Louisiana Cultural Vistas - Spring 2006 - (Page 76) LOUISIANA DEPARTMENT OF CULTURE, RECREATION & TOURISM Changing the DNA of Government: Rebuilding Priorities, Services and Results in the Department of Culture, Recreation and Tourism On August 29, 2005, the greatest natural disaster in U.S. history took place. Hurricane Katrina struck southeast Louisiana, heavily damaging four parishes and the city of New Orleans. Less than one month later, on September 24, Hurricane Rita collided with the southwest corner of our state, severely impacting six parishes and the city of Lake Charles. Many communities were brought to their knees by the force of these massive storms, and every branch of state and local government across Louisiana has, by necessity, changed its mode of operation. Just as the storms dramatically changed the landscape of our southern communities and dramatically altered the lives of residents for the foreseeable future, so too have these forces of nature changed the jobs our government must do to provide for the citizenry of the state. State agencies are redefining their roles and priorities and adapting to the new environment. Lt. Gov. Mitch Landrieu and Angele Davis, Secretary of the Department of Culture Recreation and Tourism (CRT), are among the many leaders of state government that reacted promptly and broadly to revamp existing departments to meet urgent and unexpected needs. The “Louisiana Rebirth Plan” was created, focusing first on rescue and recovery and now on redesigning and rebuilding. “Louisiana Rebirth — Restoring the Soul of America” is an ambitious plan crafted to address the monumental task of rebuilding New Orleans and the southern part of the state and restoring the cultural base of its economy. With thousands of residents displaced, many industries are forced to reorganize and respond to a new reality. This is especially true for the tourism and culture industries throughout Louisiana — industries whose customer base was decimated by the physical destruction of the storms and subsequently by negative imagery of the state in media coverage of the storms’ aftermath. Early in their administrations, Landrieu and Davis launched a department-wide transformation project to make CRT more entrepreneurial, efficient and accountable. The agency had already implemented a new Budgeting for Outcomes process and Quick Wins, a work-process efficiency program. CRT was perfectly positioned to respond and quickly adapt to the altered landscape after the storms. The “Rebirth Plan” is the natural progression of a transformation already underway that was forced to take an unexpected turn. By working together with the Office of the Governor and the Louisiana Recovery 76 LOUISIANA ENDOWMENT FOR THE HUMANITIES\Spring 2006
For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.