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. Until June 2017, he was the president and CEO of the

National Basketball Retired Players Association The National Basketball Retired Players Association (NBRPA) is a non-profit association composed of former professional basketball players of the NBA, ABA, Harlem Globetrotters, and WNBA. It was founded in 1992 by NBA Hall of Famers Dave DeBus ...

(NBRPA). Fielkow was formerly a Democratic politician in New Orleans. In November 2006, he won a seat on the

New Orleans City Council The New Orleans City Council is the legislative branch of the City of New Orleans, Louisiana, United States. The current mayor-council form of city government was created in 1954, following the 1950 amendment of the state constitution that provide ...

as an at-large member, and later served as city council president. He was reelected in 2010. In the fall of 2011, he announced his resignation.

Early life and education

Fielkow was born and raised in

Appleton, Wisconsin Appleton ( mez, Ahkōnemeh) is a city in Outagamie, Calumet, and Winnebago counties in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. One of the Fox Cities, it is situated on the Fox River, southwest of Green Bay and north of Milwaukee. Appleton is the c ...

, . He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from

Northwestern University Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston, Illinois. Founded in 1851, Northwestern is the oldest chartered university in Illinois and is ranked among the most prestigious academic institutions in the world. Charte ...

and his Juris Doctor from the

University of Wisconsin Law School The University of Wisconsin Law School is the professional graduate law school of the University of Wisconsin–Madison. Located in Madison, Wisconsin, the school was founded in 1868. The University of Wisconsin Law School is guided by a "law in ...

in 1981.New Orleans City Council,

Career

Sports administration

He spent most of his career in sports administration.http://www.thejewishweek.com/viewArticle/c41_a17860/News/Short_Takes.html 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. 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.

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 th
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. During the

New Orleans e-mail controversies Stacy Aline Singleton Head (born June 30, 1969) is an American lawyer and former president of the New Orleans City Council. Early life and career Stacy Head was born in 1969 as the daughter of the former Katherine Hamberlin and Ernest Lynn Singl ...

, Fielkow pledged to published 70,000 of his e-mail messages online. Fielkow considered running to succeed Ray Nagin as

Mayor of New Orleans The post of Mayor of the City of New Orleans (french: Maire de La Nouvelle-Orléans) has been held by the following individuals since New Orleans came under American administration following the Louisiana Purchase — the acquisition by the U.S. ...

in the 2010 mayoral election, but he chose to seek reelection instead. Fielkow was easily reelected to his position on the city council, with

Mitch Landrieu Mitchell Joseph Landrieu ( ; born August 16, 1960) is an American lawyer and politician who served as Mayor of New Orleans from 2010 to 2018. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously served as Lieutenant Governor of Louisiana from 2004 ...

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 Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United St ...

Retired Players Association.

Election history

Councilmember(s) at-large (2), 2006 Threshold > 25% First ballot, April 22, 2006 Second Ballot, May 20, 2006 Councilmember(s) at-large (2), 2010 Threshold > 25% First Ballot, February 6, 2010 http://staticresults.sos.louisiana.gov/262010_36.html

Footnotes

External links

New Orleans City Council

Arnie Fielkow's City Council webpage
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fielkow, Arnie Jewish American people in Louisiana politics Living people Northwestern University alumni University of Wisconsin Law School alumni New Orleans City Council members Louisiana lawyers Louisiana Democrats Year of birth missing (living people) 21st-century American Jews