Peggy Wilson: Not Afraid of Change
by Sarah Inman

Wilson: definitely for a tax free city.

From the outset, Peggy Wilson’s headquarters seem rather average. Tucked away in the back of a building on Adams Street are two small rooms separated by a hallway, two assistants—slim men, dressed in khakis and button downs-- a small fridge, a lone campaign sign hanging on one wall, tables cluttered with letters and envelopes, and in the corner, a few boxes labeled Vendage, a modestly

priced wine perfect for political functions.

While waiting for Peggy Wilson, who was on her way back from the West Bank, I chatted with Stephen Swain, Wilson’s assistant and Jackie Clarkson’s former campaign manager. Wilson’s mayoral campaign has been a non-stop effort, it seems. On this particular day, Wilson agreed to be interviewed after a neighborhood meeting and before yet another televised debate. When the phone rang, Swain answered in a deep, dialect neutral voice, “Peggy Wilson for mayor.”

The small, nondescript space fits Wilson’s no-nonsense campaign style and yet contrasts her big, almost utopian, ideas of government.

Wilson’s solution is at once simple and yet visionary—a tax-free city. A tax-free city will prevent the dreaded “brain drain,” or emigration from the city of New Orleans’ best and brightest professionals. Wilson cited that for the past thirty-five years, 1,000 people per month have been leaving the city. In other words, this “diaspora” of thinking individuals was a problem even before Katrina.

Will the promise of a tax-free city solve this problem of “brain drain”? In Wilson’s mind, it would certainly be an incentive for educated people to stay in New Orleans. Not only would a tax-free city “pour business into New Orleans,” but it would also give its people buying power.

Considering New Orleans’ present economic status—good for only junk bonds—the city must first strip its budget to the bones and then get the federal government to guarantee bonds. Things will be difficult at first, but then, according to Wilson, with this plan in place, the city will “rock n’ roll.”

Is a tax-free city even possible? Well, yes, Wilson believes it’s possible with a Republican Congress and with a Republican President. Now is the time to act on the plan.

Echoing the sentiments of some New Orleanians, Wilson does not want the city to go back to being the place it was—one marked by crime and corruption. Instead, she sees a “New” New Orleans, one fueled by a vibrant economy, a utopian city that will serve as a model for the future.

Reigniting the economy is a crucial step in bringing back people to New Orleans, and although she credits mayor Ray Nagin’s idea to open casinos in downtown hotels, she does not want to live in a city full of gambling. Though a good enhancement, Wilson recognizes, tourism is not a solid foundation for an economy.

When asked what she has to say to those New Orleans residents who want to return, but for whatever reason, cannot, Wilson assured that whoever is willing to work is welcome back to the city. While it’s not possible for the government to “take care of people,” it is possible for New Orleans to re-open the housing developments for residents who have no place to stay and who are willing and able to work.

Furthermore, Wilson believes it is not the government’s position to take away people’s homes and land. It is not the government’s position to tell people where they can and cannot rebuild, with the exception of some of the very worst hit areas, certain places along the 17th Street Canal, for example.

Finding out exactly where the city is with regard to levee repairs and wetland restoration is the most critical issue in post-Katrina New Orleans, according to Wilson. Is the 6.8 billion dollars needed for levee repair available or not? And who has this money, the federal or the state government? To answer these important questions, Wilson recommends rounding up all the people involved, “putting them in a room, and locking the door” until they emerge with information.

Not afraid of change, Wilson sees the potential for great turnover in the City Council as a good thing, and pointed out that when she was on the City Council she proposed the referendum that endorsed term limits for council members.

At a recent party held for Wilson at Weinstein’s clothing store on Magazine, where good wine, El Portillo, a class above Vendage, was being poured, the mayoral candidate stood tall among the blue-blazered men and women draped in Egyptian cotton. A pair of flax-haired granddaughters played politely as Wilson renounced her opposition. Where were Landrieu and Forman when she, as a council member, battled against political decadence? Wilson separates herself from the herd of mayoral candidates as being the only one with a record of fighting corruption. Furthermore, she believes her political concepts are superior to her opponents, that she has “better ideas and the experience to accomplish them.”

Sarah Inman is a regular correspondent for NOLAFugees.com, and is the author of Finishing Skills. She is currently at work on her second novel.