Last night, the public comment portion of the New Orleans Master Plan process being conducted by the prestigious firm, Goody Clancy of Boston, presented it's draft plan to the residents of planning district 4, which includes Mid-City, Treme, and portions of the St. Bernard area. It also includes the footprint for the proposed LSU/VA medical complex and the Greater New Orleans Bioscience Economic Development District, a state-sanctioned specialized district designed to attract the biomedical industry to the Mid-City area.

SaveCharityHospital.com anticipated that last night's planning meeting would be the most likely to elicit a negative reaction from neighbors. The reason for that is because the master plan DOES NOT evaluate or compare the efficacy of the competing hospital proposals, the LSU/VA medical complex and the faster and cheaper RMJM plan to build a new facility inside the facade of historic Charity Hospital. It also DOES NOT analyze or even address the existence of GNOBEDD, which is seeking taxpayer funds to create a master plan of their own.

Indeed, residents were quite perturbed by the lack of information about GNOBEDD and the hospitals and grew increasingly frustrated as related questions were dodged or bruskly deflected without a substantive response. Read on below the fold and consider whether the Goody Clancy Master Plan now has a credibility problem.

City Council President Jackie Clarkson addressed the audience to open the proceedings. She spoke enthusiastically about the process that about the prospect of finally empowering an comprehensive, transparent, and participatory master plan for New Orleans with the force of law.

But how comprehensive, transparent, and participatory is this plan as far as District 4 and Mid-City are concerned? Clarkson did not stay for the whole meeting.

Mid-City residents were extremely patient and respectful of the rules that Goody Clancy planners laid out for how public participation would occur, sitting through an hour of power point presentations and then dutifully participating in the small "breakout sessions" that were organized. However, when the meeting opened up so that planners could address concerns brought up in those individual groups in front of the full audience of meeting attendees, things got contentious.

At one point, planners invited GNOBEDD President and CEO James P. McNamara to address the crowd. He spoke briefly about what the district was and pushed back against the assertion that GNOBEDD was empowered to create its own land use master plan. However, it's unclear whether or not he was entirely forthcoming. According to the special powers clauses attached to the Greater New Orleans Biosciences Economic Development District Act passed by the Louisiana Legislature in 2005, GNOBEDD has the legal authority "to develop and implement a master plan for the district related to biosciences... in coordination with the Louisiana Board of Regents with respect to public higher educational institutions." Also, according to a document obtained from GNOBEDD, a message signed by McNamara says in quite explicit terms, "GNOBEDD's next course of business is a comprehensive 25 year master plan and land use study for the entire GNOBEDD area that will transition into the City of New Orleans new Master Plan." Though Mr. McNamara stayed for the whole meeting and was available to speak with on an individual basis, planners did not allow attendees to ask follow-up questions to him in front of the whole audience. When some people stood up to ask questions anyway, the planners shouted over them using the microphone.

Mid-City residents were generally not pleased about this and became increasingly agitated with Goody Clancy representatives as questions related to the hospital plans and GNOBEDD went unanswered or deflected, sometimes with a derisive tone that many clearly took as patronizing or offensive. Though attendees had some pretty important questions to ask about the implications of these two oversights in the plan, the planners made it extremely clear that they would not be indulging us with actual answers or the opportunity to ask follow-up questions. Instead, though every single breakout group had unanswered questions about the hospitals, they were skipped. Even questions posed about matters unrelated to the hospital or GNOBEDD were interrupted and rudely waved off.

At one point, one woman in the audience suggested maintaining the LSU/VA footprint as zoned for residential use since so many issues involving the hospital remain unresolved. Another quickly suggested that planners put this idea to a vote. The vote was not permitted.

In her opening remarks, Jackie Clarkson specifically said, "The whole idea of why this was important... is that you should have a master plan and you should have land use that you've had the input to create... "

"You should determine what fits best in your opinion... This is your charter change"

The contrast between Councilwoman Clarkson's enthusiastic poetry about residential input and transparent development processes against the cynical and frustrating "input" afforded to residents could not have been more striking.

It is unclear where the Master Plan sits in terms of public opinion, but was clear last night that Mid-City residents have major reservations. The degree to which citizens believe the process is not truly open or is otherwise dishonest will determine whether or not the final draft of the plan has the basic credibility with the public.