2026-10-07 - City Council Budget Hearings

04:49Good morning. It's 9:30 a.m. Up first,

04:51we have the mayor office core, which

04:53includes IGR, comms, and neighborhood

04:56engagement. Good morning.

04:59>> Good morning, chair. Good morning,

05:00everybody. Um, if you guys are ready,

05:02we'll go ahead and get started. Um, so

05:04we're here to present the mayor's office

05:06core.

05:08I'm going to start with our actually let

05:10me start with the general statement. Um

05:11you know when we came into the office

05:13the mayor really expressed that our

05:15overall mission was to really support

05:16the people of New Orleans, provide

05:18opportunity and make sure that every day

05:20we're making life better for our

05:22residents and our citizens and that's

05:24really reflected in the work that we do

05:26uh in the mayor's office or with our

05:28various departments. Um I tell my team

05:30every day we show up every day we have

05:32the opportunity to help people and make

05:33people's lives better. And so that's

05:35reflected in our budget priorities and

05:37in the presentation today. Uh so first

05:39up, just want to give a snapshot of our

05:422027 proposed budget verse adopted. Uh

05:45which we'll see are some drastic savings

05:47on the other operating and our operating

05:49expenses. Um and then a total savings of

05:53uh $111,226

05:56from year-over-year.

05:59Um again, key components of this budget

06:01um personnel. So the staff is funded by

06:04this in the mayor's office that includes

06:06our intergovernmental relations,

06:08communications, community, neighborhood

06:10engagement, and then we also have uh the

06:12the newly formed office of population

06:14and demographics. Um you'll see that

06:16this reflects fewer positions than at

06:18the start of the administration. And

06:19then just to note on that that other

06:21operating the bulk of the funds in in

06:24that really go towards our professional

06:26service agreements with both our state

06:28and federal lobbying contracts. That is

06:30the the vast majority of the budget.

06:32that's reflected there.

06:34Want to show our organizational chart.

06:36This kind of shows the alignment. Um

06:38we've got our executive counsel Adam

06:39Swinsit, myself, deputy mayor Renee Lap

06:42Roller who's over external affairs and

06:44then the various members of our IGR

06:46comm's

06:48community and neighborhood engagement um

06:50as well as again u office population and

06:53demographics.

06:56I want to talk for a second about budget

06:58efficiencies. Um this this is a a lean

07:01operation. you know, I think coming in

07:03every office or department had at least

07:06uh 50% less people um some magnitudes

07:09above that. You know, I was trying to do

07:11the calculations uh this week ahead

07:13[clears throat] and I think overall we

07:15are down from where the previous

07:17administration was by over 20 staff

07:19members in the mayor's office. Um it's a

07:21lean team, but they are very motivated

07:23and effective. I was talking to one of

07:25the the staff members yesterday. Uh and

07:28we were talking about some things in the

07:29future. And he said, "I I want you to

07:30know how much I love this work and how

07:32committed I am to doing this. Um and

07:34every opportunity I look at has to

07:37involve a way to stay here even for me

07:39to grow professionally." He's like, "I

07:40want to be in New Orleans. I want to be

07:41in the mayor's office." So, it's a

07:43dedicated group. Uh they are constantly

07:45challenged with doing more with less,

07:47you know, because again, our commitment

07:48is to improve the life of our citizens

07:50and how we've operated. And so to do

07:52that with less staff means just more

07:54buying and commitment from everybody. Um

07:56and then I want to make a note about

07:57centralized spending control. Uh one of

07:59the things we we established early on

08:01understanding our budget limitations was

08:03that any expense any expense. So from

08:07paper clips to um you know business

08:11cards to anything that our departments

08:13need, we want to be supportive. But

08:15their process is to bring that up to the

08:16director and then that director sends

08:19that to myself and deputy mayor laley

08:21for us to review check in with them.

08:23Hey, do we really need this? Um, do

08:25other departments have this? We had some

08:27requests from comms earlier this year

08:28and I said, let's check with the office

08:30culture economy. Let's check around to

08:31see if somebody else has these

08:32microphones, these stand. So, we really

08:34try to be very responsive about the

08:36budget. We've got some great internal

08:37controls to make sure that our

08:38department heads and the folks in the

08:40mayor's office are being conscious of

08:41that as well.

08:44>> [clears throat]

08:44>> Um, I want to share some goals. Again,

08:46you know, the focus for us is how do we

08:47improve and I was really proud when we

08:50put this out to the team to see what

08:52they were doing. Uh, community and

08:53neighborhood engagement. This is really

08:55our front line to not just be responsive

08:58to our residents, but to be proactive,

09:00right? And that is the goal to be on the

09:02front foot. make sure that along with

09:04communication we are making sure that

09:06the messaging and the mission and the

09:08work that we are doing is getting out to

09:09residents that we are building those

09:11relationships with the various

09:13neighborhood groups around the city. Uh

09:14had a great opportunity last night to

09:16visit a couple of the night out against

09:17crime sites. Um and our team was active

09:20engaged. They kind of lined up for all

09:21of the deputy mayors and city

09:23leadership. Hey, these are the three or

09:25four that we want you to visit within

09:26your district. Make sure you go there.

09:28Make sure you connect with the leader of

09:29that association. Here's their name.

09:32pass on your business card. Really

09:34making sure that as not just the mayor's

09:36office but a leadership team, we are

09:38staying engaged with our residents and

09:39in the community.

09:41Uh communications again um the the focus

09:45here is to make sure that we are getting

09:47the important things out for the city as

09:49we sit here today um with a you know

09:51what is now a tropical storm in the

09:53Gulf. Uh it highlights the need for our

09:55communications team in the mayor's core

09:57to be working closely with Nosam to be a

09:59credible messenger both through social

10:01media maintaining the website through

10:03press releases to get that critical

10:05information out there in times like this

10:07but also to make sure that our residents

10:08are informed of all the things the city

10:10are doing. Um, I know we had a lot of

10:12conversations earlier around the

10:14sanitation fee, the things that we

10:16wanted to communicate with that,

10:17including the additional candidate no

10:19costs, including the opportunity for uh,

10:21citizens to lock in or senior citizens

10:23to lock in that lower price. They are

10:25critical in doing that and their goals

10:27are really aligned around being more

10:28efficient and making sure we're getting

10:29that engagement up in front.

10:32Intergovernmental relations, uh, this is

10:34one that I I don't think gets enough

10:36credit. Again, you talk about a smaller

10:38team. I think under the previous

10:39administration, they had eight full-time

10:40staff. Uh, and we've got three. Uh,

10:42they're dedicated. Um, the focus really

10:45is how do we maximize support for the

10:48city of New Orleans at the federal

10:50level, at the state level, and then how

10:52do we work with our partners here on the

10:54council to ensure that we are moving

10:56ordinances, legislation forward,

10:58supporting the various departments

10:59within city government that have needs

11:01before the council. Uh, and again, I I

11:03give Chuck Tony, who's our director of

11:05IGR, a lot of credit. um he is very

11:07processoriented and sees the need for us

11:09to improve our process is to make sure

11:11that things flow smoother and that's

11:13been a big part of his focus for this

11:14year and that'll continue into 2027.

11:17Um this is our newest office. So I don't

11:19want to steal too much uh thunder cuz

11:21they'll be here I believe on October

11:2220th present a committee. Uh but Chris

11:24Art has come over and his focus in that

11:27office of population and demographics. A

11:29big part of it is is forward looking to

11:31the the census that's coming up in 2030

11:34but also this current update that's

11:36happening now local update of census

11:38addresses which is a critical process to

11:40make sure that we are counted properly.

11:42Um there's a big part to get some of the

11:44hardto-reach folks. So people that may

11:45not be native English speakers. Um when

11:48you think about the the university

11:49students that uh both you uh um council

11:53member Harris and and you council member

11:54Karen have in your district um when

11:56there's new dorms that go up ensuring

11:57that those dorms are registered in our

11:59system so we can properly collect those

12:01addresses as well as new developments

12:02and apartment complexes but I also want

12:04to make a note um some really critical

12:06operations around addressing in general

12:08right so not to go back to sanitation

12:09fee but we know there are challenges

12:11with addressing that are the crux of the

12:14issues [clears throat] we had with

12:14collecting enough and making sure we're

12:16billing

12:17Chris's his office is a critical part of

12:20the process moving forward. Right? So

12:22when we have new eligible verified

12:24addresses, those go to Chris to confirm

12:26that we have the right addresses in the

12:27Nomad system. The city has that address

12:30properly and then gets handed off to

12:32another team to ensure that that's

12:33connected to the sewage board account.

12:35So a lot of important work there and I

12:37look forward to him presenting to the

12:38council on the 28th. uh Ahurser ADA

12:41coordinator uh both is kind of a

12:43frontline employee to kind of take a lot

12:45of the inbound questions, concerns that

12:48our residents have about ADA services

12:49with the city, but is also working with

12:51departments to make sure that they're

12:52fulfilling their duties and

12:53responsibilities. There's a big push uh

12:56right now with ITI because there's a lot

12:58of new guidelines from DOJ regarding the

13:00website and web and online services to

13:03make sure that they are set up for

13:04success by that deadline in April. Um,

13:06and then also making sure that we're

13:08doing basic trainings for all of our

13:10departments so that they're able to

13:12serve the needs of all of our citizens

13:13regardless of their accessibility.

13:17Uh, with that, I'll I'll take a break if

13:19there's questions. Happy to answer

13:21those.

13:21>> Yeah, I have a couple questions. Um the

13:24first is the presentation notes about 4

13:28million 91657

13:31as the total for the 2026 budget, but

13:34the budget book has a discrepancy of

13:364.2. Do you know which is the correct

13:39number?

13:40>> What department codes are you looking at

13:42for the 2026 budget? Because the the

13:45what what department codes are you

13:47looking at?

13:47>> I'm looking at the budget book where it

13:49has their total amount of 4.2 into here

13:54and then on the presentation it's 4

13:57million.

13:59>> So it could be different department

14:00codes I can say. So the it could be

14:02different department codes that's

14:03included in here.

14:04>> Okay. I'll have uh Dominique get the

14:06department codes for you.

14:08>> Um

14:12the uh the staff situation. I get that

14:15you guys are down 20 people um but the

14:17variance is 224k.

14:20What is that variance like what's

14:23included in that

14:25>> for personnel?

14:26>> Yeah, during the course of the year um

14:28office of population demographics is a

14:30great example that was added in um we

14:32had some transition for some other

14:33staff. Uh Dr. Jenny Mains is is now as a

14:36special adviser the mayor under the

14:38office of the mayor when it was

14:39previously under economic development

14:41and so those transitions and and some

14:43coding with that led to that increase.

14:46>> Okay, I see you're just moving around

14:48personnel. Um, there are a couple,

14:51Brandy, to the point of about budget

14:52lines, there are a couple uh codes in

14:55Questica where the copers and printer

14:59releases are um different. It's like

15:02three different coding. I just assume

15:05that you guys are consolidating all of

15:07those.

15:09The leases for copers, the leases for

15:12we have some consolidated. Some of the

15:13expenses are in [clears throat] the

15:14mayor's office, some are looped together

15:15in the CEO's office. So we have looked

15:17at several different expenditures for

15:19both offices to try and figure out how

15:20to best realize costs.

15:22>> Okay. So we are trying to consolidate

15:23all of those

15:24>> trying. Yeah.

15:25>> Look, every penny counts. So um I know

15:27it sounds crazy, but we're all hoarding

15:30water and pens and paper, all the

15:34things. All right. Neighborhood

15:37engagement. Um

15:39how many people do we have in

15:40neighborhood engagement right now? So

15:43neighborhood engagement team has three

15:45and then we have two additional staffers

15:47um that do community engagement on Joe

15:50Wilson and Oliver Fletcher.

15:51>> Is that do you do you foresee um

15:54increasing those positions as we get

15:56into a better place?

15:58>> I would love to increase a lot of

15:59positions as we get.

16:01>> Yeah, clearly

16:01>> I I will tell you I I think the work

16:03they do is critical.

16:04>> Yeah. And I think when we talk about

16:06what our mission is and what we're

16:07trying to do, having those credible

16:09people out in the community that are

16:11organizing, leading on things like Civic

16:13Leadership Academy, um those are all

16:15really valuable assets for us, right? Um

16:16I think the challenge as always is as we

16:19get more resources, you want to be

16:21really thoughtful about where you are

16:22able to to deploy those. Um and you

16:26know, the reality is we have a lot of

16:27needs. Um and I look at communications.

16:29Jonah Gilmore is doing an incredible

16:30job. He's got two full-time people under

16:33him, right? you know, and you know, as

16:35we try to manage all the communication

16:36needs, the press conferences, uh,

16:39dealing with the media, I I'd love to

16:40get more support there. Um, again, going

16:42back to IGR and Chuck Tony, uh, Amber

16:45and Liz are incredible. I'd love to get

16:46him some more support there. And so, I

16:48think as we get to that better place,

16:50which I know we are all expected and

16:52guiding the city towards that, um, we're

16:54going to have to make some of those

16:55decisions.

16:56>> Yeah. I mean, last last administration,

16:58we had dedicated neighborhood engagement

17:01people for each district, which I

17:03thought was great. If we could get

17:05there, that would be awesome because it

17:06just takes the load off of our

17:07constituent services folks as well. Um,

17:10as you know, we each probably have four

17:12I have four and a half people. Um, the

17:15rest of us, you know, have five, six

17:16people trying to manage our offices. And

17:18so, it's it's always helpful to have

17:20that extra neighborhood engagement

17:22person.

17:22>> No, I I appreciate that. and and just

17:24know we've got a lot of our team

17:26dedicated to helping to support that.

17:27So, um Joseette Thompson um that that

17:30assists and is at the front desk, Leo,

17:32Maya, Oliver Fletcher, and then um

17:35Sophia Landry on my team that wears many

17:37hats. They are all actively responding

17:39to emails. A lot of times things are

17:40escalated from those constituent service

17:42folks and we're funning those up to the

17:44right contacts within the various

17:45departments, but um more would always

17:47help, right?

17:48>> Yeah. And and thank you to Oliver

17:50Fletcher who is a proud District B

17:51resident.

17:52>> Let's go. very engaged. Um, any

17:54questions for IGR? I don't Are your

17:57buttons working?

17:58>> I pressed it, but um,

18:01>> this system. All right. I see. I see. I

18:03see. Council member McCarron, Council

18:04Member Willard, Council Member Green.

18:07Well, thank you all for presenting. I'm

18:09just going to piggyback on what Council

18:10Member Harris said about neighborhood

18:12engagement. Um, we get asked like every

18:15single meeting, uh, every single

18:18neighborhood meeting like when is Elise

18:19coming back to neighborhood engagement?

18:21I know Ely is working hard at Department

18:23of Public Works. Um, but that it sort of

18:27just brings everything together and and

18:29threads that needle between council and

18:32administration. Um, and I know, you

18:34know, neighborhood engagement does great

18:35work. I spoke at their um their civic

18:38leadership academy. In fact, like I took

18:40that class several years ago and it's

18:42wonderful that they're able to still put

18:43that on. But um it would be a [snorts]

18:46huge huge help to our council offices if

18:49there were additional staffing there

18:51because you know the residents are so

18:54used to it. I mean they love us

18:56obviously but they like to have that

18:58connection. They felt like someone else

19:01from the administration was also

19:03attending their neighborhood meetings by

19:04by helping out and being there. So, um,

19:07whatever we can do to provide additional

19:09support and additional people there, um,

19:11would be very helpful from from my

19:14standpoint as a council member and as

19:16council member Harris just said. So,

19:17that's that's my one big thing today

19:20about neighborhood engagement. Um, and

19:22thank you guys. I see you all here.

19:24Appreciate all the work that you're

19:26doing.

19:26>> Thank you.

19:28>> Thank you, Council Member Willard.

19:29>> All right. Thank you. Um, Kevin, Renee,

19:32thank you guys for coming down today. Uh

19:34just a couple of questions. Um it it

19:37looks like the 27 budget has uh 27 12

19:42FTEEs

19:44um uh down 43 from this year. Were those

19:49positions that were that went unfilled

19:52and and were vacant or is that further

19:55reductions moving from 26 to 27?

19:58>> Sure. So some of that has to do with

20:01with the mayor change when she came into

20:03office. That's when some of the changes

20:05the majority are happened at the

20:07beginning of this year. Okay.

20:08>> Where the change is place. Yes.

20:11>> Okay. So those changes occurred already

20:14and we're just budgeting.

20:15>> There there are some that are also going

20:17to occur as we as Kevin alluded to some

20:20of the increase and decrease. So those

20:21numbers reflect the updates already.

20:24Correct.

20:24>> Okay.

20:26Uh for IGR, it looks like the budget may

20:29be increasing a little bit. It has

20:32personnel listed at 8 for 27. Um can can

20:38we get a list of who's included in that?

20:41>> Yeah, I'll I'll double check that. So,

20:44we can just update the org chart to

20:46reflect what area, but the org chart is

20:47listed there to count, but we can

20:49reflect which ones are in which area for

20:51budget codes. Yes.

20:52>> Okay. Yeah. It just it I didn't think we

20:54had that many people there. So if we can

20:56>> some of them that may not be an IGR

20:58different places like the front desk uh

21:00Miss Loretta she falls in that budget

21:02code. Got

21:04>> a coordinator as well falls under the

21:07IGR budget code. We can we can verify

21:09that and get you the correct.

21:10>> Okay. All right. That was that was my

21:12question. Thank you guys.

21:13>> Council member Green. I'd like to um add

21:16to the neighborhood engagement um

21:18discussion by just saying um thank you

21:21to the office of neighborhood

21:22engagement. On Saturday past, for

21:24example, I attended a seminar at the

21:28mosquito and termite and rodent control

21:30board with over 200 people and they

21:32heard from department heads. [laughter]

21:34Um they heard from the representatives

21:37who are put in place to make decisions

21:39in important areas. And just like last

21:42night with the number of people I had a

21:43chance to go to multiple nights out

21:46against crime, our citizens want to

21:48engage. Our residents want to engage.

21:51And neighborhood engagement. The name

21:53says what it does. It engages the

21:54neighborhoods and make sure that they

21:56understand and have access to

21:58information that can help them. So I'm

22:00willing to make some of the tough

22:01decisions that are going to have to be

22:02made. I know that it's been put on us

22:04and we'll have some discussion about it.

22:06But neighborhood engagement is an

22:08important process [clears throat] of

22:09making people feel that the city of New

22:11Orleans is willing to answer their

22:13questions and that in some respects that

22:14their tax dollars are being spent well.

22:17When you hear from in one day safety and

22:19permits and um the office of department

22:22of code enforcement and you hear from

22:25homeless services and strategies and you

22:27hear from police, you have a chance to

22:29know that all of those officers are

22:30doing something every day and that's

22:32what neighborhood engagement is good

22:33for. but also the Civic Leadership

22:35Academy. I encourage everyone who is

22:37watching to um consider applying for the

22:40Civic Leadership Academy. You get

22:41[clears throat] to know some things that

22:42you really have no reason to know other

22:44than because you're in the Civic

22:46Leadership Academy. And the neighborhood

22:48engagement office does a great thing.

22:49Three people is just not enough. just

22:52not enough because I know what the

22:53citizens and residents want and I'm

22:55going to do everything that I can to

22:56make sure that we can along with other

22:58council members make sure that that

23:00office can get some additional staffing

23:02because it's such an important role that

23:04they play.

23:05>> Thank you for that and thank you for

23:07mentioning the Civic Leadership Academy.

23:08I had a chance to talk with those folks

23:09last year at the graduation ceremony and

23:12you're seeing the next generation of

23:13leaders, right? I know council member

23:14Karen mentioned she went through it and

23:16I know we're we're both proud YC alumni,

23:18but having more opportunities to grow

23:20leaders from our city is critical. Um,

23:22and I know we divide our city up into

23:23council districts, but this is a city

23:25neighborhoods. We know that, right? They

23:27each have their own nature and culture

23:28um and leadership within those

23:30neighborhoods. And so that's always

23:31going to be a focus for us. How do we

23:33engage at the neighborhood level, build

23:34those relationships, and make sure we're

23:36meeting the needs of our residents?

23:38>> Over 200 people last Saturday. no media

23:40there, so you don't have that big story

23:42on the front page. 200 people showed up

23:44on a Saturday because they wanted to

23:46learn more about what was going on in

23:48the various departments. To those who

23:49were in attendance, I applaud that

23:51because that's exactly what's needed.

23:53Social media has its limits, but there's

23:55nothing like going to an event, seeing

23:57the people, and asking them direct

23:58questions. And that's what neighborhood

24:00engagement provides, an opportunity to

24:02have that done. So, I'll work with you

24:03on that and council members to help to

24:06staff that office.

24:07>> Thank you, Council Member. Council

24:09member Harris, I have an answer to your

24:10question.

24:11>> Thank you.

24:11>> This budget presentation presents the

24:13mayor's office core, intergovernmental

24:15relations, communications, and

24:17neighborhood engagement. The number

24:18you're referring to includes other areas

24:20that are not being presented today. So

24:22last year, that would have been like our

24:24contingency fund. We don't we never

24:25present that fund. It's not a request

24:27from the council. We had international

24:30affirms last year. That is not currently

24:31part of the mayor's core. Office of

24:34Human Rights and Equity is included in

24:36that number. And also equity news. So

24:38that's why I asked the budget code. So

24:39this is only the budget codes for these

24:41areas specified here.

24:43>> Okay, I got it. Thanks

24:46with that. Uh, thank you all.

24:49>> Thank you all.

24:50>> Up next is the law department.

24:59[clears throat]

25:06I can't tell

25:09you.

25:37Good morning.

25:37>> The floor is yours.

25:42>> So, today we have the pleasure of

25:45presenting the law department's budget

25:48for the 2027

25:50uh budget year.

25:52Uh just wanted to say first of all,

25:55thank you so much for all of your

25:57engagement, for your outreach to the

26:01office um and for helping my accelerated

26:05learning um in this role in these past n

26:10months. Um we are very engaged, very

26:14focused on the mission and we are you

26:19know hoping to make some additional

26:21progress and build on the successes that

26:23we've had so far this year. So

26:27um this is the org chart for the law

26:30department as it currently sits as of

26:32October 1st. Uh we have approximately 50

26:3756 members of the law department

26:39including attorneys and non- attorney

26:42staff. Um there are two people currently

26:46on leave of absence because they're

26:48running for office and um they are

26:52taking a leave of absence. There's one

26:55person represented on this chart that

26:57has um indicated there is a resignation,

27:03a a departure that's anticipated. So,

27:06we're going to be looking to fill that

27:07spot. Um but we have

27:12I wanted to introduce just some members

27:14of the team. We have a very leaderful

27:16team. My first and most consequential

27:20hire is my partner in justice, the

27:23senior chief deputy city attorney

27:25Gwyneith O'Neal, who is uh to my left.

27:28We have uh some division chiefs. The

27:33in-house division is led by Missywigley,

27:36who is another uh rehire of mine. She

27:41was formerly in the law department um

27:43and currently leads our in-house team.

27:45Missy Quigley, we have a vacancy as the

27:48chief of contracts at the moment. Um,

27:50[clears throat] but a senior member of

27:52the contracts team, Sarah Wellman McKay,

27:55is the acting chief of the contracts

27:58division.

28:00We have the chief of litigation, Corwin

28:04St. Raymond, who is as reliable as they

28:07come, has been a very steady hand in the

28:10law department. He is with us. We have

28:13the chief of municipal and traffic,

28:15Dmitri Ford, who is here, the chief

28:19deputy of the division of housing and

28:22code enforcement in the law department,

28:23not to be confused with the department

28:25of code enforcement, um which is

28:28different from the division of code

28:29enforcement in the law department,

28:31Latifah Harris. And there's a new

28:33division that I started uh in the law

28:36department um which is special projects

28:40um and we promoted internally William Go

28:44forth to fulfill that position.

28:47aspirationally the division of special

28:50projects would um oversee for instance

28:56offensive litigation

28:58uh where we're not just always you know

29:01on our heels aspirationally we do desire

29:05to build a division of the law

29:07department that seeks to enforce the

29:10city's rights that seeks to claim all

29:13the funds that are due to the city that

29:15seeks to actually um

29:19you know create revenue in the law

29:21department. Uh we

29:24am going to share with you all a phrase

29:26I'm teaching my 9-year-old daughter

29:28which is read the room.

29:31We're very cognizant of the financial

29:33status of the city of New Orleans. So

29:36while we have our mission to maintain

29:41the

29:43work that we're responsible for

29:45currently, we have an aspirational goal

29:48to move past triage, to move past

29:51managing what's before us and actually

29:54build um a law department that is

29:57proactive, that is able to see around

30:00corners, that is able to uh train

30:03departments to reduce exposure to ex to

30:07reduce liability to actually implement

30:10best practices before we um have trends

30:15bubbling up that indicate there's an

30:16issue but just to be proactive in in

30:19instituting and implementing best

30:21practices. Um so that's where we are.

30:29I will say looking at our budget it

30:33seems to indicate that there's a

30:35variance where there's an increase but

30:38really this budget maintains the status

30:41quo and I want to explain that we have

30:44the I'm going to just do this in one I

30:46know there are two slides one that shows

30:48general fund dollars and one that shows

30:51non-general fund dollars but I'm going

30:53to explain it just kind of combining

30:56those those monies so that you have the

30:59full

31:00personnel dollars, both general fund and

31:03non-general fund. If you add

31:07the 1.3 that's on the non-general fund

31:10to the 2026 budget, it says our current

31:12budget is about 6.2 million for

31:15personnel.

31:17And the proposed budget for 2027 is

31:20approximately $7.2 million. So this

31:24variance at the bottom 971,000

31:28when it's added the variance from the

31:30non-general 47,000 [clears throat]

31:33it's it appears that there's an increase

31:35in the budget of about a million dollar

31:37for personnel and I want you to know

31:40that that does not actually represent an

31:42increase in headcount or personnel

31:45that represents coverage of longevity

31:49increases. So, people who will hit the

31:51one-year mark in the law department,

31:53people who will hit subsequent 10-year

31:57longevity increases, that budgeted

31:59amount covers that. It it covers

32:02increases in health care costs. Um and I

32:06did implement some very modest salary

32:10adjustments in the first quarter when I

32:13started because I was agast at some of

32:18the salaries for the for the law

32:19department personnel as I view them as

32:22being um under market. So

32:26aspirationally we do need more personnel

32:29in the law department more actual people

32:32doing the law department work. this does

32:35not represent that. That is an

32:36indication of the financial situation

32:40that we're in. Not [clears throat] that

32:41we don't need additional personnel. And

32:43I wanted to make that clear.

32:45Um there is for other operating a

32:49variance there as well that seems to to

32:52show an increase. On the bottom of the

32:54general fund, it shows $763,000.

32:59Um,

33:00this is representative of the known

33:04already committed settlements that we

33:07have to pay out in 2027.

33:10It it does show uh an increase of about

33:14$125,000

33:16that budgets into the law department

33:19budget um some funds for the division of

33:23housing and code enforcement. That's

33:25money that we need to to record leans

33:28that we need to record other things um

33:32associated with the housing and code

33:34enforcement division that was not in the

33:372026 budget and leaves us in a position

33:39to have to

33:42to ask for that money where it doesn't

33:45exist. So this is forwardlooking in

33:47terms of just covering the basics.

33:51I wanted to just go ahead and talk about

33:54the key components here. We are

33:57prioritizing it is one of my priority

34:01priorities to staff the department and

34:04reduce reliance and outside counsel.

34:07We've actually already accomplished

34:08[clears throat] that this year because

34:11we have dramatically reduced new

34:14engagements of outside counsel. Um, we

34:18engaged one law firm for Florida

34:21litigation um in connection with just a

34:25jurisdictional issue that could not be

34:27covered by the law department. Other

34:30than that new engagement and one

34:32offensive litigation uh that's, you

34:35know, intended to uh bring revenue uh to

34:39the city of New Orleans. Outside of

34:41that, all of the law department work,

34:44all of the legal work has been completed

34:47entirely in-house [clears throat] by the

34:49team that we have. Um, we're limited in

34:53capacity because of our personnel. Um,

34:57we don't have enough people, like I

34:59said, to get into some of the proactive

35:00work that we'd like to get into. And so,

35:02this remains one of our priorities. But,

35:05like I said, I'm I'm teaching my

35:079-year-old daughter how to read the

35:09room. and we too are reading the budget,

35:12reading the context that we're in. Um,

35:15so I didn't want there to be confusion

35:18about not having a big ass from the law

35:21department indicating that we don't have

35:24a big ass. We do. We just know now is

35:26not necessarily the right time for that

35:28ass to be made. Our second priority on

35:32the personnel side is to rightsize the

35:34compensation of current and prospective

35:37staff to be more competitive with the

35:39market and also to retain and attract

35:42out outstanding talent. So I've made a

35:46couple of observations in my nine months

35:48so far in the law department.

35:50One of them is that there seems to be a

35:54cap on what compensation someone can

35:57earn in the law department. uh but but

36:00when they land somewhere else in the

36:02building whether it's council staff or

36:04otherwise

36:06um that cap is removed they are able to

36:10be compensated differently uh for the

36:13same skill sets for the same experience

36:16um and I think that's problematic I

36:18think it creates a disincentive for

36:20retention in the law department I think

36:23it creates a vacuum of tenured talent in

36:26the law department and that's something

36:27that I I I I

36:31will not perpetuate

36:33um in my tenure. It's not something that

36:35I will countenance. So I think uh we

36:40ought to compensate the people who are

36:42doing the work in the law department

36:44commiserate with the market um for that

36:47work. We've done some research using uh

36:50the International Municipal Lawyers

36:53Association um numbers for comparative

36:58comparative uh jurisdictions,

37:00comparative sizes of law department,

37:02comparative tenure um and particularly

37:05for the more experienced members of the

37:07law department there needs to be some

37:09salary adjustment there.

37:12We've also seen this play out in terms

37:14of our ability to attract top market

37:18outstanding talent which the law

37:21department has a lot of interesting work

37:23to do. Um there's a lot of consequential

37:26work to do. It's a source of pride for

37:28all the members of the law department.

37:30And so I haven't found a big challenge

37:34necessarily with people being interested

37:37in being employed by the law department.

37:39the challenge becomes when it's time to

37:42make an offer and acceptance. And so if

37:45you have um someone who's 3 years out of

37:49law school making $160,000

37:52uh um at a law firm, it's a it's a

37:55rational and difficult proposition for

37:57them to leave that and come to uh a

38:00dramatically reduced salary. Um the

38:03notion that

38:05government work is somehow less valuable

38:09is somehow

38:11uh less difficult is somehow a cushy

38:16role I I I don't think is accurate. Um I

38:22think it's really meaningful work. We

38:24have a very good work environment. I

38:27think it's an attractive place to work

38:29and so the economical uh proposition of

38:33making an offer that's going to be

38:35accepted I think just needs to be right

38:37sized with the market. Uh finally on the

38:40personnel side um we have made I think

38:45really significant headway in

38:47[clears throat]

38:49um building a culture inside the law

38:52department that is conducive to building

38:55a strong um advocacy group for the

39:00interests of the city of New Orleans. Um

39:03we continue to do that work. We are we

39:07are establishing and reinforcing high

39:10professional standards and quality work

39:13product. Now that Rome is wasn't built

39:16in a day. That that can't necessarily

39:18all be accomplished in 9 months. But I

39:21think we've made some really great

39:23progress and we want to continue that

39:26momentum. And so, um, that's our our

39:30largest, you know, priority internally

39:32is just to continue to reinforce the

39:34culture that we're one team. We take our

39:38clients very seriously, this council,

39:40um, the administration and and the

39:43interest of the residents of the city of

39:45New Orleans.

39:47In the other operating

39:50um

39:51there is one significant new addition to

39:54the other operating budget and that is

39:57for the law department to acquire proper

40:00legal um case management and document

40:04management software. We've been hobbling

40:07along with this G Drive situation. Um I

40:11don't know why for as long as it has.

40:14It's it's just completely out of pace

40:17with what modern legal practice is. And

40:21that is something that

40:24we endeavor to uh acquire in the 2027

40:29budget year is case management, document

40:32management software. It's going to make

40:34it a lot easier for us to do our work.

40:37It's going to make the law department a

40:38lot more efficient. Um there are other

40:41technological uh solutions that I think

40:45would benefit the law department but

40:47again reading the room

40:50um it's not necessarily the time to make

40:52those asks. I think we can continue to

40:54work within the budget that we have for

40:57example um with the public record system

41:00that we have next request um but that

41:03also frankly needs a second look. we we

41:06there are other products and software

41:09services online that can make that a

41:11much more uh efficient process and uh

41:14that's something that I think we need to

41:16take a look at although it's not

41:18currently in the 2027 other operating

41:20budget. Um, and then to me the really

41:24kind of lowhanging fruit that if we had

41:26the personnel capacity and and time

41:30would be to proactively counsel

41:32departments around certain trends that

41:35we've noticed that that um would reduce

41:38the city's exposure um just to be more

41:42proactive of when policies or practices

41:45are being implemented for law department

41:47personnel to be engaged on the front

41:49end. And um this goes to just getting

41:53additional training opportunities for

41:55boards and commissions for departments

41:57and and really trying to proactively

41:59implement best practices so that um you

42:04know we're operating at optimal capacity

42:07and doing the things that um I think are

42:10are smart to do.

42:13This is the non-general fund budget that

42:17I was just basically covering as a whole

42:20with the general fund budget. You'll

42:22notice that there's a flat 2 million

42:24every year on the other operating that

42:26represents the uh judgment fund. Um

42:33we we are um working on that judgment

42:38fund list. The data that was presented

42:42during transition

42:44um we are working to confirm. We are

42:48currently [clears throat]

42:50making some um offers to people early

42:53out on that judgment list and have

42:56executed on some of those. This fund um

43:00should roll over what's not used in my

43:03view should roll over to that judgment

43:05fund for the 2027 year. Um, and that's

43:08something that we're working on. That is

43:12one of my big goals is to try to make

43:14some headway there because I I think

43:17that is an important constituent

43:20commitment. Um, when we are found at

43:23fault for things, I think we ought to

43:25pay those judgments uh efficiently and

43:27timely, and that's something that we're

43:29working on. So, um, we'll have an update

43:32for for what was presented to the

43:35council um, back in August. um coming up

43:38here soon.

43:41So, accomplishments.

43:44I want to say one of the one of the

43:47things I'm really really proud of and I

43:50think is a really great example of the

43:52culture in the law department currently

43:55and the way in which I am leading the

43:58team to operate optimally. The first

44:01bullet point says, "We have filed the

44:04first ever fully in-house city attorney

44:08office executed petition for a writ of

44:12cersiari filed to the US Supreme Court

44:15on an issue of critical uh importance to

44:18New Orleans voters.

44:21This is a a huge undertaking. It it

44:24required um 11 people in the law

44:28department to do it to the standard that

44:30that is representative of great legal

44:34advocacy. Um the senior chief deputy

44:36Gwyneith O'Neal took the laboring or to

44:38lead that work. But you know that took

44:42um a lot of members of the law

44:44department to review um to do the

44:48research necessary and to put our best

44:50foot forward. This is also a great

44:53example of um under my leadership,

44:58what we view as critically important to

45:01the citizens of New Orleans is what

45:04we're going to do. Um I've heard talk of

45:08the odds of that writ.

45:12And frankly, that did not factor into my

45:14calculus to do that work because as I um

45:19say to the law department all the time,

45:21doing the right thing for the right

45:23reason is is motive enough to take the

45:26appropriate steps. Um the second thing

45:29um the municipal and traffic court

45:32diversion program. Um this is another

45:35thing that I find is is is a benefit to

45:38the constituents and the residents. you

45:40know, for offenders of lowlevel vi

45:44nonviolent offenses,

45:46um sometimes people just need

45:47interventions, whether it's health,

45:50whether it's um addiction, um support so

45:55that they can um get back on track with

45:57their lives. Um there are certain things

46:00that if they're not handled

46:01appropriately really can derail a life,

46:04an entire family and and lead to

46:09bad outcomes that are

46:12have significant ripple effects. So this

46:15diversion program is something that I

46:17think is um very helpful and

46:19constructive to make change, positive

46:22change. Um the third thing I want to

46:25highlight is we've had several victories

46:27in litigation in all the courts. Um and

46:31again I think that is attributable to

46:35good work, good advocacy research. uh we

46:39have some some more work to do there,

46:41but I think we're building momentum and

46:44and really the thing I talked about when

46:46I was um before this body at the outset

46:49of my tenure um just really building a

46:53reputation

46:54with the courts that the law department

46:57does great work. We are staffed with

46:59professionals who have the appropriate

47:01skill sets to do that work and uh

47:04frankly building internally in the

47:06culture the fact that how any one of us

47:09does our work reflects on all of us. Um

47:13so that everybody knows no matter what

47:15your role is whether you're an attorney

47:17whether you're a support staff what your

47:20function is important and it it it does

47:24um kind of reflect on the entire team.

47:27public records requests resolved so far

47:30in 2026

47:33exceed 20,000. Um we have formal this is

47:37the in-house team who are doing year

47:39men's work. Um this is something that I

47:43again is one of those things that uh

47:45aspirationally we're going to be focused

47:48on. We're going to continue to work at

47:50it. But it does take a lot of resources

47:52in the law department. It does take a

47:54lot of personnel, not just the law

47:56department. It takes up a lot of time

47:58from the IT department who has to do the

48:01electronic searches. This is a process

48:04that um is not reflected in the

48:08statutory scheme for um and has not

48:11really kept pace with the way in which

48:14people seek public records and and and

48:18and obtain them. So, I think that's

48:20something that's that's uh worthy of

48:23conversation. and it's worthy of

48:24continued focus outside of the law

48:26department with the legislature, but um

48:28we're doing a lot of work in that um in

48:31that area. And then finally, working to

48:35identify and deploy, this goes back to

48:37just being proactive strategies to

48:40enforce the city's rights and claims to

48:42potentially increase revenue. We want to

48:44get to a point where we're off our

48:47heels, not really being in a defensive

48:49posture and really going after um the

48:52legal work that'll bring um

48:56revenues to the city.

49:00I won't talk at you anymore. I feel like

49:02I've talked a long time. I want to leave

49:04some space for you all to ask me

49:05questions. So, um with that,

49:10>> thank you. Um uh I have some questions

49:13and council member Morald does too. I

49:14first I want to um commend you. I think

49:17that there has been a sea change in the

49:19law department um from last

49:21administration and I think that comes

49:23from good leadership and actually um

49:26respecting the attorneys and respecting

49:28the fact that um they do a lot of hard

49:32work and they aren't necessarily getting

49:35paid what they should. So I want to

49:37compliment you on looking at comparative

49:39data. and not just that

49:44in the past. So, um I'm excited that you

49:48were able to increase some of the

49:49salaries, but you are not market yet,

49:53are you?

49:54>> We are. We are not. I would say um for

49:57the less experienced people in the

49:59[clears throat] law department, we're

50:01closer to that mark. The average um for

50:05people out of law school 0 to two years

50:09um is around

50:1387,500

50:15according to the independent data that

50:16we've looked at. Um we are there close

50:21to that mark. The variance really comes

50:24in when you get to 2 to 5 years out of

50:27law school. the average is 110,000

50:31111,000

50:33um 5 to 10 years out of law school the

50:36average is 120,000

50:40121,000

50:4210 to 20 years out of law school the

50:45average for comparative data is around

50:49145,000

50:51deputies managers the average is around

50:55170,000 we're like well below market.

50:58So, so ironically, the people who have

51:04built their careers serving the people

51:06of New Orleans the way this this data

51:10looks are the people who are most um

51:15undercompensated comparatively speaking

51:18and I think that needs to be addressed.

51:20>> Yeah. No, I I agree with you and this is

51:22something I've been harping on for the

51:23past four years. I think that um your

51:25attorneys need to be paid more and I my

51:29understanding is they also have to pay

51:30their own bar dues, right?

51:32>> Well, we did cover their bar dues this

51:35year.

51:36>> Fantastic.

51:37>> We do. We do for the state of Louisiana.

51:40Um I don't think we have many people who

51:42are licensed in other jurisdictions. Um

51:45but we did cover the bar dues for

51:46Louisiana this year. It's it's included

51:48in the budget.

51:49>> That's a step forward. So I know that um

51:51in the past those dues hadn't been

51:52covered. So that's positive, too. Look,

51:55I think you're on a a good trajectory. I

51:58I've told you this privately and I've

52:00said it publicly that the working at the

52:02city of New Orleans used to be a

52:04prestige job. Um I think you're getting

52:07there. I think that that fell off for a

52:10second, but I think that you're you're

52:11getting that reputation back and you can

52:13see that by the victories that you're

52:14having um in the court. So I think

52:17that's really exciting. I also think

52:18it's exciting to get a document system

52:20that actually is not Google Docs.

52:24>> Yes. Um

52:26there there are a few things that will

52:30will not be named in this context that I

52:33find super puzzling. for as long as the

52:37city of New Orleans has existed, for as

52:39long as the law department has been in

52:41operation, um that I just think are

52:46unacceptable. I I think it's it's, you

52:49know, to to our detriment, to the city's

52:52detriment, to the citizens detriment.

52:54And so,

52:56um, as there are a few Charleneisms that

52:59have seeped into the law department, one

53:00of them is I will never accept

53:02dysfunction as normal. the things that I

53:05I think are dysfunctional um where we're

53:09really working to address and to

53:11amilarate and and it's it's not for

53:14comfort, it's for professionalism. It's

53:17for results. It's for what I think the

53:20city deserves, what I think our clients

53:23deserve, and and it's the it's the right

53:27thing to do.

53:28>> Yeah, I agree. And it also helps you

53:30attract talent when you have systems

53:32that actually work and make sense and

53:34you have a database of documents and

53:36forms and things that real law firms

53:39actually have. So again, I commend you

53:41on looking forward uh forward thinking

53:43on that part and not just accepting

53:45status quo. You and I did talk about um

53:48starting back up the intern extern

53:50program. Can you just touch on that?

53:53>> Um yes. So

53:56transparently

53:58um from where we were starting from

54:01where we're starting

54:03um

54:05in the context of triaging like the

54:08really critical important first steps um

54:12that was one of the things that we're

54:14like we we'll get to this right now. We

54:18have to make sure that the litigation

54:20that we have on the docket that the you

54:23know contracts that we have in stream

54:25that the support that the departments

54:27need um that we're working on those

54:30things but frankly

54:33in order to have a sustained pipeline of

54:36talent in order to build that

54:40anticipation that um that the law

54:43department is a really excellent place

54:45to work. Um, we have to start with uh

54:49where lawyers are are produced and

54:52that's with the law schools. And so we

54:56are

54:56>> I thought you were going to make a

54:57lawyer joke right there.

54:59>> Excuse me.

54:59>> I I thought you were going to make a

55:00lawyer joke right there.

55:01>> No, no, no. [laughter]

55:03Um, we're we're we uh don't like to take

55:06ourselves too seriously, but I do I do

55:09take I think this is super important.

55:11So, we're we are actively um reaching

55:15out to all of the law schools. Um we're

55:18in the process of setting up uh

55:20personnel to participate in um you know,

55:23some of the programs where it's uh

55:26career day on campus or um some of the

55:30um just with other employers, with other

55:33private employers to participate on

55:35campus to let uh folks know that the law

55:37department is a great place, a great

55:39option. uh particularly for people who

55:42want consequential

55:45um you know work uh litigation that's

55:48very interesting in all of the courts in

55:50the state and the city um and and also

55:55really interesting contract work as well

55:58um that engages the the mind and and and

56:02really has a a great team to work with.

56:05So, we're we're starting to to build

56:07that program up and and hopefully we'll

56:10strengthen those relationships for the

56:12future.

56:12>> Thank you. Uh, Council Member Moral.

56:16>> Thank you, Madam Chairwoman. Uh, I just

56:18want to begin. Obviously, we had this

56:20conversation when you were appointed,

56:22but um, you are the first city attorney

56:25appointed postcharter amendment to

56:27really restructure the relationship

56:30between the city attorney, the council,

56:32and the mayor. Mhm.

56:33>> And I can say in this first year, you

56:37and Gwen Effort really embodied what I

56:39envisioned when I authored that

56:40amendment in so far as you have had the

56:43city's best interest at heart every

56:46single time. Now, that has not been

56:48without conflict because, as you know,

56:50sometimes politicians have a certain

56:52opinion, uh, particularly different

56:54legal opinions, and we have to duke that

56:57out behind closed doors. But I can say

57:00with absolute certainty that the two of

57:02you have represented in every single

57:05exchange what is the city's best

57:07interest and made really the politics go

57:11on the way side and that we have to

57:12always go back to what is the city's

57:15best interest. I just want to start with

57:16that because I have been very excited to

57:19work with both of you over this last

57:20year. Now, I know that we talk generally

57:24about your wins, but I mean, we had a

57:26pretty tremendous win yesterday in the

57:27Wisner litigation. And I point that out

57:30because had someone like you been there,

57:33there never would have been a Worner

57:35litigation.

57:37>> Um,

57:38>> because there's no there's no logical

57:41legal reason why the city would ever

57:44enter an agreement to get less money

57:47from an asset that they had full access

57:50to. Yeah. Um, again, I will I will say

57:55I can't speak to how some of these

57:58decisions have been made historically.

58:01Um,

58:04some some calls I think are very clear

58:08where the city's interest is concerned.

58:11Um, and I would say to you, Council

58:14Member Rel, I very much appreciate the

58:18space that the law department has been

58:21given to make those calls. And so I

58:24don't know if that environment always

58:26existed. Um, but the ability to be able

58:30to say in my professional opinion, this

58:33is what is in the best interest of the

58:35of the city of New Orleans. this is

58:37what's legally supported by the law has

58:42to also be reciprocal. So the ability to

58:45make that decision largely devoid of

58:48political influence of political

58:51pressure is something that helps us to

58:53do our job well. And so I can speak to

58:56that environment being in existence now.

58:58I don't know if it's always been that

59:00way, but I'm very proud of

59:04the fact that the the course was stayed

59:07on this front and that the the court has

59:09recognized the the fact that that trust

59:12terminated a long time ago. Um,

59:15additionally, um, I wanted to highlight

59:18the fact that I know that you guys have

59:20been more active than I've only had the

59:22experience of two city attorneys, but

59:24you guys have been quite active in

59:26interacting with both the council and

59:28departments on opinions and kind of

59:30giving guidance. Um, thank you. Missy's

59:32out there. She's our interaction with

59:34the city attorney's office. But I think

59:36it's important because when you have a

59:39well-led

59:41and an independent city attorney's

59:43office that gives distinct and supported

59:47legal opinions, what the public doesn't

59:49realize is that avoids litigation

59:51because when you have people I mean I

59:54can tell you as a legislator, we used to

59:56joke I know Matt has heard this many a

59:58time when we'd see a colleague do

1:00:00something that was obviously like have

1:00:02an or a a bill that obviously

1:00:05unconstitutional and the and the

1:00:08staffers would not tell them that that

1:00:10is obviously unconstitutional and then

1:00:12that bill would get passed. You'd end up

1:00:14in litigation that would cost millions

1:00:16of dollars and then lose. That bill gets

1:00:18paid by somebody. And so I appreciate

1:00:20that you guys have been very proactive

1:00:22in instructing um departments,

1:00:25instructing council members, instructing

1:00:26everyone on when we do things, saying,

1:00:28"Well, let's make sure that what we're

1:00:29doing falls within the charter or just

1:00:32being proactive in those engagements."

1:00:34Um, I know that I would be remiss if I

1:00:37didn't highlight something else that you

1:00:38guys inherited, [clears throat] which is

1:00:39that you guys have really been trying to

1:00:41rebuild a bench because, uh, you entered

1:00:43a city attorney's office where morale

1:00:45was very low, where a tremendous amount

1:00:47of people in the last year and a half of

1:00:49that office left. And part of what the

1:00:53public doesn't understand when we're

1:00:55talking to contractors who aren't being

1:00:56paid and the like, when you don't have

1:00:58attorneys to read contracts, contracts

1:01:00can't get processed. And I know that you

1:01:02guys have really stood up a lot

1:01:04[clears throat] of that and gotten that

1:01:05working. Uh to that end, I know that

1:01:07we've had robust conversations about

1:01:09salaries.

1:01:10>> Um it's really a supply and demand

1:01:14argument in that there is a market rate

1:01:17for an attorney with a certain level of

1:01:19experience to do a certain job.

1:01:20>> Yeah.

1:01:21>> And I know just could you give us a

1:01:23little bit of a highlight? I know you

1:01:24talked about you did a bit of a salary

1:01:25adjustment when you came in. Yeah.

1:01:27>> Did you find that when you came in that

1:01:30we were offering the market rate for

1:01:32attorneys doing certain jobs?

1:01:34>> No. No. Uh I

1:01:40I really think uh we have people in the

1:01:43law department who care about the work

1:01:45that they do. Um and and so sometimes

1:01:50that makes you stay in a job that you

1:01:52could otherwise leave. And so that is

1:01:56one of the reasons I'm really respectful

1:01:58of my colleagues in the law department

1:02:00because through a very difficult period

1:02:04there are folks who remained under in

1:02:08ideal circumstances because they hold a

1:02:11certain perspective about the job that

1:02:13they have and the responsibility that

1:02:15they have. Um, and I think those those

1:02:18uh those people are are probably carry

1:02:21some some PTSD from from living through

1:02:24the last few months. Um,

1:02:27I don't I I I don't think we are, you

1:02:31know,

1:02:34I don't think that we are

1:02:39not treating people appropriately. I do

1:02:42think there ought to be some salary

1:02:45adjustments and so I do think there are

1:02:49are things that need to be addressed in

1:02:52time with the appropriate supported uh

1:02:56uh data which we are collecting. Um and

1:02:59at the same time fairly transparently

1:03:02what I tell the people in the law

1:03:04department is accountability comes to us

1:03:06all. So while I'm here as an advocate

1:03:10for my team to say we ought to pay

1:03:13professionals appropriately with the

1:03:15market, I also hold my team accountable

1:03:18to the time that they give to the city,

1:03:20to the way in which they approach their

1:03:22work. And so,

1:03:25um, I want to say we we we are engaged

1:03:29in real feedback conversations about

1:03:32where I think a standard ought to be and

1:03:36where there might be deficiencies or

1:03:39where people fall short. There's there's

1:03:41a thing where people get promoted to

1:03:44leadership and they're responsible for

1:03:47other people's careers, but they've

1:03:48never been trained to be leaders of

1:03:51other people's careers. And that's a

1:03:53failure of an organization, not the

1:03:55failure of that person. So the last time

1:03:59I was before you, I talked about a book

1:04:01that I bought for everybody with my own

1:04:02money called Impact Players. There's

1:04:05another book that I'm reading now called

1:04:07Adaptive Leadership, and it talks about

1:04:11how you do what you do well with the

1:04:15resources that you have in consideration

1:04:18of other people's growth potential. Um,

1:04:21and so

1:04:23I have a lot of grace for people who are

1:04:27put in leadership who are not equipped

1:04:30for leadership. And so before I demote

1:04:33somebody, before I relieve somebody of

1:04:36their duties,

1:04:38one of the things I hold myself

1:04:39accountable to is have I given that

1:04:42person fair and clear feedback for where

1:04:45their deficiencies lie? have we offered

1:04:49them the sp supports that they need to

1:04:51rise to the occasion. Um, and so yes,

1:04:57our pay scales need adjustments and yes,

1:05:00we need internal leadership training.

1:05:03I'm so glad to hear Council Member Green

1:05:05uh give a shout out to the resources

1:05:07that we have in internally about, you

1:05:10know, investing in your own leadership,

1:05:12investing in your own skill set. And so

1:05:15there is accountability that comes along

1:05:17with that and we ought to pay people

1:05:19market salary so that we can retain the

1:05:21talent that we have and that we can

1:05:23attract outstanding top tier talent from

1:05:26the market.

1:05:27>> Well, can you give us so part of what I

1:05:30think it might be lacking and something

1:05:32we might have to work on together is

1:05:34when we look at departments and we look

1:05:35at prioritizing their funding a lot of

1:05:37it I mean I'll use finance for example

1:05:40when it comes to a tax auditor. A tax

1:05:42auditor has a 4.6 6 ROI per position

1:05:45because they generate more money than

1:05:48they cost.

1:05:50>> And there are fundamental parts of how

1:05:52city government works. I'll give you an

1:05:53example. Um we have a tremendous amount

1:05:56of citizens who are very upset about the

1:05:59state of blighted property.

1:06:00>> Yeah. And ultimately for most blighted

1:06:04property because you have landlords or

1:06:06owners who've largely abandoned or game

1:06:08the system, the ultimate

1:06:12fate of such property is typically the

1:06:14city gets enough leans to eventually

1:06:17acquire the property.

1:06:18>> And the law department is part of that

1:06:22process. And so something I would really

1:06:24encourage you and kind of challenge you

1:06:25to do is look at where the law

1:06:27department impacts the ability for the

1:06:30city to raise revenue

1:06:32>> and really try to calculate what that

1:06:36ROI is cuz I do believe if you look at

1:06:38whether it's paying contractors on time

1:06:41u I mean you can't really quantify the

1:06:43ridiculous amount of public records

1:06:45requests you get but with things like

1:06:47>> I mean right now we're in the middle of

1:06:49litigation with Civic Source which is a

1:06:51tremendous this massive problem. For

1:06:54those of you who don't know, um I'll

1:06:56give a brief overview. Civic Source was

1:06:59the uh contractor that was in charge of

1:07:02processing property sales, one of their

1:07:04many roles. And there was a disconnect

1:07:09where we had individuals who had paid

1:07:11and gone through the process to acquire

1:07:12property and the property was never

1:07:15transferred. and it created a backlog

1:07:17which eventually led to

1:07:20uh purchasers reaching out to the city

1:07:22saying why don't I have this property

1:07:23and the city not being aware of

1:07:25transaction had happened. Um I say that

1:07:27because it's created largely a stalemate

1:07:30or a stall in doing sales and

1:07:33acquisitions of things like private

1:07:34property.

1:07:36It's important that when you have a

1:07:39wellstaffed and well put together city

1:07:41attorney's office, you guys are working

1:07:43to resolve that through litigation,

1:07:46>> but a wellfunded and well put together

1:07:49this could be litigation if mishandled

1:07:51could last years.

1:07:53>> Y

1:07:53>> can you give us kind of an update kind

1:07:55of generally where it is?

1:08:00Um, I'm going to I'm going to ask

1:08:02Gwyneth to address that question, but

1:08:04before I do, I want to say because we're

1:08:07in litigation,

1:08:08>> right? I know you can't give the

1:08:09[laughter] whole you can't give us the

1:08:10whole just like I'm not looking for an

1:08:12in-depth just kind of like for those

1:08:14very frustrated homeowners who have made

1:08:16purchases. I just tell you, you know, I

1:08:20will say this. You know, when you're

1:08:22dealing with people who have converted

1:08:24funds to which they were not entitled,

1:08:27it's it's hard to manage for

1:08:33activity that is not contemplated by the

1:08:36contract. So, I'm not going to make

1:08:38excuses for contractors who

1:08:41uh don't do the work that they're

1:08:44contracted to do. and in fact um uh take

1:08:48liberties with funds to which they're

1:08:51not entitled. Um I take your point that

1:08:56ultimately we do have to work through

1:08:58the stalemate as you put it um to make

1:09:01people whole. There are some contracting

1:09:05um uh processes underway for us to to

1:09:10make good on the obligations of the city

1:09:12on some of those things that are left

1:09:14undone. And part of the work that we

1:09:17have unfortunately is to decipher the

1:09:20shambles that civic source left. Um to

1:09:23to disentangle that ball of wax so that

1:09:26we can and make those uh make those

1:09:29appropriate obligations be satisfied as

1:09:32they were to have been by civic source.

1:09:34Um I don't know if you want to add

1:09:36anything else to that. I would just say

1:09:38that, you know, I think anyone who is a

1:09:41lawyer, and I know several of you are,

1:09:44knows that part of practicing law,

1:09:46especially litigation, is being a

1:09:48cleanup crew sometimes. And um while

1:09:51that certainly can't always be avoided,

1:09:54I do think Civic Source is a great

1:09:56example of how

1:09:59um

1:10:01we the law department can look at

1:10:04something more proactively as we look to

1:10:07engage a new contractor to perform this

1:10:10service for the city and how to prevent

1:10:13these types of issues from happening

1:10:15down the line. Um, and so we are

1:10:18actively working with the city

1:10:20departments in order to try to make sure

1:10:24that the contractual elements are there

1:10:28and that as Charlene says,

1:10:29accountability comes for us all. for the

1:10:32people that contract with the city that

1:10:34the accountability is there as well to

1:10:36ensure that everyone is protected. Not

1:10:38just the city, but obviously in this

1:10:40situation overwhelmingly this contractor

1:10:43will be interacting with constituents

1:10:45and so that their rights um and their

1:10:47funds are protected as well. But we are

1:10:50aggressively pursuing a litigation

1:10:52strategy. We have both been sued by

1:10:55Civic Source and are suing Civic Source

1:10:57and that litigation is ongoing.

1:10:59>> Okay. Uh two last quick things. The

1:11:01first is obviously I know that one of

1:11:04your highlights and one of the things

1:11:05you're working towards is a key

1:11:07component of your budget for 2027 is

1:11:11building in-house counsel to not rely on

1:11:13out house count on outside counsel. Um,

1:11:16I know from the council's experience,

1:11:17this predates probably everyone on this

1:11:20modern council, but the creation of our

1:11:22council utility regulatory office versus

1:11:25uh relying wholly on adviserss reduced

1:11:28the amount of money that rateayers pay

1:11:31by a factor of almost a third. Like we

1:11:33are down to a third of what we were

1:11:35spending previously in years on

1:11:37litigation services. So, I certainly

1:11:39applaud and support anything you can do

1:11:43to build the bench because when you're

1:11:45talking about the ROI of a city

1:11:47attorney, I think there's another thing

1:11:48it has to be a metric that's weighed

1:11:50like a city attorney who's on the role

1:11:53versus the hourly rate of an outside

1:11:55attorney.

1:11:56>> Anything you could do to help compute

1:11:57that just as we're doing these budget

1:12:00conversations, I can tell you that. And

1:12:02I told uh Romy I said I will die on the

1:12:06sword to give you as many auditors as

1:12:08possible if the ROI is 4.6 to1 that's

1:12:10like printing money. So similarly

1:12:13anything you can do to show that direct

1:12:16exchange cuz I mean as an attorney who

1:12:18bills hourly the hourly rates for

1:12:20attorneys

1:12:22versus having an in-house council the

1:12:24amount of money you would save

1:12:26exponentially. I think it's hard to

1:12:28quantify it but you should. Yeah.

1:12:30>> Um, the last thing is, uh, technology.

1:12:34>> Obviously,

1:12:36you inherited probably one of the most

1:12:38embarrassing things ever to happen,

1:12:39which is a federal judge calling out an

1:12:41attorney for AI use in a brief, and I

1:12:43appreciate and applaud how quickly you

1:12:45address that issue. Um I think that

1:12:48there's going to need to be more legal

1:12:51guidance to aart departments because as

1:12:53attorneys we know with some recent

1:12:55decisions um

1:12:58many people do not realize that when you

1:13:01use AI to process information it defeats

1:13:05a lot of third party protections like

1:13:07privilege for example and I think that

1:13:10it's important for you to provide

1:13:12guidance to a lot of departments kind of

1:13:14on the evolution of the law in regards

1:13:17to how we use things like artificial

1:13:18intelligence because

1:13:20>> um if you're using artificial

1:13:21intelligence for example a process

1:13:22permits and there's sensitive

1:13:24information in the permit that's

1:13:26ancillary or anecdotal and you include

1:13:29it in AI prompts for example you make

1:13:32that part of a database somewhere that's

1:13:33outside the city. I think that you guys

1:13:36are going to have to be very aggressive

1:13:37that as the law develops and as policy

1:13:40develops on the state um the local and

1:13:43federal level, a lot of people just see

1:13:46Claude and say, "I want to clean up

1:13:48these sentences and give it

1:13:50information." And some of that

1:13:52information isn't necessarily their

1:13:54information to give. So, I would

1:13:55encourage you

1:13:56>> not just to um see how we can use it

1:13:59better, but also you might end up being

1:14:02the police on it.

1:14:03>> Yeah. I'm I'm so glad you said that. One

1:14:06of the conversations we're having in the

1:14:08law department um frankly even on our

1:14:12contract forms is around data ownership,

1:14:17data accessibility when contracts

1:14:20terminate. Um what form who who owns the

1:14:24data? What form do you have to provide

1:14:26it to us? uh because you know handing

1:14:29something over in uh a format that's

1:14:32inaccessible is not access to the data

1:14:35that and it actually builds obstacles to

1:14:39changing um contractors and providers in

1:14:42certain situations. And so

1:14:46it's a it's a very important

1:14:48conversation to be having when we I'm

1:14:52glad you also referenced the

1:14:54embarrassing situation at the outset.

1:14:56The only good thing about that is it was

1:14:58Easter time. So, I died a thousand times

1:15:01and was resurrected a thousand times to

1:15:04present myself to the court. Um,

1:15:07that's also a great example of a

1:15:10professional standard that one would

1:15:13assume wouldn't need to be communicated,

1:15:15but when you're starting from basic

1:15:17building blocks, look, there's a there's

1:15:19a floor here and this is not something

1:15:23that's subject to rehabilitation in this

1:15:25law department. Um,

1:15:29that you present yourself to a court

1:15:31having read what is presented to the

1:15:33court is table stakes. That's a floor.

1:15:36You know, when when we use technology to

1:15:40our benefit in the law department, it's

1:15:42in a closed environment. It's not the

1:15:44internet

1:15:46at large. And so these are things that

1:15:50are applicable to other city departments

1:15:54as well. Um if the question isn't asked,

1:15:59if the question is asked, we can give

1:16:00them the answer. But we also are

1:16:04aspirationally trying to get to

1:16:06proactive counsel and guidance on this

1:16:09front and it's a very important front

1:16:11for people to be cognizant of where they

1:16:13input data and what happens to it after

1:16:16that. So, um the other thing I will say,

1:16:19um while we're on the topic is

1:16:22when when contractors offer to do things

1:16:26um

1:16:28free of charge, when contractors offer

1:16:32to be helpful. Um that's also a

1:16:36situation that uh attracts my interest

1:16:40because if someone's willing to do it

1:16:42free of cost, perhaps many people are

1:16:45willing to do it free of cost and that

1:16:47doesn't mean it falls outside of a

1:16:49proper procurement process. And so there

1:16:53are circumstances where depending on

1:16:57what the thing is, maybe there is a best

1:17:00person, an only person to be able to do

1:17:02that work. But that doesn't just uh mean

1:17:08you get to get access to the city's data

1:17:11to improve your product. Um and then you

1:17:15know have access to to things to which

1:17:17you're not entitled. That also needs to

1:17:19be subject. So there are there there are

1:17:22a lot of things proactively um that I I

1:17:26hope to get to and we are continuing to

1:17:29build on the successes. We are hoping to

1:17:32build this bench so that we can, you

1:17:34know, it's a little bit of a chicken and

1:17:36an egg situation. We need the people to

1:17:38not have to rely so much on outside

1:17:40counsel. Um, and frankly, we don't

1:17:42control the amount of work that we get.

1:17:45When litigation is generated, uh, you

1:17:48know, by a practice or a policy or we

1:17:51get sued, that's not something that the

1:17:53law department controls, but we we're

1:17:56called to fulfill our duty in that

1:17:59situation. And so that's a little bit of

1:18:01a

1:18:03a challenge with with calculating the

1:18:06ROI on certain situations when you are

1:18:08not the genesis of the thing to which

1:18:10you're called to do. But you are

1:18:13obligated to perform that. We we just

1:18:16have to have the personnel and the skill

1:18:18set uh to be able to do it whether it's

1:18:20in-house or outside council. But we'll

1:18:23exercise reasonable judgment to to make

1:18:26sure that you know we we make those

1:18:28calls and and decisions smartly.

1:18:32>> Thank you. I appreciate it. Thank you,

1:18:34Madam Chairman.

1:18:34>> Council member Green.

1:18:36>> Thank you and good morning. Thank you

1:18:37for your presentation. I do appreciate

1:18:39your um mentioning the um discussions

1:18:42that have taken place under this

1:18:44administration relative to bringing some

1:18:47matters in house. For example, we just

1:18:50recently hired not on the same plane,

1:18:53but if you will, we recently hired 50 to

1:18:5575 workers within public works. Yes. Who

1:18:58are going to be able to get the work

1:19:00done, who are benefits of the city,

1:19:03stability relative to benefits and the

1:19:05like. And um in general, I think that's

1:19:07something that we as a city need to look

1:19:09at.

1:19:11Relying less on in-house council is a

1:19:13great idea. I hope that a study can show

1:19:16after a while that it's worth this to us

1:19:18to pay the high salaries that are

1:19:20necessary instead of assuming that

1:19:22somehow or the other by the time we

1:19:24calculate

1:19:25>> Yeah.

1:19:26>> outside counsel that it's not costing us

1:19:28the same thing.

1:19:28>> Yeah,

1:19:29>> I kind of know that it is.

1:19:30>> Yeah. Well, I will say this too. You

1:19:33know, just because you hire external

1:19:35counsel doesn't mean you're going to get

1:19:36a better quality representation,

1:19:38>> right? Uh and and so that's one of the

1:19:41things I take

1:19:43very personally. So you could end up

1:19:46paying more and you're not actually

1:19:48getting a better service for it. You're

1:19:50not getting better prepared people.

1:19:52You're not getting people who have

1:19:54actually interacted with the departments

1:19:56to be able to present the the best

1:19:58evidence or uh

1:20:00>> and so you know there are a lot of

1:20:02assumptions built into that model where

1:20:04you just pay more and you get more. And

1:20:07I I think that's nonsense. I think all

1:20:10of this is subject to scrutiny. All of

1:20:13this is subject to evaluation. Um and

1:20:17and not all attorneys are built equally.

1:20:20>> And some of these matters are multi-year

1:20:22involvements. And so it's um challenging

1:20:25sometimes to engage outside counsel

1:20:27because they're not going to be

1:20:29associated with that matter for those

1:20:30number of years. But um I appreciate

1:20:33that's an important part in terms of the

1:20:35personnel and your goals that I

1:20:36appreciate and I look forward to seeing

1:20:38progress during this administration

1:20:39since we're moving in that direction in

1:20:41a couple of ways. Second thing is I'm

1:20:43going to ask you a kind of a

1:20:45neighborhood engagement question. It's

1:20:48going to bring me back to the budget

1:20:49after a while. Can you explain the

1:20:51public records process? How you have

1:20:5320,000 public records and what kind of

1:20:55cost that may um endure to the city of

1:20:58New Orleans and are we doing it in the

1:21:01are we responding in the most efficient

1:21:03way possible?

1:21:04>> Yes. Um so for this one I'm going to I'm

1:21:08going to call up uh Have you ever

1:21:11watched Who Wants to be a Millionaire?

1:21:12Council member Green.

1:21:14>> You know when you have a lifeline? I'm

1:21:16going to call up my mind, the chief of

1:21:18in-house, Missywigley, um to talk about

1:21:21the the public records process. Um but

1:21:26essentially, you know, we believe in

1:21:29transparency. We believe in the

1:21:31obligation to provide citizens uh you

1:21:34know, to hold us accountable to what

1:21:36we're doing as their representative

1:21:37government. Um and so I believe in that

1:21:41accessibility.

1:21:42Um, when people make a request for

1:21:45public records,

1:21:47it used to be in the olden days, they

1:21:49would make an appointment. They would

1:21:51come, somebody would be searching

1:21:53through boxes and papers and they could

1:21:56either [clears throat] inspect the

1:21:58documents, you know, that they're

1:22:00holding in their hands or make copies or

1:22:02whatever. Or we'd copy them and they'd

1:22:04pick it up and and so maybe it's like

1:22:06$25 for the copies of the things that

1:22:09they want. Um the by and large now

1:22:14people are making uh a lot of electronic

1:22:20data requests which means the IT

1:22:23department has to deploy personnel to

1:22:28search um you know whatever the subject

1:22:31matter is they have to um

1:22:35you know transfer that data back to the

1:22:37law department. Then there has to be a

1:22:39process where law department people are

1:22:42looking for privilege that might be

1:22:45applicable or exemptions whether the

1:22:47thing is subject to an investigation

1:22:49before it gets made available. Now all

1:22:51of that time personnel that resource

1:22:54it's all statutoily still built at $25

1:22:59to the to the Oscar. We have like people

1:23:01who are doing research and they co-opt

1:23:05the the law department as their research

1:23:07arm to to get data. You know, there's

1:23:11people who are doing litigation. Instead

1:23:12of using discovery process in

1:23:14litigation, they're using public records

1:23:17to do those things. Um, so

1:23:21it's exploded exponentially,

1:23:24uh, frankly, and that's sometimes why it

1:23:26takes a longer time. I don't know if

1:23:28Missy wants to uh

1:23:29>> I just wanted we pulled some data.

1:23:32[clears throat]

1:23:33We in 2024 we had 23,270

1:23:38public records requests. Jefferson

1:23:40Parish had 1,664.

1:23:43So I don't know the the reasoning behind

1:23:46why we have so many more, but we have

1:23:48about

1:23:51way more than other places have.

1:23:53>> Um and

1:23:54>> we have 20 times the size. We have a lot

1:23:56of idle people who come back and forth

1:23:58to your offices and just file because

1:24:00they feel that they can use that

1:24:02information to satisfy some personal

1:24:04need as opposed to being really

1:24:06interested in getting the answers.

1:24:07>> Right. We go on a lot. We have a lot of

1:24:09people that are on kind of wild goose

1:24:11chases that will just kind of like ask

1:24:13for everything, throw spaghetti at the

1:24:15wall. We have a lot of that. Um there is

1:24:18in Texas, we we're constrained by state

1:24:20law, but in Texas there they allow for

1:24:24you to charge for the time in addition

1:24:26to the documents. So they allow for $28

1:24:31um and50 for the IT people who are going

1:24:34through all the electronic records. And

1:24:36they also allow for $15 an hour for the

1:24:39people who are redacting and reviewing.

1:24:42Um we're not allowed to charge that

1:24:44under state law. We're just capped at 50

1:24:46cents a page basically and we have a $25

1:24:48cap. So if we produce 10,000 documents

1:24:51to one requester, it's $25.

1:24:54>> So a conservative state like Texas, for

1:24:56example, allows charges that we as

1:24:58Louisiana don't allow, keeping in mind

1:25:00that we have 20,000 or so in the city of

1:25:03New Orleans. Again, I'm just looking at

1:25:05some of the challenges that we have as a

1:25:07city that are imposed upon us many times

1:25:09by state law. And I'm not going to make

1:25:11an opinion as to whether or not that's a

1:25:12great law or not because I want

1:25:14everybody to have all the access. But

1:25:15that becomes a reality. 20,000 23,000

1:25:19public records requests means many many

1:25:23thousands of hours involved with it and

1:25:26the attorney's office,

1:25:27>> right? And it takes us away from

1:25:29advising the departments and doing the

1:25:30advice that we as the in-house team.

1:25:34That's what we're built to do. And in

1:25:35instead, we're redacting social security

1:25:37numbers.

1:25:38>> Good. Thank you for that information.

1:25:40>> I would just add to it's another place

1:25:42where we're looking to leverage

1:25:45technology to try to advance this

1:25:47process. I can tell you coming from the

1:25:49private sector dealing with litigation,

1:25:52it's very common that you get electronic

1:25:54data. Huge companies have to search

1:25:56massive amounts of email data. You get

1:25:59tens, thousands, hundreds of thousands

1:26:01of emails. In today's age, people don't

1:26:04pick up the phone anymore. They write an

1:26:06email, they send a text. So you're we're

1:26:08dealing with just tons more electronic

1:26:10data and the law hasn't kept pace with

1:26:13technology, but we the law department

1:26:16has also not kept pace with technology.

1:26:18So it's something we're looking into

1:26:20because there are ways in which

1:26:22technology can be used to help

1:26:24streamline the search process, the

1:26:26redaction process. And so that's in our

1:26:29while a document management system has

1:26:32sort of taken the priority, we are

1:26:34looking actively in the future to try to

1:26:37find a way to alleviate this burden

1:26:39while still maintaining transparency for

1:26:41people to get access to what people are

1:26:43entitled to.

1:26:44>> I think that it's not in your goal for

1:26:46next year, but it should be soon.

1:26:48>> Yeah,

1:26:49>> it should be soon. Very honestly, as you

1:26:51see the numbers and that's a burden not

1:26:53only on your office, but a burden on the

1:26:55public. It's a burden on taxpayers.

1:26:57We're also trying to put more things

1:26:59online that are and made public so that

1:27:03that'll kind of alleviate things. We're

1:27:05trying to make sure all the contracts

1:27:07are available. We're trying to put more

1:27:08things available on one stop and then

1:27:10different documents that people

1:27:12generally um request. We're going to try

1:27:14to make those publicly available so it's

1:27:17easy to find. So that will take some

1:27:19burden off of us.

1:27:20>> Thank you. Thank you. On yesterday, a

1:27:22long ignored property collapsed um in

1:27:25Gentilly, but it had been subject to a

1:27:28public hearing and multiple public

1:27:29hearings. Can you explain to the public

1:27:31why it's not as simple as um it seems

1:27:34that the city can't just put a lean on

1:27:36property and force people to sell the

1:27:38property or or to do the work that has

1:27:40to be done?

1:27:42>> Um h

1:27:48>> I asked that in a way that the public

1:27:50asked. Why didn't you take care of

1:27:52making that Why didn't you make that

1:27:54owner sell that property?

1:27:56>> Sure. Sure. Um, I'm going to do two

1:27:59things. I'm going to have uh the senior

1:28:01chief deputy address it

1:28:04and also ask uh Latifah Harris to come

1:28:08up to the microphone who is uh the the

1:28:11chief deputy in charge of that division

1:28:13as well. But

1:28:16generally speaking, you know, property

1:28:18owners have property rights. We have a

1:28:22constitution that we have to adhere to.

1:28:23There's due process involved in that as

1:28:26well. Um, so it's really not so easy as

1:28:31when someone isn't managing their

1:28:34property that we can just snatch it and,

1:28:37you know, repurpose it, you know. Yeah.

1:28:39Um, so Gwynneith, I don't know if you

1:28:42want to

1:28:42>> Yeah. I mean I would just say obviously

1:28:45as a government institution we're

1:28:47subject to the constitution uh and you

1:28:50are talking about a privatelyowned

1:28:52property. So even where an owner is

1:28:55derelictked the city can't just jump in

1:28:58and do things. So there are provisions

1:29:01that exist when there's an acute

1:29:02emergency but there's still notice

1:29:05requirements right that's a

1:29:06constitutional requirement. a person has

1:29:08to be put on notice that there's an

1:29:10issue um and a right to be heard about

1:29:13what that issue is. So, it's not quite

1:29:16as simple um as just taking

1:29:19privatelyowned property um away from a

1:29:22private citizen.

1:29:23>> But even if they don't show up for a

1:29:25hearing, we still don't have the right

1:29:27to do any action that still that

1:29:29violates the Constitution. They actually

1:29:31have a right to not show up for the

1:29:33hearing. we simply put a fine or a lean

1:29:36on the property that if they don't pay

1:29:39stays on the property until such time as

1:29:41the property is sold. Am I correct?

1:29:44>> There there is um so there's sort of two

1:29:46things. There's the idea of what's an

1:29:49acute emergency and what powers the city

1:29:51may have when something presents in

1:29:53imminent danger. um that's separate and

1:29:56apart from something that might just

1:29:58present um you know it's a it's a

1:30:00property that's not in imminent danger

1:30:02but is an eyesore. It's not being

1:30:05properly cared for. It's not. And some

1:30:07of those people are if they're not

1:30:09paying their property taxes and not

1:30:11doing other things, eventually those

1:30:13things can go to a tax sale. And it's

1:30:16part of what council member Morurell was

1:30:17asking about before, right? Where the

1:30:19city can sell that and then hopefully

1:30:21get those properties back into commerce.

1:30:24But there is this other piece where

1:30:25maybe I am paying my taxes, but I'm not

1:30:28doing anything to the property. And so

1:30:30all the city can do is essentially get

1:30:32assessed fees either through a hearing

1:30:35process and then record those against

1:30:37the property and we have no ability to

1:30:39collect them unless and until the

1:30:40property is sold.

1:30:42>> The city has over $und00 million in

1:30:44fines that are technically owed to the

1:30:46city but at the end of the day we can't

1:30:48sell make someone sell a property a lot

1:30:51for example that has fines on it simply

1:30:53because it has fines on it.

1:30:55>> That's correct.

1:30:56>> I'm just look this is for information

1:30:57purposes and it also affects the budget.

1:30:59discussion because people need to

1:31:00understand that these things happen in

1:31:03city government that there are

1:31:04limitations and many times some of the

1:31:06limitations are imposed upon us by the

1:31:08state constitution and state laws.

1:31:12>> Okay. So, one of the tools that we have

1:31:15to deal with properties that do have are

1:31:17are in violation and are blighted um is

1:31:20lean foreclosure. And that is something

1:31:22that I think that I've talked to the

1:31:24city attorney about resourcing more

1:31:25heavily in the future. So that means

1:31:27that when something does have a lean, we

1:31:29do have a limit a limited number of

1:31:31cases, but um as you might have

1:31:33remembered from the chart, we have a

1:31:35staff of three attorneys. And so we are

1:31:38working on selling properties, but

1:31:40that's nowhere near enough. The need for

1:31:42us to sell property and lean foreclosure

1:31:44far outweighs the budget that we have

1:31:46available to do so and the staff. So

1:31:49that is something we want to look at. We

1:31:50also are looking at things to do with

1:31:52adjudicated properties. Um, as a member

1:31:54of my team, I'm a member of those groups

1:31:57that are looking at ways that the city

1:31:59can look at redevelopment, the way the

1:32:01city can look at affordable housing. So,

1:32:03all of those things are being looked at

1:32:05and worked together. I think in this

1:32:06particular circumstance that um of of

1:32:10the particular house collapse, there was

1:32:12work ongoing that was occurring, I

1:32:14think, at some point that may have

1:32:16contributed to the issues, but that is

1:32:18something that the city certainly go can

1:32:20go after the owner for. And if the

1:32:22property is not in use, there can be

1:32:23consequences. But as Gwennneth was

1:32:25saying, people do have their individual

1:32:27rights and we are strong properties

1:32:29right states. So we do have to provide

1:32:31adequate notice to all owners and it's

1:32:35not just an instantaneous process

1:32:37although I know people wish that it

1:32:38could be.

1:32:39>> Yes, I I understand this is a good good

1:32:42opportunity to explain. Um there are

1:32:44many there are thousands of blighted not

1:32:47thousands there are many hundreds of

1:32:49blighted lots within a certain community

1:32:51for example in my district but one of

1:32:54the challenges of government and of your

1:32:56office is that we can impose fines and

1:32:58have a [clears throat] hearing and then

1:32:59they come come and cut the lot and then

1:33:02don't cut it for another year.

1:33:03>> Yeah.

1:33:04>> Because once they've done what we

1:33:06requested as a city then they've

1:33:08satisfied the obligation to the city.

1:33:11>> Yeah. Can you speak on that for a

1:33:13second? Again, this is for public

1:33:14consumption and also for support of when

1:33:17you all make the case for resources that

1:33:20are needed. I want folks to understand

1:33:22the thousands of opportunities that

1:33:24there exists for people to simply get

1:33:26around city regulations by doing

1:33:28something for a temporary measure.

1:33:31>> I think it's going to take a multiaceted

1:33:33solution. So, I think we have to look at

1:33:34our existing legislation. We have to

1:33:36look at things on the state levels.

1:33:38>> Absolutely. We have to look at what we

1:33:40can do to leverage property that is not

1:33:43in use and put it in hands of people,

1:33:45put it back into commerce. And that is

1:33:47something that doesn't involve just one

1:33:49department. But just engaging in

1:33:52abatement year after year on abandoned

1:33:55property is not the answer. So we have

1:33:57to figure out collectively what those

1:33:59answers are. And there's going to be

1:34:00more than one answer.

1:34:01>> Thank you.

1:34:02>> And we're the one tool for the toolbox.

1:34:04>> Yeah. I would just say, you know, we're

1:34:05not going to lean our way out of that

1:34:07problem. Um it does require a concerted

1:34:11you know consistent effort and

1:34:15the resources in terms of personnel um

1:34:18the resources in terms of and and like I

1:34:22said included in this year's budget um

1:34:24which wasn't included in last year's

1:34:26budget is uh even the funds to to record

1:34:31the leans to build the record towards

1:34:35you know particular actions being taken.

1:34:37So, it's uh it's an intractable problem

1:34:40and it's going to take all hands on deck

1:34:43to kind of work through it.

1:34:44>> Yes.

1:34:45>> I appreciate you raising the issue

1:34:46constantly.

1:34:47>> Yes. And I appreciate your responses. I

1:34:49appreciate your availability. It's

1:34:50important and I I tell people to watch

1:34:52these meetings and I share with them no

1:34:54matter how many are watching right now.

1:34:56At the end of the day, you can still

1:34:57watch it tonight. You can still watch it

1:34:58tomorrow. I want people to understand

1:35:00that these processes the city goes

1:35:03through relative to blighted property.

1:35:05which gives me another opportunity to

1:35:07talk about blighted property. Can you

1:35:08talk about the role that your office

1:35:10plays with the department of code

1:35:12enforcement in terms of trying to secure

1:35:15judgments and what processes are

1:35:17involved to get to the stage of

1:35:19demolition, which is a taking of public

1:35:21property.

1:35:23>> So, we have two methods by which we may

1:35:25demolish property. We can determine that

1:35:28they're in an emergency condition and

1:35:30that they're in an imminent danger

1:35:31condition. um and then concurrently code

1:35:34enforcement and safety and permits can

1:35:37make that determination and then send a

1:35:39work order to the vendor after following

1:35:41the legal process in the ordinance. The

1:35:43second way is through having a hearing

1:35:45and getting a demolition order from um

1:35:48the hearing officer. So the so

1:35:50department of code enforcement will ask

1:35:51for that based on the conditions of the

1:35:53property that maybe it doesn't rise to

1:35:55the level of something that needs an

1:35:58emergency demolition but it is something

1:36:00that needs to be demolished because it's

1:36:02deteriorated past a certain point where

1:36:04rehab is not tenable even if you sell

1:36:06the property for instance in a sheriff

1:36:08sale or you know say in a sale of

1:36:11adjudicated property.

1:36:12>> But before the city can do that we must

1:36:14reach out to all potential owners.

1:36:17>> Absolutely. whether it's a great

1:36:18grandmother um and there are 150 people

1:36:21in the in the queue or whether it's one

1:36:24person and there are only two children

1:36:25in the queue. Can you talk about that

1:36:27for a second? What difficulties are

1:36:29imposed in certain areas where

1:36:31successions and wills have not been

1:36:33done? So we have historically property

1:36:36in the city of New Orleans where post

1:36:38Katrina many properties were passed on

1:36:40without without um without secessions

1:36:43being done without you know basically

1:36:46opening a case to close out an estate

1:36:48was done. So it's passed on generally

1:36:51generationally without that and at times

1:36:54we've talked to family members that you

1:36:56know they can't decide what they want to

1:36:57do with property. Post Katrina was a

1:37:00chaotic time. people couldn't always

1:37:02decide what to do with those type of

1:37:04resources. They maybe did not have the

1:37:06resources to do secessions. And so when

1:37:10we're providing notice on abandoned

1:37:12property, what we've advised code

1:37:13enforcement to do is take those extra

1:37:15steps to see if they can determine who

1:37:18the who the heirs are of the owners so

1:37:20that they have an opportunity. And some

1:37:22people have reached out and said, "Hey,

1:37:24I didn't know that our family members

1:37:27had ownership in this property and we

1:37:29are interested and we are interested in

1:37:31starting to take care of it to keep our,

1:37:33you know, to keep our family legacy. So,

1:37:36I think that we provide adequate notice

1:37:40and that allows us to foreclose in the

1:37:42future potentially or we uh provide

1:37:45adequate notice and it maybe makes

1:37:47somebody

1:37:49take note and take responsibility for

1:37:50something that's in their family.

1:37:52>> Blighted properties have such a negative

1:37:55impact on certain communities. You can

1:37:57drive on certain streets in communities

1:37:59where you see some change taking place,

1:38:01but you can go to some other streets and

1:38:03it's all blighted lots that cost the

1:38:06city a lot of money. Unfortunately, much

1:38:08is imposed upon us by state laws and the

1:38:11like. I hope that your office and we

1:38:12talked about it will tell us how we can

1:38:14all work with the state of Louisiana to

1:38:17maybe without ignoring private property

1:38:19rights to get to the point where we can

1:38:21do things a bit faster because they have

1:38:23such a negative impact on our on our

1:38:26city.

1:38:27>> I am actively looking for really

1:38:30constructive opportunities to work well

1:38:32with the state of Louisiana in the

1:38:34interest of the citizen of New Orleans.

1:38:36So I would welcome such an opportunity

1:38:38>> and so am I.

1:38:39>> Yes. Thank you. for a while.

1:38:42>> Look, thank you. And the last thing I'll

1:38:44say is Civic Source. Oh, I shouldn't

1:38:46have mentioned a company name, but

1:38:47getting an outside entity that does the

1:38:50same thing in many other cities causes a

1:38:53problem because they don't give the

1:38:55attentions that they need um that we

1:38:57need as a city. So, as part of the

1:38:59long-term plan in certain areas, looking

1:39:02at outside council, there are certain

1:39:03contracts that we can look at too and

1:39:05see maybe we could have established

1:39:07within our own city attorney's office.

1:39:10well-paid attorneys who would do that

1:39:13work that's so important because right

1:39:14now our city is kind of challenged

1:39:17because we can't move forward on a lot

1:39:19that civ civic source was doing. So,

1:39:22it's um some it's something to recognize

1:39:24that it cost the city money in the long

1:39:26run. And um I look forward to working

1:39:28with you as you continue to, you know,

1:39:31and and create the internal structure

1:39:33and also the external structure where we

1:39:35can recognize that sometimes paying our

1:39:37own attorneys correctly and creating

1:39:40within our offices the ability to get

1:39:42the things done that outside contractors

1:39:44sometimes can't do as well as us, it

1:39:47would be in the best interest of the

1:39:48city of New Orleans to look at that

1:39:49closely. And I know what this

1:39:51administration is doing. So public works

1:39:53is the first example, if you will.

1:39:55>> Absolutely. You know, the people who

1:39:57work for the city, who work in the

1:39:58department, are interested. We are

1:40:01residents. We're constituents. We are

1:40:04part of these neighborhoods. We have the

1:40:06same observations. And so, you know,

1:40:09we're interested where sometimes

1:40:11contractors aren't.

1:40:12>> Um, so I think that's uh, you know, I

1:40:15share that perspective and it's

1:40:17something we're certainly interested in

1:40:19doing. um as we're able and resourced to

1:40:23do it.

1:40:24>> Right. Thank you very much. Thank you

1:40:25very much for being available to answer

1:40:26these questions. This has been very

1:40:28valuable and I think that the that make

1:40:30your case for what is needed within your

1:40:33office and this was an opportunity and

1:40:36I'll be sharing this with many people

1:40:37through my newsletter, but um I'll be

1:40:39sharing it in other ways too. But folks

1:40:42need to know what sometimes happens

1:40:43behind the scenes and what restrictions

1:40:45the city is under based especially on

1:40:48state law but on just natural law too.

1:40:50>> Yes.

1:40:51>> Thank you very much.

1:40:51>> Thank you, Council Member Green.

1:40:52>> Welcome.

1:40:53>> All right. I have one public comment

1:40:55card from Bob Maynard.

1:41:01>> And just a reminder, you have two

1:41:03minutes to speak on an issue and please

1:41:05known if you're a paid actor.

1:41:07>> Thank you. I'm Bob Manard and I

1:41:09represent the Stewart family. Laney

1:41:11Stewart, uh, Lance Stewart and Elaine

1:41:14Stewart.

1:41:16Um, Lance is 36 years old right now. Uh,

1:41:21this was Lance

1:41:2329 years ago. He's the one on the left.

1:41:27He was 7 years old. He was celebrating

1:41:30with his brother making the honor roll

1:41:32over.

1:41:34Two days later,

1:41:37while he was living with his mother and

1:41:40six

1:41:42siblings,

1:41:44and the mother was holding down two jobs

1:41:46to support them all.

1:41:49He was walking home on a crosswalk when

1:41:52a city vehicle was speeding through a

1:41:54school zone and struck young Lance. He

1:41:57was knocked 30 ft in the air, came down

1:41:59on his head, hitting the concrete. He

1:42:02suffered several broken bones, a

1:42:04fractured skull, bleeding in his brain.

1:42:07We put him in had to put him in a coma

1:42:09in in Charity Hospital for 6 weeks and

1:42:12ultimately suffered serious and

1:42:14permanent brain damage.

1:42:16It took us eight years of litigation

1:42:19with the city because the city denied

1:42:22first liability, filed numerous

1:42:25continuences, and then finally in 2006,

1:42:288 years later, the city attorney called

1:42:32me up the night before the trial was to

1:42:34start and settled for $4 million.

1:42:37400,000 for the mother's loss of

1:42:38consortium and 3.6 6 million for Lance,

1:42:42which was about half of what the

1:42:44projected future medicals would be.

1:42:47But we knew but the city threatened to

1:42:49take another continuence. And after 8

1:42:52years of litigation, the my clients uh

1:42:56succumbed and agreed to it.

1:42:59Not only was it $4 million, but they had

1:43:02to wave eight years of interest. But the

1:43:05city promised A, they were going to pay

1:43:07in 30 days and b they would get it. She

1:43:10would get interest thereafter.

1:43:15>> That's your two minutes. Thank you,

1:43:18Ashley.

1:43:19>> Up next is the New Orleans Aviation

1:43:21Board.

1:43:25Heat. Heat.

1:44:06Okay.

1:44:12I hope so.

1:44:18Well, it already

1:44:27I'll change it up.

1:44:43All right. When you're ready, you can

1:44:44introduce yourself and go Holland and

1:44:46present.

1:44:47>> Thank you, Madam Chair. Members, uh I'm

1:44:50Kevin Dolio, director of aviation uh at

1:44:53the New Orleans International Airport.

1:44:55Uh to my far left is Aaron Burns, our

1:44:59director uh for communications and

1:45:03customer experience. Uh Walter Kagowski,

1:45:06deputy director for operations and

1:45:08maintenance. To my right is Norman

1:45:11White, uh, deputy director for finance

1:45:14and administration and CFO. Uh, and, uh,

1:45:18to his right, uh, Michelle Allen Hart,

1:45:21uh, deputy director for legal affairs,

1:45:24our general counsel, and then Philistine

1:45:26Farand, uh, is the deputy of what

1:45:30handles our community engagement and

1:45:32compliance uh, function at the airport.

1:45:35Uh so we're happy to be here to talk

1:45:37through uh the airport's budget. Uh we

1:45:41uh have been outlined here on the first

1:45:43page as to the areas we'll go through uh

1:45:46the 2026 accomplishments

1:45:50uh personnel uh our goals for 27 and

1:45:54then the budget summary itself and the

1:45:56budget request. Uh so the status of the

1:46:002026 goals. Uh when we were here last

1:46:03year for our budget presentation,

1:46:06uh we presented these goals for 2026,

1:46:10uh the East Apron expansion provides uh

1:46:14more availability for uh for aircraft

1:46:17parking. Uh it's uh it's we set the goal

1:46:21of being 75% complete. We fully met that

1:46:24goal. uh very important project, the

1:46:27Express Shuttle Connector Road, uh phase

1:46:30one, the north section of it, which is

1:46:33the most critical uh half of that

1:46:36project cuz it takes our shuttle traffic

1:46:38off the public roadway system uh to be

1:46:42complete 100%. Uh it will be 100 100%

1:46:47complete by mid November to early

1:46:49December.

1:46:51uh the baggage handling system uh

1:46:54inspection station expansion meeting

1:46:57that goal. Uh the only uh goal we've

1:47:00fallen a little short on the overflow

1:47:02parking lots. Uh we are at 50% of that

1:47:07goal. Uh we uh got a slow start as we

1:47:11bid and had to rebid that project. Uh

1:47:14but it's in the works now and will be

1:47:17completed by the second quarter of 27.

1:47:20and that's more close in parking uh to

1:47:23the airport terminals. Uh a very

1:47:25critical runway project is tracking uh

1:47:28right on schedule will be complete by

1:47:30November. And we've worked hard to keep

1:47:33our cost per employment uh at reasonable

1:47:36levels uh and and at a bargain as

1:47:40compared to airports around the country.

1:47:43Uh so quickly on uh accomplishments

1:47:47in air service uh we for the fifth year

1:47:50in a row uh were named in the airport's

1:47:53council international uh airport service

1:47:57quality uh surveys as the best airport

1:48:02in our category [clears throat]

1:48:03airport of airports and in uh the

1:48:07customer service we provide and the

1:48:09facilities we provide. uh with that when

1:48:13uh the

1:48:15the airports council international world

1:48:18director general uh recognized airports

1:48:22or recognizes airports at a repeat uh

1:48:25winners and uh and we were inducted into

1:48:28the world director general's role of

1:48:30excellence this year. So that takes us

1:48:32out of just North America. Uh we were

1:48:35inducted with eight other air with seven

1:48:38other airports. Only one uh of the other

1:48:40airports was in North America airport.

1:48:43The others from around the world. Uh our

1:48:46best customer experience program uh uh

1:48:49awarded by our Portsinal International

1:48:52uh their marcom XCX awards uh for 2025

1:48:57and it's our music program that drove

1:48:59that recognition. Uh and we've been

1:49:02recognized in the past best overall

1:49:04concessions program by airport

1:49:06experience news, best airport for dining

1:49:10uh by USA Today and best large airport

1:49:12number three uh and JD Power uh in 21

1:49:16best large airport and again recognized

1:49:19this year as the seventh uh in the top

1:49:2210. So number seven in best airports in

1:49:25the country in the large airport

1:49:27category. air service. Uh air service

1:49:31has been uh been very successful in in

1:49:35air carriers bringing in service, but we

1:49:37we had a big blow uh this year. Uh

1:49:40Spirit Airlines uh which nationally only

1:49:44accounts for about 2% of the national

1:49:47traffic. Locally, they were 11 to 12% of

1:49:50our of our traffic. So, it was a more

1:49:53significant hit for our market. And that

1:49:56was on top of uh the nationwide

1:49:59softening of demand in in 26 and

1:50:02continued uh softening here in uh in 20

1:50:05I'm sorry in 25 and continued here in

1:50:0826. Uh of the carriers noted here you'll

1:50:12see uh listed uh service that has been

1:50:14added by different carriers. Uh I will

1:50:17say the fastest growing carriers in the

1:50:20market are Frontier Airlines and Breeze

1:50:22uh Airways.

1:50:24uh Aello, a new carrier that came into

1:50:28the market a couple years ago and didn't

1:50:31uh didn't stay, is re-entering the

1:50:34market uh with service to uh McKenna,

1:50:37which is uh in the Dallas uh Fort Worth

1:50:40area. So, they'll be back in uh as of

1:50:43December 17th with service to that

1:50:45destination.

1:50:49uh terminal concessions. I've noted

1:50:52before uh we'll point out again that uh

1:50:57this year or 26 compared to 2019 uh year

1:51:02to date. Uh our employments are down 13%

1:51:06from the 2019 level. Uh but our

1:51:10concession sales are up 32%. And that's

1:51:13tribute to uh the concessions program we

1:51:16put in place uh in the new facility.

1:51:19We're capturing more revenue per in

1:51:21plane passengers. You'll note in that

1:51:23second metric and uh and our capture

1:51:26rate of passengers using the facility

1:51:28and using concessions uh has gone up as

1:51:32well. So, it's a good program, well

1:51:34implemented, uh, and, uh, it's been

1:51:36recognized and it's it's definitely

1:51:38being used by the traveling public. Uh,

1:51:41our cost for employment, uh, you know,

1:51:44we work hard to, uh, to keep that cost

1:51:46down, uh, for, uh, our primary

1:51:49stakeholder, the airlines, and the CPE,

1:51:52the cost for employment, uh, is is a

1:51:55very important metric as it relates to

1:51:57our airline stakeholders. Uh you see

1:51:59we've worked real hard to keep it down

1:52:02and and below uh $10, which is is

1:52:05reasonable compared to uh to the rest of

1:52:07the uh industry. Uh you'll notice a blip

1:52:12in 25 uh where it went to 1091. That

1:52:15says as the budget was set the year

1:52:17before, the unexpected uh national

1:52:21softening and demand uh drove that

1:52:24number up. It's not cost at the airport,

1:52:26but uh the denominator was lower the the

1:52:30number of employments through the

1:52:31facility. Uh we measured that and and

1:52:35accounted for it in 26 and and

1:52:37anticipated potential continued uh

1:52:40downward trend in employment and you see

1:52:42the CPE trending back downward. Uh so

1:52:46that wanted to explain that uh

1:52:49construction. I'll ask uh Walter Kowski,

1:52:52our deputy director of operations, to

1:52:54just tick through these four projects uh

1:52:57and and as to the status of those

1:52:59projects.

1:53:01>> Good morning, council. Pragowski, deputy

1:53:03director of operations and maintenance.

1:53:05Uh the first project we want to talk

1:53:06about a little bit is our baggage

1:53:08handling system. What this project does,

1:53:10and we'll be at 90% completion by the

1:53:12end of this year, is brings on an

1:53:14additional baggage screening uh

1:53:16equipment for TSA. So that's going to

1:53:19give us an extra 25% screening capacity

1:53:22and that luggage that needs to be

1:53:24screened by TSA and we anticipate that

1:53:26that will that extra machine will be

1:53:28online and functional starting at the

1:53:30Thanksgiving holiday. So that's going to

1:53:32really give us a benefit right there uh

1:53:34for screening that bags. As the director

1:53:37had already shared, we're very excited

1:53:38about our express shuttle connector

1:53:40road, which actually helps our us get

1:53:43those shuttles from our south campus,

1:53:45which is our employee shuttle, our Conra

1:53:47shuttle, which is from the rental car

1:53:49facilities, as well as the employee

1:53:51shuttle to get employees to and from.

1:53:54That is on track. Um, again, also too,

1:53:57we anticipate doing a soft opening and

1:53:59getting that done and in place to start

1:54:01uh testing and getting that opened uh by

1:54:04the Thanksgiving Day holiday period.

1:54:07The other project that's important is

1:54:09our north south runway. Um, that north

1:54:12south runway is over 20 years old and

1:54:14being good stewards as we are of the

1:54:16aviation assets that we have. Um, it's

1:54:19replacing the whole center portion of

1:54:21that runway, what's called a keel. that

1:54:24whole center portion, all 7,100 foot of

1:54:27that runway is getting replaced. That

1:54:29project is on target and on task and

1:54:31actually we anticipate bringing that

1:54:33back online uh here in the coming weeks

1:54:36so that uh the full um utilization of

1:54:39our full air for air airport

1:54:41infrastructure uh for the runways will

1:54:44be active uh by November.

1:54:47And then lastly is uh we're initiating a

1:54:50new project. That project is the

1:54:52demolition of select portions of our

1:54:54south campus facility and pretty much

1:54:56it's the oldest portions. Um you know

1:54:58when we moved over to the new terminal

1:55:01um we left uh a facility that was

1:55:03already 60 years old and that's pretty

1:55:05much the old concourses A B in the

1:55:08easternmost portion of the old facility

1:55:11uh will be coming down uh to make way

1:55:14for future development and opportunities

1:55:16for aviation uses uh into the future.

1:55:20Okay, thank you Walter. Uh, an SLDBE

1:55:24participation which has been very strong

1:55:26at the airport. I'll ask Philistine Fan

1:55:29to uh to speak to that quickly.

1:55:31>> Good morning, Philistine Fan Dello at

1:55:34Lewis Armstrong Airport. Um, our

1:55:36participation on the SLDB program, as

1:55:39the director said, is very strong. We're

1:55:42currently attaining 58 58.29% 29%

1:55:47participation on an overall goal of 35%.

1:55:51The airport has adopted the citywide 35%

1:55:55overall goal and that's what we adhere

1:55:57to.

1:56:00Thank you.

1:56:02Okay. Thank you, Philistine. Uh next

1:56:05slide is personnel. Uh you'll note uh

1:56:08the the number of budgeted positions and

1:56:11number of filled positions on this

1:56:12slide. And you'll see there's uh there's

1:56:15a number of unfilled positions uh that's

1:56:19uh in part due due to our work uh in

1:56:22this environment with uh with decreased

1:56:24employments and so forth to keep our

1:56:26cost down. Uh and also uh that was an

1:56:29initiative on our part to uh to pace uh

1:56:33how we fill our vacancies. Uh and also

1:56:37uh the the airlines approached us as we

1:56:40were already in the mode uh and asked

1:56:42that we give consideration to pacing uh

1:56:45the hiring and filling of vacant

1:56:48positions as well in this environment uh

1:56:51as employments have been down uh which

1:56:54which reduces uh overall revenues coming

1:56:57into the operation. So, uh, working to

1:57:00keep our costs down, working to, uh, uh,

1:57:04keep costs low for the air carriers. Uh,

1:57:07we have we have paced, uh, how we're

1:57:09going about, uh, filling our vacancies.

1:57:13Uh, this next slide, uh, is, uh, our

1:57:16organizational chart. It is a standard

1:57:19uh, airport organizational chart uh,

1:57:22with six uh, critical divisions. see

1:57:24running across the top and represented

1:57:27by the individuals I introduced here at

1:57:29the table uh today.

1:57:33Our goals for 2027

1:57:37uh to complete a project I mentioned on

1:57:39a previous slide uh the east airport

1:57:43east apron expansion program uh the

1:57:46express shuttle connector road phase

1:57:48two. So, we spoke to the north phase,

1:57:50which is really the most critical phase

1:57:52that we're doing first. Uh cuz that

1:57:55phase gives us the immediate benefit of

1:57:57pulling our traffic off Veterans

1:57:59Highway. Uh the uh south phase will

1:58:03connect those facilities on the south

1:58:05side uh by all on airport connector

1:58:09road. Uh and that to be completed uh at

1:58:12least 75% complete that phase uh by the

1:58:16end of next year. Uh and Walter spoke to

1:58:20the baggage handling system uh expansion

1:58:22project uh expect to be complete 100%.

1:58:26This year I mentioned earlier the

1:58:29overflow parking lots uh will be done by

1:58:32the second quarter of 27. Uh the south

1:58:36campus demo uh uh complete 100% this

1:58:40year. uh and also continue ongoing uh to

1:58:45work to maintain uh a reasonable cost

1:58:48per employment uh for our airline

1:58:50stakeholders at the airport and to meet

1:58:53SLDBE goals. Uh air service is an

1:58:56ongoing and constant effort to ensure

1:58:59air carriers are aware of opportunities

1:59:02in the market and then service those

1:59:04opportunities.

1:59:05Uh with the budget summary in request,

1:59:08I'll turn it to Norman White.

1:59:10Good morning. Um, as the director spoke

1:59:13to earlier, it was our goal to reduce

1:59:15the cost so that gets passed on to

1:59:17customers and the fair stay as

1:59:19reasonable as possible given the

1:59:21economic condition of our economy. Um,

1:59:23and we did a pretty good job of that.

1:59:25Basically, our cost increase somewhere

1:59:28between 3 to 4%. Large part of that was

1:59:31in the salary category. We increased

1:59:33benefits, right? That's across the

1:59:35entire spectrum. Uh, healthc care cost

1:59:37increased. Um and that was given to us

1:59:40through the city. Uh we did hire maybe

1:59:43additional three positions in our

1:59:44customer service experience area because

1:59:46we need a little bit there. But that's

1:59:48generally all the increased costs that

1:59:50we have in the personnel service area.

1:59:52Operational costs did increase large

1:59:54part of police service, fire service,

1:59:56emergency services. U those line item

1:59:59increased as well. Had some little bit

2:00:01of increases in um what we consider our

2:00:04contract costs as those contracts went

2:00:06up. inflation caused some of those

2:00:08contracts to increase, but they were

2:00:09nominal. Um, but overall, we only

2:00:12increased roughly around 3.7% of our

2:00:14entire budget.

2:00:16>> Okay. All right. Thank you, Norman. With

2:00:19that, if there's any questions,

2:00:21>> why does it take forever to get your

2:00:23bags at the airport?

2:00:26>> Literally, it's like the worst airport

2:00:28to get luggage from. Is this new

2:00:30technology that you're talking about,

2:00:32the scanner, going to help with the

2:00:33timing?

2:00:34>> No. given one that grew up in the

2:00:36industry. Uh I I was a longtime airline

2:00:39person. Uh baggage delivery to the claim

2:00:42area

2:00:43>> is totally our responsibility.

2:00:46Uh it's

2:00:48you know our measures uh at that time

2:00:52we're 15 within 15 minutes the first bag

2:00:55needs to hit the uh claim area. uh you

2:00:58don't always see that uh with uh with

2:01:00they work real hard at it air carriers

2:01:03uh but you know it's it's it's

2:01:06the air carriers's responsibility.

2:01:08You'll see varying uh delivery times on

2:01:12the part if you use different carriers

2:01:14coming in and there could be uh reasons

2:01:17they can't control on their part if they

2:01:20have bend door issues or some other type

2:01:22issues uh that delays uh delivery of

2:01:25bags to the to the claim area. I can't

2:01:27speak to their issues but I can tell you

2:01:30it's it's not something the airport can

2:01:32it's step in and take over the function.

2:01:35>> So it's not your fault. It's the

2:01:36carrier's fault. No, it's uh it's not

2:01:38it's the responsibility of the carriers

2:01:41to deliver bags to the claim area. And

2:01:43whatever that time is,

2:01:45>> uh that's that's the time that carrier

2:01:46is able to get them there.

2:01:48>> And I hate checking my bags at home. I

2:01:49[clears throat] hate it the worst.

2:01:51Council member Morel,

2:01:53>> thank you. Um this is kind of just like

2:01:55a gray of my previous questions. Uh

2:01:58subcommittee meetings, do you have them?

2:02:02>> Uh committee meetings or

2:02:04>> didn't ask for committee meetings. asked

2:02:05for the subcommittees of the airport

2:02:07committee, the building committee,

2:02:09contracts, the like.

2:02:11>> Are they meeting?

2:02:12>> That's the airport committees and uh and

2:02:15they meet as uh as a chairman uh

2:02:18determines the need to meet uh and the

2:02:21chairman of the committee of the

2:02:23subcommittee. I can tell you our new

2:02:25chair uh coming in is is looking at uh

2:02:29the committees now and determining uh

2:02:32how we go forward as to frequencies of

2:02:34of meetings and uh and committee makeups

2:02:38and so forth. So there's more to come

2:02:40there

2:02:41>> cuz obviously like I said greatest hits

2:02:43cuz I don't see I think there's a

2:02:48significant problem with public

2:02:50transparency when you have committees

2:02:53for an airport that deal with very

2:02:55important topics that literally haven't

2:02:57met in years. And I'm not exaggerating.

2:03:00They have not met in years. And it's

2:03:03disconcerning when you go on a website

2:03:05for the airport, you click on committees

2:03:08and you see nothing.

2:03:11>> Especially when there are very important

2:03:15issues. When I talk to, for example,

2:03:19DBEs who are interested in seeing what's

2:03:21going on with contracting

2:03:23>> and they want to attend a contracting

2:03:25meeting to see how contracting is going

2:03:27forward and they find out there aren't

2:03:29contracting meetings and there haven't

2:03:31been meetings for years. It really

2:03:34undermines public confidence that there

2:03:37is a transparent process and the

2:03:39availability to witness the process in a

2:03:42way that is inclusive. And that kind of

2:03:44leads to my next question, and this is

2:03:46something a complaint I've heard from

2:03:47DBs in particular.

2:03:50How often are we putting out RFPs for

2:03:53these larger contracts? Do we have

2:03:55contracts that are 6, 8, and 10 years

2:03:59old that have never been relet again?

2:04:01>> Uh, not to my knowledge. So,

2:04:03>> you're saying there's no contracts for

2:04:04any professional services

2:04:06>> that are more than 6 years old that have

2:04:09been rebid? I I can't say there's none.

2:04:14I would say I I don't believe there is.

2:04:17And I can tell you our process uh as as

2:04:20we contract

2:04:22uh and in award as we procure services

2:04:26and award contracts uh set term uh and

2:04:30that term al also will normally have uh

2:04:33the ability to extend uh uh maybe three

2:04:37years in that overall term. But but we

2:04:40typically run uh about a 5-year overall

2:04:43term with with the base and then uh

2:04:46renewals, annual renewals on top of

2:04:49that. Uh so we don't lock it down uh for

2:04:52the full period on the front end. uh

2:04:54we'll we'll give uh maybe three of the

2:04:57five years or two of the five years or

2:04:59one of the five years and have the

2:05:02ability to to pull it back by uh by not

2:05:07awarding an extension or awarding the

2:05:09next year on the contract when that

2:05:11comes up. Uh there may be some uh for

2:05:14for different uh reasons that have gone

2:05:17beyond that. Uh but that's that's our

2:05:20practice primarily and uh and any that

2:05:23have gone beyond or for good reason and

2:05:26uh and the process is working to replace

2:05:29those as well. Uh so you know that's how

2:05:33we work and as far as uh transparency

2:05:35with committees

2:05:37uh the items that would go to the

2:05:40committees if if you look at our board

2:05:42agendas uh the they're they're broken

2:05:46down uh by the respective committees as

2:05:49to the items on our overall board

2:05:51agenda. uh those items are fully

2:05:55discussed as there's questions in our

2:05:57board meeting so as to transparency more

2:06:00people uh have access and hear the

2:06:03discussion on those topics through the

2:06:05full board meeting uh then would hear it

2:06:08in in a committee meeting uh and and

2:06:11those questions that would be asked in a

2:06:14committee meeting if there was any

2:06:15questions are asked in a full board

2:06:18meeting. Uh but I'll give you that uh

2:06:21the the committees established. Uh again

2:06:24I mentioned the new chair is looking as

2:06:26to how they function going forward. Uh I

2:06:29can tell you also there was a uh a good

2:06:32period of time uh at the airport uh

2:06:35where the airport went from committees

2:06:38to no committees and then reestablish

2:06:40the committees as you see them today. Uh

2:06:43so again uh that's essentially how how

2:06:47we work there. Uh there committees are

2:06:50not required but we did establish

2:06:52committees and as needed they've met in

2:06:55the past that will be uh different going

2:06:59forward as I know the new chair is

2:07:01looking at looking at the matter as

2:07:02well. I

2:07:03>> I've been I'll give you an opportunity

2:07:05supplement the record and maybe give me

2:07:07a list of all of the contracts that are

2:07:09older than six years old.

2:07:11>> Okay. I will tell you that and I mean

2:07:13with all due respect and I do mean that

2:07:15not in the disrespect way with all due

2:07:16respect

2:07:17>> sincerely that's not how committee

2:07:20structures work.

2:07:21>> If you have committee discussion at a

2:07:24airport meeting the same meeting in

2:07:27which a vote is going to take place that

2:07:28is not full consideration. The purpose

2:07:30of having a committee in these processes

2:07:34is that when the committee meets if

2:07:37there the public or the members of that

2:07:39committee have questions there is a

2:07:41period of consideration between the

2:07:42committee meeting and the board meeting

2:07:44when a vote is to take place. If you put

2:07:47an item on the agenda for a vote, that

2:07:50is not committee consideration. That is

2:07:53here's the information now vote. And

2:07:55that is not transparent because um I can

2:07:59tell you having talked to former and

2:08:01current board members including board

2:08:03members who served previously years ago

2:08:06on the airport board. Part of that

2:08:09transparency is that when board when

2:08:11members of the public attend a committee

2:08:14and say I am concerned about X, it gives

2:08:16the board member and the airport the

2:08:19opportunity to if they cannot answer the

2:08:20question at that board meeting, there is

2:08:22a period in which that question can be

2:08:25answered at the latter meeting. So I

2:08:28hear you. uh if there was an opportunity

2:08:31where the airport had no committees, I

2:08:33think that is tremendously troubling on

2:08:37our very basic level as far as

2:08:38consideration. I say that because I have

2:08:43I understand the airport as a closed

2:08:45system when it comes to money. The

2:08:46airport does not generate funds for the

2:08:48city of New Orleans. That's not it's not

2:08:50that I I advocate for this because I

2:08:52think somehow it'll help our budget

2:08:53crisis. It can't. But part of the

2:08:56benefit of the airport being operated as

2:08:59a subdivision of the city to your point

2:09:02you point out very extensively in your

2:09:05report uh DB participation for an

2:09:07example we're able to reflect to the

2:09:10public that there is a benefit to the

2:09:12city operating airport such as we meet

2:09:14or exceed DB participation. If that is

2:09:17not transparent and if I'm hearing from

2:09:20DB saying, "I don't know when I can bid

2:09:23on a contract, I am in a competing field

2:09:26and it seems like these contracts are

2:09:29perpetual." That undermines all of that

2:09:31because if the same eight people are

2:09:33getting all the contracts forever,

2:09:36that's great for those eight people, but

2:09:38for the other people who want

2:09:39opportunities, that is not helpful. So,

2:09:43I've been talking to the chairman

2:09:44extensively, the new chairman, Mr.

2:09:46Williams. Uh he shares the mayor and I's

2:09:49responsibility that this has to be a

2:09:51transparent process and part of that is

2:09:54returning to a committee structure where

2:09:56the average person

2:09:59can ask questions when items are brought

2:10:01up.

2:10:03My last question which is I know that

2:10:06there recently was some announcements

2:10:08regarding the old terminal and

2:10:09construction moving forward. Were our

2:10:12airline partners

2:10:15consulted or aware of that announcement

2:10:17before it happened

2:10:19>> of the demolition of the um

2:10:21>> the demolition and the process what's

2:10:23going forward with with the the new the

2:10:25new construction at the airport.

2:10:27>> Yes. There's ongoing communications with

2:10:29the airlines.

2:10:30>> Well, I will tell you I am the president

2:10:32of the New Orleans City Council. I'm not

2:10:34the chair of the transportation

2:10:35committee as Mr. Green. I had the

2:10:37opportunity at the request of Southwest

2:10:39Airlines to meet with them and they did.

2:10:40They said that was not the case.

2:10:42>> No, it is.

2:10:43>> Well, I I met with them and they said it

2:10:46was not. And not only that, they brought

2:10:51to me several concerns with ongoing

2:10:53communication with the airport.

2:10:56>> And uh they met with me out of

2:10:58frustration because they said they were

2:11:00not getting responses from the airport

2:11:03in regards to the new terminal. And in

2:11:06particular in our exchange, I said, "It

2:11:08seems to me that there's the idea that

2:11:11if we build a new wing of the airport,

2:11:13it's like feel the dreams. If you build

2:11:15it, they will come." And they were very

2:11:17candid with me that that's not the way

2:11:20airlines work. If you build something

2:11:22they don't want, they will not come. So,

2:11:25I have talked to the board chairman. I

2:11:27have expressed to him what was expressed

2:11:29to me from Southwest leadership. But if

2:11:33we are not having constant communication

2:11:36with our airline partners, there are

2:11:39tremendous pressures on the airline

2:11:41industry due to things outside of our

2:11:44control like the war in Iran and the

2:11:46cost of airline travel. and as they're

2:11:49trying to rightsize what their routes

2:11:51and what things look like throughout the

2:11:53country. We are a premier airport, but

2:11:56there are lots of other premier airports

2:11:57that are also arguing, don't cut your

2:12:00your your trip or your travel to me. I

2:12:02think it is absolutely essential that we

2:12:06are in direct and constant communication

2:12:09with our airline partners. And I say

2:12:11Southwest specifically because the

2:12:13committee that is supposed to be in

2:12:14interaction with the airport is led by

2:12:16Southwest. So, the fact that they

2:12:18reached out to me, I'm not on the board.

2:12:21I am not don't have oversight of the

2:12:24board. They just know that I'm somebody

2:12:25they can reach out to and will ask

2:12:27questions. I've expressed my concerns to

2:12:29the chairman. I've expressed my concerns

2:12:30to the mayor. There needs to be constant

2:12:33and robust communication with our

2:12:35airline partners because

2:12:38though the airport is a closed system,

2:12:41we have to man maintain those

2:12:43relationships and those resources

2:12:45appropriately. So I would encourage you

2:12:47maybe you should talk to them more than

2:12:49you've been talking to them even if you

2:12:50think what is currently happening is

2:12:52adequate.

2:12:53>> Yes. And and I'll say again there has

2:12:56been ongoing communications with the

2:12:58airlines uh Southwest in particular uh

2:13:02the most recent uh meeting uh that

2:13:05committee was is that 3 weeks ago

2:13:09>> and there's one coming up with the right

2:13:11specifically. it's ongoing and when they

2:13:14they reach out the communications with

2:13:16the deputy director in finance and

2:13:18administration on an ongoing basis uh

2:13:21and others on our team it's constant

2:13:23even on the op side uh there's

2:13:26communications with the air carrier so

2:13:29uh and I I'll take what you're saying

2:13:33and we'll ensure uh that that's bumped

2:13:36up even more. Well, and I think it's

2:13:38interesting because they had a meeting 3

2:13:40months ago according to what I was told

2:13:43their meeting was directly before the

2:13:44announcement, which is why they were

2:13:46floored when they weren't consulted on

2:13:47the roll out of the airport. So

2:13:49>> well as as I'm saying I think

2:13:54>> we as a destination airport are in many

2:13:59ways at the have a both symbiotic and

2:14:03parasitic relationship with airlines

2:14:06and on one hand if there are people who

2:14:09are demanding to go to this destination

2:14:13we are the airlines are at our mercy but

2:14:16if there are people and that airline

2:14:18travel dips, then we are at their mercy.

2:14:21>> All I'm saying is more communication is

2:14:24better because no one wants to be in the

2:14:27predicament where we are trying to

2:14:29repair a relationship that with a bit

2:14:32more communication could be a robust and

2:14:34reciprocal relationship.

2:14:37>> Okay? And I'll tell you, we we don't

2:14:39believe in build it and they will come

2:14:41either. and they were very involved uh

2:14:45through our planning process for the

2:14:48terminal facilities.

2:14:49>> And if I can say this, Southwest have

2:14:52direct cell numbers to each one of us at

2:14:55this table. They regularly call us. They

2:14:57regularly come in, we sit down and have

2:14:59conversation with coffee and that is the

2:15:02absolute truth. Um and there is a

2:15:04meeting and clearly there are several

2:15:06airlines not just Southwest and they

2:15:08compete against each other. So what we

2:15:10try to do is make sure we converse with

2:15:12everyone to make sure one is not

2:15:14necessarily trying to get up on the

2:15:16other one. We're trying to make sure we

2:15:17get more pastors to this region, to this

2:15:20city. Um and that's why we talk to them.

2:15:23Um and we'll take and you know, we'll

2:15:25sit down and we'll give them a call

2:15:26today and ask them um at what point in

2:15:29our conversation did we not articulate

2:15:31that to you? And I think we have a

2:15:32meeting [clears throat] set up probably

2:15:34in a week or so with them again. So,

2:15:39I'm lost as to why that was said to you,

2:15:42>> but we hear you. And like I said, I

2:15:46would love to supplement the record with

2:15:48how many contracts we have out that are

2:15:506 8 10 years old and what is the process

2:15:53of rebidding them because I've

2:15:55consistently heard from a variety of

2:15:58upcoming DBEs that want to compete in

2:16:00processes and they really feel like they

2:16:02have no opportunity to break into it

2:16:04because contracts are extended

2:16:05perpetually. So, I know you said you're

2:16:09not aware of any, but there are people

2:16:12at the table. Just if you could give me

2:16:13a list of the contracts that are 6 8 10

2:16:16years old and what is if and when they

2:16:18will be put back out for competitive bid

2:16:20because even though you're a closed

2:16:22system and like I said the savings of

2:16:24rebidding that won't be seen by us, will

2:16:25be seen by y'all obviously cuz you will

2:16:27invest other places.

2:16:28>> It's opportunity. These people who are

2:16:31out there who are new businesses want to

2:16:34know when they will have an opportunity

2:16:36to bid on contract.

2:16:38>> Right. Right.

2:16:38>> Thank you.

2:16:39>> All right. Thank you.

2:16:40>> Thank you, Council Member Green.

2:16:42>> There is a public meeting of the um

2:16:44airport and transportation committee

2:16:46meeting in November. That might be a

2:16:48good chance to have this on the record

2:16:50relative to the contracts that are

2:16:52multi-year, but also when they were

2:16:54rebid because somebody might have had a

2:16:56contract for six years. doesn't mean

2:16:58that in the middle of it it wasn't rebid

2:17:00and they simply won it. Happens all the

2:17:02time at the city of New Orleans. We have

2:17:04the same vendors in place for years, but

2:17:06they've gone through a process and have

2:17:07won the bid. I'm also a bit disappointed

2:17:10relative to the conversation involving

2:17:12um Southwest Airlines because I have

2:17:15representatives present at your meetings

2:17:18and I attend your meetings. So, the

2:17:20demolition of the South Terminal is not

2:17:23a mystery at the end of the day. But I'd

2:17:25like to know, you know, I mean,

2:17:26certainly council member Moral can share

2:17:29with you to whom he spoke, but I feel

2:17:31that that information has been made

2:17:32available, but certainly there, if it

2:17:34was mentioned, there's some deficiency

2:17:36relative to how someone feels regarding

2:17:38communication. So, I look forward to

2:17:40hearing what that issue was with them. I

2:17:42do want to go over a couple of things

2:17:44with you. First, I will start off with

2:17:45applause for the 58% DB SLDBE

2:17:49participation. That's not always easy,

2:17:51but at the end of the day, there is

2:17:53disadvantaged business enterprise

2:17:55participation that exceeds the goals

2:17:57that have been set by the city of New

2:17:58Orleans. So, um, obviously there are

2:18:01more details to be shared, but I want

2:18:03you to, um, talk about a couple of

2:18:04things. You mentioned the word select

2:18:07demolition, select portions of the

2:18:09demolitions. Could you talk about the

2:18:11overall project? It's in the master

2:18:13plan, but could you talk about it

2:18:14publicly? When people hear select

2:18:16demolitions or they hear incompleteness

2:18:18this or that, they sometimes want to

2:18:20know the fact.

2:18:20>> The the south uh terminal complex or the

2:18:23south campus uh what we're demolishing.

2:18:26Uh

2:18:27>> and I want everybody to understand the

2:18:28south terminal is what used to be the

2:18:30terminal

2:18:32main terminal for the airport.

2:18:34>> Uh what we're demolishing is the older

2:18:37end, the east end of the south terminal

2:18:40complex. Uh that's concourses A and B

2:18:44and uh the main terminal uh east

2:18:51uh portions east of the parabola room of

2:18:54the original terminal going east from

2:18:56there. Uh it starts about halfway

2:18:58through that quarter and going east from

2:19:00there. So it's a far eastern end of the

2:19:03terminal facilities, our old admin

2:19:06offices that were on the upper levels uh

2:19:08on that end of the facility. That's the

2:19:11end of the uh terminal uh that's being

2:19:14demolished in this project. Uh that will

2:19:17make room for other development that's

2:19:20contemplated through the master plan. Uh

2:19:23potentially an MRO facility.

2:19:26Our FBOs's uh the uh small aircraft uh

2:19:30providers uh will eventually move back

2:19:34to the south side as the north side

2:19:36continues to grow. uh they'll be located

2:19:39in that general area as well. So there's

2:19:41plans for that area uh once the uh the

2:19:44old terminal goes down goes down. The

2:19:48west end the newer end of the old

2:19:51facilities will remain with us. They're

2:19:53still tenants uh and and uh different

2:19:56components of those facilities

2:19:59uh and uh they will they they are new

2:20:01very viable or fairly new and very

2:20:04viable and will remain with us. So when

2:20:06we say selected demo, it's the older end

2:20:10uh the AB concourses and parts of the

2:20:13main terminal and uh in the airlines I

2:20:17should say uh we we have a process

2:20:21that's called uh majority and interest

2:20:24uh that where air where the airlines we

2:20:27have to take major projects uh to the

2:20:31airlines for their vote of approval

2:20:34uh before we move with them uh if

2:20:37airlines are going to be paying any

2:20:39portion of the cost. And I wish I would

2:20:42have while the councilman was still here

2:20:45uh the airlines approved

2:20:49the uh the South Terminal demo in an MI

2:20:53approval process

2:20:54>> and there was

2:20:55>> where we had to go in and fully explain

2:20:57what we were doing,

2:20:58>> what it was going to cost them

2:21:00>> and why along with other projects in

2:21:03that MI approval. So they were fully

2:21:06aware and even voted

2:21:09uh that we move forward,

2:21:11>> right?

2:21:12>> Thank you for that explanation.

2:21:15>> Many times um people get a little bit

2:21:18confused about the pumps that support

2:21:20the air the airport and when they see

2:21:22water in the street on Williams

2:21:24Boulevard for example or on on Lyola,

2:21:27they're thinking that maybe the airport

2:21:29has something to do with that. Of

2:21:30course, let's just state for the record

2:21:32that the airport pumps support the

2:21:34airport, but could you comment on that a

2:21:36bit more for the public?

2:21:37>> Yeah, the airport pumps do support the

2:21:39airport. They're set up to uh to ensure

2:21:44uh good drainage uh from the airport,

2:21:46keep the airport from flooding through

2:21:48through flood events. and they make up

2:21:51only 2% of the overall capacity pumping

2:21:55capacity

2:21:57uh in Jefferson Parish in Kendra Jeffson

2:22:00Parish. So they're not geared and set up

2:22:03to to provide protection around the

2:22:05airport. They're geared to uh to keep

2:22:08the airport from flooding. Uh and they

2:22:12uh only one occasion during the event uh

2:22:163 years ago was there a period of time

2:22:18where they were down. we built something

2:22:20happened during that event, a lightning

2:22:22strike or something and and the

2:22:23automation stopped working. The pumps

2:22:26were physically good. Uh but at that

2:22:28time we did not have the ability to

2:22:31physically manipulate and turn the pumps

2:22:34on. Uh we do now. Uh since then and

2:22:38automation has worked perfectly fine

2:22:40through every event since then. uh but

2:22:42we now have the ability should it not uh

2:22:45to go in and manually uh turn the pumps

2:22:49on and off. Could you describe that

2:22:51process so that people can can

2:22:52understand that if the that that if

2:22:54something happens that there is an

2:22:56immediate answer there's an immediate

2:22:58ability to um

2:22:59>> there is immediate ability. We we

2:23:02monitor the pumps uh through any

2:23:05significant event.

2:23:07>> Uh and uh so we're on hand nearby if if

2:23:12automation fails and there's a need uh

2:23:16to manually manipulate the well I'll say

2:23:18just turn the pumps on manually. Uh so

2:23:22so so we're there and prepared uh to to

2:23:25this point since that event some years

2:23:29ago. Uh it's not been needed. Uh but

2:23:32we're there in case.

2:23:34>> How many pumps are there?

2:23:35>> It's uh three, four, four total.

2:23:38>> Right. We're not talking about 30 pumps.

2:23:41Right.

2:23:42>> Okay.

2:23:42>> And I I called it it's it's a very small

2:23:45It's four pumps, but a very small

2:23:46station. It's almost like a mini Cooper

2:23:49of uh of pump stations.

2:23:51>> Right. I appreciate your previous um

2:23:54correspondence as potential weather

2:23:57events approached that the pumps were

2:23:59working.

2:23:59>> Yes,

2:24:00>> that's an important thing for travelers

2:24:02and also residents to well more so than

2:24:05travelers and also the airlines to know

2:24:07that the pumps are working. Could you

2:24:09talk about regional cooperation? We

2:24:11don't talk about that enough. Um I think

2:24:14the public needs to know that um despite

2:24:17the fact that the airport is owned by

2:24:19the city of New Orleans that there is

2:24:21regional participation. Could you talk

2:24:22about that a bit relative to the board

2:24:24and a point person?

2:24:25>> And there there is and and as you as you

2:24:27know our board uh has representatives on

2:24:30it from has a rep from uh St. Charles

2:24:33Parish and a representative from Kenner

2:24:36uh in Jefferson Parish. Uh we uh had one

2:24:40vacancy. The Kenner uh spot uh was

2:24:43recently vacated as as that person that

2:24:45individual qualified for an election. Uh

2:24:49but it's uh there's now uh a new member

2:24:53uh that's been appointed Kenner, Mr.

2:24:55Barry Ranchie. Uh and we've been in

2:24:58contact with Mr. Ranchie. We have him

2:25:01scheduled tomorrow for an onboarding uh

2:25:03session with us and he'll be attending

2:25:05his first board meeting next month. So,

2:25:08we have those two seats on the board. Uh

2:25:10I we have a regularly scheduled uh

2:25:13annual uh update to the St. Charles

2:25:17Parish Council on the activities of the

2:25:20airport and and plans going forward. Uh

2:25:23so it's ongoing and uh and that con that

2:25:27uh board member stays engaged uh with

2:25:30the airport between us and St. Charles

2:25:32and if there's any other communication

2:25:34needs uh we do so uh with uh with Kenner

2:25:38uh Kenner is uh on request uh if we're

2:25:42requested to uh to go present on on an

2:25:45issue or overall plans to to the Kenner

2:25:48Council, we do so. We've had uh very

2:25:52very good uh relations with the uh with

2:25:55the mayor's office in Kennor and the the

2:25:57city's administration. And again,

2:25:59there's there's good communications

2:26:01there and constant communications with

2:26:04the city of Kennor.

2:26:05>> Congratulations on your um consistent

2:26:08receipt of awards recognizing the

2:26:11outstanding service. 80% of Louisianans

2:26:14who travel travel through this airport.

2:26:17So, it's an incredible resource not only

2:26:19for New Orleans but for the state of

2:26:21Louisiana and I know that there can be

2:26:23challenges from time to time. I

2:26:25encourage um Miss Burns and I'm going to

2:26:28just give you additional information.

2:26:30Let me know what I need to know and I'll

2:26:31share with the council too. I mean, we

2:26:33certainly have our communications um we

2:26:36have our communications through our

2:26:38airport and transportation committee and

2:26:40I appreciate the presentations that you

2:26:42make. I appreciate the additional

2:26:43information that I have, but share with

2:26:45me in an abundance and I'll make sure

2:26:47that the council members know. And if we

2:26:49can resolve that issue with a quick memo

2:26:51relative to the Southwest concerns, that

2:26:54will help us as we approach our coming

2:26:57meeting. So, thank you for your work and

2:26:59for the communications.

2:27:00>> Thank you. I'd like to say one more

2:27:01thing. It's coming to mind as as we're

2:27:04talking. you're going to find that there

2:27:06is one very normal occasion amongst all

2:27:10airports around the country. Uh in uh

2:27:14certain contracts uh such as a

2:27:17concessions contract, food and beverage

2:27:20operators at the airport, those

2:27:22contracts are longer uh because of the

2:27:24investment in the facility. Uh I don't

2:27:27think that's the type contract the

2:27:29councilman was was referring to, but

2:27:32that comes to mind. And I just wanted to

2:27:34point that out. They will be longer. Uh

2:27:36cuz there is a significant uh investment

2:27:38in the airport on the part of of the

2:27:41major operator. Uh but other than that,

2:27:44uh it runs a typical 5-year course.

2:27:46>> Well, I look forward to the sharing of

2:27:47that information. We had long-term um

2:27:49trash contracts because we required our

2:27:53vendors to invest in significantly

2:27:56in significantly enhanced equipment. So

2:27:58in order for to to encourage someone to

2:28:00participate, they need to know that

2:28:02there's going to be a return over time.

2:28:04But that may not be the case in those

2:28:05contracts, but it it's not out of the

2:28:08ordinary to have contracts that extend

2:28:10for a number of years depending on what

2:28:11your specifications are. But let's see

2:28:13because I want to make sure that the

2:28:16businesses that are concerned know the

2:28:18facts and that um if there's an

2:28:19opportunity to participate, but they

2:28:21have the right. I want to encourage um

2:28:23the public to know that aviation board

2:28:26meetings are open and um you can get a

2:28:28pres you get a presentation there. You

2:28:30can also ask questions. That's the

2:28:31opportunity including um those who are

2:28:35airlines to get some of the answers to

2:28:37the questions that you have.

2:28:39>> Yes.

2:28:39>> Thank you all very much. Thank you,

2:28:40Madam Chair.

2:28:42>> Thank you, Council Member Green. And you

2:28:43are free to go. Next up,

2:28:45>> last but not least is Wun School and

2:28:47Traffic Court.

2:28:48>> Judges, come on up. Do you have $5

2:28:50million for us again?

2:29:14Does it matter where you

2:29:20just

2:29:22All right. Yeah, I'm trying. Yeah, they

2:29:25called me up. Hey, what you have to

2:29:28show?

2:29:33Are we on?

2:29:40>> Are we on here?

2:29:43>> Yeah, you can go ahead and get started.

2:29:45>> Okay. Uh wanted to first thank you for

2:29:47accommodating my schedule. Of course,

2:29:49>> as I'll be out uh now during the time

2:29:53where we were originally scheduled, um

2:29:58just like to make an acknowledgement uh

2:30:00to my fellow judges Jones. Well, let me

2:30:04first introduce the judges who are with

2:30:06me. Judges Smith is to my right, Judge

2:30:10Bobby Smith. To my left is Jo Judge

2:30:13Landry and Judge uh Shay. Morning. As

2:30:17you guys are aware, we um have lost two

2:30:21positions uh pursuant to the legislation

2:30:24this year in the um in the legislature.

2:30:29Uh so we have con for the last 3 years

2:30:32since u co we have experienced an in

2:30:38increase in number of filings with the

2:30:41court to the tune of almost 10 10,000 a

2:30:45year. thereabouts about about 8 8,000 a

2:30:48year. We expect the same number to

2:30:51increase next year as not only we'll get

2:30:55the and and they are we already seeing a

2:30:58number of traffic court cases coming in,

2:31:00municipal court cases coming in and now

2:31:03the formally state misdemeanor are going

2:31:07to be classified as

2:31:11the state misdemeanor that were being

2:31:14issued by the state police will now be

2:31:17coming to the municipal court as a city

2:31:22violation, but it's a transfer of that

2:31:25case load that was formerly at criminal

2:31:27district court back to our court. So, we

2:31:30will again see what we expect to be a

2:31:33substantial increase in those numbers

2:31:36with a reduction of the number of judges

2:31:39handling those cases. Um

2:31:45we we think that the court has been very

2:31:48innovative in some of the things that we

2:31:50have done and I'll ask um Judge Shay to

2:31:53comment on that later with OCR. We have

2:31:56we're actively uh you trying to u get

2:32:00the officer motor vehicles to put a

2:32:03satellite office in our court. We're,

2:32:06you know, they're having their own

2:32:08issues at the time, but we are

2:32:10attempting to bring them in to, you

2:32:13know, convenience our constituency and

2:32:16our citizens.

2:32:19I think as you mentioned, uh, we've been

2:32:22pretty good stewards of the public fisk.

2:32:25we were able to turn over $5 million

2:32:28from our judicial expense fund to the

2:32:31city to help make up the the budget

2:32:33deficits that you're pro, you know,

2:32:37presently dealing with. So, uh, we want

2:32:40to, um, do as much as we can to help you

2:32:44on that end. Um and

2:32:48this budget vote that we we are asking

2:32:51for a number of positions to be filled

2:32:54that were vacant for the last 3 years

2:32:57because of the um

2:33:00the no longer being able to hire any

2:33:03other people. So we we need those we

2:33:06need those positions funded now. So

2:33:09that's one of the reasons why our budget

2:33:11remains pretty close to what we were

2:33:14before. Um and to to allow us to

2:33:19continue deliver the services. Our

2:33:21clerk's office, we need an IT position

2:33:24that we're waiting now, presently

2:33:26waiting any day for the Supreme Court to

2:33:28uh come back with an opinion on, but

2:33:31that position needs to be filled. Um in

2:33:35the slide, one of the slides we had

2:33:37indicated that in in red highlighted

2:33:40which positions we are actually asking

2:33:42you guys to um to let us go ahead and

2:33:47hire.

2:33:48And the other thing I think that we need

2:33:50to discuss is the um

2:33:54community court. Community court is a

2:33:56court that affects the the

2:34:00least of our citizens. It it it's very

2:34:03labor intensive. Uh we have um

2:34:08two social workers that are funded

2:34:10through a grant.

2:34:12The we have had some

2:34:15we believe it may not be continued. That

2:34:18grant may not be continued. So it that

2:34:20leaves us without the funding for

2:34:23besides that funding that we received

2:34:26from the the grant. We also use monies

2:34:29from our judicial expense fund to uh

2:34:33facilitate the community court. Without

2:34:36that those funds,

2:34:38if we'll either need to get the funding

2:34:40from the city council or we may have to

2:34:43discontinue it. And it's a program, as I

2:34:46said, it helps those who are homeless,

2:34:48who are mentally ill, who have drug

2:34:51addictions or alcohol addictions. And

2:34:54you know, again, it's labor intensive

2:34:56more than it is for one of our divisions

2:34:58of court where we only handle traffic

2:35:00and municipal, but um you know, it's

2:35:03hands-on and without those funds that

2:35:06we're requesting, we won't be able to

2:35:08continue that service.

2:35:10That's really I would like my judges to

2:35:14make any comments they wish, but that's

2:35:16my presentation.

2:35:19>> Mark, you want to talk about OCR? uh

2:35:22just the opportunity just to kind of

2:35:24continue what we talked about at at the

2:35:26budget. Um

2:35:29a month and a half ago, um OCR is almost

2:35:32complete. Uh we're doing some some beta

2:35:35testing currently now. Uh they

2:35:38anticipate I say they Calamuna who's

2:35:41building the system um anticipate that

2:35:44it's going to be rolled out in the first

2:35:45part of the year. We meet weekly to

2:35:48discuss the progress and and uh we as

2:35:51the judges like what we see so far. So I

2:35:53think it's really going to be a great

2:35:55addition to uh traffic. Thank you

2:36:00Joel Andrea. I'm just here I'm chair of

2:36:02the uh court's budget committee. That's

2:36:06um my man told me really I'm just here

2:36:09to tell y'all goodbye because December

2:36:1131st. Told that I'm too old to serve. So

2:36:15I will no longer serve in this capacity.

2:36:18It's been a pleasure serving the

2:36:19citizens of pleasure working with you

2:36:22folks on the council.

2:36:25So thank you all.

2:36:28>> All right. Good afternoon. What what's

2:36:31my role here is coming up next year, we

2:36:34will need to have our employees to

2:36:38support what we're doing in community

2:36:40court. Really would like to express the

2:36:42significance of it. What it really does,

2:36:45it reduces recidivism for our community

2:36:49such as folks breaking in cars, folks

2:36:51stealing from Walgreens and that kind of

2:36:53thing. Those types of things. And with

2:36:56that court, we can reduce that. and for

2:36:59quality for better quality of life for

2:37:01the citizens of New Orleans. So, the

2:37:03budget is here. We uh it's it's funded

2:37:06now, but we need the we need to keep the

2:37:08money to uh make sure we continue to

2:37:10keep those residents. That's it. Thank

2:37:12you.

2:37:14>> One one addition, for years, municipal

2:37:17court did um handle offenses relative to

2:37:21housing and and health code violations.

2:37:24Um we're here to do the same thing if

2:37:26you guys want it. We can't seize

2:37:28property. We don't have civil

2:37:30jurisdiction to do that. But anyone

2:37:32who's not upkeeping that property, as

2:37:34long as the staff of the health

2:37:37department or can serve that person, we

2:37:41can have some adjudication in in our

2:37:44court usually within 60 days. So it it's

2:37:48not seizing property, but it can at

2:37:50least hold the property owner to, you

2:37:54know, a measure of discipline. some

2:37:56feminine responsibility, right?

2:37:59>> Well, uh first, uh Judge Landry,

2:38:02congratulations. Um and thank you for

2:38:05your service and judges, thank you all

2:38:07for all that you do. U municipal and

2:38:09traffic court is is fundamental and I

2:38:12know how great community court has been.

2:38:15So, according to this budget, um your

2:38:18community court funding is around 240

2:38:20832. Is that right?

2:38:22They're getting out approximately 400.

2:38:26No, no, I'm sorry. About 300,000 out of

2:38:29the grant. Okay.

2:38:30>> We're funding the other portion which is

2:38:32about another 300,000.

2:38:34>> Okay. So, you're looking at 300,000 to

2:38:37plug the hole of the grant that expires.

2:38:39Are you sure that grant is going to

2:38:40expire?

2:38:40>> We do not. We we we're not sure. We're

2:38:43waiting for to hear that right now any

2:38:45day.

2:38:45>> When will you let us know when you know?

2:38:48We will

2:38:48>> because I mean personally I know how

2:38:51great community court is especially

2:38:53given the fact that we now have state

2:38:54laws that criminalize sleeping outside

2:38:57and those cases I think I believe are

2:38:59going to come to your court for you to

2:39:01adjudicate and you can get those folks

2:39:03into um community court to try to get

2:39:06them the help that they need and and use

2:39:08the social workers to do that. It's

2:39:10unfortunate that the state passed such a

2:39:11law without providing municipalities

2:39:14with the funding to actually adjudicate

2:39:17those cases. Number one, and number two,

2:39:19take care of the people who are

2:39:21adjudicated um under that new statute.

2:39:24So, um just keep us updated on that

2:39:26funding. And that's that's, you know,

2:39:28something that I will advocate for.

2:39:31And another thing is, you know, one of

2:39:33the one of the arguments made to the

2:39:36legislature at the time was we have 19

2:39:39million visitors that come to New

2:39:41Orleans, right?

2:39:42>> So those people who may be going to the

2:39:44French Quarter or, you know, whatever,

2:39:47partying it up, doing, they come before

2:39:49us, right? So we're dealing with those

2:39:53folks and, you know, we're dealing with

2:39:55them with two less judges to help us

2:39:56carry that burden. Yeah, we certainly

2:39:58have a different volume of visitors than

2:40:01the rest of the state and unfortunately

2:40:03some of those visitors can get into

2:40:05trouble. I do like the idea of

2:40:06adjudicating some of these uh property

2:40:09owners and bllights and so I'd love to

2:40:12partner with you on that. I'm sure

2:40:13council member Green and the rest of the

2:40:14council members would too. Um I know

2:40:17there is a working group on blight

2:40:18happening right now. So, we'll I'll

2:40:21figure out who to touch base with, which

2:40:23one of y'all to touch ba with base with

2:40:25or your staff to figure out how we can

2:40:27um plug you into that.

2:40:28>> I'm glad to do it.

2:40:29>> Um any questions, Council Member McCary?

2:40:32>> No, judge. I'd like to also thank you.

2:40:33You're a young guy compared to me and

2:40:36I'm not planning to necessarily go

2:40:38anywhere. So, I mean you but that's the

2:40:39way the law works. So, I don't want to

2:40:41wish you the best as you move forward

2:40:43and doing the practicing or whatever to

2:40:46do the relaxing and the financing. Thank

2:40:48you for doing the job um in the way that

2:40:51the job had to be done, which was very

2:40:53honestly that's why a lot of folks never

2:40:56really heard about the work that you did

2:40:58because you were doing the right thing.

2:40:59So, thank you very much for all of those

2:41:01years of work and um I wish you the best

2:41:03as you move forward. And so, thank you

2:41:05to to you judges um for the work that

2:41:08you do. Again, kind of quietly, but it's

2:41:11important that it's important work.

2:41:13Community court is important and I do

2:41:15look forward to to be redundant. Um,

2:41:17you've heard me mention the blight

2:41:18situation before. I know serving people

2:41:20is hard because many times we have

2:41:23properties that are owned by folks who

2:41:25live out of town and um, it's just hard

2:41:27to get to them, but we just can't

2:41:30continue forever to have these lots

2:41:32growing over into other people's houses

2:41:34into the streets and houses falling. So,

2:41:36whatever we can do to get some of those

2:41:38owners more held more accountable, I'm

2:41:41ready to suggest whatever we need to be

2:41:44whatever we need to do involving the

2:41:45city attorney and the like.

2:41:47>> Glad to do it. Um, I wanted to say too

2:41:50between Joey and Bobby, uh, it's 50

2:41:52years of resource that the court's going

2:41:55to lose. Um, two guys did a great job

2:41:58for this city and we're going to miss

2:42:00them sorely.

2:42:02>> I know. I

2:42:04I hear you. Um, and I'm sorry that y'all

2:42:06had to sit here through the exciting

2:42:08budget world. Um, if that's it for you,

2:42:11you are welcome to go and um, we can

2:42:14talk about day five, which will be

2:42:16exciting and I hear action-packed. So,

2:42:20>> pack your lunch.

2:42:21>> Oh, no.

2:42:22>> Thank you all that agenda.

2:42:24>> With that, I'll move to adjourn. Second.

2:42:26Second by council member Green. All in

2:42:28favor? I.

2:42:29>> We are adjourned.