23 Facts About Sidney Barthelemy

Sidney John Barthelemy was born on March 17,1942 and is a former American political figure.

Sidney Barthelemy served as mayor of New Orleans from 1986 to 1994.

Sidney Barthelemy then sought to enter the priesthood with the Josephites, studying at Epiphany Apostolic Junior College in Newburgh, New York, and then St Joseph Seminary in Washington, DC, where he received a Bachelor of Arts degree in philosophy and pursued graduate study in Theology.

In 1967, having made the decision not to enter the priesthood, Sidney Barthelemy returned to New Orleans and became an administrative assistant in the office of Total Community Action.

From 1972 to 1974 Sidney Barthelemy was Director of the Department of Welfare under Mayor Moon Landrieu.

In 1978 Sidney Barthelemy was elected to an at-large seat on the New Orleans City Council, a position he held for two terms.

In 1979, Sidney Barthelemy was elected to the state Senate, defeating a white incumbent who had held the seat for sixteen years.

Sidney Barthelemy defeated Bill Jefferson in the 1986 mayoral election to succeed Morial.

On May 5,1986, Sidney Barthelemy began his first term as mayor of New Orleans.

Sidney Barthelemy first set his sights on becoming mayor of New Orleans in 1982, when he was reelected to the city council.

Sidney Barthelemy seemed the complete opposite of his fiery predecessor Ernest Morial, who had something of a "will of iron".

Many African Americans felt as though Sidney Barthelemy was concentrating his focus on white-collar businesses.

Sidney Barthelemy received 58 percent of the total votes cast but only 43 percent of the black vote.

Sidney Barthelemy won 86 percent of the vote cast by the dwindling number of white voters in the city.

Oddly, in contrast to 1986, Sidney Barthelemy won reelection in 1990 with 86 percent of the black vote but only 23 percent of the white vote.

Federal government revenue sharing to municipalities had been progressively reduced from 1981 onwards, and had ended by the time Sidney Barthelemy took office in 1986.

Sidney Barthelemy's administration was not without economic development successes, as he managed to bring additional investment to New Orleans East, most notably by attracting the giant Pick 'n Save distribution center to the New Orleans Regional Business Park.

Sidney Barthelemy staffed agencies such as the Housing Authority of New Orleans and the Regional Transit Authority with members of COUP and other political allies.

Sidney Barthelemy's critics interpreted this as a sign of passivity and poor leadership.

Still, many of the alleged deficiencies of the Sidney Barthelemy administration were already acknowledged as fact by the public by the end of Sidney Barthelemy's first term.

Later that year, Sidney Barthelemy was responsible for bringing a little-known statewide political perk to the attention of voters.

Nonetheless, Sidney Barthelemy was never viewed with great enmity, a testament to his essentially conciliatory leadership style.

Currently, Sidney Barthelemy is serving as the Director of Governmental Affairs for Historic Restoration, Inc, a real estate development group based in New Orleans.