The New Orleans City Council continues its agenda to have the city operate better and provide basic services to its residents. You will recall there was action taken by Mayor LaToya Cantrell in private meetings to extend the Wisner Trust, which had already been extinguished. The council intends to intervene, believing the Cantrell administration violated the city charter. The council has been working with many city offices to get an idea of their operating budgets and efforts to fund a Sewerage and Water Board substation. Councilmembers Joe Giarrusso and JP Morrell joined the show to discuss the disorganization they’ve found, and how the council intends to get the city operating smoothly and efficiently.
There's been some recent talk about actions and interventions that the council may take relative to the Wisner Trust. Tell us about it.
JM: The City Council believes the mayor did not have the authority to terminate the Wisner Trust without council approval. We are hiring outside counsel to challenge the mayor's termination of the trust, as well as intervening in a lawsuit that currently exists regarding the trust.
JG: The issue for the council really is whether or not this is the best deal for the people of New Orleans.
Y’all have taken action to get to operational budget numbers from city offices. What have y’all found?
JM: We started having meetings and we’re starting to get that information. We're starting to wrap our arms around things that are not working correctly.
JG: As a council we need to identify short term solutions at this moment to make sure the people are seeing better results. We also need to identify long term solutions. We are trying to figure out the best way to use the city’s budget as a tool to fund initiatives and hold offices accountable for the budgets they have right now. If you don't oversee or control a department, then the last option that the city council has is to use its budgetary power.
What’s the latest on the Sewerage and Water Board substation?
I can't think of a single more important infrastructure project than having new clean, reliable power. The combined age of the turbines at Carrollton water plant is 377 years old. We cannot keep on relying on those as our primary source of power. The council took $30 million of American Rescue Plan money to fill that lost hole to help fund the substation. If we stay on target, the substation can come online in October of 2024. The idea of using this one-time money for a one-time critical need is incredibly important.
