I recently interviewed State Rep. Matthew Willard, who is running for Council-at-Large, on October 11. I will preface my questions with MR, and Rep. Willard’s replies with MW. It goes without saying that this should not be seen as a political endorsement. I am simply sharing a discussion that is of interest to the readers. I would welcome the opportunity to sit down with other candidates for this race or any other. Each of you should consider the issues and vote your conscience. I thoroughly enjoyed my wide-reaching conversation with Mattew Willard. He is refreshingly creative and solution oriented. He has already accomplished plenty in the state legislature. He seems like a real Mensch!
MR: Please tell us about yourself and what motivated you to enter the race for NOLA City Council.
MW: I am a native New Orleanian, raised in Gentilly. I attended Corpus Christi, Stuart Hall, Jesuit, and then UNO. I was working in Marketing when I was invited to join a Bio-Tech startup affiliated with Tulane University, now an independent, private business headquartered in Texas. I began my term in the State House six years ago. I am the head of the Democratic Caucus. I like to think of myself as a doer rather than a talker. My focus has been on issues of economic justice, addressing the maternal mortality rate in Louisiana, lowering homeowner’s insurance and property assessments through proposed reforms and tax credits. As a NOLA district Rep, I have been involved in local issues such as legislation involving the inaccurate billing at SWB, which allowed the City Council to hire the outside agency to address billing woes. I have taken interest in the NOPD manpower shortage by supporting legislation that allows civilians to fill administrative roles at Police Departments around the state.
MR: Why do we have a high maternal mortality rate in our state?
MW: We have high co-morbidity rates. We have high levels of domestic violence. There is evidence of racial bias in healthcare, that disproportionately affects black women who are pregnant. Many doctors are not willing to recognize the urgency of a health complaint until it is too late. There may be costs in co-pays that prevent people from seeking proper care.
MR: What is a legislative initiative you are proud of?
MW: I founded and chair the STEM Innovation Caucus. My vice chair is a Republican. We have worked on improving economic health and workforce development by focusing on STEM education at every level in our state. This is critical for the future of our economic health. We have companies considering Louisiana only to determine that there is not a local STEM educated workforce pool from which to hire. My own company was acquired by a large corporation, in a move that was very exciting for Tulane University and the region. Unfortunately, the corporation moved our company to Texas for much of the same reason. We have to get our young people excited about math and science, about engineering and technology, so that they will pursue futures in those areas and stop the brain drain in our state. We work with stakeholders such as Defense, NASA, and IT companies who look towards a stronger STEM future for our area. Our young people must know that if they put in the effort, there will be good jobs waiting for them.
MR: Why do we have so many law enforcement agencies in this city? Wouldn’t we be better off combining agencies? This could mean real savings.
MW: That is certainly something to consider. Often in the hostility between political leaders and turf protection, the people get neglected. In general, we must prioritize our citizens, not our positions. We need to work on infrastructure, teacher pay, housing affordability. We are pricing our people out of the city due to high rents.
MR: Would you agree that the inflated cost of homeownership, along with rising taxes and ridiculous insurance rates, are also making it difficult for many longtime homeowners to maintain their residency?
MW: Absolutely! After the 3 storms in 2020, Laura, Delta, and Zeta, Lake Charles legislators filed bills to address insurance affordability and transparency. This began the conversation that became relevant to New Orleans in 2021 with Hurricane Ida. I was involved in the fortified roofing bill and expanding the grants to homeowners for those roofs. We sought to make it a permanent program and expand the budget by millions. We also sought to address the transparency of the claims process. We grappled with the Insurance Commissioner over the increase in LA Citizens premiums and tried to halt for two years. Although that was not successful, on the senate side they are using that same idea to advance a similar bill. I also proposed an increase in the homestead exemption, the first in over 40 years.
MR: Do you have a family connection in local politics? I remember a councilwoman named Cynthia Willard Lewis.
MW: She is my aunt. As kids, we were always involved in campaigning and the local civic scene. I became the president of our neighborhood association until it became impossible to juggle that with my role in the legislature. When I won the State House race in 2019, my father told me “don’t be a sore winner.” I made sure to keep a positive connection with others, including my rivals. Eugene Green, who l beat in that race, ultimately became the Councilman for my district. We have a good relationship. He was very happy when I turned down the request to run for Council District D a few years ago.
MR: Why the move from the State House to the City Council?
MW: To help the city! I enjoyed my time at the legislature, but I am looking for an opportunity to have a direct impact, and that happens at city hall. There are so many issues that are only addressed locally. Our population is becoming disenfranchised. People are leaving. Our population is in decline each year. Living in New Orleans has been tough. The streets, the flooding. I want to stop the bleeding and get people to start moving back to New Orleans and attract new people. We want to pivot from surviving to thriving.
MR: What is your take on the need for the new mayor and the new council to cooperate with each other?
MW: It is critical that they work together. There needs to be strong emphasis on communication and collaboration. We need to streamline the Office of Safety and Permits. We need to work on finishing the drainage improvements that have been 20 years in the making. In fact, mismanagement has been so bad that we have lost access to some of the Katrina funds. Communication between agencies is so bad that there are new areas flooding despite all the work that has been done. We need to address blight and graffiti. We need to deal with litter and tire dumping. We need to change the culture by showing progress and giving hope to our citizens.
MR: Have you heard of the term “mensch?” It is Yiddish. It literally means a man. But it used to describe a person that is respectful, honorable, cooperative… The biggest obstacle to cooperative politics is the ego. A “mensch” is someone who learns how to keep that ego from getting in the way of communication and collaboration.
MW: We definitely need more transparency and respectful interactions between civic leaders.
MR: Why Council-at-Large?
MW: I want to help as many people as possible. I look forward to working with all people. I have good relationships with the others that are on the council, as well as those running for the open seats, and some of the mayoral candidates. I have a history of working with people with whom I disagree, to find areas in which we can be collaborative.
MR: Thank you for your time. One final question. As you know from attending the Jewish Federation’s legislative breakfast, we have been significantly burdened with security costs over the last 7 years. I know that budgets for these things are at the federal and state levels, however, a candidate for a different office that I spoke to mentioned that there might be a creative solution by allowing reserve Sheriff deputies to allot their required service time to provide security at vulnerable houses of worship and faith-based agencies. What do you think of that idea?
MW: That sounds like something that could be done. They have those required hours that could certainly be used in that manner. I would also encourage you to not give up on trying to get funding from the state for this. Thank you for giving me this opportunity to meet and talk.
MR: Thank you again for your time. Best of luck with your endeavors going forward!