The table is set for the New Orleans City Council members to pass a new ordinance at their next meeting in effort to foster accountability from the Mayor LaToya Cantrell and her administration. We’ve seen early on that this City Council is not afraid to shake things up, especially when it comes to addressing crime and infrastructure issues in the city - and they say they have the votes to pull this off. I spoke today with Council members Joe Giarrusso and Lesli Harris, who will introduce this ordinance.
Describe what y’all are trying to do next week.
JG: We want to set aside money from a couple of city departments’ operating budgets until things change in certain areas. Those departments would be the Department of Public Works, Department of Safety and Permits, City Planning, and the Law Department. We want better communication from them on behalf of our residents. We have roadwork projects that have been languishing for a long time now. It was reported that 90% of the most turbulent projects are citywide, in districts B, C, and D. Also, the city doesn’t have the necessary software to fight the scourge of short term rentals - we just want to see the public getting better results.
Are you guys still having difficulty getting information out of the Cantrell administration relative to a lot of capital construction projects?
JG: Our decision was based on the data these departments provided us. I say that because they are trying to discredit what we are doing. I have a project in Lakeview that's three years old. One of the streets had a birthday party for the project because it had taken so long for construction to be completed. Some issues have been resolved, but the facts show - we’ve not gotten the answers to the questions we’ve been asking department heads, senior level officials, or mid-level employees.
Lesli, you articulated a lot of frustration with what you were seeing in and around the city relative to these capital construction projects. Where are you on this issue?
LH: Constituents are frustrated with the lack of progress. Some projects are getting done, only to be torn up and left unfinished. I live near a project that's been going on for at least a year. As a council we need to be able to control DPW and how they administer these contracts to ensure that there's a completion of projects in a safe and orderly manner.
Is the City Council just not getting real current relevant information from DPW? Do they really know the status of a project?
LH: Having talked to DPW and some of the contractors on these projects, there is a fundamental lack of communication and disconnect. Contractors have told me it takes more time to just get approval from DPW in Orleans Parish than it would in Jefferson Parish.
JG: DPW just put out a scorecard on those contractors. Everybody meets expectations except for one or two projects. If you ask most residents, they would not feel the same way. More importantly, the contractors don't know how they're being scored. They’re not given a rubric, and haven't received an explanation.
There's nothing wrong with telling someone they're not doing as well as we want you to do, but you have to explain to them. That isn't happening.
