley in opening the institutes. “We have assembled a resource team of other mayors, architects, urban designers, engineers, and landscape architects to listen to the mayors’ chief rebuilding concerns and help them think through design considerations for the work ahead.”

“The United States Conference of Mayors has been working closely with the mayors of the New Orleans and the Gulf Coast region in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina,” said Conference Executive Director Tom Cochran, who also participated in the institutes. “The Mayors’ Institute on City Design is a valuable resource that will help these mayors and their cities during their rebuilding efforts; and is a follow-up to a pledge we made to these communities when we were here in September with our President Long Beach Mayor Beverly O’Neill.”

In his remarks to the mayors at both institutes, Riley challenged the mayors to take advantage of the opportunity they have to rebuild their communities. “The design decisions that you make today will affect the people in your communities 100 years from now. You have the opportunity to think big and you have been empowered to do great things. Eventually, the worst will be over and your city will be better than it was before. Throughout the course of our history, all cities have raised from their challenges to become better cities than what they were before.”

The Mayors Institute on City Design is a partnership program of the National Endowment for the Arts, the American Architectural Foundation and The United States Conference of Mayors. The program has assisted over 650 mayors for nearly two decades help transform their communities through good urban design.

In addition to Riley, the resource team for these special Gulf Cities institutes were:

• Maurice Cox, Associate Professor at the University of Virginia School of Architecture and former Mayor of Charlottesville, VA.

• Harvey Gantt, Founder and Partner, Gantt Huberman Architects and former Mayor of Charlotte

• Mary Margaret Jones, President, Hargreaves Associates and noted landscape architect

• Maxine Griffith, Vice President for Government and Community Affairs, Columbia University and former Executive Director for the Philadelphia City Planning Commission

• Stanley Lowe, Vice President of Community Revitalization, National Trust for Historic Preservation

• Rick Chellman, Principal, TND Engineering, expert on traffic and transportation issues

• Grover Mouton, III, Director, Tulane Regional Urban Design Center

• Kimberly Brown, Assistant Professor, Mississippi State University College of Architecture and Director of the Carl Small Town Center.

Follow-up assistance will be offered by the Mayors Institute on City Design to the mayors attending the special Gulf Cities Institutes.

On November 14, six mayors from the Mississippi gathered with the resource team to discuss rebuilding their communities. Hosted by Biloxi Mayor A.J. Holloway, the other mayors attending were: Gulfport Mayor Brent Warr, Ocean Springs Mayor Connie Moran, Gautier Mayor Pete Pope, D’Iberville Mayor Rusty Quave and Pascagoula Mayor Matthew Avara.

The mayors presented rebuilding challenges ranging from preserving remaining historical properties to waterfront development to transportation challenges in rebuilding their roads and highways. A major concern was the need to rebuild their housing stock to withstand future weather forces.

The resource team challenged the mayors to think regionally and to come together with a plan and course of action and to communicate that vision to their constituents. “Community engagement is always the best urban planner,” stated Riley.

Prior to the start of the institute, the resource team and attending staff of the American Architectural Foundation, National Endowment for the Arts, and the Conference of Mayors were given a tour of the devastated areas of Biloxi.

City officials should not forget the advice from the residents of New Orleans in shaping the community’s future was the message of the resource team at the special design institute in New Orleans.

Held on November 15, the resource team met with New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin, City Council President Oliver Thomas and Lt. Governor Mitch Landrieu.

At a press conference during the institute, Nagin said the group stressed the notion that the city’s reconstruction “is about citizens designing this community. We must not let the developers or the state government or federal government overwhelm the process.”

Thomas reiterated that thought. “This group said what no other group would say. They reminded us of just how important the people are.”

Landrieu talked about the need to “speak with one voice so that all can be heard and listen to.”

General recommendations of the resource team to these community and state leaders were to create a vision and communicate it to the residents, listen to the advice and recommendations being offered by the residents and look for new ways to improve the community so that residents will look forward to returning and settling again. The recommendations also included the need to help citizens see that the recovery is taking place.

Prior to the discussions with the local and state elected officials, Nagin led a tour in the morning of the devastated areas of New Orleans. In the afternoon, the resource team met with members of the New Orleans Rebuild Commission.