Marc Morial
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| Marc Morial | |
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| In office May 2, 1994 – May 6, 2002 |
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| Preceded by | Sidney Barthelemy |
| Succeeded by | Ray Nagin |
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| In office 1992 – 1994 |
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| Preceded by | Ben Bagert |
| Succeeded by | Paulette Irons |
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| Born | January 3, 1958 New Orleans, Louisiana |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse | Michelle Miller |
Marc Haydel Morial (born January 3, 1958) is an American political and civic leader and former mayor of New Orleans. Morial served as mayor from 1994 to 2002.
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[edit] Early life and career
Marc Morial grew up in New Orleans, in the 7th ward, a section of the city that came to be known historically as the "creole ward" in New Orleans. He is the son of New Orleans' first African-American mayor, the late Ernest N. "Dutch" Morial, and teacher Sybil (Haydel) Morial. He is the second of five children. Morial graduated from Jesuit High School in 1976, then received a bachelor's degree in economics at the University of Pennsylvania in 1980. Morial then earned a J.D. degree in 1983 from Georgetown University. He opened a private law practice and served as a board member for the Louisiana American Civil Liberties Union from 1986 to 1988. After an unsuccessful run for Congress in 1990, Morial spent two years in the Louisiana state senate from 1992 to 1994, then followed in his father's footsteps by twice being elected mayor of New Orleans in the elections of 1994 and 1998. One of his opponents in the 1994 mayoral election was Mitch Landrieu, who was also the son of a former mayor.
He has a daughter, Kemah Dennis-Morial (born 1982). He is married to CBS News correspondent Michelle Miller, and they have a son, Mason Miller Morial (born April 2002) and a daughter Margeaux Marais Morial, born in 2005.
Morial is a member of Alpha Phi Alpha, the first intercollegiate Greek-letter fraternity established for African Americans.
[edit] Morial as mayor
Morial came into office in 1994 by defeating Donald Mintz with 54% of the vote. Though he campaigned under the promise to “clean out City Hall with a shovel not a broom,” and while the issue of endemic corruption in the city's Police Department was temporarily addressed after Morial hired Richard Pennington as Police Superintendent, Morial himself was faced with charges of corruption during his eight year tenure as mayor. During the first seven years of his time as mayor, Morial’s approval rating stayed at or near 70%, but since he left office his reputation has declined as persistent rumors of corruption among members of his administration have intensified.
Tourism boomed during Marc Morial's mayoralty; the city’s downtown core saw the construction of 14 new hotels during his tenure. Part of this increase was due to the much-publicized reduction in New Orleans’s high crime rate under the jurisdiction of Morial’s police chief Pennington, particularly a 60% reduction in the city’s violent crime rate. Morial also secured bond issues for street improvements, the Canal Street streetcar line, and an expansion of the city’s Convention Center.
Morial continued his father’s focus on building more black-owned businesses, insisting that 35% of the city’s contracts go to black-owned companies. He also enforced the city’s residency rule for police officers and other city workers, which had previously been unevenly enforced.
Two of the most well-known accomplishments of his administration — at least to observers outside the immediate New Orleans area — both dealt with professional sports: He is widely credited with returning NBA basketball to the city by orchestrating negotiations that led to the league's Charlotte Hornets relocating there; and following the September 11, 2001 attacks, Morial persuaded the organizers of a large automotive exposition to change its date so that Super Bowl XXXVI (held at the Louisiana Superdome) could be played one week later than originally scheduled, enabling the NFL to keep its postseason tournament fully intact, as the week of regular-season games slated to be played on the weekend following the attacks had to be postponed and was transferred to the end of the regular season.
Based on his record of reducing crime and reforming the police department, Morial easily won re-election to a second term in 1998. But his second term in office was more lacklustre than his first. His second term was supposed to focus on economic development, but growth in tourism did not spread to the rest of the city’s economy. Like his father, Marc Morial made an attempt to amend the city charter in order to allow himself to run for a third term as mayor in 2002, but the effort failed with 61% of voters rejecting the amendment.
From 2000 to 2002, Morial was also President of the United States Conference of Mayors.
[edit] After city hall
After leaving the office of mayor, Morial was named President and CEO of the National Urban League, a major African-American advocacy group. His tenure in these two positions began on May 15, 2003.
In 2005, Morial, certain relatives and former associates became the focus of federal investigations into corruption during his administration. Morial's uncle Glenn Haydel plead guilty to defrauding the Regional Transit Authority of a half-million dollars in a fraudulent bond refinancing scheme. Glenn Haydel's wife, Lillian Smith Haydel pleaded guilty to a scheme involving the New Orleans Public School system. Morial's brother, Jacques Morial, plead guilty to federal tax charges. Morial has not been implicated in any of these dealings. It appears that Morial, although widely believed to be the mastermind of numerous corrupt schemes, may in fact evade justice through the expiration of the statute of limitations for the crimes he is suspected of committing.
[edit] External Links/Sources
- Marc H. Morial, Biography
- Entry for Marc Morial at NNDB.
- Marc Morial interview on the Tavis Smiley show
- Campbell-Rock, C.C. “The Legacy of New Orleans’ African-American Mayors.” The New Orleans Tribune. January 2004.
- Clanton, Brett. “Mayor measured on management, leadership skills.” New Orleans CityBusiness, October 15, 2001.
- “Commentary” Gambit Weekly, October 30, 2001.
| Political offices | ||
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| Preceded by Bernard J. "Ben" Bagert, Jr. (D) |
Louisiana State Senator from District 4 (Orleans Parish)
Marc H. Morial (D) |
Succeeded by Paulette Irons (D) |
| Preceded by Sidney Barthelemy (D) |
Mayor of New Orleans 1994–2002 |
Succeeded by C. Ray Nagin (D) |
| Preceded by H. Brent Coles Boise, ID |
President of the United States Conference of Mayors 2001 – 2002 |
Succeeded by Thomas Menino Boston, MA |
| Preceded by Hugh Price |
President of the National Urban League 2003–present |
Succeeded by incumbent |
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