News Roundup

Mitch Landrieu Presented with Special Memento of his Father’s Campaign

The Times-Picayune
By Michelle Krupa
May 03, 2010, 1:26PM

As Mitch Landrieu and his family prepared last night for his inauguration as New Orleans’ 70th chief executive, the new mayor’s wife and their five children presented him with a special gift: the copper plate used to produce a poster for the 1970 mayoral campaign of his father, Moon Landrieu.

Found recently in Moon and Verna Landrieu’s basement, Cheryl Landrieu and the couple’s children - who range in age from fourth-grade to college - framed the plate, which features an image of Moon and the slogan: “Can a man who tells the truth win?”
Cheryl Landrieu said her husband was “blown away” by the gift, which he plans to hang in his second-floor office at City Hall.

Moon Landrieu served as New Orleans’ mayor from 1970 to 1978, and was the first mayor to promote African-Americans to top management positions at City Hall, a move that cemented his family’s long-standing support among black voters.

In taking the reins from Mayor Ray Nagin, Mitch Landrieu becomes the city’s first white chief executive since his father, a milestone that underscores his widespread support among an African-American community that accounts for two-thirds of the city’s population.

At a 10 a.m. ceremony at Gallier Hall, Moon Landrieu administered his son’s oath of office jointly with former state Supreme Court Chief Justice Pascal Calogero and state Appeal Court Judge Edwin Lombard.

Mitch Landrieu said last week that as he begins his four-year term, he’s “very comfortable” to be stepping into the position his dad held for eight years.

Acknowledging that he often seeks his father’s counsel as a gut-check to his intuition, the new mayor said that rather than romanticizing the office of New Orleans’ mayor, Moon Landrieu has provided sobering perspective on the job.

“We don’t really sit around the Landrieu house talking about the word ‘legacy,’” the younger Landrieu said. “He did tell me, you know, just to kind of keep my head focused, we’re talking about all these federal issues, all this big stuff. And he said, you know, all these folks like you and they’re happy about you and that’s great. But on Monday, you own that pothole.”