Rosalind Magee Peychaud (born 1948) is an American politician and community leader. She served as a Democratic state representative for Louisiana’s 91st District from 2002 to 2004. In 2009, she was appointed deputy chief of staff for U.S. Representative Joseph Cao, a Republican representing Louisiana’s 2nd congressional district, where she worked in the New Orleans district office.Peychaud's bio in Leadership Directories.

Early life and education Rosalind Magee was born in 1948 in Monticello, Mississippi. Her father, James H. Magee Sr., was a deacon at Oak Grove Missionary Baptist Church and died on September 18, 2002. Her mother was Marion Magee.

Peychaud has two sisters (Catherine Magee Thompson and Regina Magee Hudson) and a brother (James H. Magee Jr.).The information appears in Mississippi Governor Ronnie Musgrove's proclamation of 2002 September 21 as James H. Magee Sr. Day in Mississippi (proclamation dated 2002 September 20).

Peychaud earned a Bachelor of Arts in Educational Psychology from Jackson State University and later obtained a Master of Social Work from Tulane University.

NDF and other involvements Peychaud serves as the executive director of the New Orleans Neighborhood Development Foundation (NDF). She is also a member of the Affordable Housing Advisory Authority for the Federal Home Loan Bank of Dallas.FHLB Annual Report 1997.

She is a member of the New Orleans City Planning Commission, the Neighborhood Conservation District Committee (NCDC) of the City of New Orleans, and the Crescent City Connection Oversight Authority (CCCOA).Governor Bobby Jindal Announces Appointments to the Crescent City Connection Oversight Authority, 2008 May 01; Nominee to CCCOA (Crescent City Connection Oversight Authority) by state senator Cheryl A. Gray Evans. NDF was established in 1986 and also had offices in Jackson, Mississippi. A distinct focus of NDF in New Orleans is the area now known as the Hoffman Triangle.New Orleans Neighborhood Development Foundation fundraising notice published by Jackson State University (accessed 2009 May 26). On June 20, 2009, when the Neighborhood Conservation District Committee (NCDC) deliberated on two properties owned by Joseph Cao, Peychaud recused herself from the vote due to ethical considerations.Jonathan Tilove, "Cao to raze blighted homes" in Times-Picayune, 2009 June 20, Saint Tammany Edition, pp. B1-B2 (web version = Cao gets go-ahead to raze 2 houses he owns. See also Karen Gadbois, "Does Joe Cao know what blight is?"

Hoffman Triangle

Peychaud coined the term "Hoffman Triangle" during her service in the Louisiana House of Representatives. She based the term on the name of the John W. Hoffman Elementary School at the corner of South Prieur Street and Third Street, within the Hoffman Triangle. The Hoffman Triangle was, in Peychaud's own words, an area of intense "trash, drugs, and blight" in the inner city of New Orleans. Conditions there naturally worsened during and after Hurricane Katrina in 2005.Ariella Cohen, "Hoffman Triangle keys Central City rebirth" in New Orleans CityBusiness, 2008 March 12 (accessed 2009 May 26). Cf. the Hoffman Triangle page on the Neighborhood Development Foundation web site. See also Neighborhood Development Foundation on Citysearch.com. and they continued to concern Peychaud when she served as a panelist for the Third National Summit on Equitable Development, Social Justice, and Smart Growth in 2008.The conference, which occurred in New Orleans, was on the theme "Trends to Watch"; Peychaud was in the session titled Innovations and Inequities in Gulf Coast Recovery.

BOLD political organization Peychaud was part of the reform wing of the Orleans Parish Democratic Party and often clashed with William J. Jefferson and his Progressive Democrats. In a district previously represented by Jefferson’s ally Renée Gill Pratt, Peychaud won a special election on May 4, 2002, defeating Jalila Jefferson-Bullock (one of Jefferson’s daughters). However, Jefferson-Bullock defeated her in the general election on November 15, 2003.

In the 2006 Democratic primary for Louisiana’s 2nd congressional district, Peychaud backed Karen Carter Peterson against Jefferson. When Jefferson won the Democratic primary again in 2008, she and several other prominent Democrats supported Republican Joseph Cao, who went on to defeat Jefferson in the general election.

Peychaud and the Jefferson family have had a long history of political rivalry. This has often put her in alignment with figures such as Karen Carter Peterson, James Carter (no relation to Peterson), Jacquelyn Brechtel Clarkson, Cheryl A. Gray Evans, Stacy Head, and Helena Moreno.

Personal life Rosalind Magee Peychaud is married to Joseph Ernest Peychaud, a descendant of Antoine Amédée Peychaud, originator of Peychaud's Bitters. Rosalind Peychaud, a Baptist, is a virtual teetotaler.

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