Life was Humming Along for Chase Jones in August 2005
Article from SBJ October 15-21, 2007, vol. 10, issue 25
Life was humming along for Chase Jones in August 2005.
The New Orleans native was with his hometown team after working in financial services for a few years in Chicago. He was engaged and fully content helping the team land sponsorship deals that were coming easier after the Hornets’ first season in the Big Easy.
“Things were going so well,” Jones said.
Then Katrina hit, forcing Jones and his fiancée to flee immediately to Houston. After a few days, they were able to return to their house, where the damage was minimal but the looting was not.
Gone were the electronics, some furniture, and jewelry that inadvertently had been left behind in a panic.
“Foolishly, we were one of the few that did not board up, and we lost a lot,” Jones said. “My then-fiancée and now wife had left her jewelry in the lingerie drawer, which is where the looters probably looked right after the freezer.”
Still, Jones felt lucky. Most of his fiancée’s family lost everything.
Suddenly, helping the Hornets find a Kiss-Cam sponsor didn’t seem so important. When the team relocated to Oklahoma City, Jones resigned, deciding instead to stay in New Orleans to help rebuild his community.
With a few friends, Jones created a demolition and construction company and spent the next nine months getting well-acquainted with a sledgehammer.
“It was partly out of a business opportunity and partly out of social responsibility,” Jones said of his venture.
Gutting houses in shattered neighborhoods gave Jones an up-close view to the worst of the disaster. He saw things he still has a hard time understanding, and two years later the memories are as fresh as yesterday.
“There was a lady down from me left dead on the street for days,” he said, his voice cracking. “I saw a lot that I don’t want to see again.”
The trauma sparked a sense of political activism in Jones, who grew so disgusted with the inefficiencies of local government that he ran for the 4th District Tax Assessor office.
With no political credentials other than an intense desire to bring about change, Jones lost in a runoff to the well-connected and long-term incumbent Betty Jefferson, sister to U.S. Rep. William Jefferson, who was recently indicted on bribery charges.
“There was an absence of leadership at every level,” Jones said, his voice rising.
While Jones was running against the city’s political machine, he took a job at ISP Sports and was selling sponsorships for Tulane University.
He also kept in touch with the Hornets. When the team moved back to town in May, Jones was interested, but not entirely sold on returning until he felt convinced that the team could be viable in New Orleans.
“People were skeptical and I was skeptical,” Jones said. “I didn’t know what their long-term vision was.”
A series of meetings with Hornets Chief Operating Officer Hugh Weber helped persuade Jones to rejoin the franchise in June. After spending the summer trying to drum up corporate interest, Jones, 35, is realistic about the state of the team’s business.
“It will be a gradual growth, much like the city,” Jones said. “But the team returning is important to the city’s recovery. Part of my decision to return was to help make the team work here.”