Some people are natural politicians, even if they don’t realize it until late in their careers. Jackie Clarkson, the indefatigable former New Orleans City Council member and state lawmaker from Algiers who began a quarter-century of public service in her mid-50s, was one such politician. Clarkson died June 26 at 88.
“Jackie Clarkson was a one-of-a-kind trailblazer and force of nature,” recalled former Mayor Mitch Landrieu. “Her decades of public service set the standard for women in New Orleans politics. Jackie's leadership on the City Council after Hurricane Katrina provided a steady hand when the city desperately needed one.”
Clarkson genuinely enjoyed the most difficult part of public service — the service part. She loved engaging with and helping constituents, even during difficult times.
Clarkson began her political career after spending decades managing a real estate business in her native Algiers. Guiding first-time homebuyers through a stressful process with professionalism and empathy made her a natural for dealing with constituents often confounded by City Hall’s Byzantine ways.
After Clarkson’s first visit to Gambit seeking the newspaper’s endorsement in 1990, my wife Margo, who was Gambit’s publisher, said, “She reminds me of Lindy Boggs.”
We said as much in Gambit’s endorsement of her, and Clarkson promised she would always try to live up to that high standard.
Like Boggs, Clarkson was gracious but effective. Her old-school manners belied a steely will, especially when others were not so gracious.
I don’t recall ever seeing Clarkson in a heated exchange with a colleague. She never picked a fight, nor would she back down from one. She just comported herself better.
She also reminded me of the late Lt. Gov. Jimmy Fitzmorris, who likewise loved public service and pursued it with an unrivaled passion. Like Fitz, Clarkson seemed to be everywhere, all the time, and loving every minute of it.
And, like Fitzmorris, Clarkson lost some nail-biting elections — but she never lost hope. After one term as the District C council member, she lost a close bid for re-election to then-state Rep. Troy Carter, who now serves in Congress. She turned around and won Carter’s legislative seat, then succeeded him as the District C council member when he lost his bid for mayor in 2002.
She lost another close race to Arnie Fielkow when they ran for an at-large council seat in 2006, but a year later she won a special election for the other at-large seat, serving two terms before retiring from politics in 2014.
Carter and Fielkow joined many others paying tribute to Clarkson.
Throughout her career, she was a tireless advocate for Algiers, the French Quarter, neighborhood preservation, transparency, and the New Orleans Recreation Development Commission. Her late father, Johnny Brechtel, co-founded NORD.
“During my time as mayor,” Landrieu said of his trusted council ally, “Jackie was always a willing partner on items big and small. Whenever we needed her, from helping rebuild NORD to balancing the budget to entertaining dignitaries, she showed up in a big way. We will all miss her dearly."
We already do.
Cantrell notched a new level of bizarro on June 18 when she declined to show up for a court hearing on her own request for a restraining order.