“Let's put the cards on the table. I'm an Oliver Thomas supporter. They're Moreno supporters. And as a result of that, they don't want to see anybody who supports Oliver Thomas have any success or any contracts that they may inherit, should Helena Moreno win. In my opinion, that was the motivation behind the politics.” - Troy Henry, Owner of Henry Consulting
Every coin’s got two sides, every color’s got many shades, and on every issue, you’ll find numerous perspectives—moderate to extreme.
As a news outlet, it’s our job to gather up and present the multitude of perspectives, especially on hot-button issues. And one of NOLA’s hottest-button issues is Cantrell’s decision to eliminate IV Waste’s French Quarter garbage collection contract.
If you’ve stayed abreast of the issue, you’ve heard City Councilman JP Morrell and IV Waste owner Sidney Torres on WWL expressing deep-seated concerns with this decision. For example, Morrell accused the mayor of using the urgency of this cancelled contract to strong-arm French Quarter residents, businesses, and even the ruling court of the contract itself into pushing through a Henry Consulting.
Henry Consulting, as you may remember, was awarded the bid last year. But after the contract was approved, issues arose between Henry Consulting and a subcontractor they planned to employ, Richard Disposal.
The contract's price began to fluctuate, tensions arose, and the contract fell through, resulting in an emergency contract with IV Waste. And, love them or hate them, satisfaction levels with IV Waste’s performance have been incredibly high, making the mayor’s decision to end the contract prematurely a true head-scratcher.
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Now we’re back to where we started. There’s another potential contract with Henry Consulting. And, again, they plan to subcontract third parties for the trash pickup process.
Since the announcement, JP Morrell and Sidney Torres both called out the owner of Henry Consulting, Troy Henry.
Morrell says Henry is gaslighting the public by claiming he has a valid contract, even though it has yet to get the council’s budgetary stamp of approval. Meanwhile, Torres is speaking out against his third-party-reliant business model, calling it risky and ill-equipped for keeping the French Quarter and business district clean.
I’ve also shared my thoughts on Troy Henry’s questionable model, issues I have with the contract, and the fact that it’s he has very specific allegiances over at City Hall.
But I also wanted to give Troy Henry a chance to defend his position and to clarify anything he felt was being unfairly leveraged against him. And I had him on my show for a lengthy, often heated, interview.
Our conversation runs the gamut. We cover everything from how the initial contract fell through to my questions on the mysterious nature of the revised contract, and why certain clauses have either been altered or disappeared entirely.
For example, when asked why the termination-for-convenience clause of Henry's contract had been negotiated out, in contrast to all other contracts I reviewed, Henry replied:
Anybody who would have been selected, if they had any business acumen or sense at all, would have negotiated the exact same thing out. Because if certain people went for mayor, if they can terminate you for convenience, not for performance, but convenience... they can do it because they don't like the color of your skin or the color of your cars.
We also get Henry's take on the it's-all-politics nature of this issue. Because when it comes down to it, he agrees: What's going on is political to its core, but from an entirely different angle than, say, a JP Morrell or Sidney Torres.
Henry defends wholeheartedly his use of subcontractors and denies it as an unsound business practice. But in the end, although he claims he's the best fit for this 7-year, $75-million contract, he admits in our interview to the fragility of his own business model, resulting from litigation with his own subcontractors like Richard's Disposal. When pressed about the relationships and performance bonds Henry Consulting has with subcontractors, Henry refused to explain, saying, "I'm not going to get into the details of my negotiations with Mr. Richards ...That's not for public consumption at all."
Ultimately, Henry landed a contract that lowered his obligations and accountability, while the city placed themselves in a more vulnerable position by committing to a contract that lacks transparency.
Still, Henry stood behind his company, saying, "Don't act like there's no investment being made by me. I strategically choose to structure my business in a way that is different from these other companies. I think it's better. You may not think it is better. I don't choose to be in the garbage pickup business. I chose to work in the sanitation and janitorial services business."
Is it better? All I can say is that I have my opinions. But as people of the City of New Orleans, I urge you to listen to the full interview to start building your own conclusion.
At the end of the day, we may not agree. But what we all should agree on is that who we ink our ballot for come October is a massive difference maker on these very real issues going on in our city.
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