Jean-Paul Morrell
| Jean-Paul Jude "J. P." Morrell | |
 | |
At-large member of the New Orleans City Council
| |
| Incumbent | |
| Assumed office January 2022 | |
| Preceded by | Jason Williams |
|---|---|
| In office 2009–2020 | |
| Preceded by | Derrick Shepherd |
| Succeeded by | Joseph Bouie, Jr. |
Louisiana State Representative
for District 97 (Orleans Parish) | |
| In office 2006–2008 | |
| Preceded by | Arthur Morrell |
| Succeeded by | Jared Brossett |
| Born | September 2, 1978 New Orleans Louisiana |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse(s) | Catherine Morrell |
| Children | Jude and Fiona Morrell |
| Residence | New Orleans, Louisiana |
| Alma mater | Spring Hill College Tulane University School of Law |
| Occupation | Attorney |
Jean-Paul Jude Morrell, also known as J. P. Morrell (born September 2, 1978),[1] is an African-American attorney and Democratic politician in his native New Orleans, Louisiana. On November 13, 2021, Morrell was narrowly elected as one of the two at-large members of the New Orleans City Council. He is a former member of both house of the state legislature, most recently in Senate District 3 for Orleans Parish.
Background
Morrell graduated from the private Spring Hill College in Mobile, Alabama, and the Tulane University Law School in New Orleans. He began his legal career at Morrell & Morrell, LLC, which he co-founded with his father. During this time, he also worked as a member of the Orleans Parish Office of Indigent Public Defender Program (OIDP), serving as the Public Defender for Magistrate Court until his election as state representative. He has since been of counsel to the Middleberg Riddle Group, a New Orleans-based law firm.
Political life
Morrell was first elected to public office as a state representative in 2006, where he served until joining the Senate in 2008. He won a special election to fill the House seat vacated by his father, Arthur Morrell, who was elected as the Orleans Parish Criminal Court Clerk, a post he still holds. Morrell at the time stressed his commitment to obtaining well-paying jobs, quality schools, safe streets, and accountable government. One of his top legislative priorities was the battle against sexual assault, and he has developed an entire package of legislation to address that issue. He left the Senate Natural Resources Committee to fill a vacancy on the Senate Education Committee. He was term-limited in the state Senate in 2019 and succeeded by another liberal Democrat, Joseph Bouie, Jr.
Morrell's District 3 spans parts of St. Bernard, Orleans, and Jefferson parishes.[2]
In 2016, then Senate President John Alario appointed Morrell chairman of the Revenue and Fiscal Affairs Committee.[3]
As a state senator, he served on these committees:
- Chairman, Senate Revenue & Fiscal Affairs
- Senate Education
- Senate & Governmental Affairs
- Joint Legislative Committee on Capitol Outlay
In the 2021 council election, Morrell polled 50.6 percent of the vote. He just barely avoided a runoff against his top challenger, Democrat City Councilwoman Kristin Gisleson Palmer, who was first elected to her District C seat in 2010. She declined to run for reelection in 2014 but returned in 2017 by defeating another Democrat incumbent, Nadine Ramsey, by only 111 votes. As councilwoman, Palmer helped to lead the effort to reform the city’s short-term rental rules to make them much more restrictive than they were under the second term of Mayor Mitch Landrieu, who now serves in the Joe Biden presidential administration as the director of funding for the 2021 "infrastructure bill.[4]
The race between Morrell and Palmer was heated. Campaign materials cast Morrell as a political opportunist who helped shield his corrupt police officer brothers from justice, an accusation that the Morrells flatly repudiate. Morrell, meanwhile, questioned Palmer's stressed Palmer’s role in 2011 zoning change that allowed the Hard Rock hotel to be constructed on the site of the former Woolworth’s building on the corner of Canal and North Rampart streets. The building had been the site of lunch counter protests and the proposed building was far taller than French Quarter zoning permitted. The amendment passed against the wishes of civil rights leaders and historical preservationists.[4] Palmer charged that is “abhorrent” that Morrell would use the 2019 collapse of the Hard Rock for political purposes.[5]
References
- ↑ Jean Morrell. Mylife.com. Retrieved on December 10, 2020.
- ↑ J.P. Morrell. Retrieved on December 10, 2020.
- ↑ Greg Hilburn (January 13, 2016). Senate Labor chair won't support minimum wage increase. Monroe News Star. Retrieved on January 16, 2016.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Michael Isaac Stein (November 14, 2021). Morrell wins hotly contested at-large council seat. thelensnola.org. Retrieved on November 17, 2021.
- ↑ Jeff Adelson (April 28, 2021). for political gain 1½ years after Hard Rock Hotel collapse, these New Orleans streets set to reopen. New Orleans Times-Picayune. Retrieved on November 17, 2921.
