It would be predictable for the city of New Orleans to take away a contract from someone whose company is doing an exceptional job cleaning up the French Quarter and giving the contract to an individual who is not in the trash business, but would subcontract out the work to a trash business. It would be especially predictable if there are questions about the individual’s relationship with council members.
Today, on our show Louisiana Lt. Governor Billy Nungesser called in to talk about a letter he wrote to a member of the New Orleans City Council about his concern that the contract with IV Waste owned by Sidney Torres might end up in the hands of Henry Consultants, who would subcontract with Richards Disposal to take over the daunting task of keeping the French Quarter clean.
Billy said he witnessed employees of IV Waste going out of their way to do extra work that was not necessarily covered in the company’s contract with the city. Nungesser praised what he saw first-hand during the Super Bowl and Mardi Gras in New Orleans.
In his letter to Councilman Freddie King III, Billy expressed concern: “Changing vendors at this time would be a setback to all the progress made in the Quarter just as we are finally moving forward and morale is high.”
The call from Billy Nungesser sparked some controversy over “rumors” about Nungesser concerning situations unrelated to the contract to keep the French Quarter clear. I quickly dismissed the attempt by one caller to divert the conversation in a direction in what seemed to be an obvious attempt to protect Henry consultants.
Later in the show, Councilman Freddie King III called in to express his interest in keeping IV Waste as the company in charge of keeping the French Quarter clean and spoke about the countless calls and texts he had received from businesses and residents in the French Quarter about the competent job IV Waste has been doing in one of the most popular streets in America.
Before and during the Super Bowl, I spent a lot of time on the air talking about how important it is that the city leaders and the citizens retain the message of “keeping our city clean” for the visitors and work toward keeping the city clean for ourselves. Only time will tell if we revert back to being lazy and littering. Awarding a contract to keep the treasured French Quarter clean is imperative in any effort to “keep our city clean.”
Hear the conversations with Billy Nungesser and Councilman Freddie King III in the audio players above.
