District D City Councilman Jared Brossett says he is vying for the seat he has held since 2014 because he wants to “continue to provide strong leadership to tackle issues that matter most for the working families of District D.”
“Making New Orleans a safer, more affordable city by improving public safety, economic development and opportunity, and infrastructure continues to be my number one priority,” says Brossett. “During my first term, I’ve prioritized legislation that makes critical investments in public safety, economic development, living wages, affordable housing, disadvantaged businesses . . . and ethics reform. I know my work isn’t done, but these investments are already . . . building a stronger New Orleans.”
Brossett worked for the people of District D long before he was elected to serve them. As a college student, he interned in the office under former District D councilman Marlin Gusman. Later, he served as legislative aide and chief of staff to his predecessor, former councilwoman Cynthia Hedge-Morrell. A graduate of Xavier University of Louisiana, Brossett served as a state representative in the Louisiana legislature from 2009 until 2014, the year he was elected to the City Council.
Brossett points to several specific accomplishments during his first term on the City Council, including authoring the city’s living wage law, which passed in 2015 and set the minimum pay at $10.55 for all city employees and employees of companies that do business with the city.
In the area of ethics reform, Brossett led the effort to put a home rule charter amendment before the voters to separate the office of Inspector General from the Independent Police Monitor’s office.
When it comes to infrastructure, Brossett says that if re-elected the $2.4 billion FEMA settlement is earmarked to rebuild crumbling streets and aging infrastructure will be a priority.
His support for a strong DBE program has already been evidenced during his tenure, Brossett says, specifically pointing to his efforts to require all city departments to submit an annual report identifying their DBE attainment for the two previous years.
“I also advocated for a disparity study to obtain data necessary in the fight to reduce economic inequality and increased funding to enforcement of DBE compliance requirements,” he says.