Alicia Plummer says she is running because “District E needs a strong caring leader.”
“We need somebody who is going to fight for our piece of the pie. My priority is to bring economic equality of the city’s budget and resources to District E. District E is a city within a city. We are 47 percent of the tax base. We are 67 percent of the land mass and we clearly didn’t get what we were supposed to get,” says Plummer-Clivens.
“New Orleans East and the Lower Ninth Ward were the poster children for monies that came post-Katrina but we didn’t get those dollars.” Plummer-Clivens says.
Her presence in negotiations for various economic development projects and services for District E and the city of New Orleans are examples of her commitment to the district, says Plummer-Clivens.
As a community leader, Plummer-Clivens says she has helped initiate and worked with representatives of the city, state, business owners and corporations to bring Walmart, Wendy’s, Costco, Bass Pro Shops, New Orleans Hamburger and Seafood, Zea’s, CVS, a major movie studio and other developments.
Her group, the New Orleans East Business Association (NOEBA) worked to bring people back to the Lower 9, Gentilly, and New Orleans East and worked to bring a hospital to the area. Plummer-Clivens says District E needs infrastructure improvements and more service-oriented businesses.
To reduce crime, Plummer-Clivens says more officers need to staff the areas police stations.
“It’s a joke to have three police officers on duty, especially at night,” Plummer-Clivens says. “But if youth and young adults suffering from post-Katrina PTSD are not given academic, vo-tech, and economic opportunities, we will never solve the crime problem.”
Plummer-Clivens would advocate for affordable housing programs, like the soft-second mortgage program.
“Rather than developing rentals, homeownership should be the focus,” she says, “especially in the Lower 9, which was the largest area of Black homeownership in the city.”
Plummer-Clivens is a member of the Orleans Parish Democratic Executive Committee, Democratic State Central Committee, New Orleans East Business Association, SUNO, College of Business Advisory Board, A Better Future, Inc., Justice & Beyond Coalition, and Court Watch NOLA, among others.