Frank Pizzolato hopes to 'reconnect with locals'
After dealing with disgruntled homeowners as an official of the state's Road Home and hazard mitigation grants programs, confronting the grievances of unhappy French Market tenants should be old hat for the market's new executive director, Frank Pizzolato.
Frank PizzolatoEven after getting a crash course in some of the city-owned market's problems during his first three days on the job, Pizzolato, 59, was upbeat late Wednesday after the French Market Corp.'s board of directors voted to confirm his appointment by Mayor Mitch Landrieu.
He succeeds Kenneth Ferdinand, who resigned under fire last summer because of complaints about his management style and questions about credit-card purchases he charged to the agency.
The new director, who besides his government experience also is a veteran of the automobile and mortgage businesses, said he considers the French Quarter landmark's riverfront site "arguably some of the most valuable real estate in the country -- culturally and socially as well as economically."
He said he intends to look forward, not back. "Whatever problems exist, we're going to resolve them," he promised, telling the board and audience that he considers the market "a partnership between us as landlord and the tenants."
He may not be able to keep his eyes focused entirely on the future, however.
Landrieu said last year that Inspector General Ed Quatrevaux's office had been asked to review any "questionable expenses" and "questionable practices" at the French Market during Ferdinand's three-year tenure. Quatrevaux's office has not issued a report, but one board member said she expects it to be finished soon.
At the time he resigned, Ferdinand agreed to repay the agency $5,000, although questions reportedly had been raised about as much as $20,000 in expenditures.
The nonprofit French Market Corp. oversees operations of the city-owned French Market, which dates back to 1791 and bills itself as America's oldest public market. Its tenants include food and other shops, restaurants, a farmers' market and a flea market.
The market's staff also is in charge of the city-owned Upper Pontalba Building on St. Peter Street next to Jackson Square. The building contains apartments and first-floor stores.
The French Market board, by law, includes three City Council members and nine mayoral appointees. Landrieu last year replaced seven of the nine appointed members, retaining Lisa Manzella, now the chairwoman, and Deborah Harkins.
The other seven members, appointed in October, are Dorian Bennett, Dwayne Bernal, Russ Carll, Wilma Heaton, Demetric Mercadel, Dottie Reese and Sandy Shilstone. All the members are unpaid.
Pizzolato, who grew up in the Iberville Parish town of Plaquemine and has lived and worked in several other cities, including seven years in Los Angeles, said he has lived in or near the French Quarter since 1994. He will walk to work at the market's North Peters Street offices.
Although he had no previous connections with the market, except for a couple of relatives who did business there many years ago, Pizzolato said he has "a passion for what the French Market was and what it can be again."
Changed living and shopping patterns mean the market may never again play the central role in New Orleanians' lives that it once did, he said, but "we need to reconnect with locals" who feel that the market "has been turned over to tourists." That will involve making the market as accessible as possible to motorists and making sure its products are attractive and affordable, he said.
Because of reduced sales and rent reductions offered to struggling tenants since Hurricane Katrina, the French Market Corp. in the past few years has not paid the city the $1 million or more a year it used to contribute to the city's general fund.
City Councilwoman Jackie Clarkson, a member of the market's board, told Pizzolato that the council and Landrieu expect the market to resume pumping money into the general fund, and he said he plans to do just that. "I will personally regard that as a success," he said.
Pizzolato, who was one of three finalists recommended to Landrieu by a board search committee, said he met with the mayor before his selection. Landrieu "has a strong commitment to making this place as close to what it was as possible" in terms of attracting locals, he said.
Pizzolato is due to be paid $110,000 a year, although the council needs to approve that figure.
Bruce Eggler can be reached at beggler@timespicayune.com or 504.826.3320.