[Plan of Government]
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THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH FOR COMING HERE.
AND LOOK, WE'RE A SMALL ENOUGH GROUP.
I'M GOING TO ASK IF WE CAN GO AROUND, IF YOU'RE A RESIDENT OF DISTRICT THREE OR DISTRICT 12, OR IF YOU REPRESENT AN ORGANIZATION, UH, LET'S JUST GO AROUND IF WE COULD AND JUST INTRODUCE OURSELVES, PLEASE.
MY NAME IS JENNY HASTINGS MEMBER OF DISTRICT 12, ACTIVE IN SEVERAL ORGANIZATIONS.
SO WE'RE NOT IN DISTRICT 10, BUT VERY GRATEFUL THAT COUNCILMAN COLON, UH, WHO, UH, DOES A WONDERFUL JOB OF REPRESENTING OUR DISTRICT, WHICH IS OLD SOUTH BATON ROUGE AND DOWNTOWN.
AND, AND I, I'M NOT GONNA DESCRIBE ALL OF THE BOUNDARIES, BUT A BIT INTO NORTH BATON ROUGE.
UM, AND I GUESS I COULD SAY DISTRICT 12.
UH, BREAKFAST CABINETS, UH, LOCAL ARCHITECT IN DISTRICT 12.
WELL, I'M ALSO PRESIDENT OF THE CENTRAL HIGHLANDS AND ON THE BOARD OF THE FEDERATION PRESENTATIONS, IT'S GOING TO BE LARGELY THE SAME.
SO COUNCIL MEMBER ROCCA DID TELL ME SHE HAD A WORK PROFESSIONAL BUSINESS MEETING PRIOR TO THIS.
I'M CERTAIN SHE'LL BE HERE SHORTLY.
UM, I'LL ASK YOU TO INTRODUCE YOURSELF LAST.
AND THEN THE ROLE YOU PLAYED IN THIS PROCESS WHEN TO SIT IN THE QUEER, CURRENTLY THE GENERAL COUNSEL AT LSU, BUT A FEW YEARS AGO, I WAS THE COUNSEL TO SOUTHERN UNIVERSITY IN THEIR APPOINTMENT TO THE COMMITTEE THAT PREPARED THE ORIGINAL DRAFT OF THE CHANGES TO THE PLAN OF GOVERNMENT.
EACH OF THE TWO UNIVERSITIES HAD A LAW SCHOOL APPOINTMENT AND WAS IN THE APPOINTMENT OF SUTTON'S LAW SCHOOL PRESIDENT GALLAGHAN WITH THE APPOINTMENT FROM LSU LAW SCHOOL.
AND WE MET EVERY MONTH FOR ALMOST TWO YEARS TO COME TOGETHER WITH THIS DOCUMENT YOU HAVE HERE ALONG WITH SEVERAL REPRESENTATIVES.
WE HAD A REPRESENTATIVE OF A NEIGHBORHOOD ASSOCIATION, A COUPLE OF THE CITY COUNCIL YOU'RE STEALING MY POWERPOINT HERE.
SO I'M JUST SAYING, THAT'S A SLIDE I'M TOGETHER.
A LOT OF PEOPLE MET A LONG TIME TO TRY TO PUT THIS TOGETHER AND IT'S NOT PERFECT BECAUSE IT INCLUDES A LOT OF COMPROMISES FROM DIFFERENT GROUPS.
SO JUST LISTEN WITHIN THAT GROUP.
THAT'S AND THAT'S A TREMENDOUS WAY TO OPEN IT UP.
BECAUSE TONIGHT IS TRULY ABOUT INFORMATION.
UM, THE WAY I WANT TO START IS I'M NOT HERE TO SELL ANYTHING.
I AM NOT HERE TO TELL YOU EVERY ONE OF THESE PROPOSALS IS EXACTLY WHAT WE AS
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A PARISH SHOULD DO MY INTENT IN HOSTING THESE MEETINGS IN, IN CARRYING FORWARD, THE WORK OF THE PLANET GOVERNMENT COMMITTEE, WHICH WAS CHAIRED BY A FORMER COUNCIL MEMBER, DONNA COLLINS LEWIS.UH, MY INTENT IS TO GET THIS DISCUSSION AND THESE PROPOSALS OUT INTO THE COMMUNITY FOR DIALOGUE AND, AND I NEED TO STAY NEAR THE MICROPHONE.
SO FORGIVE ME AS A STAND IN ONE PLACE.
BUT, UM, SO I WILL GO THROUGH THE, THE PROPOSED AMENDMENTS.
I'LL TALK THROUGH THE RATIONALE BEHIND THEM, UH, AS BEST AS I RECEIVED INFORMATION FROM THE PLANET GOVERNMENT COMMITTEE RECALLED ATTENDING SEVERAL OF THE MEETINGS IN A PREVIOUS CAPACITY AND THEN WENT BACK AND DID RESEARCH WITH ALL OF THE VIDEOS OF THE MEETINGS THAT ARE ARCHIVED.
SO MY INTENT IS TO PRESENT THAT INFORMATION, THE RATIONALE AS, UH, AS BEST PRESENTED FROM THE COMMITTEE AND WHY THEY FELT IT WAS A GOOD RECOMMENDATION AND THEN TRULY TO GET FEEDBACK, QUESTIONS, INPUT RELATED TO ALL OF THEM.
UH, AND I'LL, I'LL GO THROUGH PROCESS NEXT STEPS AS PART OF THE PRESENTATION.
BUT I LIKE TO START THAT WAY BECAUSE YOU KNOW, WHAT I'VE SHARED WITH MY COLLEAGUES ON THE COUNCIL IS WHILE I'M HAPPY TO GO OUT AND HOST THE PUBLIC MEETINGS AND ATTEND AND MAKE THE POWERPOINT PRESENTATION, IT'S NOT MY INTENTION TO SAY I'M THE ENDORSER OF ALL.
UH, AND EVEN, YOU KNOW, DEPENDING UPON HOW THE DISCUSSION GOES, AND THE QUESTION GOES, I'M HAPPY TO SHARE MY OPINION ON THESE AND SOME ARE GOING TO BE FOR, AND SOME ARE GOING TO BE AGAINST, BUT THE REALITY IS I'M HERE TO HEAR YOUR OPINIONS AND YOUR QUESTIONS.
SO, UM, SO I HAVE, UH, A FEW SLIDES UP FRONT, UH, THAT JUST DESCRIBED THE PLAN OF GOVERNMENT.
NOW WHAT THAT DOCUMENT IS, I'LL GO TO THE NET.
UH, AND THEN, SO AN OVERVIEW OF THE PLANET GOVERNMENT, THEN I'LL SPEND A COUPLE OF SLIDES TALKING ABOUT THE PLANET GOVERNMENT COMMITTEE THAT WAS CREATED BACK IN 2017, UM, AND SOME OF THE WORK THAT THEY DID.
AND THEN THE, THE MEAT OF THE PRESENTATION IS A DEEP DIVE INTO THE PROPOSED AMENDMENTS.
AND I BREAK THOSE DOWN INTO MORE ADMINISTRATIVE ITEMS, UPDATES TO DATES AND OUTDATED REFERENCES.
AND THEN THE MORE SUBSTANTIVE CHANGES, WHICH, WHICH I'LL HAVE SLIDES DEDICATED TO THOSE, AND WE'LL TALK THROUGH THEM.
SO JUST A FEW SLIDES TO GET US INTRODUCED HERE.
SO, UH, PLANET GOVERNMENT IS OUR PARISH CONSTITUTION.
UH, IT ESTABLISHES THE POWER AND THE CONTROL OF THE EXECUTIVE BRANCH AND THE LEGISLATIVE BRANCH OF OUR LOCAL GOVERNMENT, UH, AND THEN DIRECTS THAT, UH, THE MAYOR PRESIDENT'S OFFICE, THE EXECUTIVE BRANCH OVERSEES SEVERAL DEPARTMENTS, UH, AND THE LEGISLATIVE BRANCH, THE METRO COUNCIL ALSO SEE, UH, OVERSEES SEVERAL DEPARTMENTS, SEVERAL BOARDS AND COMMISSIONS.
AND TO ILLUSTRATE THAT WHILE YOU MAY NOT BE ABLE TO SEE THE TEXT OF THE DEPARTMENTS, THIS SLIDE IN THIS IMAGE IS STRAIGHT OUT OF OUR ANNUAL BUDGET.
THIS, THIS IS PRINTED EVERY YEAR IN THE, IN THE CITY PARISH ANNUAL BUDGET, BUT YOU COULD SEE THE EXECUTIVE BRANCH ON YOUR FAR LEFT.
AND THOSE ARE THE DEPARTMENTS THAT REPORT UP TO THE MAYOR, PRESIDENT YOUR POLICE, YOUR FIRE, YOUR DEPARTMENT, PUBLIC WORKS, FINANCE, UH, AND THEN IN THE MIDDLE, THERE IS THE LEGISLATIVE BRANCH, THE METROPOLITAN COUNCIL.
THERE ARE DEPARTMENTS LIKE THE PARISH ATTORNEY'S OFFICE, MOSQUITO ABATEMENT, THAT REPORT UP TO THE LEGISLATIVE BRANCH OF OUR GOVERNMENT.
SO WE ARE ESTABLISHED WHERE SOME DEPARTMENTS FALL UNDER THE LEGISLATIVE BRANCH.
AND I'LL SPECIFICALLY NOW POINT TO THE PLANNING COMMISSION, WHICH WILL BE SOME DEDICATED SLIDES LATER IN THE PRESENTATION, THE PLANNING COMMISSION, AND A PROPOSAL TO SHIFT THAT TO THE MAYOR PRESIDENT OR TO THE EXECUTIVE BRANCH.
SO THIS SLIDE I'VE FOUND VERY HELPFUL.
IN FACT, I WAS PREVIOUSLY IN THE EXECUTIVE BRANCH ON THAT SIDE OF GOVERNMENT.
AND, UH, WHEN I STARTED WITH THE CITY PARISH, THIS WAS A VERY BENEFICIAL SLIDE FOR ME.
SO THIS JUST SORT OF HELPS LAY OUT THE FRAMEWORK AS IT CURRENTLY STANDS, UH, OF OUR CITY PARISH ORG CHART.
SO JUST BRIEFLY ON THE, ON THE PLANET GOVERNMENT, UH, ADOPTED WAY BACK IN 1947, IT'S ACTUALLY BEEN AMENDED 17 TIMES.
UH, THERE IS NO AMENDING OUR PARISH PLAN OF GOVERNMENT WITHOUT A VOTE OF THE PEOPLE ON A PARISH WIDE BALLOT, UH, THE, THE MIDDLE BULLET POINTS THERE.
SO THE LAST COMPREHENSIVE REVIEW OF THE PLAN OF GOVERNMENT WAS WAY BACK IN 2007.
UH, BUT, UH, BETWEEN THEN AND NOW WE HAVE AMENDED OUR PLAN OF GOVERNMENT.
NOW, YOU ALL WILL LIKELY RECALL BACK IN 2014, THERE WAS A REORGANIZATION OF THE DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC WORKS.
THAT WAS A CHANGE TO THE PLAN OF GOVERNMENT.
AND SO THEREFORE IT WAS A VOTE, A PARISH WIDE VOTE OF THE PEOPLE.
AND THEN THAT LAST QUOTE, THERE IS JUST FROM OUR PLANET GOVERNMENT THAT OUTLINES THAT ANY PROPOSED AMENDMENT MUST
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BE SUBMITTED TO THE COUNCIL AND VOTED ON BY VOTERS OF THE PARISH.UH, THIS IS A CHAPTER BY CHAPTER INDEX OF THE CURRENT, UH, PLAN OF GOVERNMENT.
UM, LATER IN THE SLIDE, UH, EXCUSE ME, IN THE POWERPOINT.
I HAVE SLIDES DEDICATED TO, UH, MORE DETAILS OF EACH OF THESE CHAPTERS, BUT JUST FROM AN OVERVIEW STANDPOINT, UH, THESE ARE THE 11 CHAPTERS AS THEY PRESENTLY STAND, UH, IN OUR PLANET GOVERNMENT.
UH, I'M GOING TO TAKE A PAUSE BECAUSE MY COLLEAGUE WHOSE DISTRICT WE'RE IN RIGHT NOW, COUNCIL MEMBER, JEN ROCCA, HAS JUST ARRIVED.
AND SO, UH, SINCE YOU'RE WALKING IN I'M WILL, BEFORE YOU SIT, I'LL PUT YOU ON THE SPOT.
WE JUST, WE GOT UNDERWAY WHERE A FEW SLIDES IN, BUT COUNCILMAN, IF YOU WANT TO SAY A FEW WORDS AND I'LL ASK THAT YOU COME TO THE MICROPHONE BECAUSE WE ARE RECORDING SO THAT WE CAN POST THIS, UH, REVIEWING.
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR BEING HERE.
IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS, PLEASE LET US KNOW.
I AM REST ASSURED THAT MR. GAUDETTE COUNCILMAN
SO I'M GOING TO GIVE IT BACK TO HIM.
SO, UH, THAT'S, UH, AN OVERVIEW OF THE PLANET GOVERNMENT ITSELF, COUPLE OF SLIDES I'LL SPEND ON THE PLANET GOVERNMENT COMMITTEE, AND THEN WE'LL GET INTO THE, UH, THE PROPOSED AMENDMENT.
SO THE COMMITTEE, UH, THAT, THAT, UH, PROPOSED THE CHANGE OF THAT GET, GET US HERE TODAY WAS ESTABLISHED WAY BACK IN 2017.
THEY DID ABOUT TWO YEARS WORTH OF WORK, UH, WRAPPED UP THEIR WORK IN JUNE OF 2019.
THEY SPENT, UH, THEY DEDICATED A MEETING TO EACH CHAPTER OF THE PLAN OF GOVERNMENT.
SO THEY HAD A COUPLE OF ORGANIZATIONAL MEETINGS, ELECTED OFFICERS, UH, UH, FORM THEMSELVES IN THE WORK THAT THEY DO, AND THEN DEDICATED MONTHLY MEETINGS TO EACH CHAPTER GOING LITERALLY GOING THROUGH LINE BY LINE, UH, TO WHICH WINSTON SPENT A CONSIDERABLE CONSIDERABLE AMOUNT OF TIME DOING.
UH, SO ONCE THEY FINISH THEIR WORK IN JUNE OF 2019, UH, THEY BROUGHT THE CHAPTER BY CHAPTER PROPOSAL, UH, PROPOSED AMENDMENTS BEFORE THE METRO COUNCIL AT THREE SEPARATE COUNCIL MEETINGS.
UH, COUNCIL MEMBER COLLINS LEWIS AT THAT TIME WAS OFFERING UP TO HER COLLEAGUES ON THE PREVIOUS COUNCIL IF THEY WANTED TO CONSIDER THESE, UH, PROPOSED AMENDMENTS TO GO TO THE BALLOT.
UM, BUT AS YOU CAN IMAGINE, AS WE WERE COMING INTO 2020, AND WHEN THAT YEAR STARTED AND CERTAINLY PUBLIC MEETINGS AND EVERYTHING ELSE, FRANKLY, UH, HALTED FOR A PERIOD OF TIME, UM, YOU KNOW, SHE GOT THE FEEDBACK AND RECEIVE THE INPUT THAT MORE PUBLIC VETTING WAS NECESSARY.
AND SO TOWARDS THE END OF 2020 AND THE, THE END OF HER TERM ON THE METRO COUNCIL, UH, SHE OFFERED IT UP, BUT THEN ULTIMATELY WITHDREW THESE ITEMS, UH, AND SAID SHE WOULD LEAVE IT FOR THE NEXT COUNCIL IF THEY WISH TO TAKE THESE UP.
SO A COUPLE OF YEARS WORTH OF WORK BY COMMITTEE MADE UP OF FOLKS, UH, FROM ALL OVER OUR COMMUNITY.
AND THAT'S WHAT WE'RE PICKING UP TODAY.
SO THE MEMBERSHIP OF THE COMMITTEE HAD THREE METRO COUNCIL MEMBERS.
THE MAYOR PRESIDENT APPOINTED TO ATTORNEY BY THE NAME OF DONNA FRESH.
UH, THE PARISH ATTORNEY'S OFFICE WAS REPRESENTED FINANCE OFFICE.
UM, UH, MIKE MCCLANAHAN WAS A REPRESENTATIVE FROM THE NAACP CHAPTER HERE IN BATON ROUGE.
UM, MS. NANCY CURRY WAS THE FORMER HEAD OF THE BATON ROUGE FEDERATION OF CIVIC ASSOCIATIONS.
UH, SHE WAS ON THE COMMITTEE, UH, WINSTON REPRESENTED SOUTHERN, UH, TOM GALLIGAN WAS THE LSU REPRESENTATIVE FROM THE LAW SCHOOL.
AND THEN ADAM NAT FROM THE CHAMBER, ASHLEY BECK IS OUR COUNCIL ADMINISTRATOR, AND SHE HELPED TO CONVENE AND CORRAL THESE FOLKS INTO MEETINGS.
THAT'S THE HISTORY OF THE PLANET GOVERNMENT.
THAT'S THE MAKEUP OF THE PLANET GOVERNMENT COMMITTEE.
UH, WE'LL NOW DIVE INTO THE PROPOSED AMENDMENT.
SO THE WAY I'VE BROKEN THESE OUT ARE THE FIRST FEW SLIDES ARE WHAT I REFER TO AS ADMINISTRATIVE CHANGES, AND I'LL OUTLINE THOSE AS WE GO THROUGH THEM, BUT VERY GENERIC UPDATES THROUGHOUT THE DOCUMENT.
THERE WAS RECOGNITION THAT THERE WERE, UH, DATES THAT WERE NO LONGER RELEVANT.
UH, THERE WERE GENDER REFERENCES THAT IN THE 21ST CENTURY DON'T MAKE SENSE ANYMORE.
SO I REFER TO THOSE AS ADMINISTRATIVE ITEMS AND I'LL COVER THOSE JUST IN A COUPLE OF SLIDES.
AND THEN THERE'S THE MORE SUBSTANTIVE CHANGES.
THESE ARE THE ONES THAT I'LL DEDICATE A PARTICULAR SLIDES TO.
AND THEN I THINK IN OUR COMMUNITY ARE GOING TO GENERATE THE MOST INTEREST IN THE MOST CONVERSATION.
SO WE'LL SPEND A LOT MORE TIME ON THOSE SUBSTANTIVE CHANGES.
SO WE'LL START WITH THE ADMINISTRATIVE.
UM, AS I MENTIONED A MINUTE AGO, THERE ARE UPDATES, UH, THROUGHOUT THE ENTIRETY OF THE DOCUMENT.
SO REMOVAL OF OUTDATED REFERENCES, UH, NEUTRAL REFERENCES TO GENDER, THAT THE DOCUMENT WHEN IT REFERS TO THE POSITION OF MAYOR, PRESIDENT ALWAYS REFERS BACK TO THAT AS A HEAT.
AND SO THE COMMITTEE FELT IT WAS PRUDENT TO MAKE THIS A, A GENDER NEUTRAL, UH, DOCUMENT
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PLANNING, GOVERNMENT DOCUMENT, PARTICULARLY GIVEN OUR CURRENT MAYOR PRECEDENT, UM, UH, PUBLICATION, UH, BY ELECTRONIC MEANS, UH, YOU KNOW, BRINGING IT INTO THE 21ST CENTURY, UH, AND THEN JUST REMOVAL AND, AND CORRECTION OF OTHER PROVISIONS THAT WERE OUTDATED.THE NEXT TWO SLIDES GIVE YOU JUST SORT OF A CHAPTER BY CHAPTER.
UH, LOOK, I'VE, I'VE COLORED IN RED, THE LANGUAGE THAT I'M TRYING TO PULL OUT HERE, BUT SOME OF THE, SOME OF THE, UH, ADMINISTRATIVE CHANGES ON A CHAPTER BY CHAPTER BASIS.
SO WITHIN EACH OF THE CHAPTERS, THE DEPARTMENT POPE WORKS.
THERE'S SOME CHANGES TO ROLES AND OUTDATED LANGUAGE AND ABILITIES FOR FIRE CHIEFS.
I'M GOING TO GO QUICKLY TO THE NEXT SLIDE.
UM, THE PERSONNEL DEPARTMENT DIDN'T REFER TO THE, UH, UH, THE HUMAN RESOURCES DIRECTOR BY THE, BY THE CORRECT TITLE.
SO AGAIN, JUST VERY ADMINISTRATIVE UPDATES, UH, TO OUR PLAN OF GOVERNMENT FINAL SLIDE ON THE ADMINISTRATIVE PIECE OF THIS.
SO CHAPTER TWO OF OUR PLAN AND GOVERNMENT IS THE, UH, CHAPTER TWO IS THE GOVERNING BODY.
CHAPTER THREE IS GOVERNING BODY POWERS AND DUTIES.
AND SO THE PLANNING GOVERNMENT COMMITTEE THOUGHT IT WAS PRUDENT TO JUST COMBINE THOSE TWO CHAPTERS.
SO ONE OF THEIR PROPOSALS IS ALL PROVISIONS FROM CHAPTER THREE, THE POWERS AND DUTIES OF THE GOVERNING BODY ARE JUST CONSOLIDATED INTO CHAPTER TWO.
UH, AND THEN, UH, WE HAVE A PURCHASING DEPARTMENT, UH, PRESENTLY IN OUR PLANET GOVERNMENT IT'S REFERRED TO AS PURCHASING DIVISION.
AND IT FALLS WITHIN CHAPTER FOUR, WHICH IS THE CHAPTER ON THE MAYOR PRESIDENT'S OFFICE.
UH, AND SO BECAUSE OUR PURCHASING DEPARTMENT, WHICH TRULY IS, UH, AN EXTREMELY IMPORTANT DEPARTMENT, UH, OVERSEEING, UH, PROCUREMENT PROCESSES, OVERSEEING VENDOR SELECTION FOR A CITY PAIR OF SERVICES.
SO, UH, THEY FELT IT WAS IMPORTANT THAT THE PURCHASING DEPARTMENT, AGAIN, REFERRED TO AS A PERSON DIVISION IN THE PLANET, GOVERNMENT PURCHASING DEPARTMENT GETS ITS OWN CHAPTER.
NOW THOSE PROVISIONS FROM CHAPTER FOUR, BROKEN THAT OUT TO PROPOSE THAT A NEW CHAPTER BE CREATED FOR THE PURCHASING DEPARTMENT.
THOSE ARE THE ADMINISTRATIVE CHANGES, UH, BEFORE WE JUMP INTO THE SUBSTANTIVE, ARE THERE ANY QUESTIONS DISCUSSION ON THESE ITEMS AND I CAN SCROLL BACK THROUGH YES.
UM, THE ELECTRONIC MEANS, DOES THAT HAVE A HARD COPY OR DOES THAT DOES MEAN THAT YOUR IT'S ALREADY DISSEMINATED ONLINE IN ADDITION TO YES.
IT MAKES IT AS AN ADDITIONAL OPTION.
CAN YOU SAY, JUST BE AVAILABLE TO US AFTER? I MEAN, UH, SO THIS IS ONLINE NOW AVAILABLE ONLINE AND IT'S A LENGTHY WEBSITE, BUT I'LL GIVE IT OUT AT THE END.
I ACTUALLY NEED TO ADD IT TO THE POWERPOINT.
I NEED TO ADD THE, THE WEBSITE ADDRESS, UH, AS WELL, THIS MEETING BE POSTED ONLINE.
THAT'S WHY IT'S BEING RECORDED.
THE CHANGE FROM URBAN AND RURAL TO UNINCORPORATED INCORPORATED FROM MY READING OF THE GOVERNMENT BEFORE IT SEEMED TO SERVE A DIFFERENT PURPOSE THAN
SO WHY, WHY NOT CHECK? THOSE ARE DEFINED.
I DON'T KNOW IF YOU REMEMBER THOSE SPECIFICS.
WELL THEN YOU PROBABLY REMEMBER, UH, COME ON OVER.
THAT WAS, IT WAS MY PROPOSAL ACTUALLY.
AND, UH, YOU WERE RIGHT WHEN IT WAS DRAFTED, BUT BY THE TIME WE LOOKED AT IT, THE RURAL AREAS THAT WERE ORIGINALLY RURAL WERE URBAN, BUT SIMPLY UNINCORPORATED.
AND SO IT JUST DIDN'T MAKE SENSE, YOU KNOW, IN, IN SOME PEOPLE VIEWED IT AS DEROGATORY TO CALL THE CITY URBAN, BUT LIKE ZACHARY RURAL, YOU KNOW, IN THE MIDDLE OF ZACHARY, IT'S NOT RURAL.
SO WE REALLY JUST DID THAT AS AN UPDATE.
I MEAN, IT REFLECTED WHAT THE LINES ACTUALLY DID.
YOU HAD AREAS INCORPORATED IN THE CITY AND YOU HAD AREAS NOT INCORPORATED IN THE CITY, AND NOW WE HAVE AREAS INCORPORATED IN OTHER CITIES.
AND SO IT JUST MATCHED UP WITH WHAT THE MAP ACTUALLY LOOKED LIKE.
I MEAN, FROM MY UNDERSTANDING THE PURPOSES OF THE COMBINED CONSOLIDATED PARISH, THE PARISH GOVERNMENT AT THE TIME WHEN IT WAS CREATED, WAS TO MAKE THE DISTINCTION, UM, MUCH LESS IMPORTANT BETWEEN THE CORPORATION AND THE WHOLE URBAN RURAL THING, I THINK WAS PART OF THAT IDEA.
SO I JUST THINK THAT IT COULD HAVE BEEN A CHANCE TO MAKE A MORE STANDARD CHANGE MORE TOWARDS THE ORIGINAL INTENT, RATHER THAN WE HAD AN, I FORGET THE GENTLEMAN'S NAME, BUT WE HAD THE FIRST CITY PARISH ADMINISTRATOR UNDER THE CONSOLIDATED GOVERNMENT, GIVE US THE BACKGROUND TO THAT.
AND IN THE BACKGROUND WAS, THERE WERE UNINCORPORATED AREAS THAT THEY THOUGHT
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WERE RURAL AND THEY HAD ANTICIPATED, THEY WOULD GROW INTO INCORPORATED AREAS.AND NOW WE HAVE OTHER INCORPORATED AREAS.
SO WHEN YOU JUST LOOK AT THE MAP, THERE'S VERY FEW REAL RURAL SECTIONS OF THE PARISH.
IT JUST MATCHED UP WITH INCORPORATED AND UNINCORPORATED.
IT WAS REALLY JUST NOMENCLATURE, NO DIFFERENT THAN CHANGING ALL THE HES TO GENDER NEUTRAL.
UM, THERE IS A TAX RATE TO THOSE DIFFERENT DESIGNATION.
OH, TH THERE WEREN'T WE HAD, THERE WERE, THERE WAS A FINANCE PERSON FROM THE CITY PARISH FINANCE OFFICE ON THE COMMITTEE, BECAUSE THAT WAS ONE OF THE THINGS WE DIDN'T WANT IT TO AFFECT BOND ISSUES OR FUTURE TAXES OR TAX RATES.
THE NOMENCLATURE WOULDN'T AFFECT TAXING IN ANY WAY.
IT WAS A WHO WAS IT FROM? YES.
THE CHANGE IN NOMENCLATURE WAS, WAS NOT INTENDED TO HAVE LITERALLY ANY CONSEQUENCE IN TERMS OF TAXES, RIGHT? AS YOU SAID, YOU ANTICIPATED THAT ORIGINALLY THEY ANTICIPATED THAT THE RURAL AREAS WOULD BE ANNEXED TO URBAN AREAS.
AND SO THEREFORE THAT WOULDN'T BE A TAXI ISSUE BECAUSE THEY WOULD ENTER THE TAXI JURISDICTION.
AND SO NOW THE CHANGE, RIGHT, IT MAY, AT THIS POINT, JUST BE NOMENCLATURE.
I AM CURIOUS ABOUT THAT BECAUSE OF COURSE THE LONG STORY IS THAT THE WAY I MENTIONED THAT URBAN AND RURAL AND INCORPORATED AND UNINCORPORATED WAS SET UP, DIDN'T CREATE THIS SITUATION WITH THE PROPOSED CITY OF ST.
AND SO, I DON'T KNOW IF YOU WANT TO HEAR MY LONG EXPLANATION TO THAT AT THIS PARTICULAR POINT IN TIME, AND I DON'T KNOW IF IT'S APPROPRIATE, BUT SO I JUST, THAT WOULD BE SOMETHING I THINK THAT SHOULD BE ON PEOPLE'S RADAR, MAKING SURE THAT THERE'S A LITTLE MORE INFORMATION ABOUT IT, BECAUSE IT MAY BE A LITTLE MORE COMPLICATED THAN JUST YEAH.
AND I, I NEED, WELL, I NEED TO ADD SOMETHING ELSE.
THERE'S ACTUALLY THREE AREAS DEFINED AND WE DIDN'T TOUCH THE THIRD.
THERE'S AN INDUSTRIAL AND C INDUSTRIAL.
WE DIDN'T TOUCH, BUT INDUSTRIAL DIDN'T MATCH URBAN AND RURAL WHEN YOU LOOKED AT THE MAP.
AND SO WE THOUGHT INCORPORATED UNINCORPORATED IN INDUSTRIAL, JUST MATCHED WITH WHAT THE MAP LOOKED LIKE.
AND THAT'S LITERALLY ALL IT WAS WAS, WAS TRYING TO UPDATE THE TERMINOLOGY TO MATCH.
SO WE'LL, WE'LL GO THROUGH THE PROPOSALS AND, AND, YOU KNOW, MAKE SURE FOLKS CAN GET OUT ON TIME AND THEN THERE'S KIND OF THE BACK END, OR WE CAN SPEND FURTHER IF THAT'S OKAY WITH YOU.
THAT'S THE, THIS, THE, THE FIRST DISCUSSION ON THAT PARTICULAR PROVISION.
ANY OTHER DISCUSSION QUESTIONS ON THE ADMINISTRATIVE SIDE? UH, OKAY.
THEN WE WILL JUMP INTO, UM, MY, MY REFERRING TO THESE AS SUBSTANTIVE, UH, STARTING WITH CHAPTER TWO, THE LEGISLATIVE BRANCH OF GOVERNMENT.
UM, SO, UH, THE VERY FIRST SECTION HERE, WE, UH, WE HAD THE PROPOSAL FOR THE ADDITION OF ONE AT LARGE METRO CA UH, COUNCIL MEMBER.
UH, AND I HAVE SOME SLIDES THAT DELVE INTO THAT ONE A LITTLE FURTHER, UH, HERE IN THE POWERPOINT PRESENTATION, UM, REQUIRING THAT A CANDIDATE FOR METRO COUNCIL BE A RESIDENT OF THE DISTRICT THEY RESIDE IN FOR AT LEAST TWO YEARS BEFORE, UH, QUALIFYING, UH, REMOVING A REFERENCE TO SPECIFIC COMPENSATION FOR COUNCIL MEMBERS.
UH, AND IF YOU CONTINUE READING THAT PARTICULAR SECTION TWO OH FIVE, IT, IT BRINGS IT IN LINE WITH THE WAY THAT THE COMPENSATION FOR THE MAYOR, PRESIDENT, CONSTABLE AND OTHER CONSTITUTIONAL OFFICES ARE OUTLINED, UH, REQUIRES FOR THAT VACANCIES AND THE OFFICE OF COUNCIL MEMBER BE FILLED WITHIN 20 DAYS.
AND THEN, UH, REQUIRES THAT A PRESIDENT PRO TEM AND A VICE PRESIDENT PRO TEM.
SO RIGHT NOW WE, AS A COUNCIL ELECT FOR A FOUR YEAR TERM AS PRESIDENT PRO TEM, BUT NOT A VICE PRESIDENT PRO TEM.
AND SO THIS, UH, PROVIDES FOR THAT ADDITIONAL ELECTION OF A VICE-PRESIDENT, UH, MOVING ON, UH, CLARIFIES AND MAKES CONSISTENT, UH, VOTING REQUIREMENTS.
SO, UM, THE, IT DOES NOT REFERENCE IN THE DOCUMENT WHAT A SIMPLE MAJORITY IS.
SO THEY, THEY ADD MEANING TO THOSE.
AND THEN SUPER MAJORITY, MEANING TWO THIRDS OF THE MEMBERSHIP, UH, REQUIRES A SUPER MAJORITY FOR THE REMOVAL OF AN OFFICER.
UM, THERE'S A COUNCIL BUDGET OFFICER, UH, THAT BUDGET OFFICER FALLS UNDER THE PURVIEW OF THE LEGISLATIVE BRANCH, THE METRO COUNCIL, UM, BUT NOT REQUIRED TO ATTEND MEETINGS OF PREPARATION OF THE EXECUTIVE BUDGET, WHICH IS DONE ON THE EXECUTIVE BRANCH SIDE.
AND SO THERE'S A REQUIREMENT PROPOSED THAT THE COUNCIL BUDGET
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OFFICER ATTEND ALL BUDGET HEARINGS, UM, ATTENDANCE REQUIREMENTS FOR BOARDS AND COMMISSIONS.UM, UH, I'LL DELVE INTO THIS ONE A LITTLE BIT, BUT, UM, PRESENTLY, UH, OUR PLANNING GOVERNMENT REQUIRES THAT IF YOU ARE APPOINTED TO A BOARD OF COMMISSION, YOU MUST ATTEND AT LEAST 75% OF THOSE MEETINGS.
UH, AND THAT HAS CREATED ISSUES IN THE PAST BECAUSE SOME BOARDS WILL ONLY MEET A HANDFUL OF TIMES A YEAR, QUARTERLY, PERHAPS SO FOUR TIMES A YEAR.
AND THEREFORE IF YOU'RE SICK AND YOU HAVE TO TRAVEL OUT OF TOWN FOR AN ILL RELATIVE, YOU'RE OFF THAT BOARD.
AND SO IT'S CREATED ISSUES IN THE PAST WHERE THAT BOARD HASN'T HELD A QUORUM.
IT TAKES TIME TO GET MEMBERS REAPPOINTED TO THAT BOARD OR NEW MEMBERS APPOINTED.
SO THERE'S A PROPOSAL TO DECREASE THAT ATTENDANCE REQUIREMENT TO 60%.
UM, AND THEN, UM, UH, STICKING WITH BOARDS AND COMMISSIONS, IT WOULD BE INCUMBENT BASED ON THE LAST SECTION 2.18 HERE AT THE METRO COUNCIL ADOPT, UM, GOVERNING QUALIFICATIONS FOR CERTAIN BOARDS AND COMMISSIONS.
AND I HAVE A BIT MORE OF THAT ON THAT IN JUST A MOMENT.
SO LET'S START WITH THE, UH, AT LARGE PROPOSAL, UH, CURRENTLY 12 SINGLE MEMBER DISTRICTS IS THE WAY OUR METRO COUNCIL IS, UH, SET UP.
AND AS I MENTIONED, A MAYOR PRO TEM IS ELECTED, UM, AT THE START OF THE TERM FOR A FULL FOUR YEAR TERM.
THE PROPOSAL HERE IS YOU RETAIN THOSE 12 SINGLE MEMBER DISTRICTS.
UH, THERE WOULD BE THE CREATION OF ONE AT LARGE OR PARISH WIDE, UM, UH, METRO COUNCIL POSITION, AND THEN CHANGE THE MAYOR PRO TIM TERM TO A TWO YEAR TERM, AND THEN A METRO COUNCIL, UM, UH, UH, OF THE CHANGES IF THEY'RE APPROVED, WOULD NOT GO INTO EFFECT UNTIL THE START OF THE NEXT METRO COUNCIL IN 2024.
AND THEN NEXT SLIDE, AND WE'LL STAY ON THIS TOPIC AND DO QUESTIONS AND DISCUSSIONS ABOUT THIS ONE, BUT SORT OF THE LOGIC AND REASONING, UM, THAT THE COMMITTEE OUTLINED FOR PROPOSING THE AT-LARGE.
SO, UH, THEY DISCUSSED THE VALUE OF HAVING A MEMBER OF THE METRO COUNCIL WHO HAS FRANKLY, A PARISH WIDE VIEW.
AND THE WAY I DESCRIBED THIS ONE IS I'M ELECTED WITHIN COUNCIL DISTRICT THREE.
UH, THEREFORE I AM, UH, PARTIAL TO THE, THE VOTERS OF DISTRICT THREE AND IN HOW I LOOK AT ITEMS VOTE ON ITEMS. AND SO THEY THOUGHT THAT PERHAPS HAVING A METRO COUNCIL MEMBER WITH THE SAME PURVIEW OF THE MAYOR, PRESIDENT A PARISH WIDE VIEW, UH, WOULD ADD SOME VALUE TO, UH, TO THE LEGISLATIVE BRANCH OF OUR GOVERNMENT.
UH, THEY ALSO, UH, ON THAT THIRD BULLET POINT, HER DATA ON COMPARABLE SIZE CITIES, UH, COUNTIES RATHER, EXCUSE ME, UH, AROUND THE COUNTRY WHO HAVE AN AT LARGE METRO COUNCILS, UH, SEAT OR AN AT LARGE SEAT.
UH, AND THEN, UH, SOME, UH, A MAJORITY OF THOSE LARGER COMMUNITIES ARE COMPARABLE TO BATON ROUGE SIZE DO HAVE THAT AT LARGE.
UH, AND THEN THE FINAL BULLET POINT, THE INTENT FROM THIS COMMITTEE WAS TO EMPOWER THE METRO COUNCIL DELIBERATIONS TO GROW, TO GAIN THAT BROADER FOCUSES ON THE CHALLENGE.
AGAIN, JUST SORT OF THE WHOLE PARISH VIEW.
SO THIS IS THE LOGIC AND THE REASONING AS PUT FORWARD BY THE PLANNING GOVERNMENT COMMITTEE.
SO WE'LL PAUSE HERE, IF WE WANT TO HAVE FURTHER DISCUSSION ON THIS PARTICULAR PROPOSAL BEFORE WE MOVE TO THE, TO THE BOARDS AND COMMISSIONS.
SO ANY DISCUSSION OR QUESTIONS OR ISSUES TO RAISE ABOUT THE AT-LARGE YES.
MA'AM CANDIDATE FEDERATED IN ORDER TO RUN HER COMPETITIVE RATE FOR THAT MUCH.
SEE, NOW I KNOW YOU DIDN'T,
A SINGLE MEMBER COULD, WE COULD EXTRAPOLATE HOW MUCH IT WOULD COST TO RUN PER POUND, AND THAT I'LL BE GLAD TO, TO ADDRESS THAT.
AND WHEN YOU LOOK AT ME, LOOK AT IT, I HAD SO NAME, UM, BOTTLING CHEATERS AND NOT WALKERS, AND I DIDN'T PAY THOSE SOCIAL.
I DON'T KNOW IF ANOTHER THAT I GIVE YOU WOULD BE AN ACCURATE NUMBER FOR THE QUESTION THAT YOU'RE ASKING.
AND THEN, I MEAN, YOU SAW A LOT OF PEOPLE WALKING DOWN THE ENTIRE DISTRICT, THEY WERE NOT PAID FOLK, BUT I CAN TELL YOU THAT WITH ALL THAT, I NEEDED MY SIGNS ON THIS AND THAT I WOULD SAY WHAT I SPENT MAYBE APPROXIMATELY ABOUT 25, $27,000 IN THAT BALLPARK, MAYBE AS FAR AS WHAT IT WOULD BE FOR PARISH.
I DON'T KNOW VERY MANY OTHER DISTRICTS WHERE THAT DIDN'T HAPPENED, EXCEPT
[00:30:02]
CONCERN FOR ME IS THAT CERTAINLY THE COST OF RUNNING THE CAMPAIGN THESE DAYS IS PROHIBITIVE FOR PEOPLE WHO DO NOT WANT TO ACCEPT PACKS OR TO RUN A GRASSROOTS CAMPAIGN FOR A SINGLE MEMBER DISTRICT IS CHALLENGING ENOUGH TRYING TO DO IT FOR PARENTS.SO WE CAN LOOK AT THE MAYOR'S RACE.
HOW MUCH DID THEY SPEND, YOU KNOW, HOW MUCH
SO, FOR ME, IT'S NOT ABOUT REPUBLICAN VERSUS DEMOCRAT.
I'LL JUST SHARE A COUPLE OF THOUGHTS WE HAD WHEN WE DEBATED THIS PROVISION.
FIRST, WE DEBATED EVERYTHING FROM ELIMINATING THREE CITY COUNCIL SEATS AND MAKING THE COUNCIL NINE.
THE IDEA WAS HAVING A COUNCIL THAT THOUGHT BIGGER THAN A VERY SMALL DISTRICT.
AND SO ONE WAY YOU COULD DO IT IS REDUCE SOME SEATS AND MAKE THE SEATS BIGGER.
THE OTHER WAY WAS TO ADD ONE OR TWO AT LARGE SEATS, AND IT SETTLED ON ONE, BUT WE TALKED ABOUT THE COST AND THE COMPARISON TO THE COST OF A MAYOR'S RACE.
WOULDN'T BE ACCURATE BECAUSE THE REGULAR PUBLIC WOULDN'T DONATE FOR ONE COUNCIL MEMBER, THE SAME WAY YOU WOULD DONATE FOR A MAYOR.
AND WE ALSO COMBINED MODERN CAMPAIGNING.
NOW HAS THE IMPACT OF SOCIAL MEDIA.
YOU KNOW, YOUR TRADITIONAL MEDIA MARKET BUYS WITH TV.
AREN'T THE SAME IN A CITY-BASED RACE AS THEY ARE IN A STATE OR A NATIONAL RACE.
AND WE FRANKLY THOUGHT IT WOULD BE TWO TO THREE TIMES THE COST OF A CITY COUNCIL DISTRICT, NOT LIKE RUNNING FOR MAYOR, JUST BECAUSE ONE COUNCIL MEMBER STILL HAS ONE VOTE.
SO WE KNEW IT WOULD BE A LITTLE MORE EXPENSIVE, BUT WE DIDN'T THINK IT WOULD BE, BUT A MULTIPLIER OF LIKE WHAT REPRESENTATIVE COUNCIL MEMBER OF COLEMAN SPENT, NOT WHAT YOU WOULD TYPICALLY RAISE TO RUN FOR MAYOR.
SO THOSE THAT WAS THE THINKING BEHIND IT.
IT WOULD BE A LITTLE MORE EXPENSIVE, BUT NOT, YOU KNOW, A MAYOR'S RACE.
I DON'T RUN IT OUTSIDE OF THE INDIVIDUAL LIVING FROM THERE.
IT WAS THAT, THAT THAT'D BE PRETTY HARD BRAND.
I GUESS, SOMEONE WHO WOULD OPPOSE TO THE REAPPORTIONMENT ABOUT FIVE DIFFERENT 11 FEET TO NINE FEET, A SIMILAR ISSUE IN TERMS OF, UM, MAKING IT MORE DIFFICULT FOR THE GRADUATE CANDIDATE
SO I DON'T THINK, I KNOW IT'S ALMOST DEFINITIVE AS IF IT'S GOING TO PRE-CREATE MORE, BUT I THINK IT ACTUALLY RESULTS IN JUST MAKING IT MORE COHESIVE BECAUSE, UM, THEY CAN HAVE MORE CANDIDATES WHO ARE, UM, AND WINE, BUT ISN'T IT INTERESTING, THE LANGUAGE.
MA'AM HOW ARE YOU READING WHAT YOU HAVE HERE ABOUT ADDING ANOTHER PERSON AS STILL DON'T QUITE YET, UH, THE REASON ABOUT ADDING ANOTHER COUNCIL PERSON.
I UNDERSTAND THE REASON YOU'RE GIVING IT'S IS A PARISH, YOU KNOW, PRETTY MUCH THAT'S THE MAYOR.
AND SO I DON'T QUITE, CAN YOU, IS THERE ANY OTHER REASONING THERE YOU CONSIDERED, UM, AND THAT OTHER PLACES I JUST KIND OF NEED A STRONGER REASON TO ADD ANOTHER PERSON? YEAH.
THIS WAS REALLY AN IMPERFECT COMPROMISE.
IT BEGAN BY ELIMINATING THREE COUNCIL MEMBERS AND MAKING THE DISTRICTS LARGER.
SO YOUR COUNCIL WOULD ONLY BE NINE AND YOU GET TO THE SAME EFFECT.
EACH PERSON HAS TO THINK ABOUT A LARGER AREA BECAUSE THERE'S ONLY NINE DISTRICTS INSTEAD OF 12.
THEN WE WENT THROUGH A PROCESS WHERE THERE WERE TWO PROPOSALS, ONE CITYWIDE.
THEN WE SAID, THEN WE WENT TO NINE DISTRICTS AND TWO AT LARGE.
THEN WE WENT BACK TO 12 DISTRICTS AND TWO AT LARGE, AND THEN THE ULTIMATE COMPROMISE WAS 12 DISTRICTS.
AND ONE AT LARGE, THE COMMITTEE FELT SOMEBODY SHOULD BE LOOKING AT AN AREA, SOMEBODY WHO CAST A VOTE AND THE MAYOR DOESN'T CAST A VOTE, BUT SOMEBODY WHO CAST A VOTE SHOULD BE LOOKING
[00:35:01]
AT AN AREA A LITTLE BIT LARGER THAN AN INDIVIDUAL COUNCIL DISTRICT.AND SO IT WAS JUST A COMPROMISE.
IT WAS A VERY IMPERFECT COMPROMISE.
UM, I GUESS THE REAL ESTATE IS THAT YOU DO NOT THINK THE METRO COUNCIL HAS A LARGE ENOUGH VISION NOW AND LOOKING AT WHAT IS THE PARISH.
I MEAN, THAT COULD BE THE REASON EITHER TO CONSOLIDATE OUR, TO ADD ANOTHER PERSON SO THAT, UM, IN THE CITY THERE'LL BE MORE INNOVATION OR, UM, SOMETHING THAT NEEDS TO BE DRIVING EITHER THE CONSOLIDATION OR THE EXPANSION OF THE COUNCIL.
AND I'M JUST TRYING TO, TO FIND OUT WHAT THAT IS BECAUSE I'M GOING TO A MEETING SEVERAL YEARS AGO, IT WAS A MEETING OF THE RIGHT BUILDING.
AND THERE WERE PEOPLE THERE WHO WERE STRONGLY OPPOSED TO THIS.
AND SO WE HADN'T HEARD ABOUT IT SINCE.
AND SO I THINK THEIR REASONING BEHIND IT, IT REALLY NEEDS TO BE PERHAPS TIGHTENED UP.
I THINK I WAS AT THAT MEETING.
I MAY HAVE BEEN AT THAT MEETING, GIVING THE SAME EXPLANATION.
SO, YOU KNOW, THE SHORT ANSWER IS YOU HAD COUNCIL MEMBER.
I MEAN, THOSE OF US ON THE COMMITTEE THOUGHT AT LEAST ONE OR TWO COUNCIL MEMBERS, WHEN AN ITEM CAME UP SHOULD BE THINKING ABOUT SOMETHING BIGGER THAN A COUNCIL DISTRICT, BUT IT WAS STILL IMPORTANT TO HAVE COUNCIL MEMBERS THINKING ABOUT DISTRICTS.
SO EACH DISTRICT HAD A REPRESENTATIVE AND THE FINAL NUMBER WE SETTLED ON WAS REALLY THE RESULT OF I WAS ON THE COUNCIL SHOULD BE SMALLER SIZE.
SOME PEOPLE WERE ON THE COUNCIL SHOULD BE 13 OR 14 SIZE.
AND THIS WAS REALLY ONE OF THOSE JUST COMPROMISES.
YOU DON'T SEE A LOT OF COMPROMISES THESE DAYS, BUT IT WAS REALLY JUST A COMPROMISE TO BALANCE THE TWO.
YEAH, I UNDERSTAND THAT COMPROMISE IS JUST THE REASONING BEHIND.
SO, UM, I'VE BEEN KIND OF FOLLOWING THIS WHOLE LONG AND THERE ARE CHANGES THAT HAPPEN WITH THIS.
I REMEMBER THE LAST, I THOUGHT THE LAST ITERATION IS THE MAYOR PROTEST WAS FOR FOUR YEARS.
I SEEN THERE FOR 10, TWO YEARS.
WHEN DID THAT CHANGE COME INTO PLAY THE LAST POST WHEN YOU, WHEN YOU POSTED IT, WHEN YOU FIRST GOT ON THE COUNCIL, I THINK YOU POSTED A LINK TO THE PLAN WITH GOVERNMENT DOCUMENT.
I DON'T REMEMBER THAT IN THERE.
SO IT WAS THAT SENSE THEN I REMEMBER THE MAYOR PRO 10 BEING THE HAVE LEARNED SEAT.
NO, BUT I'LL MAKE A NOTE AND MAKE SURE ALL DOCUMENTS ARE ALIGNED.
AND THEN, UM, YOU KNOW, ONE OF THE REASONINGS THAT I REMEMBER SCOTT LEWIS TALKING ABOUT, I'M NOT SURE WHY SCOTT WAS TALKING ABOUT WAS THAT HIS COMMITTEE WAS THAT THE METRO COUNCIL FREQUENTLY HAS THE DEADLOCK AND HAVING A HIGH NUMBER OF PEOPLE WOULD BE NO DEADLINE.
UM, AND I JUST, YOU KNOW, WHAT STOOD AROUND IN MY MIND IS THAT PERHAPS WHEN IT COMES THROUGH DISTRICT IN TIME AND YOU HAVE TO DRAW THE DISTRICTS CONSIDERING HAVING DISTRICTS WHERE THAT ARE NOT QUITE SO INSULAR AND THE SAME, YOU KNOW, YOU'D HAVE SOME OF YOUR INCORPORATED UNINCORPORATED PEOPLE, THEN THEY HAVE TO WORK TOGETHER, YOU KNOW, NORTH AND SOUTH RICHFIELD, WHATEVER, YOU'RE A LITTLE MORE, YOU KNOW, THEN YOU'RE NOT GOING TO BE FIGHTING THIS.
THE PEOPLE ARE NOT GOING TO HAVE TO WORK TOGETHER.
AND SO THAT WOULD BE ANOTHER WAY TO, YEAH, THAT'S SOME OF THE FEEDBACK I'VE GOTTEN THUS FAR AND THEN I'LL COME TO YOU.
TONYA IS WAIT UNTIL REDISTRICTING PROCESS TAKES PLACE, WHICH IS A VERY PUBLICLY VETTED, TRANSPARENT PROCESS.
UH, AND THEN COME BACK AND EVALUATE WHETHER THIS STILL IS SOMETHING THAT, UH, WOULD IT MAKE SENSE? SO THAT'S ONE OF THE, UH, FEEDBACK COMMENTS THAT I'VE RECEIVED.
UH, AND I WANTED TO ASK, I THOUGHT THIS QUESTION WOULD BE GOOD FOR LATER, BUT, UM, SO IF YOU COULD EXPLAIN AND TAKE A MOMENT TO LET PEOPLE KNOW HOW, WHY THE CITY OF BATON ROUGE IS THE ONLY MUNICIPALITY IN THE BATON ROUGE PARISH THAT DOESN'T HAVE ITS OWN SEPARATE CITY COUNCIL AND HOW THAT CAME ABOUT, MAYBE SPEAK TO THAT AND APPROACH TO THAT YOU WANT TO SPEAK TO.
I MEAN, I THINK THIS DOCUMENT IS THE HISTORY OF THAT, BUT COME ON, WE, WE, WE, UH, OH, AND I FORGET THE YEAR, IT WAS 1980.
THEY EXPLAINED TO US THE HISTORY.
IT WAS, IT WAS THE ORIGINAL CITY COUNCIL ADMINISTRATOR AT ONE OF THE MEETINGS.
[00:40:01]
THERE? I WAS AT THE ONE THAT, UH, THIS WAS THE, THE PLANNING COMMITTEE MEETING AT WHAT IT WAS EITHER THE SECOND OR THIRD MEETING AND IT WAS RECORDED.UM, HE CAME AND EXPLAINED HOW THEY DRAFTED THE ORIGINAL CONSOLIDATED PLAN, AND THEN THEY PUT IT OUT FOR VOTE AND IT PASSED AND IT WAS CLOSE.
UM, IT PASSED VERY CLOSE AND IT CONSOLIDATED THE CITY COUNCIL AND THE PARISH COUNCIL INTO ONE COUNCIL.
SO THE PARISH GOVERNMENT WAS ACTUALLY VALIDATED AT 49, BUT THERE WERE TWO COUNCILS.
AND, AND WE HAD FORMER COUNCIL MEMBERS EXPLAINED TO US, WHICH WAS ON FIRST, I HEARD THE PARISH COUNCIL USED TO MEET AND THEN RECESS.
AND THEN THE CITY COUNCIL WOULD MEET TO ADDRESS CITY ISSUES.
AND THIS WAS, YOU KNOW, SEVENTIES AND EARLY EIGHTIES.
AND THEY REALIZED THAT THE CITY WAS ACTUALLY GOING TO GROW OUT AND THEY FOR CONVENIENCE SAKE DECIDED TO SIMPLY CONSOLIDATE BATON ROUGE, THE CITY INTO ONE COUNCIL.
AND THE UNDERSTANDING WAS THE CITY LIMITS AS THEY STARTED TO GROW AS THE PARISH, OR AS THE CITY STARTED TO GROW, THE INCORPORATED AREA WOULD JUST CONTINUE TO GROW WITH THE CITY.
AND HE TOLD US, HE GOES, THE INCORPORATED AREA STOPPED THE GROWING, BUT THE CITY KEPT GROWING AND THAT'S THE TWO BECAME DISCONNECTED.
AND THEN OTHER CITIES STARTED POPPING UP, WHICH WE WERE TOLD.
AND I WISH I COULD REMEMBER THE GUY'S NAME.
THEY DIDN'T REALLY ENVISION IT'S ON THE VIDEO.
THE ACTUAL HISTORY WAS THEY EXPECTED THE CONSOLIDATED COUNCIL, THE INCORPORATED AREA TO GROW.
AND SO THEY WOULD JUST ULTIMATELY HAVE ONE COUNCIL THAT WOULD ULTIMATELY WIND UP LIKE THE CITY OF NEW ORLEANS, WHICH PARISH BOUNDARIES, AND CITY BOUNDARIES OF THE SAME.
IT'S JUST THE INCORPORATED AREAS STOPPED GROWING.
SO I'M GONNA, I'M GONNA OFFER UP ONE MORE, UH, QUESTION ON THIS.
WE'LL MOVE ON AND THEN WE CAN CERTAINLY COME BACK TO IT AGAIN, I'LL STAY AS LONG AS NECESSARY, UM, BUT WANT TO MAKE SURE WE COVER ALL THE TOPICS, BUT YES, SIR, PLEASE.
WELL, YEAH, I WANTED TO, SINCE JENNIFER BROUGHT UP, UH, SPEAKER OF REDISTRICTING PART OF THIS, BECAUSE THAT'S, UH, UP UNTIL TODAY, THAT WAS ALWAYS PART OF THIS PATIENT THAT I HEARD FOR THE AT-LARGE MEMBERS WAS THAT IT WOULD MAKE YOUR DISTRICT GETTING BETTER, UM, DOING IT IN ADVANCE OF REDISTRICTING.
NO MEMBER WOULD MEAN THAT, UM, I THINK THE LOGIC WHEN BASICALLY THAT, UM, THE AT-LARGE MEMBER WOULD, UH, COUNTERBALANCE ANY POTENTIAL, UH, IMBALANCES CREATED BY YOUR DISTRICT, DOES THAT MAKES SENSE? OKAY.
UM, AND I THINK THAT, THAT GLAD YOU DID BRING IT UP BECAUSE I THINK THAT'S REALLY SPECIOUS BECAUSE, YOU KNOW, AND, AND, YOU KNOW, YOU MENTIONED THAT IT'S, UH, UH, I DON'T REMEMBER WHICH ONE, YOU MENTIONED THAT IT WAS A FAIR AND OPEN PROCESS, AND I WANT TO POINT OUT THAT THAT'S ONLY IF YOU MAKE IT BACK BECAUSE, YOU KNOW, IT'S UNDER THE LAWS ANYWAY, THAT'S, THE COUNCIL CAN DO WHATEVER THEY WANT, ESPECIALLY NOW THAT, UH, PRE-CLEARANCE HAS GONE, YOU KNOW, UNLESS CONGRESS AND RESIDENTS, I'M LAW, REINSTATED RECLINERS, THREE COURT STRUCK DOWN IN 2013.
SO WE DON'T HAVE TO GO TO THE JUSTICE DEPARTMENT.
I MEAN, THESE COULD BE REALLY, REALLY UNDER MAPS.
I MEAN, MAYBE YOU GUYS DON'T HAVE THAT AS AN INTENTION, BUT AT LEAST FOR OUR BUNNY, YOU KNOW, THAT ARE BASICALLY JUST COMMENTS DOWN THAT SOUND INTERESTING.
AND I CAN'T SAY THAT WE DO BASED ON THE CURRENT MAPS.
UM, SO I WISH WE COULD, BUT I'M NOT SURE DOING IT BEFORE OR AFTER WE THIS.
WELL, THAT'S PART OF OUR DUTY TO MAKE SURE YOU CAN TRUST IT.
AND I THINK AN OPEN AND TRANSPARENT PROCESS IS SOMETHING WE'LL ENSURE WILL HAPPEN.
AND I'VE HAD DISCUSSIONS WITH THE COUNCIL ADMINISTRATOR, AND THAT IS THE ABSOLUTE INTENTION.
SO, UM, THE LAST THING I'LL SAY ON THIS, I SHARED WITH THE CIVIC FEDERATION CIVIC ASSOCIATIONS IN PART OF MY RESEARCH, I CALLED, UH, AN, UH, FORMER AT-LARGE COUNCIL MEMBER IN ONE OF THE PARISHES ON THE NORTH SHORE AND ASKED FOR HIS OPINION.
AND WHAT HE SHARED WITH ME WAS HE WAS AN AT-LARGE COUNCIL MEMBER.
AND BY THE TIME PEOPLE CALLED HIM, THEY HAD ALREADY, THEIR DISTRICT COUNCIL MEMBER GOT NO RESOLUTION TO THE ISSUE.
SO THEY WERE MAD BY THE TIME THEY GOT TO HIM AND CALLED HIM.
SO THAT WAS HIS INPUT AND FEEDBACK ON, ON HIS TERM AS A, AS AN AT-LARGE.
SO WE'LL DIVE INTO THE BOARDS AND COMMISSIONS, UM, NO SPECIFIC REQUIREMENT FOR PROFESSIONAL QUALIFICATIONS FOR APPOINTEES, AND I'M SORRY, I'M ON, I'M UNDER THE CURRENT BULLET POINT AND THEN THE 75% ATTENDANCE REQUIREMENT THAT I DISCUSSED.
SO THE PROPOSAL HERE IS THE METRO COUNCIL WOULD CREATE ORDINANCES, UH, THAT WOULD ESTABLISH
[00:45:01]
PROFESSIONAL QUALIFICATIONS, UH, FOR SPECIFIC BOARDS.THERE'S A FEW EXAMPLES GIVEN HERE, CAT'S PLANNING COMMISSION.
SO PROFESSIONAL QUALIFICATIONS TO BE, UH, AN APPOINTEE OF THOSE BOARDS.
AND THEN I HAD A LITTLE DISCUSSION EARLIER ABOUT THE ATTENDANCE REQUIREMENT, BUT LOWERING THAT THRESHOLD FROM THE CURRENT 75 TO 60%, I GAVE THE EXAMPLE OF THE COMMITTEE THAT WOULD ONLY MEET A FEW TIMES A YEAR.
AND THEN THE OTHER MAJOR POINT BEHIND THIS ONE.
AND I'LL GO TO THE LOGIC AND REASONING SLIDE, UH, WAS THAT, YOU KNOW, IF SOMEONE IS REMOVED FROM A COMMITTEE, THEN THERE'S TROUBLEMAKING A CORUM.
UH, AND SO, UM, SO THE PROPOSAL IS TO, TO DECREASE THAT.
SO, UH, COMMISSIONS WOULD SOMETIMES UNABLE TO FUNCTION FOR PERIODS OF TIME IN ORDER TO REAPPOINT SOMEONE.
UM, IF THERE ARE NO EXCEPTIONS FOR SOMEONE TO MISS A MEETING VIA THE PLAN OF GOVERNMENT.
SO AGAIN, IF, IF I WERE TO TAKE ILL OR, UH, YOU KNOW, GOD FORBID A MEMBER OF MY FAMILY WERE TO NEED ATTENTION OUT OF BATON ROUGE, MEDICAL ATTENTION OUT OF BATON ROUGE.
AND I DETERMINED TO BE THE CARE FOR THAT FAMILY MEMBER.
THERE'S NO, THERE'S NO EXCEPTION REQUIREMENT FOR MISSING MEETINGS.
UM, SO, UH, THIS IS THE BOARDS AND COMMISSION PROPOSED CHANGES BEFORE WE MOVE, UH, TO THE MAYOR PRESIDENT'S OFFICE.
THIS IS THE FINAL SLIDE THAT DELVES INTO THE GOVERNING BODY CHAPTER TWO, ANY DISCUSSION ABOUT BOARDS AND COMMISSIONS LOWERING THAT THRESHOLD OR THE PROFESSIONAL QUALIFICATIONS, UM, FOR, UH, THE PROPOSED ONES.
COULD YOU HAVE, COULD YOU LOOK INTO ADDING, I MEAN, THIS WILL EXPAND ON WHAT YOU MEAN ON THAT BOARD.
THAT'S THE WORD THAT OVERSEES THE POLICE AND FIRE HEARINGS? WE, WE, WE WERE LOOKING UP THE NAMES JUST PRIOR TO IT.
THAT WORD, UM, UH, PART OF THAT WAS ESTABLISHED BY SAFE, BUT THERE, UH, IT WOULD BE HELPFUL TO HAVE REQUIREMENTS LIKE YOUR OLDEST THING, PLEASE.
THIS IS UNDER THE GUISE OF PROFESSIONAL QUALIFICATIONS.
I MEAN, LIKE IF YOU WERE, IF YOU WERE, UH, YOU'RE OVERSEEING THE POLICE, SO YOU'D HAVE A FELONY ON YOUR RECORD OR A CIVIL RIGHTS VIOLATION ON YOUR RECORD, ISN'T APPROPRIATE TO YOU OVERSEEING THE PLACE.
SO I DON'T, SO I GUESS THE PROFESSIONAL QUALIFICATIONS THAT MIGHT HAVE, I DON'T KNOW, THAT WOULD BE SOMETHING PART OF THE DISCUSSION CAUSE ORDINANCES NEED TO BE CREATED AROUND WHAT THOSE PROFESSIONAL REQUIREMENTS TO BECOME.
I THINK THE MUNICIPAL POLICE AND FIRE BOARDS ARE SET BY STATE STATUTE GOVERNING THOSE BOARDS AT THE STATE LEVEL.
WE LET THOSE OUT, I'LL COME TO YOU NEXT YEAR.
MS. KATHERINE, GO AHEAD, PLEASE.
I HAVE, YEAH, I'VE WORKED IN THE LIBRARIES AND THERE ARE SEVERAL TEACHERS ON THE LIBRARY BOARD, BUT THERE'S ALSO A GENTLEMAN WHO'S WORKED WITH STATE POLICE AND, UH, SHE'S AN EXCELLENT, UM, MEMBERS PRESIDENT OF THE BOARD, BUT HE'S ON THE BOARD MEMBERSHIP AND THE, AND THE FOUNDATION OF CIVIC ASSOCIATIONS.
THERE'S ANOTHER GENTLEMAN, WHO'S A LONG TIME A BUSINESSMAN AND HE MAY NOT HAVE CREDENTIALS IN, UM, EDUCATIONAL OR IN LIBRARY SO THAT WHEN YOU PRAY THE QUALIFICATIONS, UM, CAUSE I SEE THIS SO MUCH DOWN AT THE REGULAR LOUISIANA LEGISLATURE, YOU HAVE TO BE, UM, CAREFUL THAT EVERYONE IS, UH, REPRESENTED AND STILL KNOWLEDGEABLE IN THE, UM, IN THE AREA BECAUSE ESSENTIALLY EVERYONE PAYS THE TAXES FOR THE LIBRARY, EVERYONE BASED IN TEXAS, UM, YOU KNOW, FOR A LOT OF THE, FOR BRECK AND EVERYTHING.
SO THAT, UM, IF I LOOK AT THE BROAD REPRESENTATION, ALSO THE, THE MEMBERSHIP, UH, AS YOU KNOW, HOW MANY, WHAT YOU'RE GOING TO DO THAT, BUT MIGHT HAVE TO BE CHANGED.
UH, I KNOW THINKING STATUTE, BUT, UH, FOR THE LIBRARY BOARD.
UM, I WAS LOOKING INTO THE CAST, UH, PROCESS CURRENTLY, AND I WAS TOLD THAT THERE IS SOME KIND OF EXTRA VETTING PROCESS FOR THE BOARD MEMBERS NOW.
SO I DON'T KNOW IF THAT'S ORDINANCE OR WHAT, BUT THAT WAS JUST A LITTLE CONFUSING, BUT IT LOOKS LIKE IT'S SOMETHING NOW.
I'M NOT SURE THE DIFFERENCES, I'M NOT FAMILIAR WITH THAT.
SO I WAS HOLDING THE LIGHT YOUNG PATIENT IN LINE WITH ONE THING THEY'RE LIKE, BUT YOU ACTUALLY HAVE TO APPLY EARLIER SO THAT YOU CAN GO THROUGH THIS EXTRA VETTING PROCESS TO GET ON THE CAPITOL IS, UH, I GUESS I WOULD SAY AS PART OF EACH, IF THIS WERE TO GO THROUGH AND THEN AS PART OF CRAFTING AN ORDINANCE,
[00:50:01]
YOU'D HAVE TO DO THAT WITH ALL OF THE PLANNING COMMISSION, FOR INSTANCE, HAS APPOINTEES FROM WITHIN THE CITY, FROM WITHIN THE PARISH, THE MAYOR PRESIDENT HAS AN APPOINTED THE PLANNING COMMISSION.SO I THINK THERE'LL BE NUANCES TO EACH OF THEM THAT YOU'D HAVE TO UNCOVER FIRST BEFORE YOU CRAFT ANY TYPE OF ORDINANCE AND REGARDS TO THE PLANNING COMMISSION ORIGINALLY STIPULATED THAT THE SCHOOL BOARD MEMBER ALSO SERVED ON PLANNING AND ZONING COMMISSION AND SOMEWHERE ALONG THE LINE HERE.
AND I DON'T EVEN KNOW IF THE LANGUAGE IS AMENDED OR IF THEY JUST STOPPED APPOINTED THEM.
AND I WOULD AGREE WITH YOU SPEAK TO THAT, BUT I'LL GET THAT OUT OF THAT.
UM, I'VE HAD PEOPLE QUESTION WHETHER A MEMBER OF THE METRO COUNCIL SHOULD BE AN APPOINTEE ON THE PLANNING COMMISSION, UH, WHICH I ASKED THE PARISH ATTORNEY'S OFFICE TO VET AND THEY SAW NO CONFLICT OF INTEREST THERE, BUT I HAD A COUPLE OF FOLKS RAISE THAT UP AS AN ISSUE.
UM, BUT UNAWARE THAT THERE WAS A SCHOOL BOARD APPOINTEE, ANY OTHER QUESTIONS DISCUSSION ON THIS? UM, SO WE'LL JUMP TO CHAPTER FOUR, WHICH IS THE CHAPTER ON THE MAYOR PRESIDENT I'LL GIVE, OF COURSE THE OVERVIEW OF EACH OF THE PROPOSED CHANGES.
AND THEN WE'LL DIVE INTO A COUPLE OF THESE.
SO PROPOSED CHANGE FROM THREE TERM LIMITS FOR THE MAYOR PRESIDENT POSITION TO, TO, UH, AGAIN, REFERENCING THAT THE PLANNING DEPARTMENT, WHICH CURRENTLY RESIDES UNDER THE LEGISLATIVE BRANCH WOULD BE MOVED TO THE MAYOR, PRESIDENT ARM TO THE EXECUTIVE BRANCH RATHER.
AND I HAVE A ASTERISK HERE AND MORE ON THAT WHEN WE GET TO CHAPTER 10, I HAVE A FEW SLIDES DEDICATED TO THE PLANNING DEPARTMENT AND, UH, PROPOSED MOVEMENT, UM, REMOVES SECTIONS REGARDING THE PURCHASING DEPARTMENT CREATES THAT NEW CHAPTER FOR THAT DEPARTMENT, UH, CHANGING THE DUTIES OF THE CHIEF ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICER OR THE CAO, UH, PRESENTLY THE MAYOR PRESIDENT'S OFFICE HAS A CAO ROLE AND THAT CAO OVERSEES NOT ONLY THE CITY PARISH DEPARTMENTS, BUT ALSO CARRIES THE RESPONSIBILITY OF RELATIONSHIP WITH COUNCIL OUTREACH TO THE COMMUNITY.
SO SERVES THAT THE ROLE OF AS CHIEF ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICER TO THE MAYOR, PRESIDENT SERVES THE ROLE OF COVERING ALL OF THOSE BASIS, BOTH OF THE POLICY DRIVEN, UH, DEPARTMENTAL DRIVEN AND WHAT I WOULD SAY TO WHAT I WOULD CALL THE POLITICAL SIDE OF THE OFFICE.
SO THE PROPOSAL HERE IS CHANGE THE DUTIES THAT THE CAO TO HAVE IN THAT DEPARTMENT HEAD FUNCTION, AND THEN SECTION FOUR OH EIGHT WOULD ADD A NEW POSITION OF CHIEF OF STAFF THAT WOULD HANDLE A POLICY COMMUNITY, DEVELOP COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT RATHER, AND THEN RELATIONSHIPS WITH THE COUNCIL MEMBERS.
ADDITIONALLY, SECTION 4.09 WOULD ADD A POSITION OF AN EXECUTIVE COUNCIL UNDER THE MAYOR PRESIDENT'S OFFICE, AS IT PRESENTLY STANDS.
AND I GO BACK TO THAT SLIDE WITH THE ORG CHART OF THE CITY PARISH, THE PARISH ATTORNEY'S OFFICE FALLS UNDER THE LEGISLATIVE BRANCH.
AND SO AS IT CURRENTLY STANDS, THE MAYOR PRESIDENT DOES NOT HAVE AN EXECUTIVE ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE COUNCIL THAT REPORTS DIRECTLY TO THE MAYOR PRESIDENT POSITION.
UH, THE MAYOR PRESIDENT RELIES ON THE COUNCIL OF THE COUNCIL SEL OF THE PARISH ATTORNEY'S OFFICE.
UH, AND SO, UM, SO THE PROPOSAL HERE IS TO ADD A POSITION OF EXECUTIVE COUNCIL UNDER THE MAYOR PRESIDENTS OFFICE, AND THEN SOME PROFESSIONAL QUALIFICATIONS AND REQUIREMENTS FOR THE CAO POSITION, FIVE YEARS EXPERIENCE IN ADMINISTRATIVE CAPACITY, UH, OR MASTER'S DEGREE IN PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION, BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION, OR SOME FIELD OF MANAGEMENT.
SO I WILL, UH, DELVE INTO THE MAYOR PRESIDENT TERM LIMIT, UH, GIVE THE PROPOSAL HERE AND THEN THE LOGIC AND REASONING BEHIND THIS, UM, MOVING FROM, AS IT CURRENTLY STANDS, THREE CONSECUTIVE TERMS TO, UH, TO, UH, CONSECUTIVE TERMS FOR THE EXECUTIVE BRANCH, THE MAYOR PRESIDENT POSITION.
AND THEY DISCUSSED THAT A THREE, FOUR YEAR TERMS IS A LONGER TERM, UH, THAN EXECUTIVES, BOTH AT THE STATE AND FEDERAL LEVEL.
GOVERNOR, UH, IS A TWO TERM LIMIT PRESIDENT, ADDITIONALLY, TWO TERM LIMIT, UH, EAST BATON ROUGE GOVERNMENT THERE'S SIGNIFICANT POWER IN THE POSITION OF THE MAYOR, PRESIDENT.
AND SO, UM, UM, UH, LIKE THE GOVERNOR, UH, IN THE PRESIDENT POSITION, MOVING THOSE TO TWO TERMS TO, UH, THEY TERM BALANCED THE POWER BETWEEN THE MAYOR PRESIDENT AND THE LEGISLATIVE BRANCH, UH, AND THEN, UM, UM, REREADING THAT BOTTOM BULLET POINT.
CAUSE IT DIDN'T MAKE SENSE AS I READ IT, DIDN'T INTEND TO CHANGE THE POTENTIAL THREE TERMS FOR THIS MA OH, FOR THE CURRENT MAYOR PRESIDENT.
SO IT WOULD START, UH, AFTER THE CURRENT MAYOR PRESIDENT'S TERM, IF THIS WERE TO BE ENACTED BY A VOTE OF THE PEOPLE.
SO WE'LL STOP HERE AND SPEND SOME TIME TALKING THROUGH THE PROPOSAL FOR THE MAYORAL TERM LIMITS.
I THINK IT WAS, UH, AMENDMENT FOUR OH NINE THAT ADDED A COUNCIL POSITION.
[00:55:01]
I WAS AT A METRO COUNCIL MEETING ONCE AND THERE WAS SOME ISSUE THAT WAS MAKING THE PARISH ATTORNEYS WERE MUCH MORE COMPLICATED AND DIFFICULT TO BECAUSE SHE HAD 12 BOSSES EAT THE METRO COUNCIL INSTEAD OF BEING ABLE TO GO SIMPLY TO THE MAYOR.AND IT SEEMED AT THAT TIME, THERE WAS A PRETTY GOOD FEELING IN THE DISCUSSION ON THAT HILL COUNCIL MEMBERS THAT THINK THAT THAT MIGHT HAVE BEEN AN EFFICIENT CHANGE.
YOU WOULD HAVE BEEN WORKING FOR THE MAYOR AT THE TIME.
I DON'T KNOW, PARISH ATTORNEY'S OFFICE REPORT TO THE MAYOR.
AND THAT MAY STILL MEAN THAT SUCH A POSITION IS, IS NECESSARY, BUT, UM, THAT DOESN'T SEEM TO BE SHOWING UP IN ALL OF THEM THAT THE MOVEMENT OF THE PARISH ATTORNEY'S OFFICE WAS NOT A PROPOSAL.
I THINK YOU HAVE SOME HISTORY THERE, IF YOU WANT TO SHARE ANYTHING WITH IT, BUT THE MOVEMENT OF THAT DEPARTMENT UNDER THE EXECUTIVE BRANCH WAS NOT A PROPOSAL.
I DON'T KNOW IF YOU REMEMBER ANY DISCUSSION OF IT.
TH TH TH THAT'S A TECHNICAL LEGAL REASON.
THE, THE ONLY ENTITY THAT GETS SUED IS THE PARISH ITSELF REPRESENTED BY THE COUNCIL.
SO THE PARISH ATTORNEY OWES AN ATTORNEY CLIENT PRIVILEGE TO THE CLIENT, WHICH IS THE COUNCIL.
THE MAYOR DOESN'T GET SUED EXCEPT IN HER PERSONAL CAPACITY, BUT, BUT THE CORPORATE ENTITY IS THE COUNCIL.
SO GIVEN THE PARISH ATTORNEY OWES ITS, UH, ATTORNEY CLIENT DUTY TO THE COUNCIL, WHAT THE COMMITTEE WAS THINKING ABOUT WITH STRATEGIC PLANNING, IF THE MAYOR'S THINKING ABOUT AN IDEA, LIKE WHAT ABOUT A TAX TO DO SOMETHING, BUT BEFORE SHE WANTS TO FLOAT THE IDEA, SHE WANTS SOMEBODY TO LOOK AT THE LEGALITIES OF TRYING TO DO IT.
WOULD THIS WORK, IF SHE GOES TO THE PARISH ATTORNEY, THEY HAVE AN OBLIGATION TO INFORM THEIR CLIENT, THE COUNCIL, EVEN IF SHE DOESN'T WANT TO SHARE THE IDEA YET, BECAUSE IT'S A DEAD IDEA, BUT THIS WAY THE MAYOR WOULD HAVE AN ATTORNEY.
AND WE WEREN'T THINKING ABOUT AN ATTORNEY TO DEFEND HER, AN ATTORNEY TO DEFEND THE PARISH.
THAT'S THE PARISH COUNCIL, AN ATTORNEY, WHEN SHE HAS AN IDEA THAT REQUIRES SOME LEGAL RESEARCH TO DECIDE, IS THIS AN IDEA THAT WOULD FLOAT? IS THIS TAX INCREMENT FINANCING DISTRICT, AN IDEA THAT WOULD FLOAT, YOU KNOW, IS THIS SPECIAL DISTRICT OVER HERE? SHE HAS AN ATTORNEY THAT REPORTS TO HER AS THE CLIENT TO GIVE HER ADVICE.
AND THEN IF IT ULTIMATELY GOES TO THE COUNCIL, IT WOULD BE PARISH ATTORNEY'S JOB TO MAKE SURE IT'S DONE LEGALLY BEFORE THE COUNCIL PASSES IT.
SO IT REALLY HAD TO DO WITH THE DIFFERENCE IN ROLES FOR ALL THESE THINGS.
I HAVE A QUESTION ABOUT THAT TOO, BUT I THINK YOU'RE GONNA GET THE EXECUTIVE COUNT.
I HAVE A COUPLE OF SLIDES ON IT.
UH, THE CHANGE IN THE TERMS, UM, PERSONALLY, I IMPOSE TERM LIMITS JUST GENERALLY, BUT IF YOU'RE GOING TO HAVE THEM, I JUST DON'T SEE WHY THEY SHOULD BE DIFFERENT BETWEEN THEIR PRESIDENT.
I MEAN, IF YOU'RE GONNA CHANGE A CHANGE FOR EVERYBODY.
UM, AND SOME PEOPLE DIDN'T WANT TO CHANGE THEM AT ALL.
SOME PEOPLE DID WANT TO CHANGE THEM.
THE IMPERFECT COMPROMISE WAS IF THE MAYOR'S OFFICE BECAME OPEN OFF CYCLE WITH THE COUNCIL MEMBERS, MORE COUNCIL MEMBERS WOULD GIVE UP THAT THIRD TERM TO RUN FOR THE MAYOR'S OFFICE WHEN THE MAYOR COULDN'T RUN AGAIN.
AND SO BY HAVING THEM DIFFERENT LINKS, YOU WOULD PROBABLY ENCOURAGE MORE TURNOVER THAN YOU DO.
SOME FOLKS WANTED THEM BOTH TO BE THREE.
SOME FOLKS WANTED THEM BOTH TO BE TO, YOU KNOW, THE, THE IMPERFECT COMPROMISE WAS EVERY TWO YEARS COUNCIL MEMBERS WITH A TERM LEFT WILL HAVE TO DECIDE, DO I WANT TO RUN FOR MAYOR WHILE IT'S OPEN? AND IT WILL CAUSE COUNCIL MEMBER DISTRICTS TO TURN OVER A LITTLE FASTER.
ELIMINATING TERM LIMITS TERM LIMITS ON THE EXECUTIVE BRANCH ENTIRELY NO ON THE COUNCIL MEMBERS ON THE COUNCIL MEMBERS AT ALL, BUT WAS THERE ANY DISCUSSION ABOUT THE POSSIBILITY OF ELIMINATE TERM LIMITS ON THE COUNCIL PERSONS POSITION? UM, BECAUSE THEY ALL SEEM TO SORT OF RECOGNIZE AS, UM, ELIMINATING HISTORICAL KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERTISE AND UNDERSTANDING OF 10 AMENDMENTS TO THE PLAN OF GOVERNMENT AND THE WAY THEY USED TO RUN AND THINGS LIKE THAT.
AND SO, UM, YOU KNOW, TH THERE'S A REAL TERM LIMIT IS IMPOSED BY VOTERS.
DO YOU, DO YOU RECALL IF THERE WAS DISCUSSION OF ELIMINATING TERMINAL, IT WAS DONE DISCUSSION OF ELIMINATING
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NO DISCUSSION OF ELIMINATE THE COUNCIL.SO JUST TO UNDERSTAND THAT, THAT WASN'T ORIGINAL, THAT WASN'T IN THE ORIGINAL PLAN OF GOVERNMENT THAT DIDN'T COME ABOUT UNTIL THE 1990S OTHER, DID I MISS SOME OTHER STUFF TOO? UH LET'S LET'S DO TERMINAL IS MY NEXT FEW SLIDES ARE ABOUT THE ROLES OF CITY MANAGER OR CIO AND CHIEF OF STAFF.
SO LET'S DO MAYORAL TERM LIMIT.
IF THEY REMEMBER TO CONSECUTIVE, THEN THEY'RE OUT.
CAN THEY COME BACK, COME BACK.
I THINK THAT'S THE INTENTION BEHIND USING THAT CONSECUTIVE TERM.
IT'S YOU, YOU COULD TAKE A TERM OFF OR, OR YOU'D BE TERMED OUT AND THEN COULD COME BACK.
WHAT YOU CAN DO THOUGH, IS YOU CAN FLIP BETWEEN COUNSEL AND COUNSEL.