As part of the New Orleans Mayoral Forum on Water and Coast, we asked all candidates to respond to the the following questions:

1. As Mayor, how will you demonstrate leadership regarding water and the environment?
2. Prior to Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans was supposed to be honestly protected against a 1 in 200 to 1 in 300 year storm (roughly Hurricane Katrina for New Orleans).  It was not.  After Hurricane Katrina exactly no one said this City deserved a lower level but more robust level of protection, but that is what we have.  As Mayor, what will you do to increase our hurricane storm risk reduction to at least the level we were supposed to have had pre-storm?
3. New Orleans has underfunded or unfunded needs in the areas of disaster preparedness, hazard mitigation and disaster resilience. Under your leadership, how will the City secure the resources necessary to meet those needs?
4. As Mayor, what will you do to ensure that the New Orleans Sewerage and Water Board has the funding, resources and equipment, trained personnel and the “can do” culture to carry out its essential functions?
5. Flood protection and the provision of a safe and secure water supply is increasingly a regional challenge, as Mayor how will you engage with officials in other parishes and in state government to develop and implement long-term solutions to those challenges?
6. As Mayor, will you support a city-wide drainage fee?
7. As Mayor, what will you do to prepare the City to deal with, avoid, and mitigate the impacts of sea level rise and coastal land loss?
8. The greatest natural hazard facing the City is not hurricanes or river flooding but rain.  As Mayor, what will you do to increase the City’s ability to handle large rain events and to recover from them when they occur?
9. The availability and cost of insurance is a growing problem for homeowners and businesses which makes it a problem for the City.  What can the City do to make insurance more available and affordable?

The following candidates were the only ones to reply by the deadline.