Arnie Fielkow

Arnie Fielkow
Member of the New Orleans City Council
from the at-large district
In office
2006–2011
Preceded byEddie L. Sapir
Succeeded byEric Granderson
Personal details
Born
Arnold D. Fielkow

Appleton, Wisconsin, U.S.
Political partyDemocratic
EducationNorthwestern University (BA)
University of Wisconsin (JD)
American football career
Career history
As an administrator:

Arnold "Arnie" D. Fielkow is an American sports administrator, attorney, and politician serving as the CEO and president of the Jewish Federation of Greater New Orleans.[1] Until June 2017, he was the president and CEO of the National Basketball Retired Players Association (NBRPA).[2] Fielkow was formerly a Democratic politician in New Orleans. In November 2006, he won a seat on the New Orleans City Council as an at-large member, and later served as city council president.[3] He was reelected in 2010.[4] In the fall of 2011, he announced his resignation.[5]

Early life and education

Fielkow was born and raised in Appleton, Wisconsin,.[6] He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Northwestern University and his Juris Doctor from the University of Wisconsin Law School in 1981.[7]

Career

Sports administration

In 1989, Fielkow was named commissioner of the North Star Conference.[8] In 1991 he was chosen for the same position with the Trans-America Athletic Conference, however before taking office he chose to take the job of deputy commissioner of the Continental Basketball Association.[9] In 1994 he became the president of the Southern League.[10]

In 2000, Fielkow joined the New Orleans Saints of the National Football League as director of administration.[11] He served as Executive Vice President of the New Orleans Saints for six years, during which he presided over all administrative/business departments, including marketing, sales, regional development, governmental affairs, community relations, business media relations and youth programs.[7] He was fired by Saints owner Tom Benson when he refused to resign and sign a confidentiality agreement. Fielkow had been vocal in opposing the concept of having the Saints play in San Antonio.[12]

Politics

Following his firing, Fielkow was elected as one of New Orleans's two at-large council positions on May 20, 2006. He has chaired a number of committees including both the city's Economic Development Committee and the council's Youth and Recreation Committee. He has also co-founded the Fleur-de-lis Ambassadorship program with Tulane University president Scott Cowen. He has been a vocal supporter of public education, including the growing number of charter schools.[7]

During the New Orleans e-mail controversies, Fielkow pledged to published 70,000 of his e-mail messages online.[13]

Fielkow considered running to succeed Ray Nagin as Mayor of New Orleans in the 2010 mayoral election, but he chose to seek reelection instead.[14] Fielkow was easily reelected to his position on the city council,[4] with Mitch Landrieu ultimately winning the mayoral race.

On 22 August 2011, Fielkow announced his resignation from the Council effective 1 October. He planned to take a more lucrative job as CEO of the National Basketball Retired Players Association.[5]

Election history

Councilmember(s) at-large (2), 2006

Threshold > 25%

First ballot, April 22, 2006

Candidate Affiliation Support Outcome
Oliver Thomas Democratic 66,374 (39%) Elected
Jackie Clarkson Democratic 36,839 (22%) Runoff
Arnie Fielkow Democratic 31,092 (18%) Runoff
Others n.a. 35,060 (21%) Defeated

Second Ballot, May 20, 2006

Candidate Affiliation Support Outcome
Arnie Fielkow Democratic 61,420 (56%) Elected
Jackie Clarkson Democratic 47,324 (44%) Defeated

Councilmember(s) at-large (2), 2010

Threshold > 25%

First Ballot, February 6, 2010 [15]

Candidate Affiliation Support Outcome
Arnie Fielkow Democratic 51,310 (35%) Elected
Jackie Clarkson Democratic 38,904 (26.5%) Elected
Cynthia Willard-Lewis Democratic 37,362 (25.5%) Defeated
Nolan Marshall Democratic 13,411 (9%) Defeated
Others n.a. 5,415 (4%) Defeated

Footnotes

  1. ^ "About Us".
  2. ^ http://www.insidehoops.com/fielkow-retired-players-082311.shtml
  3. ^ "New Orleans' New Mayor: Mitch Landrieu". Newsweek. 15 February 2010.
  4. ^ a b "Politics | News from The Advocate". 17 July 2023. Archived from the original on February 10, 2010.
  5. ^ a b "Fielkow Takes High-paying Job, Leaving N.O. City Council - WWL - AM870 | FM105.3 | News | Talk | Sports". www.wwl.com. Archived from the original on 28 September 2011. Retrieved 15 January 2022.
  6. ^ "Councilmember Arnold D. Fielkow. Records, 2005-2012. City Archives, New Orleans Public Library". archives.nolalibrary.org. Retrieved 2020-11-26.
  7. ^ a b c New Orleans City Council, "New Orleans City Council". Archived from the original on 2009-01-22. Retrieved 2008-12-14.
  8. ^ "Deals". USA Today. August 3, 1989.
  9. ^ Catron, Derek (September 15, 1991). "Here are Latest Moves With Changing TAAC". Orlando Sentinel.
  10. ^ Mayeux, Louis T. (July 20, 1994). "Southern League moving headquarters to Marietta". The Atlanta Journal - Constitution.
  11. ^ "Transactions". The Charleston Gazette. January 28, 2000.
  12. ^ Saints Exec. Fielkow let go by Benson, WWL News, "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2006-01-09. Retrieved 2008-12-14.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  13. ^ Michelle Krupa, "Surge of N.O. e-mail may flow online soon: It's 2.5 million pages of files, attorney says" in Times-Picayune (New Orleans), 2009 May 20, Saint Tammany Edition, pp. A1, A9. See also Stacy Head.
  14. ^ "Arnie Fielkow Not Running for Mayor - Politics News Story - WDSU New Orleans". Archived from the original on 2012-02-24. Retrieved 2010-02-24.
  15. ^ http://staticresults.sos.louisiana.gov/262010_36.html [permanent dead link‍]
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