The dispute over IV Waste's contract to pick up trash in the French Quarter is the subject of the latest dispute between Mayor LaToya Cantrell and the New Orleans City Council.
Last week, Mayor Cantrell announced that she is canceling IV Waste's emergency contract to provide garbage collection and sanitation services to the Vieux Carré effective July 31. Henry Consulting, who won the contract to provide those services during a bid process last year, will then pick up the work.
According to political analyst Clancy Dubos, Cantrell's move could be a way to get ahead of a potential court ruling.
"This whole matter is in litigation," Dubos said.
According to Dubos, a trial judge has already ruled in favor of the city and Henry Consulting in a case currently under appeal. The city council claims that the bid process was flawed because the Cantrell Administration improperly allowed Henry to amend its bid. That's why Dubos believes Cantrell is trying to put Henry Consulting in charge of French Quarter sanitation as quickly as possible.
"Why wouldn't she just wait for the appellate court and maybe the Supreme Court to rule on this?" Dubos asked. "The council members are saying right now that if the mayor was real confident in her position legally, why would she want to kick (IV Waste owner Sidney) Torres out right now?"
Dubos believes Cantrell may also be trying to influence city affairs that happen long after she's out of office.
"This has nothing to do with Troy Henry professionally or personally," Dubos said. "The mayor has less than a year to go in her term, and she's trying to give Henry an eight-year contract worth over $70 million. That's the kind of thing that some things that mayors have tried to do in the past, and they've always been undone. Even if they got them in there, the next mayor came in and undid it. It just leads to more litigation."
Dubos says this latest battle between the Cantrell and the council raises a couple of other important question about the Henry contract.
"How much oversight does the council have?" Dubos said. "Is this really a professional services contract like an architect or an engineering contract?"
Dubos adds that Cantrell's power play has united French Quarter residents and business owners, a rarity for two groups whose interest typically conflict.
"As (city councilman) Freddie King noted, he rarely see residents and businesses in the French Quarter on the same side," Dubos said. "He says they're united. They love the work Torres's crews are doing. They're doing a great job according to the residents and businesses, and they want Torres to stay because they like how clean the Quarter is right now. That doesn't mean Henry can't or won't do it. They just prefer to go with what they know."