Mayors pool their experiences in New York City

Shreveport Mayor Tom Arcenaux recently returned from the Bloomberg-Harvard City Leadership Intensive in New York City.

“New York was fabulous,” he said.

“It was an interactive experience. It was really focused on leadership and decision-making and developing a framework for data-based, value-driven decisions.”

During the in-person session, Arceneaux and his cohort of mayors examined several case studies of actual events. They evaluated how those leaders responded to those situations and how successful they were.

“That was a really good framework for saying, ‘OK, how do you take this information and try to formulate a strategy to solve the particular problem, whether long-term or short-term?’ When you know you can get data but can’t get perfect data or data that says, ‘This is the clear answer,’ how do you go about resolving those issues?”

Arceneaux said the other mayors in his cohort come from across the United States and around the world.

“I think we had 13 mayors from outside the United States,” he said. “The rest of us were from inside the United States, from all over: from the East Coast to the West Coast, the Midwest, North and South. It was really a quite diverse group of people.

“Many of them have been in office since the first of the year. We has some mayors who had been mayors for several terms. So we had a mixture of experiences.”

Arceneaux said the cohort will continue to meet virtually monthly for the next year to continue their discussions. He will also work with the Bloomberg-Harvard City Leadership Initiative on his communication skills.

The experience does not stop with the mayor. Arceneaux had the opportunity to nominate two members of his administration to participate in a similar program with Bloomberg. City Attorney Marcus Edwards and Shreveport Fire Chief Clarence Reese Jr. will begin their yearlong cohort Aug. 11.

“They will go through a very similar process,” Arceneaux said. “Then we will start working on a particular area. The area I chose for us to work on is blight, to tackle the decaying neighborhoods we have and see what we can do to repopulate and restore them.”

Arceneaux said he is excited about the next steps.

“I am looking forward to the experience from here forward,” he said. “I am a bit of a policy nerd, so this was perfect for me. How do you make decisions? How do you get information? And how do you put the coalition of people together to move the city forward?”

Cleanup efforts

Shreveport and Bossier City are teaming up and cleaning up.

Arceneaux joined Bossier City Mayor Tommy Chandler on July 29 to announce the cities will participate in the Greatest American Cleanup.

“It’s a major effort that leads up to the 250th anniversary of the nation’s founding,” Arceneaux said. It’s a nationwide effort we are going to participate in. In Shreveport, we will be working with Shreveport Green. In Bossier, we will be working with Keep Bossier Beautiful. They will primarily be organizing events. We will support those events and encourage citizens to clean up around themselves and their block.”

Arceneaux credited his counterpart across the Red River for putting the effort in perspective.

“Tommy (Chandler) put it really well,” Arceneaux said. “He said, ‘Cleaning up your block is not community service; it’s service to your community.’”

The mayor said the Greatest American Cleanup fits with one of his major efforts — to clean up the city of Shreveport.