As New Orleans works to integrate the Sewerage & Water Board into its public works department, Mayor Helena Moreno is cautioning that things will take time. But she is also optimistic about the benefits it will bring to the city's residents.
While the New Orleans City Council has moved to take significant control and oversight of Sewerage & Water Board operations, Mayor Moreno says some parts of the Sewerage and Water Board cannot simply be dismantled, like the board itself.
"The only reason why that really exists at this point, is because it's in the charter, and because we have to keep it in place right now because of certain debt and bond issues that we have right now," Moreno told WWL's Newell Normand. "If not, I would have just completely done a full merger all at once, but it's going to take us a couple of years to get there."
Moreno said the main thing they're working on now is merging equipment and personnel. Moreno says the Sewerage and Water board has 350 people who work on paving streets alone, something she says the city of New Orleans could really use.
"You see a pothole, it doesn't matter whether it's Sewerage and Water Board of DPW (Department of Public Works), go fix the major pothole or the sinkhole!" Moreno said.
