NEW ORLEANS -- Mayor Mitch Landrieu usually begins his day at 4:30 a.m., gets in a morning jog, and arrives at City Hall just in time for his daily 8:45 a.m. staff meeting.
The days are long when you're mayor of New Orleans, and Landrieu has now lived 100 of them.
"I feel like we did a tremendous amount," Landrieu said.
Pointing to his restructuring of City Hall and the seven deputy mayors that represent the reform, Landrieu says he's instituted more accountability and better leadership.
"This is going to be a hands-on mayor and that's what people are looking for," said Dr. Ed Chervenak, a political scientist at the University of New Orleans. "I think that's what's given him his political capital at this point."
The last 100 days here in New Orleans and along the Gulf Coast have been far from normal, and beginning with his very first day in office, Landrieu often found himself at the center of it all.
Just hours after taking the oath of office administered partly by his father Moon Landrieu, a former New Orleans mayor himself, Landrieu was phoned by President Obama to talk strategy on what would eventually become the country's largest environmental disaster.
"Of course we knew it happened, but we had no idea it was going to last as long as it did," said Landrieu. "I think we successfully defended Lake Pontchartrain."
While some oil managed to seep into Lake Pontchartrain, Landrieu says it was later cleaned. Meanwhile, as the oil disaster in the Gulf continued to grow, so did the financial one at City Hall in the form of a $67.5 million hole, now filled, says Landrieu, through deep cuts.
On Tuesday evening, Landrieu continued his efforts to prevent a similar budget disaster next year. In his fourth community meeting, Landrieu once again questioned residents on what they believe should be cut out of next year's budget and what should be left alone.
The administration says unless residents are willing to do without major city services, a raise in taxes is likely.
"This city is a hurt city," said Landrieu. "This city has a very, very long way to go."
The mayor, however, believes the people of New Orleans are safer today than they were 100 days ago.
"I think they are," said Landrieu. "We have a great police chief, we have a new organizational structure in the police department."
New Orleans has seen 123 murders so far this year, about 50 during Landrieu's tenure. The murder rate is right on track to meet last year's.
At Landrieu's request, the Department of Justice is now assessing quality controls within the New Orleans Police Department.
Public safety and public spending remain serious sticking points, says political pollster Dr. Silas Lee.
"Definitely crime is the number one issue," said Lee. "And due to the fact the city is facing a budget deficit, what will he cut, and how will people be impacted."
Landrieu appears to bear no regrets these 100 days. Everything he hoped to accomplish, he says, he did.
"We pretty much hit all of them," Landrieu said.
He'll wake up to face the challenges of day 101 in just a few hours.
