[00:00:01]
GOOD AFTERNOON LADIES AND GENTLEMEN.
WELCOME TO THE PRESENTATION PORTION OF THE METROPOLITAN COUNCIL MEETING ON THIS NOVEMBER 21ST, 2023 AT 3:30 PM UP.
FIRST, WE'LL HAVE MAYOR, PRESIDENT SHARON WESTERN BROOM TO RECOGNIZE RESIDENT LEADER ACADEMY PROGRAM GRADUATES MAYOR.
THANK YOU, MAYOR PROTI AND MEMBERS OF THE COUNCIL.
UH, THIS YEAR MARKED A SIGNIFICANT MILESTONE FOR THE RESIDENT LEADER ACADEMY, AS WE PROUDLY WITNESSED THE ENGAGEMENT AND COMMITMENT OF SIX VIBRANT NEIGHBORHOODS IN BATON ROUGE, MARYDALE CHENEY, OLD SOUTH SLASH FRUIT TOWN BANKS, MAYFAIR AND BROOKSTOWN, WITH A COLLECTIVE TOTAL OF 25 GRADUATES.
THE ENTHUSIASM DISPLAYED BY PARTICIPANTS WAS NOTABLY DRIVEN BY THE POSITIVE REPUTATION ESTABLISHED THROUGH WORD OF MOUTH ENDORSEMENTS FROM PREVIOUS COHORTS REFLECTING THE PROGRAM'S IMPACT ON THE COMMUNITY.
NOTEWORTHY ACHIEVEMENTS HAVE ALREADY BEEN REALIZED WITH TWO NEIGHBORHOODS SUCCESSFULLY COMPLETING IMPACTFUL PROJECTS FUNDED BY THE $2,500 GRANT PROVIDED.
BROOKSTOWN ORCHESTRATED A DAY LONG HEALTH FAIR, WHICH I DID GO TO THE HEALTH FAIR IN BROOKSTOWN.
UH, THEY ALSO HAD AN EVENING BLOCK PARTY.
I DIDN'T MAKE IT TO THE BLOCK PARTY, NOR DID I MAKE IT TO THEIR CAPTIVATING MOVIE NIGHT IN THE PARK.
SIMILARLY, CHENEY HOSTED A COMMUNITY HOLIDAY FEST SPANNING TWO DAYS STRATEGICALLY DESIGNED TO BRIDGE GENERATIONAL GAPS WITHIN THE COMMUNITY.
THE UPCOMING COMMUNITY HEALTH FAIR SCHEDULE FOR DECEMBER 9TH IN OLD SOUTH FURTHER UNDERSCORES THE PROACTIVE EFFORTS OF OUR RESIDENTS TO ENHANCE THE WELLBEING OF THEIR RESPECTIVE COMMUNITIES.
IT IS EVIDENT THAT THIS YEAR'S COHORT IS NOT ONLY EAGER TO UNDERTAKE MEANINGFUL PROJECTS, BUT IS ALSO DEEPLY INVESTED IN UNDERSTANDING THE INTRICACIES OF COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT.
THE ENTHUSIASM EXHIBITED BY THE PARTICIPANTS SPEAKS TO THEIR GENUINE COMMITMENT TO FOSTERING POSITIVE CHANGE.
AS WE LOOK FORWARD TO THE REMAINDER OF THE PROGRAM, WE ARE SO OPTIMISTIC ABOUT THE TRANSFORMATIVE IMPACT THIS YEAR'S COHORT WILL UNDOUBTEDLY BRING TO THEIR NEIGHBORHOODS AND BATON ROUGE AS A WHOLE, BUILDING UPON THE REMARKABLE MOMENTUM ALREADY ESTABLISHED.
SO WE DO HAVE MEMBERS OF THE, UH, RESIDENT LEADERS PROGRAM WHO ARE HERE.
UM, I WAS LOOKING FOR MS. RUBY.
MS. RUBY HAMA, YOU CAN COME ON UP.
SHE'S FROM THE CHENEY COMMUNITY.
IF YOU DON'T MIND STANDING FOR A MINUTE, WE'LL TAKE A GROUP PICTURE.
THEN WE HAVE FROM OLD SOUTH ISAAC HAMMOND, ALSO FROM OLD SOUTH, REVEREND LAVERT KEMP, ALSO FROM OLD SOUTH MARVA COLEMAN AND GLENDA WILLIAMS. REVEREND KEMP.
SO GOOD TO SEE YOU AGAIN, MAN.
I MUST HAVE GONE BACKWARDS ON MY
YOU KNOW, I WOULD NOT DO THAT.
UH, MARLEY, YOU KNOW, IF IT'S MESSED UP, I'M GONNA BLAME YOU ON THAT.
[00:05:01]
YEAH, SHE'S ON THIS LIST RIGHT HERE.SEE IF I LEFT IT IN MY OFFICE.
WELL, I'LL, WE'RE GONNA TAKE CARE OF YOU, MS. MARVA.
UM, IS GLENDA WILLIAMS HERE? NO.
UH, NOW FOR THE BROOKSTOWN FROM OLD SOUTH.
AND ISAAC HAMMOND IS NOT HERE.
AND I'M GOING TO GO BY A DIFF IN A DIFFERENT DIRECTION.
UH, WE HAVE BROOKSTOWN DAVID WILLIAMS. THANK YOU DAVID.
WE HAVE, UH, FROM BROOKSTOWN GALE LAMB GALE HERE.
AND ALSO FROM BROOKSTOWN, WE HAVE YVETTE WRIGHT, AND THEN WE HAVE FROM OLD SOUTH GLENDA WILLIAMS. SHE'S NOT HERE.
THEN WE HAVE ANTHONY THOMPSON FROM BROOKSTOWN, NOT HERE.
THEN WE HAVE SHAANA WHITFIELD FROM BANKS.
THEN WE HAVE SHANTA BARNES FROM MAYFAIR.
THEN WE HAVE HOPE JACKSON FROM BOOKS TOWN.
THEN WE HAVE GWENDOLYN MAYO FROM MARYDALE.
SO OBVIOUSLY SOME PEOPLE GOT CAUGHT IN TRAFFIC TODAY AND HAVEN'T MADE IT YET, BUT WHAT WE'LL DO IS WHEN THEY GET HERE, WE'LL BE GLAD TO HONOR THEM ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE HALL.
AND RIGHT NOW I WANT YOU TO, UM, PLEASE CELEBRATE OUR RESIDENT LEADERS WHO ARE RIGHT HERE, WHO HAVE PARTICIPATED IN THE PROGRAM.
AND WE'LL BE GLAD TO TAKE A GROUP PICTURE WITH YOU.
HALF ON ONE SIDE, HALF ON THE OTHER.
WE'RE GONNA NEED, UM, HAVE, SIR, WOULD YOU MIND STEPPING ON THAT SIDE OVER THERE JUST FOR A LITTLE, LITTLE SYMMETRY? THERE WE GO.
THAT'S WHAT I'M, WE'RE GONNA GO ON THIS GENTLEMAN FIRST.
EVERYONE LOOK AT THE UH, ALRIGHT.
WE'RE GONNA, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, THIS PORTION OF OUR MEETING IS ADJOURNED.
UH, WE'LL RECONVENE AT FOUR O'CLOCK FOR THE START OF, UH, OUR METROPOLITAN COUNCIL MEETING.
[CALL TO ORDER]
EVERYBODY.WELCOME TO THE COUNCIL CHAMBER
[00:10:01]
OF EAST BATON ROUGE PARISH, THE HOME OF THE METROPOLITAN COUNCIL, NOVEMBER 21ST, 2023.GOOD TO HAVE ALL OF YOU WATCHING ON METRO 21.
AND WE WANNA TAKE THIS OPPORTUNITY ON BEHALF OF THE METROPOLITAN COUNCIL TO WISH YOU ALL A HAPPY THANKSGIVING.
HOPE YOU HAVE A WONDERFUL DAY WITH YOUR FAMILIES AS WE ALL COME TOGETHER TO THANK GOD FOR AS MANY BLESSINGS AT THIS TIME.
HERE IS THE MAYOR, PRESIDENT PRO TEM OF EAST BATON RIDGE PARISH.
COUNCILMAN LAMONT CO COUNCILMAN.
GOOD AFTERNOON LADIES AND GENTLEMEN.
WELCOME TO OUR REGULARLY SCHEDULED METROPOLITAN COUNCIL MEETING ON THIS SPECIAL TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 21ST, 2023.
AT THIS TIME, I'M GONNA TURN IT OVER TO COUNCIL MEMBER ADAMS TO INTRODUCE THE GUESTS OR IS THAT COUNCIL MEMBER GODDE.
TO INTRODUCE OUR GUESTS WHO'S GONNA LEAD US AN INVOCATION AS WELL AS THE PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE.
SO I, I THINK AT THIS TIME OF THE YEAR FOR AT THANKSGIVING, WE ALL, UM, REFLECT ON FAMILY AND THE PEOPLE WHO ARE MOST IMPORTANT IN OUR LIVES.
AND, UM, FOR THOSE OF US WHO DON'T LIVE IN OUR HOMETOWN, QUITE OFTEN OUR FRIENDS BECOME, UM, BECOME OUR SURROGATE FAMILY.
THEY BECOME OUR, OUR FAMILY AND OUR COMMUNITY.
SO I'VE INVITED SOME, SOME FRIENDS, UH, SLASH FAMILY, UM, TO BE HERE WITH US TODAY TO, UH, OFFER UP THE, UM, THE PRAYER AND THE PLEDGE.
I'D LIKE TO ASK, UM, MARSHA PALMER.
MARSHA IS HEAD OF SCHOOL AT TRINITY EPISCOPAL DAY SCHOOL, AND HER DAUGHTER'S ANN ROSE AND JULIA TO LEAD US IN THE PRAYER AND THE PLEDGE.
AND MY MOUTH SHALL PROCLAIM YOUR PRAISE.
CREATE IN ME A CLEAN HEART OF GOD AND RENEW A RIGHT SPIRIT WITHIN ME.
CAST ME NOT AWAY FROM YOUR PRESENCE.
AND TAKE NOT YOUR HOLY SPIRIT FROM ME.
GIMME THE JOY OF RECEIVING HELP AGAIN AND SUSTAIN ME WITH YOUR BOUNTIFUL SPIRIT.
GLORY TO THE FATHER AND TO THE SON.
UNTIL THE HOLY SPIRIT AS IT WAS IN THE BEGINNING.
ALLEGIANCE, THE FLAG OF THE UNITED STATES.
AMERICA TO THE REPUBLIC FOR WHICH IT STANDS.
ONE NATION UNDER GOD, LIBERTY AND JUSTICE FOR ALL.
AT THIS TIME, I'D LIKE TO CALL THE MEETING ORDER.
JUSTIN, DO WE HAVE A QUORUM AT THIS TIME?
[ADOPTION AND APPROVAL OF MINUTES]
ITEM ONE, APPROVAL AND ADOPTION OF THE MINUTES OF THE METROPOLITAN COUNCIL MEETING OF NOVEMBER 8TH, 2023.THE METROPOLITAN COUNCIL ZONING MEETING OF NOVEMBER 15TH, 2023 AND THE GREATER BATON ROUGE AIRPORT COMMISSION MEETING OF NOVEMBER 7TH, 2023 BY THE COUNCIL, ADMINISTRATIVE TREASURER.
IS ANYONE HERE WISHING TO SPEAK ON ITEM ONE? WE NOW GO TO JUSTIN
[INTRODUCTIONS]
FOR INTRODUCTIONS.NUMBER TWO, GRANTING A TAX ABATEMENT TRANSFER AT 2 1 3 6 DALE BOULEVARD.
ESTIMATED AT $381,655 PER YEAR FROM GIBRALTAR MANAGEMENT COMPANY LLC TO DALE OAKS APARTMENTS LLC BY PLANNING DIRECTOR NUMBER THREE, ADOPTING THE REVISED 2 20 24 PAY PLAN FOR THE CLASSIFIED UNCLASSIFIED NON-CLASSIFIED CONTRACT, FIRE AND POLICE EMPLOYEES OF THE CITY OF BATON ROUGE IN PARIS OF EAST BATON ROUGE.
ESTABLISHING THE EFFECTIVE DATE OF SET PLAN AS DECEMBER 30TH, 2023.
AND REPEALING ALL ORDINANCES OR PARTS OF ORDINANCES IN CONFLICT HERE WITH A HUMAN RESOURCES DIRECTOR.
NUMBER FOUR, FIXING THE NUMBER OF EMPLOYEES OF THE PARIS OF EAST BATON ROUGE, THE CITY OF BATON ROUGE AND AGENTS AGENCIES, WHICH APPROPRIATIONS ARE MADE AND ESTABLISHING THE EFFECTIVE DATE AS DECEMBER 30TH, 2023.
AND REPEALING ALL ORDINANCES IN CONFLICT HERE WITH A HUMAN RESOURCES DIRECTOR.
NUMBER FIVE, AMENDING THE 2023 CURRENT EXPENSE AND CAPITAL BUDGET SO AS TO ADJUST ESTIMATED REVENUES AND APPROPRIATIONS.
AND TO AUTHORIZE THE DIRECTOR OF FINANCE TO MAKE CERTAIN INTERDEPARTMENTAL INTERDEPARTMENTAL INTERFUND TRANSFERS IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE STATE BUDGET ACT AND THE PLAN OF GOVERNMENT BY FINANCE DIRECTOR CONDEMNATION
[CONDEMNATION INTRODUCTIONS]
INTRODUCTIONS NUMBER SIX.9 2 8 0 EL GROVE GARDEN DRIVE.
COUNCIL DISTRICT TWO BANKS, NUMBER SEVEN.
ASHBURN DRIVE COUNCIL DISTRICT FOUR MOOCH.
NUMBER EIGHT, BATON ROUGE MULTIFAMILY HOLDINGS.
LLC 6 7 4 8 REMBRANDT STREET COUNCIL DISTRICT SIX DUN JR.
NUMBER NINE, MARQUIS WILLIAMS. DIANA CALLAHAN.
TYLER WILLIAMS IN THE ESTATE OF HARRISON CALLAHAN.
BIRDIE STREET COUNCIL DISTRICT SEVEN COLE NUMBER 10.
CHANEL WELLS 3 5 2 1 PRESCOTT ROAD COUNCIL DISTRICT SEVEN COLE.
[00:15:01]
NUMBER 11.CHANEL WELLS 3 5 3 5 PRESCOTT ROAD COUNCIL DISTRICT SEVEN COLE NUMBER 12.
KENTUCKY STREET COUNCIL DISTRICT 10 COLEMAN NUMBER 13.
LATASHA KELLY AND CEDRIC KELLY.
3 8 1 9 UNCS STREET COUNCIL DISTRICT 10 COLEMAN NUMBER 14.
1 9 6 4 KAUFMAN STREET COUNCIL DISTRICT 10 COLEMAN NUMBER 15, THE ESTATE OF DORSEY JOHNSON AND THE ESTATE OF EMILY JOHNSON.
2 9 3 0 BROWNLEY STREET COUNCIL DISTRICT 12 ROCK ADJUDICATED
[ADJUDICATED PROPERTY INTRODUCTIONS]
PROPERTY INTRODUCTIONS NUMBER 16 LOT SIX AND SEVEN SQUARE 28 SUBDIVISION FORTUNE METRO COUNCIL DISTRICT FIVE HEARST NUMBER 17, LOT TWO SQUARE 19 SUBDIVISION DUCHENNE PLACE METRO COUNCIL DISTRICT 10 COLEMAN NUMBER 18 LOT 11 AND 13 SQUARE 2 41.SUBDIVISION FAV METRO COUNCIL DISTRICT 10 COLEMAN NUMBER 19.
SUBDIVISION CRESS WORTH METRO COUNCIL DISTRICT TWO BANKS NUMBER 20 LOT.
COUNCIL DISTRICT 10, COLEMAN NUMBER 21.
SUBDIVISION MELROSE EAST METRO COUNCIL, DISTRICT SIX DUNN, JR.
ALL ITEMS THAT REQUIRE READING HAVE BEEN READ.
AND A MOTION TO INTRODUCE ALL ITEMS AS IN ORDER.
IS THERE A MOTION TO INTRODUCE ALL ITEMS? I'D LIKE TO, UH, I'D LIKE TO, UH, MAKE SECONDARY MOTION TO REMOVE ITEM NUMBER SEVEN.
WHAT IS THAT? ITEM NUMBER SEVEN.
YOU WANT INTRODUCE ALL ITEMS WITH THE EXCEPTION OF NUMBER SEVEN? YES.
I WOULD LIKE TO INTRODUCE ALL THOSE ITEMS WITH THE EXCEPTION OF NUMBER SEVEN.
SO YOUR MOTION IS TO INTRODUCE ALL ITEMS WITH THE EXCEPTION OF ITEM SEVEN.
IS THERE A SECOND? SECOND BY COUNCIL MEMBER COLEMAN.
ANY OBJECTIONS? ALL ITEMS HAVE BEEN INTRODUCED WITH THE EXCEPTION OF ITEM NUMBER SEVEN.
[CONDEMNATIONS]
WE NOW GO TO CONDEMNATION.WE'RE GONNA READ THE RECOMMENDATION THAT THEY BEEN GIVEN TO US.
THERE ARE TO PROCEED WITH ITEMS 83, 84, 85, 86, 88, 89, 90, 91, 92, 93, 94, 95, 96, 97.
IS ANYONE HERE WISHING TO SPEAK ON CONDEMNATIONS? ANYONE HERE WISHING TO SPEAK ON CONDEMNATIONS? ALRIGHT, WE'LL GO TO COUNCIL MEMBERS.
ANYONE ELSE? ANYONE ELSE? UH, YES SIR.
COUNCILOR, MEMBER RUSSELL? YES, SIR.
60 OR 90 DAYS? JUST, JUST, UH, I GUESS WE'LL GIVE THEM 90 DAYS.
I'M GONNA READ THE RECOMMENDATIONS AND THE CHANGES.
THEY ARE TO PROCEED WITH ITEMS 89, 90 AND 91, 95, 96, AND 97.
THEY ARE TO DEFER FOR 60 DAYS ITEMS. 83, 84, 88, 92, 93, 94.
THEY OUGHT TO DEFER FOR 90 DAYS.
AND TO DELETE ITEMS 98 AND 85.
IS THERE A MOTION TO ACCEPT ALL CONDEMNATIONS? IS THERE A MOTION TO ACCEPT? SO MOVED BY COUNCIL MEMBER HURST.
SECONDED BY COUNCIL MEMBER ADAMS. ANY OBJECTIONS? ALL CONDEMNATIONS HAVE BEEN INTRODUCED.
COUNCIL MEMBERS, WE'RE GONNA TAKE THREE
[Items 168 - 170]
REPORTS AT ONE TIME.AT THIS TIME, WE'RE GONNA TAKE ITEMS ONE 70, EXCUSE ME.
WE'RE GONNA TAKE ITEMS 1 68, 1 69, AND ONE 70.
I'M GONNA READ THEM INTO THE RECORD, HAVE THE HAVE THE REPORT, AND THEN WE'LL GO TO THE PUBLIC HEARING.
ITEM 1 68, RECEIVING A REPORT FROM MAYOR, PRESIDENT ON THE CITY PARISH, PROCUREMENT PAYMENTS AND REIMBURSEMENT AND FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE PROCESS.
ITEM 1 69, RECEIVING A REPORT FROM THE FINANCE DIRECTOR ON THE CITY PARISH, PROCUREMENT, PAYMENTS REIMBURSEMENT AND FINANCIAL SYSTEM PROCESS.
AND ITEM ONE SEVEN, RECEIVING A REPORT FROM THE INTERIM PERSONS DIRECTOR.
PARTNERS IS ON THE CITY PARISH.
PROCUREMENT, PAYMENTS AND REIMBURSEMENT FINANCIAL SYSTEMS PROCESS.
ALL BY COUNCIL MEMBER CLEVE DUN, JR.
AGAIN, WE'LL HAVE THE REPORT FIRST AND THEN WE'LL GO TO THE PUBLIC HEARING AND THEN WE'LL GO TO THE COUNCIL.
HI, I'M ANGIE SAVOY WITH, UH, THE FINANCE DEPARTMENT.
ANGIE, PULL THAT MIC DOWN FOR ME SO WE CAN HEAR.
I WAS GONNA HAND OUT THE REPORT 'CAUSE I KNOW IT'S KIND OF DIFFICULT
[00:20:02]
AND I'VE ACTUALLY COMBINED BOTH FINANCE AND PURCHASINGS IN THE DOCUMENT.COUNCIL MEMBER DUN JR DID YOU CATCH THAT? THE REPORT COMBINES PURCHASING AS WELL AS, UH, FINANCE IN THE SAME REPORT.
SO FINANCE WILL GO FIRST AND THEN PURCHASING WILL GO AFTER ME.
I DIDN'T KNOW IF HE WANTED TO SAY
UM, SO FINANCE IS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE PAYMENT AND REIMBURSEMENT PROCESS.
UH, AS MENTIONED IN THE AGENDA ITEM, THE AGENDA ITEM ASKED TO DISCUSS THE CURRENT PROCESSES, THE PAYMENT METHODS THAT WE HAVE, THE PERFORMANCE INDICATORS THAT WE TRACK, BEST PRACTICES AND IMPROVEMENTS THAT WE CAN MAKE.
THE CURRENT INVOICE AND REIMBURSEMENT PROCESS.
IN ORDER TO, UH, PAY AN INVOICE, WE MUST HAVE THE VENDOR INFORMATION, THE DATE, THE DESCRIPTION OF THE GOODS OR SERVICES, THE AMOUNT.
AND IF IT'S A REIMBURSEMENT, YOU MUST PROVIDE THE PROOF OF PAYMENT FOR THE REIMBURSEMENT.
IF THE DESCRIPTION IN THE INVOICE DOES NOT IDENTIFY THE PUBLIC PURPOSE, ADDITIONAL INFORMATION NEEDS TO BE PROVIDED SO THAT THE PUBLIC PURPOSE IS CLEAR.
SO WE RECEIVE AN INVOICE AND YOU CAN RECEIVE AN INVOICE THROUGH MAIL, HAND DELIVERED, OR EMAIL.
THE DEPARTMENT REVIEWS THE INVOICE, PUTS IT INTO THE FINANCIAL SYSTEM, AND THEN IT GOES THROUGH WORKFLOW APPROVALS.
SOME OF THOSE APPROVALS ARE DEPARTMENT LEVELS, CENTRAL SERVICE AGENCIES SUCH AS FINANCE, PURCHASING, MAYBE THE PARISH ATTORNEY'S OFFICE OR IS DEPENDING ON THE SERVICE ARE GOOD.
AFTER THAT, IT GOES THROUGH THE TREASURER'S OFFICE WHERE THE PAYMENTS CAN BE ISSUED.
AND THEN THE FINAL STEP IS THE DOCUMENTS ARE STORED FOR AUDIT PURPOSES.
THE PAYMENT METHODS THAT WE PROVIDE ARE 90% OF OUR PAYMENTS ISSUED ARE CHECKS.
UM, THE NEXT FORM OF PAYMENT ARE P CARDS, WHICH IS ABOUT 4.9399999999999995%.
THESE ARE MAINLY JUST GOODS IN OUR TRAVEL PCARD.
WE DO HAVE 4.3% OF ACH PAYMENTS.
THESE ARE VENDORS THAT ARE PAID FOR SERVICES GOODS.
UM, I DO WANNA RECOGNIZE THAT COUNCILMAN DUNN, WHEN HE ASKED US TO PUT THIS AGENDA ITEM, HE WAS, HE WAS SAYING THAT HE NEEDED, WE NEEDED TO ADVOCATE MORE FOR ACH PAYMENT BECAUSE THE VENDORS GET THEIR CHECKS A LOT QUICKER.
AND SO I WAS KIND OF PERPLEXED THAT I KNEW WE OFFERED THAT, BUT I DID AGREE WITH HIM THAT WE DON'T ADVOCATE IT.
SO I WENT BACK TO THE OFFICE, DID SOME RESEARCH, AND THE REASON WHY WE DON'T ADVOCATE AS MUCH AS WE SHOULD, AND IT IS ONE OF OUR IMPROVEMENTS TO ADVOCATE MORE, IS WHEN WE MOVED FROM OUR OLD SYSTEM TO THE NEW SYSTEM.
WE DID ADVOCATE A LOT, BUT WE GOT A LOT OF FRAUD.
SO ONE OF OUR CORRECTIVE ACTIONS WAS TO WORK THROUGH A STREAMLINED PROCESS THAT IDENTIFIED WEAKNESSES AND TO CORRECT THOSE SO THAT IT PREVENTS FRAUD.
AND I DO FEEL LIKE WE'RE IN A POSITION WHERE WE CAN, IN OUR VENDOR SELF-SERVICE ADVOCATE MORE FOR VENDORS TO SET UP THROUGH ACH PAYMENTS FOLLOWING, YOU KNOW, THE STEPS THAT WE HAVE ESTABLISHED THAT PREVENT FRAUD.
SO THAT IS ONE OF OUR IMPROVEMENTS THAT YOU'LL SEE DOWN IN THE FUTURE SLIDES FOR US TO CONTINUE THAT.
WIRE TRANSFERS ARE ALSO A FORM OF PAYMENT, HOWEVER, THESE ARE LIMITED TO FEDERAL AND STATE AGENCIES, UM, AND LOCAL TAXING JURISDICTIONS.
WE DON'T ALLOW THIS FOR VENDORS BECAUSE WE HAVE THE ACH REQUIREMENT.
SO THIS IS OUR PERFORMANCE INDICATORS.
UM, WE DO TRACK, UH, IS DOES A GREAT JOB OF TRACKING ALL PERFORMANCE, UH, INDICATORS FROM A FINANCIAL STANDPOINT, FROM A PURCHASING STANDPOINT.
AND SO BASED ON THE DATA THAT IS CURRENTLY IN OUR SYSTEM THROUGH SEPTEMBER FOR 2023, WE HAVE PROCESSED ABOUT AN AVERAGE OF 8,700 INVOICES IN A MONTH.
SO WHAT THAT EQUATES TO IS, IF YOU LOOK AT THE CHART, THE RED LINES ARE THE NUMBER OF INVOICES PROCESSED MONTHLY, AND THEN THE BLUE LINE IN THE GRAPH IS THE AVERAGE DAYS AN INVOICE TO ENTRY.
SO WHAT THIS IS, IS THE INVOICE DATE ON THE INVOICE TO THE DAY IT WAS ENTERED INTO THE FINANCIAL SYSTEM.
SO THE USER INPUTS A DATE OF THE INVOICE, AND THEN THE SYSTEM AUTOMATICALLY TIMESTAMPS IT FOR THE DAY THAT YOU INPUT IT.
THEN THE NEXT, UH, PERFORMANCE INDICATOR IS THE AVERAGE DAYS OF ENTRY TO PAYMENT.
SO YOU HAVE A DAY, IT WAS ENTERED INTO THE SYSTEM, AND THEN THE DAY THE CHECK WAS ACTUALLY CUT, WHICH IS OUT ABOUT THREE DAYS.
THEN THE LAST, UH, PERFORMANCE INDICATORS, A SUM OF BOTH, WHICH IS THE DAY OF THE INVOICE TO THE DAY THE CHECK WAS ISSUED, WHICH IN 2023 IS AN AVERAGE OF 10 DAYS.
SO, UM, IF ANYONE HAS ANY QUESTIONS, I KNOW THAT THAT WAS YES, SIR.
[00:25:02]
I JUST HAVE A, A QUICK QUESTION ABOUT THE P GUARD.UM, I KNOW THAT THE COMMUNITY CENTERS HAVE THEM AND I SEE THE CONVENIENCE.
I KNOW THAT THERE ARE RESTRICTIONS THAT ASSOCIATED WITH IT, BUT WE DO TRAVEL AS COUNCIL MEMBERS.
UM, AND I WOULD TELL YOU PERSONALLY, I'VE USED, USED OTHER FORMS OF PAYMENT WHERE I'VE HAD ISSUES WITH GETTING REIMBURSEMENT AND IT COULD, I MEAN, IT WAS LITTLE UBERS OR WHATEVER WE DID JUST TO MAKE SURE THAT WE GOT TO THE MEETINGS THAT WE NEEDED TO DO TO, UH, PERFORM THE CITY'S BUSINESS.
BUT REIMBURSEMENT FOR ME, I'LL BE HONEST WITH, I JUST GAVE UP ON IT.
UM, BECAUSE I, I LET EVERYBODY, I, I FIGHT FOR EVERYBODY ELSE, BUT AT THAT POINT I WAS LIKE, FOR THE VALUE, IT'S NOT WORTH IT.
BUT, UM, I'VE HAD A SIMILAR ISSUE WITH SOMEBODY ELSE ON MY STAFF, WHICH WAS A COMMUNITY SET ASIDE FOR ANOTHER REASON.
BUT MY QUESTION IS, IS CAN COUNCIL MEMBERS, IS THERE A POLICY WHERE WE CAN SIGN UP PARTICULARLY FOR TRAVEL AND JUST STAY WITHIN THE, THE BOUNDS OF THE LAW, UM, FOR THE CITY COUNCIL OR FOR WHATEVER OUR PURCHASING IS IN TERMS OF, UH, LIMITS PER DAY OR WHATEVER.
IS THAT A POSSIBILITY? INSTEAD OF HAVING TO ASK FOR REIMBURSEMENT? AND I'LL TELL YOU, I'VE HAD AN ISSUE WITH THEFT.
SO I TAKE MY SAME DEBIT CARD, I UPLOAD, I UPLOAD TO MY CASH APP CARD JUST SO THAT I CAN USE THAT.
AND I'D ACTUALLY HAVE MY PERSONAL CARD ON FILE WHEN I TRAVEL.
UM, AND I'VE HAD TREMENDOUS ISSUES OF REIMBURSEMENT.
SO MY QUESTION IS, IS THERE ANY THERE ANY WAY WE CAN USE A CITY CARD TO DO THE SAME WAY AND JUST SIGN ALL LIKE OUR, UH, COMMUNITY CENTERS DO, WHICH TECHNICALLY WE ARE STILL OVER.
SO IT'S MY UNDERSTANDING THAT THE COUNCILMAN COUNCIL ADMINISTRATOR HAS A TRAVEL CARD THAT THEY, THAT'S ONE PERSON AND 12 TRAVEL AND THAT THAT IS HOW THEY CURRENTLY PROCESS IT.
THE ANSWER IS CAN WE NOT? IS THAT A, SEE THERE'S A DIFFERENCE BETWEEN POLICY AND BEST PRACTICE.
I THINK THAT'S A DISCUSSION WITH ASHLEY WHO ADMINISTERS THAT CARD.
SO IS JUSTIN, IS IT POLICY OR IS IT A BEST PRACTICE? I DON'T HAVE THAT ANSWER CURRENTLY.
UM, BUT THAT'D BE, THAT'D BE SOMETHING I'D HAVE TO GET WITH ASHLEY ON.
I THINK AS WE CONTINUE THIS DISCUSSION, THEY'RE GONNA BE SUGGESTIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS MADE THAT MAY NOT BE ANSWERED TODAY, BUT I THINK THAT'S A GOOD POINT THAT WE CAN LOOK INTO AND FOLLOW UP ON TO SEE IF THAT'S POSSIBLE.
I WANTED TO ADDRESS, UM, THE CHECK, UH, I GUESS THE INVOICE IMPLEMENTATION PROCESS.
AND THEN WHEN A CHECK IS CUT, IT LOOK LIKE 2022.
NOW I'VE HEARD FROM A WHOLE LOT OF VENDORS THAT THAT'S NOT THEIR EXPERIENCE.
UM, 30 DAYS, 60 DAYS, 90 DAYS, SOME SIX MONTHS.
UM, AND I WANT TO KNOW, IS IT WHO'S ENTERING THIS, THIS, UH, INVOICE? IS IT STAFF? IS IT THE VENDOR? SO, UH, CURRENTLY IT IS STAFF, BUT ONE OF OUR IMPROVEMENTS THAT YOU HAD ASKED US TO LOOK INTO WOULD BE VENDORS GOING INTO SELF-SERVICE CENTER, WHICH IS OUR VENDOR SELF-SERVICE, WHERE THEY COULD ACTUALLY UPLOAD THE INVOICES.
AND WHEN WE GOT TO THE IMPROVEMENT SLIDE, I WAS GONNA TELL YOU THAT WE HAVE BEEN IN PRELIMINARY DISCUSSIONS WITH, UM, THE SOFTWARE SYSTEM THAT WE USE.
IT DOES HAVE THAT FUNCTIONALITY.
WE'RE JUST WORKING THROUGH THE LOGISTICS OF THAT.
YES, I WANTED TO DEFINITELY MAKE THAT POINT.
'CAUSE I THINK THAT IS ONE OF THE ISSUES.
'CAUSE OFTENTIMES WITH ALL THE ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES, DEPARTMENT HEADS AND OTHERS HAVE PAPERWORK MAY BE SITTING ON THE DESK WAITING TO BE IMPLEMENTED.
AND IF THAT VENDOR COULD JUST IMPLEMENT THAT DIGITALLY, IF THEY HAVE THAT CAPACITY, THEN I THINK THAT'LL SPEED THE PROCESS UP AND THESE DAYS WILL BE CUT DOWN.
SO THAT'S ONE POINT, AND I'LL GO TO ANOTHER POINT, BUT I THINK COUNCILMAN HURST WANNA SPEAK ON THIS AS WELL.
SO ERIC COULDN'T BE HERE TODAY, ERIC ROMERO.
SO WE WENT THROUGH THIS WITH MY STAFF WITH THE, UM, AND THIS IS FOR EVERYBODY, ESPECIALLY, WE HAVE A COMMUNITY CENTER.
SO I SAID, ERIC, I'VE BEEN IN IT FOR 20 YEARS, MAN, THIS, THERE, THERE'S REPORTING STRUCTURE THAT SENDS AUTOMATIC, YOU HAVE TO UPDATE YOUR TRAINING.
SO WHY AREN'T WE GETTING THE SAME THING FOR PAYMENTS? THE PROBLEM IS, MOST COMMUNITY CENTERS, MOST DEPARTMENTS DON'T HAVE IT SET UP.
AND SO WHAT HAPPENS IS, IS IF YOU PUT IN A, UM, IF YOU PUT IN A PAYMENT AND IT GETS DECLINED AT SOME LEVEL BEFORE IT'S FULLY APPROVED, IT REJECTS AND STARTS ALL THE WAY OVER.
BUT THE PROBLEM WAS, IS NOBODY ALONE THE WAY IT WAS GETTING NOTIFIED THAT IT WAS REJECTED.
SO IT'D BE SITTING IN YOUR QUEUE FOR MAYBE SEVEN TO 10 DAYS.
NOW IT MAY TAKE 10 DAYS TO APPROVE IT ONCE IT'S FINALLY, FINALLY OFFICIALLY SUBMITTED.
BUT IT'S EITHER SITTING ON A DESK OR IT'S GOING BACK INTO SOMEBODY'S QUEUE AND THEY DIDN'T KNOW.
SO WHAT ERIC DID WITH MY STAFF IS HE STARTED RECORDING THE VIDEOS OF TRAINING THEM ON HOW TO PROPERLY SET UP THE NOTIFICATIONS.
SO THAT'S ONE OF THE BEST PRACTICE THAT HE'S PUT IN PLACE SO THAT IF SOMETHING IS REJECTED, AUTOMATICALLY NOTIFIES THAT STAFF MEMBER
[00:30:01]
THAT IT WAS REJECTED.AND WHAT NEXT STEP TO TAKE? SO HERE, HERE'S THE DEAL.
I BELIEVE WE HAVE ALL THE SOLUTIONS BUILT INTO THE SYSTEM ALREADY.
THE PROBLEM IS WE'RE USING 10% OF A SYSTEM THAT'S MEANT TO USE A HUNDRED PERCENT.
AND SO ERIC IS IMPROVING THOSE BASED ON REQUESTS FROM DEPARTMENTS OF WHAT YOU WANT TO SEE.
THERE'S ALSO A DASHBOARD THAT YOU CAN PUT UP THERE THAT WE DIDN'T HAVE THAT CAN SAY HOW MANY OPEN INVOICES, HOW MANY PAID INVOICES, HOW MANY, HOW LONG HAVE THEY BEEN OUTSTANDING TO ALERT US TO MAKE SURE WE GO BACK IN AND DO THAT? MM-HMM,
SO, UM, I ENCOURAGE EVERYONE, WHETHER COMMUNITY CENTER OR THAT HAS THAT DEPARTMENT HEAD RESPONSIBILITY TO WORK WITH YOUR TEAM TO ADD THAT, WHETHER IT BE IN IN IN OUR LEVEL OR ANY OTHER DEPARTMENT WITHIN CITY PARISH.
'CAUSE I AGREE WITH CLEAVE OTHER THAN SITTING ON THE DESK, THE REJECTIONS HAVE CREATED A LONG CYCLE OF RESUBMITTING, WHICH IS CORRECT UP THERE, BUT IT'S 10 DAYS AFTER WE GAVE IT TO YOU.
AND, AND TO COUNCILMAN HURST'S POINT, WHEN I APPROACHED THIS ISSUE, I JUST THOUGHT A LOT OF THIS STUFF WE DIDN'T HAVE, UH, THE FUNCTIONALITY, THE ABILITY, OR DIDN'T EVEN HAVE IT AT OUR DISCRETION.
AND IT MAY TAKE SOME TRAINING AND SOME EDUCATION AND SOME ADVOCACY TO USE THIS.
AND I'M GONNA GO BACK TO THE ACH AND THE WIRE PIECE, WHY THIS IS IMPORTANT TO ME.
WE GOT 90% OF OUR PAYMENTS BEING ISSUED THROUGH CHECK, 4.1% THROUGH ACH, UH, 0.74% THROUGH WIRE.
UH, FOUR SMALL BUSINESS OWNER THAT'S TRYING TO RUN A BUSINESS MANAGE PAYROLL AND KEEP CASH FLOW.
UH, YOU HAVE TO RIP AND RUN DOWNTOWN TO PICK UP A PHYSICAL CHECK.
YOU HAVE TO DEPOSIT THAT CHECK INTO YOUR ACCOUNT DEPENDING ON WHAT YOUR BANK ACCOUNT SAYS, YOUR INSTITUTION MAY HOLD THAT CHECK FOR 3, 5, 10, 15 DAYS DEPENDING ON YOUR SITUATION.
AND THAT FURTHER BUR BURDENS THE BUSINESS OR ORGANIZATION IF YOU DO AACH OR IF YOU DO A WIRE, THOSE FUNDS WILL BE MADE AVAILABLE IMMEDIATELY AND YOU WON'T HAVE THOSE CHALLENGES.
SO JUST THAT ALONE WILL SOLVE A CASH FLOW PROBLEM FOR A SMALL BUSINESS OWNER OR ORGANIZATION THAT DON'T HAVE A LINE OF CREDIT OR A LOT OF MONEY AND RESERVES TO FLOW.
SO THESE ARE THINGS THAT CAN HELP OUR SMALL BUSINESSES AND OUR ORGANIZATIONS KEEP THEIR OPERATIONS MOVING AND KEEP THEIR CASH FLOW GOING.
SO THIS IS WHY I ENCOURAGE IT.
I UNDERSTAND THERE'S FRAUD OUT THERE, BUT A LOT OF PEOPLE IN THE PRIVATE SECTOR UTILIZE ACH WHEN WE BRING ON THE CUSTOMER IN MY BUSINESS, WE DON'T WANT A CHECK.
I WON'T EVEN ACCEPT ANY CHECKS FROM, FROM A CLIENT BECAUSE OF THAT ISSUE.
YOU, I THINK WE NEED TO ENCOURAGE THEM.
I KNOW EVERYBODY DON'T HAVE ACCESS TO TECHNOLOGY, BUT IF WE CAN GET THIS 90% NUMBER CUT DOWN, I THINK THAT WOULD HELP, UH, HELP THE FLOW OF THINGS FOR SOME OF THESE BUSINESSES AND ORGANIZATIONS.
AND I, I DO THIS, ANDREW, GO AHEAD AND FINISH YOUR PORTION OF THE REPORT.
LET'S TAKE THE QUESTIONS DOWN AND THEN WE'LL, WE'LL COME BACK AND THEN MOVE ON TO THE NEXT PERSON.
ALRIGHT, AND IF YOU DON'T MIND, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, USE YOUR SPEAKER CARD TO REQUEST TO SPEAK, PLEASE.
YOU CAN'T SEE IT ON THE SCREEN, BUT I CAN SEE IT RIGHT HERE.
UH, THE BEST PRACTICES WHEN WE RESEARCHED 'EM WAS TO MEASURE, UH, THE ACCOUNTS PAYABLE PERFORMANCE, WHICH, UH, THE AVERAGE PAY CYCLE FROM THE DAY THE INVOICE WAS RECEIVED AND IS PAID OUT AS APPROXIMATELY SEVEN DAYS.
UM, THIS IS ENSURED SAFEGUARDS TO AVOID MISAPPROPRIATION OF FUNDS, UM, TO MAKE SURE THAT YOU HAVE THE CORRECT PAYMENT APPROVAL PROCESSES AND BEING FOLLOWED TO AVOID ANTI FRAUDULENT CLAIMS. UM, UPDATING AND MAINTAINING VENDOR RECORDS CAN SAVE TIME IN PROCESSING, UH, PAYMENTS.
VENDORS SHOULD SET UP, UH, BE SET UP IN THE ACCOUNTING SYSTEM PRIOR TO, UH, A CHECK BEING ISSUED.
THIS HELPS WITH THE DELAY IN PAYMENT.
UM, SEPARATION OF DUTIES IS VERY IMPORTANT AND EMPLOYEES SHOULD INPUT THE INVOICE, APPROVE AN EMPLOYEE INVOICE, AND HAVE A PAYMENT PROCESS.
UM, AND THE AUTOMATED PAYMENT PROCESS IS DEFINITELY SOMETHING THAT'S BEST PRACTICES.
THIS AUTOMATES MANUAL PROCESSING AND HELPS REDUCE THE TIME TO ISSUE A CHECK AND AVOID HUMAN ERROR.
AND THEN SOME OF THE IMPROVEMENTS, UM, HAVE ALREADY BEEN MENTIONED.
UM, CHANGE MANAGEMENT IN ORDER TO CHANGE HOW PEOPLE PERCEIVE, UM, ON PROCESSING THINGS, UH, YOU CAN DO THAT THROUGH DATA IS IS VERY BIG ON USING DATA TO HELP CHANGE PROCESSES.
UM, YOU CAN MONITOR PERFORMANCE, CONTINUE PROCESS IMPROVEMENTS.
THAT'S A BIG THING, NOT JUST LOOKING AT THE DATA, BUT MAKING THE CHANGE TO MAKE THE DATA MORE EFFECTIVE.
IS SPEARHEADS A MONTHLY, UM, WORKING GROUP THAT ANALYZES AND PROCESSES DATA THROUGH WORKFLOW PERFORMANCE.
AND THEN IT ALLOWS US THE ABILITY TO TARGET USERS AND HELP US TO MODIFY WORKFLOW PROCESSES.
[00:35:01]
A MORE TIMELY MANNER.AS MENTIONED EARLIER, UH, END USER TRAINING IS EXTREMELY IM IMPORTANT, ESPECIALLY WITH EMPLOYEE TURNOVER.
HAVING USER MANUALS ON OUR, UH, METRONET, WHICH IS THE USER'S, UH, INTERNET THAT WE'RE, UH, HAVE DIFFERENT RESOURCES OUT.
WE HAVE MANUALS, CHECKLISTS, UH, VIDEOS RELATED TO OUR FINANCIAL SYSTEM AS WELL AS OUR TIMEKEEPING SYSTEM AND THE PROCUREMENT THAT, UH, HAVE EXTRA RESOURCES FOR USERS TO GO LOOK AT THROUGHOUT THE YEAR TO GET BETTER TRAINING.
UM, VENDOR TRAINING PURCHASING DOES A A GREAT JOB WITH DOING VENDOR, UH, WORKSHOPS WHERE IT THEY DO HOW TO DO BUSINESS WITH CITY PARISH.
THEY'VE ALSO STARTED A NEW SERIES OF DBE CERTIFICATION, UM, AWARENESS AS WELL AS, UM, ONE OF THE THINGS WE CAN, WE'RE TRYING TO IMPROVE UPON IS ELECTRONIC SUBMISSION OF INVOICES.
AND SO WE DID, AS I MENTIONED, GOT WITH OUR FINANCIAL SYSTEM.
THEY DOES HAVE THAT FUNCTIONALITY AND WE ARE WORKING THROUGH THAT PROCESS ALSO.
COMMUNICATION HELPS MANAGE EXPECTATIONS.
THE MORE WE CAN COMMUNICATE, EDUCATE EVERYONE, IT HELPS SET EXPECTATIONS, WHICH THEN MAKES A MORE SUCCESSFUL PAYMENT PROCESS.
AND THAT IS THE END OF MY PRESENTATION.
IF NOT, WE'LL LET PURCHASING GO.
PAUL NARCISS, PURCHASING DIRECTOR.
SO, UM, FIRST AND FOREMOST BEFORE I GO INTO THE SLIDES, IT'S ALWAYS ABOUT CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT.
WE ALWAYS WANT TO MAKE SURE THAT CYCLE TIMES WE COUNT OUR CYCLE TIMES, UH, EVERYONE WITH AN INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL CUSTOMERS.
MY GOAL IS TO ENSURE THAT MY TEAM GETS IT OUT FAST WITHOUT COMPROMISING THE LAW, QUALITY AND PRODUCTIVITY.
AND SO, UH, NEXT SLIDE PLEASE.
HERE'S A BRIEF OVERVIEW OF HOW THE FLOW OF, UH, OUR PROCESSES ARE.
WE'LL START WITH THE REQUISITION PROCESS.
I'LL TALK A LITTLE BIT MUCH ABOUT THE PROCUREMENT METHODS AND THEN AS WELL AS THE WORKFLOW APPROVAL PROCESS, AND THEN SOME OF THE BEST PRACTICES, UM, IMPROVEMENTS AND THEN KPIS OR PERFORMANCE INDICATORS.
EVERYTHING STARTS WITH THE REQUISITION PROCESS.
I CAN'T START ANYTHING WITHOUT IT.
I NEED TO KNOW, UH, THE SCOPE OF WORK.
I NEED TO KNOW EVERYTHING ABOUT THAT INITIAL REQUEST BEFORE WE START THE PROCESS.
THAT'S EXTREMELY IMPORTANT IN THE REQUISITION PROCESS ITSELF.
IT HAS, UH, OUTLIERS OF WHICH DEPARTMENT IT HAS, UH, THE FUNDING SOURCE, IT HAS ALL THE INITIAL KEY INGREDIENTS THAT I NEED TO, UH, ALERT MY TEAM TO PROCESS IT.
SO HERE YOU SEE THE REQUISITION PROCESS.
YOU HAVE, UH, TYPES OF PURCHASE YOU HAVE, YOU KNOW, WHETHER IT'S THE METHODS OF PROCUREMENT BASED ON THE TYPES OF PURCHASE.
YOU HAVE AN INVITATION TO BID, YOU HAVE A REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL, YOU HAVE, UH, REQUEST FOR QUALIFICATION.
ALL THOSE ARE KEY FACTORS WE'RE TAKING IN CONSIDERATION HOW LONG IT'S GOING TO TAKE FOR US TO PROCESS IT.
AND WHAT IS THE EXPECTATION FROM EACH AGENCY AND FROM EACH STAKEHOLDER.
MOVING ON TO THE NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE.
SO IN THE REQUISITION ITSELF, YOU HAVE THE REQUISITION TO A PURCHASE ORDER AND AS WELL AS A REQUISITION TO A CONTRACT.
I'M LOOKING FOR SECRETARY OF STATE CERTIFICATE OF INSURANCE, UH, SAM'S, UH, THE QUOTES AND THE FEDERAL TERMS AND CONDITIONS, I ALWAYS TELL FOLKS, UM, I'M BIND TO THE LAW.
I LOVE WEARING SUITS, BUT NOT ORANGE SUITS,
SO I MUST ADHERE TO PUBLIC BID LAW.
MOVING ON TO THE NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE.
SO NOW THE REQUISITION IS CREATED AND IT'S BEEN COMPLETED.
WE'VE ALREADY SPOKE TO THE STAKEHOLDER.
NOW IT'S THE TIME FOR US TO CONDUCT A FORMAL SOLICITATION.
THAT'S WHERE WE TAKE THE INFORMATION.
WE SPEND TIME WITH THE STAKEHOLDER.
WE DO ALL THE ADMINISTRATION PIECE TO IT TO ENSURE THAT THIS PROCESS HAS BEEN FULLY VETTED AND COMPLIANCE HASN'T BEEN, UM, IN, UH, BREACHED.
SO WITH ALL THAT SAID, UM, I REALLY HAD 40 SLIDES
SO THIS IS A CONDENSED VERSION.
WANT TO TELL YOU SOME OF THE BEST PRACTICES THAT
[00:40:01]
WE, WE ALREADY IMPLEMENTED.FIRST AND FOREMOST, WE'RE ACTUALLY LOOKING WAY OUT, FORWARD VIEW.
IF WE HAVE ANY EXPIRING CONTRACTS THAT ARE UP AND COMING, WE ENSURE THAT EACH OF THEM ARE AT A 90 DAY THRESHOLD.
I WANNA MAKE SURE, 'CAUSE IT TAKES ME ABOUT 90 DAYS TO, TO IMPLEMENT AND PUT A NEW, UH, VENDOR IN PLACE.
THEN WE HAVE MONTHLY AGENCY DASHBOARD MEETINGS.
WE'RE MEETING WITH EACH AGENCY AND SAY, HEY LISTEN, HERE'S WHAT WE HAVE IN THE PIPELINE FOR YOU.
WHAT DO WE OWE YOU? AND WHAT DO YOU HAVE UP AND COMING? IT JUST GIVES US A SIGNAL THAT WE'RE MORE PROACTIVE THAN REACTIVE.
WE'VE ALSO ADDED STEP 55 IN THE PROCESS.
WHAT DOES THAT MEAN? SO EVERYTHING THAT USED TO COME TO ME WAS IN STEP 60.
AND IF I WAS A BOTTLENECK IN THIS PROCESS, I'VE ACTUALLY GIVEN DELEGATION AUTHORITY TO MY MANAGERS TO ENSURE THAT THEY HAVE THE SAME RESPONSIBILITIES THAT I HAVE A COPY OF, THAT THEY CAN PROCESS IT.
THIS HAS BEEN VERY, VERY INSTRUMENTAL AND I'LL SHOW YOU ON OUR KPIS HOW THAT'S WORKED.
AND FROM A COMPLIANCE PERSPECTIVE, UH, WE'RE ACTUALLY CHECKING NOT MANY MISTAKES.
THEN, AS ANGIE MENTIONED EARLIER TOO, WE'RE ALWAYS CHECKING OUR S UH, OUR SOPS, STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURES.
I'M ACTUALLY VETTING THEM, UH, FREQUENTLY TO ENSURE THAT OUR BUSINESS MODELS WHAT WE'RE CURRENTLY DOING.
NOW, WHAT YOU'VE DONE IN THE PAST DOESN'T MEAN THAT'S ALWAYS THE BEST WAY TO DO IT.
SO WE'RE ACTUALLY ALWAYS THINKING OUTSIDE THE BACK BOX AND RECALIBRATING AND ENSURING THAT ALL OUR AGENCIES HAVE WHAT THEY NEED AND HOW FAST WE CAN GET THE, UH, THEIR, UH, WORKLOAD PROCESSED.
WE ALSO HAVE CERTIFICATION AND STAFFING, I-S-E-D-B-E, SOCIALLY, ECONOMICALLY DISADVANTAGED BUSINESS ENTERPRISES.
WE'RE MEETING FREQUENTLY WITH VENDORS, HAVING WORKSHOPS, UM, MORE TO COME.
I HAVE A VENDOR FAIR UP AND COMING MORE TO COME.
THERE'S A LOT OF THINGS THAT WE HAVE COMING UP IN THE PIPELINE THAT IS GOING TO SHOW PUBLIC AWARENESS AND HOW IMPORTANT THAT THIS INITIATIVE IS TO THE CITY AND TO MYSELF DEARLY.
AND UM, LAST THING IS A DOCUMENT CONTROL.
WE TALK ABOUT ESTABLISHED TEMPLATES HAVING USING THE SAME, SAME DOCUMENT FOR SOURCING, UM, VARIOUS NEEDS, WHETHER RFPS, RF, QS, OR INVITATION TO BID.
SO I MADE SOME CHANGES THERE SO THAT EACH AGENCY IS ACTUALLY USING THE SAME DOCUMENT.
YOU KNOW, WHAT'S GLARING HERE AS YOU TAKE A LOOK AT 2021, UM, THE NUMBER OF REQUISITIONS AND THE DAYS TO CONVERT IT.
THE PRO UH, MY TEAM PROCESSING THE WORKLOAD, LIKEWISE, IT STAYED THE SAME, SAME AMOUNT OF, UM, INFORMATION IN 2022, BUT 2023 WE'RE PROCESSING MORE AND WE'RE PROCESSING IT MUCH FASTER.
WE'VE ACTUALLY CUT DOWN TWO DAYS.
MY GOAL IS TO GET IT DOWN TO THREE DAYS.
I'M MOVING AND ENSURING THAT OUR PROCESSES ARE IN LINE TO ENSURE THAT WE GET EVERYTHING OUT ON A TIMELY FASHION.
IT'S ALL ABOUT WHAT YOUR NEED IS AND FOR ME TO GET IT OUT AGAIN, ABIDING BY PUBLIC BID LAW.
TAKE A LOOK AT 2021 TO TWENTY TWENTY THREE, A HUNDRED AND THIRTY TWO DAYS TO, UH, PROCESS A REQUISITION TO CONTRACT THAT, THAT'S CRITICAL.
NOW WE'RE DOWN TO 27 DAYS FROM 1 32 TO 27 DAYS, AND WE'RE PROCESSING MORE AS WELL TOO.
WE HAVE MORE REQUISITIONS IN THE PIPELINE FROM WHAT WE DID FROM UH, 20, UM, UH, 2022.
SO, IN A NUTSHELL, UM, I JUST GOTTA TELL YOU, IT'S ALL ABOUT CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT.
WE ARE EACH TEAM MEMBERS BEING TRAINED.
UM, THEY'RE ALSO GETTING FURTHER TRAINING OUTSIDE.
UM, WE'RE ALSO DOING A LOT OF KNOWLEDGE SHARING.
UM, WE'RE MEETING MUCH MORE FREQUENTLY TO UNDERSTAND WHAT'S IN OUR PIPELINE, WHAT'S OUR WORKLOAD.
I HAVE TO TELL YOU, I'M, I'M VERY FORTUNATE TO LEAD THIS TEAM.
UM, BUT WE'RE, WE'RE GONNA CONTINUE TO PUSH COUNCIL MEMBERS.
IF YOU HAVE ANY OTHER QUESTIONS, PLEASE LET ME KNOW.
ANY, ANY QUESTIONS? THANK YOU VERY MUCH, PAUL.
AT THIS TIME I'M GONNA HAVE A PUBLIC HEARING.
IS THERE ANYONE HERE WISHING TO SPEAK ON ITEMS 1 69 68 AND 71 69, 1 68 AND 70? ANYONE WISHING TO SPEAK ON THE ITEMS COME
[00:45:01]
DOWN.STATE YOUR NAME AND ADDRESS FOR THE RECORD, PLEASE.
MY ADDRESS IS 31 56 ANITA AVENUE.
THAT'S BATON ROUGE, LOUISIANA, 7 0 8 0 5.
I'D JUST LIKE TO SAY THANK YOU.
THANK YOU FOR WORKING TO STREAMLINE THE PROCESS OF INVOICING AND GETTING THE PAYMENTS TO THE CBOS TO OUR COMMUNITY.
YOU ARE TRULY APPRECIATED AND HAVE A BLESSED EVENING.
IS ANYONE ELSE HERE WISHING TO SPEAK ON THE ITEM COMING DOWN? STATE YOUR NAME AND ADDRESS FOR THE RECORD, PLEASE.
HOW YOU DOING? I'M ANTHONY KIMBALL, 1107 MYRTLE WALK.
UM, I'M A, BEEN A VENDOR IN THE PROGRAM.
I'M A LOCAL REAL ESTATE DEVELOPER.
UM, SOME OF THE THINGS THAT, YOU KNOW, I WOULD POINT OUT IS, UM, FIRST OFF, YOU KNOW, I WOULD THINK THE STAFF OF THE MAYOR'S OFFICE FOR THE HELP THEY PROVIDED TO ME WITH COME WALKING THROUGH THIS PROCESS, UM, OVER TIME.
'CAUSE AT TIMES IT IS A VERY DIFFICULT PROCESS.
UM, BUT THERE ARE SOME THINGS THAT LIKE, I DO FEEL LIKE, UH, CAN BE DONE A LOT BETTER WITH LOOKING, UM, AT THIS PROCESS.
ONE OF THE THINGS IS, UM, LIKE I SAID, TALKING ABOUT I, THEY'VE HELD MY HAND AND HELPED US WALK THROUGH THIS PROCESS, BUT LITERALLY WHILE I WAS SITTING HERE, I LOOKED BACK AT, UM, MY EMAILS, UM, FOR EACH CONTRACT WE'VE HAD, AND LITERALLY WE PROBABLY WAS 30 TO 40 EMAILS PLUS JUST FROM, YOU KNOW, JUST TO GET A CHECK ON THESE, EACH, EACH ONE OF THESE CONTRACTS.
SO, YOU KNOW, THAT'S BEEN A HUGE ISSUE IS JUST THE, THE AMOUNT OF BACK AND FORTH THAT WE HAVE TO DO TO BE ABLE TO GET THESE THINGS, UM, COMPLETED.
AS YOU KNOW, AND, YOU KNOW, I LOOK AT IT LIKE, UM, ALL THESE EMAILS THAT THEY'RE RESPONDING TO, IT'S TIME THAT, YOU KNOW, STAFF CAN BE ACTUALLY WORKING TO, YOU KNOW, OTHER PEOPLE'S, YOU KNOW, TO GET PEOPLE'S CHECKS.
YOU KNOW, ANOTHER THING WE'VE ALWAYS LOOKED, WE LOOK AT TOO IS, UM, IF WE COULD FIGURE OUT A WAY TO GET SOME OF THESE CONTRACTS SIGNED DIGITALLY.
UM, YOU'RE PRINTING OUT CONTRACTS THAT ARE 40, 50, 60 PAGES LONG THAT YOU HAVE TO THEN SIGN, THEN SOMEHOW SCANNED BACK IN AND HOPEFULLY THE PDF IS SMALL ENOUGH, UM, THAT YOU'RE ABLE, UM, TO BE ABLE TO LIKE SEND THIS THING OVER.
LEMME LOOK AT A COUPLE MORE, MY NOTES.
UM, SO THAT WAS ONE THING FOR US THAT, YOU KNOW, WAS A CONCERN ALSO, YOU KNOW, THE ACH AND THE WIRE, YOU KNOW, LA OUR LAST CONTRACT THAT WE HAD WITH LOOKING AT THE CHECK, WE, THAT WOULD'VE BEEN OUR PREFERENCE, UM, TO GET AACH.
UM, BUT WE COULDN'T EVEN, UM, I CONSIDER MYSELF A INTELLIGENT PERSON.
I COULDN'T FIGURE OUT WHERE TO ACTUALLY ENTER THE INFORMATION TO BE ABLE TO GET IT, YOU KNOW, TO, AND THAT COMES DOWN TO, YOU KNOW, I THINK DEFINITELY THINK MANUAL'S, TRAINING VIDEOS, UM, WOULD DEFINITELY, UM, HELP THAT PROCESS.
AND ANOTHER THING, YOU KNOW, THAT I I LIKE TO POINT OUT IS, UM, WE GO ON THESE CANVAS TRIPS WITH THE MAYOR'S OFFICE, THE AREA CHAMBER AND THINGS LIKE THAT.
UM, I THINK THERE JUST NEEDS TO BE MORE TIME LOOKING AT WHAT SOME, SOME OF THESE BEST PRACTICES WHEN WE'RE GOING TO THESE CITIES AND HAVING REAL CONVERSATIONS WITH THEM OF WHAT'S WORKING, WHAT'S NOT WORKING, WHAT DO YOU, YOU KNOW, YOUR, YOUR VENDORS IN TOWN, WHAT, WHAT ARE THEY POINTING OUT THAT THEY LIKE ABOUT THE PROCESS? WHAT ARE ISSUES THAT THEY'RE, YOU KNOW, THAT THEY, THEY HAVE WITH THE PROCESS? UM, AND I THINK SOME OF THE, BEING ABLE TO, WHEN WE GO TO THESE DIFFERENT PLACES, UM, THAT ARE THRIVING AND GETTING THINGS DONE AND DEVELOPMENT IS HAPPENING, BEING ABLE TO HAVE THAT CONVERSATION, LOOK AT WHAT'S HAPPENING AND THEN BEING ABLE TO BRING THAT BACK HOME AND, YOU KNOW, MAKE THAT PART OF OUR PROCESS TO, UM, MAKE IT BETTER.
LET ME SEE IF I HAVE ANYTHING.
SO THAT WAS, THAT WAS THE THINGS THAT I WILL POINT OUT JUST ON MY EXPERIENCE.
AND THE LAST THING IS, UM, I'M A DEVELOPER AND I ALSO HAVE WORKED WITH THE CITY ON CON THE CONSTRUCTION SIDE AND STUFF LIKE THAT.
IS THIS CAR INSURANCE, UM, THINGS LIKE THAT OF LIKE HAVING THE LLC ON YOUR CAR INSURANCE AND ALL, BUT EXPLAINING TO VENDORS, WHY DOES THIS HAVE TO HAPPEN? SO WHEN I GO TALK TO MY INSURANCE COMPANY THERE, I'M ABLE TO EXPLAIN TO THEM WHY I NEED THIS.
KIMBER, IF YOU GOT ANOTHER THOUGHT, I'LL CALL YOU BACK UP MOMENT MATERIAL.
IS THERE ANYONE ELSE HERE WISHING TO SPEAK ON
I'M REPRESENTING BATON ROUGE AREA CHAMBER.
WE'RE THE LEAD ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AGENCY, UH, FOR THE CITY PARISH.
UH, FROM AN ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT STANDPOINT, A WELL-FUNCTIONING FINANCIAL SYSTEM MAKES THE CITY PARISH MORE ATTRACTIVE, UH, TO INVESTORS AND BUSINESSES FOSTERING ECONOMIC GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT.
[00:50:01]
THE CONTINUED WORK ON THIS ITEM AND GRATEFUL THAT THIS WORK IS BEING DONE.IS THERE ANYONE ELSE HERE WISHING TO SPEAK ON THE ITEM? MR. KIM, DID YOU HAVE ANYTHING ELSE YOU WANTED TO ADD? THANK YOU.
UH, COUNCIL MEMBERS, ANYONE WISHING TO SPEAK ON THE ITEM? THANK YOU FOR THE REPORT.
WE HAVE TWO REPORTS LEFT, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, RECEIVING A REPORT.
UM, BOTH, UM, PURCHASING AND THEN, UH, JOSHUA POEMS? UH, YES SIR.
UH, LITERALLY I, I WOULD SAY THREE PURCHASING DIRECTORS, UM, AGO, UM, ONE OF THE THINGS THAT I, I'M SORRY, WANTED TO SEE IS, UM, KIND OF ALONG WITH WHAT, UM, MR. KIMBALL WAS INDICATING AND THAT'S MORE HANDS ON WORKSHOP.
UM, ONE OF THE, UM, IT, IT JUST WENT AWAY.
BUT WHAT I WAS THINKING, I MEAN LIKE WE, WE HAVE, UM, NOT ONLY DO WE HAVE COMMUNITY CENTERS, WHICH I ALWAYS THINK IS A FIRST LINE OF, UM, ACCESS FOR, UH, MINORITY VENDORS, UH, THAT WE WOULD ACTUALLY HAVE.
FOR INSTANCE, THEY GO THROUGH THE PROCESS LIVE AND THEN YOU ALL ARE ABLE, NOT ONLY DOES IT GIVE THEM AN OPPORTUNITY TO HAVE THE HANDHOLDING THAT'S NECESSARY, BUT YOU CAN HEAR AND GET COMMENTS ON WHERE YOU COULD DO BETTER.
AND IT COULD BE THE POLL, IT COULD BE WHERE, YOU KNOW, WE HIT, UH, SEVERAL, LOTS DIFFERENT LIBRARIES ACROSS THE PARISH THAT HAS A COMPUTER ROOM OR EVERYBODY BRINGING THEIR LAPTOP.
BUT FOR ME, THAT'S SOMETHING, EXCUSE ME.
WE'RE GONNA HAVE TO RECESS THE MEETING UNTIL SOME, ANOTHER COUNCIL MEMBER COMES BACK IN.
WE HAD ANOTHER COUNCIL MEMBER TO STEP BACK IN.
I DON'T KNOW WHAT WE DO WITH THIS ONE.
ANDY, CAN YOU COME TO THE MIC? JUST A POINT OF CLARITY? YES SIR.
SHOULD WE RECESS THE MEETING OR WE JUST CAN'T TAKE ANY ACTION? CAN WE MOVE FORWARD WITHOUT, WITHOUT TAKING ACTION OR DO WE NEED TO RECESS THE MEETING? MS. HUMPHREY, I'M GONNA ASK MS. HUMPHREY TO COME UP.
I WOULD SAY, IN MY OPINION, I THINK YOU CAN HAVE THE MEETING.
I THINK YOU JUST CAN'T, YOU CAN'T VOTE AND YOU CAN'T GO FORWARD IN NOTHING CAN PASS UNTIL YOU HAVE A QUORUM.
ALRIGHT, WELL WE HAVE, YOU CAN'T TAKE ANY ACTION ON I WOULD, I WOULD ASK, GO AHEAD AND FINISH THESE REPORTS.
IS THAT RIGHT? LET'S GET A LEGAL OPINION.
IS THAT YOUR LEGAL OPINION THAT WE CAN MOVE? I'M COMFORTABLE TO CONFIRM THAT THEN WE JUST CAN'T TAKE ANY ACTION.
YEAH, YOU DEFINITELY CAN'T TAKE ANY ACTION.
UM, SO WE HAVE HAD BOARDS THAT HAVE, HAVE STILL, I DON'T WANNA SAY CONDUCT A MEETING.
THEY, THEY'VE ADDRESSED A, UH, SO THIS IS NOT AN ACTION ITEM ADDRESSED ITEMS, BUT THEY JUST DIDN'T TAKE ANY ACTION.
OH, GO AHEAD WITH YOUR QUESTIONS.
I'M GONNA BRING PAUL, YOU COME BACK TO THE MIC.
SO THAT IT IS JUST A RECOMMENDATION.
BUT, UH, IF SOONER THAN, UM, I KNOW, I KNOW AFTER THE HOLIDAYS, IF YOU COULD LIKE LITERALLY IF AT ALL POSSIBLE BEGIN TO PUT OUT A SCHEDULE BY THE END OF THE YEAR WHERE, UM, PEOPLE CAN, ARE EITHER A PILOT OR ONE AT A TIME, BUT JUST WHERE IT'S LIVE ACTION.
AND I THINK IT WOULD, IT WOULD GO A GREAT WAY AND SEEING
[00:55:01]
WHERE, UM, WHERE THE, WHERE THE, THERE MAY BE KINKS WHERE IT'S MORE, UH, CONSUMER FRIENDLY.UM, SO THAT, THAT'S BASICALLY IS MORE OF A, A COMMENT AND A RECOMMENDATION.
AND TWO, UM, JOSHUA COMMS PLEASE.
COUNCILWOMAN BANKS, THANK YOU FOR, UM, UH, THANK YOU FOR THE CALL OUT.
SO IT'S IN OUR STRATEGY PLAN FOR NEXT YEAR.
UM, WE HAVE INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL.
I'M ALSO WORKING ON REDESIGNING THE WEBSITES NOT USER FRIENDLY.
THEY'LL BE MORE TRAINING MANUALS, SO WE'VE ALREADY DISCUSSED AND SO I'VE BEEN STAFFING UP TO GET THERE.
SO THERE'LL BE SOMETHING OUT IN, UH, FOR THE PUBLIC TO SEE, UH, SESSIONS THROUGHOUT THE ENTIRE YEAR FOR NEXT YEAR.
IN REGARDS TO THE TRAINING MANUAL, SHOULD YOU HAVE AT LEAST ONE PILOT MAYBE, UM, WHAT I'M SUGGESTING BEFORE YOU DO THE, UM, THE TRAINING MANUAL? YES, WE DO.
AND BESIDES THAT, WE ALSO HAD A SURVEY THAT WENT OUT AND WE COLLECTED A LOT OF THE DATA, WHICH HELPS US UNDERSTAND WHAT WE NEED TO FOCUS ON, SO.
MR. COMBS, WITH ALL YOUR MEGA RESOURCES DOWN AT THE BATON ROUGE AREA CHAMBER, UM, WITH THIS, UH, AND THEN THAT YOU ARE IN ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT, WOULD THIS, WOULD THIS BE, UM, AND I'M SURE IT'S AN ONGOING PROCESS, BUT HOW WOULD, IS IT POSSIBLE BASED ON THE FACT THAT YOU ALL DO, UM, TALK TO OTHER PURCHASING AGENTS, OTHER ENTITIES ACROSS THE COUNTRY WHERE YOU CAN PROVIDE SOME KIND OF TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE, UM, IN THIS PROCESS? WHAT ARE YOUR PEOPLE SAYING? I KNOW I JUST HEARD, UM, MR. NARCI SAID THAT THEY HAVE DONE, UM, A SURVEY, BUT IS IT, DO YOU THINK THAT IT WOULD BE, UH, SOMETHING THAT WOULD BE HELPFUL IN THIS PROCESS FROM, FROM YOUR MEMBERS AS TO WHAT WE MAY NEED TO DO AS WELL? UH, POTENTIALLY I COULD SEE WHERE FURTHER DISCUSSION COULD BE HAD.
UH, PERSONALLY I'VE INTERFACED WITH COMPANIES AND ONE OF THE QUESTIONS THEY DO ASK IS WHAT'S THE PER PERMITTING PROCESS LOOK LIKE? HOW CUMBERSOME IS IT? HOW LONG WILL IT TAKE? AND SO, UH, I DEFINITELY THINK THAT WE COULD POTENTIALLY GIVE SOME INSIGHT TO THE CONVERSATION THAT COULD CONTRIBUTE TO BEST PRACTICES.
WELL I HOPE THAT, UM, THEY, YOU ALL WOULD SEEK OUT AND YOU'LL BE, UH, IT'LL BE A COLLABORATIVE EFFORT.
[171. 23-01508]
ON TO ITEM 1 71, RECEIVING A REPORT FROM THE CENTER FOR PLANNING AND EXCELLENCE ON THE COMMUNITY CENTER NEEDS ANALYSIS FOR THE METROPOLITAN COUNCIL DISTRICT SIX.THE REPORT SHOULD INCLUDE A QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE EXISTING CONDITION ANALYSIS AND PROGRAMMATIC FACILITY AND LOCATION RECOMMENDATION TO SERVE AS NEEDS FOR DISTRICT SIX COMMUNITY MEMBERS.
DO I JUST START? WE HAVE A, WE GONNA HAVE A PRESENTATION.
UH, IT'S BEING QUEUED UP RIGHT NOW AND JUSTIN IS, UM, HANDING OUT SOME HANDOUTS FOR YOU GUYS.
ALRIGHT, GOOD EVENING TO THE METRO COUNCIL.
I'M A COMMUNITY PLANNER WITH THE CENTER FOR PLANNING EXCELLENCE.
WE ARE AN URBAN PLANNING NON-PROFIT, UH, ORGANIZATION THAT'S BASED HERE IN BATON ROUGE.
AND TODAY I WILL REVIEW OUR COMMUNITY NEEDS ANALYSIS AS WELL AS OUR ENGAGEMENT SUMMARY FOR OUR COMMUNITY CENTER IN DISTRICT SIX.
AND I'D LIKE TO ALSO THANK COUNCILWOMAN BANKS FOR TALKING ABOUT THE IMPORTANCE OF COMMUNITY CENTERS TO Q ME UP.
UH, SO TODAY I'LL JUST BE REVIEWING, UM, OR GIVING A BRIEF PROJECT OVERVIEW, GOING TO SOME DETAIL ABOUT OUR EXISTING CONDITIONS ANALYSIS, AS WELL AS A SUMMARY OF OUR COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT PROCESS.
UH, PROVIDE SOME OF THE PROGRAMMATIC, UM, AS WELL AS LOCATION, UH, RECOMMENDATIONS THAT WE RECEIVE BASED ON OUR ANALYSIS AS WELL AS WHAT WE HEARD FROM THE COMMUNITY.
AND THEN BRIEFLY TALK ABOUT SOME NEXT STEPS.
UH, SO DISTRICT SIX IS CURRENTLY EXPERIENCING, UM, SOME DEMOGRAPHIC SHIFTS.
HISTORICALLY, IT WAS LEFT OUT OF THE LAST ROUND OF FEDERAL FUNDING FOR A COMMUNITY CENTER BECAUSE IT WAS CONSIDERED, UM, A STABLE COMMUNITY.
HOWEVER, WITH THE SHIFTS AND THE DEVELOPMENTS OF THE AMAZON FULFILLMENT CENTER AS WELL AS THE CORTANA CORRIDOR ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT DISTRICT, UH, A COMMUNITY CENTER WAS IDENTIFIED AS ONE OF THE FOUR TIERS OF PROJECTS.
UM, THAT COULD REALLY HELP PROVIDE SOME, UM, FIRST OF ALL, AN EMERGENCY SHELTER FOR NEARBY RESIDENTS AS WELL AS AN ACCESSIBLE HUB FOR SERVICES AND PROGRAMS AND ENGAGEMENT, UM, AS WELL.
SO TO ENSURE THAT THIS CENTER CAN REALLY SPEAK TO THE NEEDS OF SOME OF THE COMMUNITY, UH, COUNCILMAN DUNN WORKS WITH THE CENTER FOR PLANNING EXCELLENCE, UH, FOR US TO CONDUCT THIS EXISTING CONDITIONS ANALYSIS AS WELL AS SOME ENGAGEMENT SO THAT WE CAN REALLY GET A CLEAR UNDERSTANDING OF WHAT SOME OF THOSE COMMUNITY NEEDS ARE AND REALLY UNDERSTAND WHAT THE COMMUNITY'S VISION WOULD BE FOR THIS, UH, COMMUNITY CENTER.
[01:00:01]
WORKED WITH THE BJL GROUP.SO THEY WILL BE MANAGING CONSTRUCTION OF THE COMMUNITY CENTER, UM, THROUGHOUT THE ENTIRE PROCESS AS WELL AS WHLC ARCHITECTS.
SO THEY WILL BE DESIGNING THE, UH, COMMUNITY CENTER AND ALSO SPECIAL THANKS TO THE HUEY AND ANGELINA WILSON FOUNDATION AS WELL AS THE CITY PARISH.
UH, SO THE EXISTING CONDITIONS ANALYSIS.
SO TO START OFF, WE DID SOME, UH, DESKTOP RESEARCH TO REALLY UNDERSTAND WHAT SOME OF THE CURRENT SOCIO-DEMOGRAPHICS ARE, WHAT SOME OF THE COMMUNITY ASSETS ARE WITHIN DISTRICT SIX.
UM, AND SO SOME DATA POINTS HERE THAT ARE ALSO ON YOUR HANDOUT.
CURRENTLY, THE DISTRICT HAS ABOUT 25% OF THE CITY PARISHES POPULATION, WHICH IS ABOUT 57,000 RESIDENTS.
THEY ALSO HAVE A SIGNIFICANT, UH, OLDER POPULATION OF PEOPLE, 60 YEARS AND OVER, SO ABOUT 21% OF THE DISTRICT AND APPROXIMATELY 12,000 PEOPLE.
THE DISTRICT IS ALSO A LITTLE MORE DIVERSE COMPARED TO THE CITY PARISH.
IT HAS ABOUT 66% BLACK OR AFRICAN-AMERICAN, UH, WHEREAS THE CITY PARISH IS ABOUT 45% AND THERE'S ALSO A HIGHER HISPANIC, UM, OR LATINO POPULATION.
SO 8%, WHEREAS IN THE CITY PARISH IT'S ABOUT SIX, 6%.
UM, HOUSING AFFORDABILITY IS ALSO AN ISSUE, BUT WHAT WE FOUND IS THAT THIS IS NOT SPECIFIC TO DISTRICT SIX.
IT'S ALSO A CITYWIDE, UM, ISSUE AS WELL.
SO WE HAVE LOWER HOME OWNERSHIP, 55% COMPARED TO ABOUT 63%, UH, WITHIN THE CITY PARISH.
AND FOR RENTERS, OVER HALF OF THEM ARE COST BURDENED, WHICH MEANS THEY SPEND MORE THAN 30% OF THEIR HOUSEHOLD INCOME ON HOUSING COSTS AND 30% ARE SEVERELY HOUSING BURDENED.
SO THAT MEANS THAT THEY SPEND MORE THAN 50% OF THEIR HOUSEHOLD INCOME ON HOUSING COSTS.
THERE'S ALSO AN OPPORTUNITY FOR INTERNET ACCESS.
WE HAVE 15% OF HOUSEHOLDS WITH NO ACCESS TO THE INTERNET.
UM, THERE'S ALSO A LOWER HOUSEHOLD INCOME, SO OVER ONE THIRD OF HOUSEHOLDS WITHIN DISTRICT SIX LIVE ON LESS THAN $30,000 PER YEAR COMPARED TO THE MEDIAN INCOME WITHIN A PARISH, WHICH IS ABOUT $58,000.
EDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENT IS ALSO SIGNIFICANTLY LOWER.
WE HAVE 35% OF THE PEOPLE WITHIN THE PARISH WHO HAVE A HIGH SCHOOL EDUCATION OR AGED AS THEIR HIGHEST LEVEL OF EDUCATION.
IT'S ABOUT 25%, UH, WITHIN THE CITY PARISH.
AND THEN WE HAVE A HIGHER PERCENTAGE OF HOUSEHOLDS THAT LIVE BELOW THE POVERTY LEVEL.
SO 23% COMPARED TO WHAT, 18% WITHIN THE CITY PARISH.
UH, HOWEVER, UNEMPLOYMENT IS ABOUT THE SAME LEVEL, SO 9.6, WHEREAS A CITY PARISH IS 9.4%.
AND THEN IN TERMS OF CRIME STATISTICS, BETWEEN JANUARY, 2021 AND APRIL, 2023, 15% OF THE REPORTED CRIES WERE FOUND WITHIN THE DISTRICT AS WELL.
SO WE ALSO LOOKED AT SOME OF THE COMMUNITY ASSETS.
UH, THIS IS THE DISTRICT SIX BOUNDARY.
SO THEY HAVE 12 BRECK PARKS LOCATED WITHIN THE DISTRICT, SO VERY WELL SERVICED IN THAT SENSE.
THERE'S SEVERAL SCHOOLS, 24 SCHOOLS OF RANGE, UH, VARYING LEVELS.
THERE AREN'T ANY PUBLIC SAFETY FACILITIES.
SO THOSE ARE THE PINK DOTS, BUT THEY'RE ALL KIND OF CONCENTRATED TO THE SOUTHWEST OF THE DISTRICT.
SO JUST OUTSIDE, BUT NONE ARE LOCATED WITHIN.
UH, THERE ARE SOME MEDICAL FACILITIES, BUT THESE ARE ALL SPECIALIZED, SO NONE OF THEM ACTUALLY PROVIDE PRIMARY CARE.
THESE ARE ALL, AGAIN, JUST OUTSIDE OF THE DISTRICT SIX BOUNDARY.
THERE ARE SOME LARGE EMPLOYERS.
WE HAVE AMAZON, OF COURSE, UH, HOME DEPOT, LOWE'S, AND WALMART.
AND THEN THERE'S SOME ONGOING EXCITING PROJECTS.
SO THE ARNDALE PLANNED, UH, MASTER PLAN PROJECT, AS WELL AS THE FLORIDA CORRIDOR, UH, MASTER PLAN THAT'S ONGOING AS WELL.
SO WE ALSO LOOKED AT POVERTY RATES OR AT LEAST LIKE MAPPED THOSE, UH, BASED ON BLOCK GROUPS.
SO THE DARKER SHADES OF BLUE ARE WHERE THERE ARE HIGHER HOUSEHOLDS, UH, HIGHER CONCENTRATIONS OF HOUSEHOLDS, UH, LIVING BELOW THE POVERTY LEVEL.
SO WE HAVE SOME VERY SPECIFIC NEIGHBORHOODS, THE SMILEY HEIGHTS, MELROSE'S, GOODWOOD HOMES, AS WELL AS NORTH SHERWOOD FOREST.
AND THEN WE ALSO TOOK A LOOK AT SOME OF THE TRANSIT ACCESS.
SO THE LINES, UH, THE DASH LINES ARE TRAVERSED THROUGHOUT THE DISTRICT.
THOSE ARE THE CATCH ROOTS SO WELL SERVED, BUT WE CANNOT REALLY ACTUALLY SEE, UM, SOME OF THE GEOGRAPHIC BOUNDARIES OF WHERE THOSE HIGHER CONCENTRATIONS OF POVERTY ARE.
SO WE TOOK, UH, ALL OF THIS ANALYSIS, YOU CAN GO ONTO THE NEXT SLIDE.
AND, UH, WE HAD TWO STAKEHOLDER MEETINGS AT THE OUTSET OF THE PROCESS AS WELL AS THE END.
WE HAD FOUR COMMUNITY MEETINGS, THREE AT THE BEGINNING AND THEN ONE AT THE END.
AND WE ALSO HAD, UM, AN ONLINE SURVEY.
SO WHAT WE DID IS PRESENTED ALL OF THAT DATA THAT WE DID AND THEN ALSO TOOK A LOOK AT SOME OF THE GENERAL SERVICES THAT ARE PROVIDED IN COMMUNITY CENTERS AND SHOWED THOSE TO THE COMMUNITY AND ASKED THEM TO VOTE WHICH ONES THEY WOULD LIKE THE COMMUNITY CENTER IN DISTRICT SIX TO PROVIDE.
SO YOU CAN SEE THAT SOME WERE REALLY, REALLY POPULAR WHILE OTHERS MAYBE NOT SO MUCH.
UM, WE ALSO PROVIDED SPACE AND ROOMS, SO IF WE DID NOT PROVIDE SOMETHING, PEOPLE WERE ALSO ABLE TO, UH, LET US KNOW WHAT THEY WOULD LIKE TO SEE.
SO THESE ARE SOME OF THE ORIGINAL
[01:05:01]
RESULTS THAT CAME OUT OF THE PRELIMINARY RESULTS THAT CAME OUT OF THAT PROCESS.SO DEFINITELY SOCIAL SERVICES AND ASSISTANCE.
UH, AGAIN, ALL OF THESE GENERALLY TRACK WITH SOME OF THE DATA POINTS THAT WE ASSESSED.
PRIMARY HEALTHCARE AND DENTAL SERVICES, UH, SERVICES AND PROGRAMS FOR SENIORS, WORKFORCE TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT, AFTERSCHOOL PROGRAMS, COMPUTER LAB AND LITERACY, AS WELL AS A MULTI-PURPOSE ROOM.
AND THEN SOME OF THE THINGS THAT WE DID NOT PROVIDE FOR THE COMMUNITY, BUT FOR THEM TO LET US KNOW WHAT ELSE THEY WOULD LIKE TO SEE.
I THOUGHT IT WAS REALLY INTERESTING THAT WHILE WE DID NOT ASSESS THAT IN TERMS OF OUR ANALYSIS THROUGHOUT OUR STAKEHOLDER STUDENTS AS WELL AS COMMUNITY MEETINGS, BEHAVIORAL HEALTH ACTUALLY CAME UP AS ONE OF THE HIGHLIGHTS THAT PEOPLE INSISTED, UH, WAS ONE OF THE THINGS THAT THEY WOULD LIKE TO THE COMMUNITY CENTER TO PROVIDE.
SO OF COURSE, UH, TRADE TRAINING FOR HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS, UH, SMALL BUSINESS CENTER AS WELL AS EVENT RENTAL SPACE.
ANOTHER THING THAT WE FOUND IS COMMUNITY FOSTERING.
COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT AS WELL AS SPACE FOR COMMUNITY COHESION WAS ANOTHER MAIN POINT THAT WE HEARD THROUGHOUT THE PROCESS AS WELL.
SO FOR THOSE FOLKS WHO WERE NOT ABLE TO ATTEND THE COMMUNITY MEETINGS IN PERSON, WE ALSO OF COURSE HAD AN ONLINE SURVEY.
WE HAD 148 SURVEY PARTICIPANTS.
AND THAT IS NOT NORMAL FOR PEOPLE WHO, UM, PARTICIPATE IN SURVEYS.
AND I THINK IT'S JUST KUDOS TO COUNCILMAN DUNN AND HIS REACH WITHIN THE COMMUNITY AS WELL TO GET THESE FOLKS TO, UH, PARTICIPATE IN THE SURVEY.
SO, WHO TOOK THE SURVEY? 61% OF THEM LIVE IN THE DISTRICT.
MOST WERE OVER, UH, 35 YEARS OLD, AND THREE QUARTERS OF THEM WERE BLACK OR AFRICAN AMERICAN.
SO WHAT WE HEARD, UM, I CANNOT SEE THIS, BUT WE ASKED PEOPLE WHAT KIND OF COMMUNITY SERVICES THEY WOULD LIKE TO SEE AND GOING OFF OF MEMORY, 'CAUSE I CAN'T SEE IT, I KNOW BEHAVIORAL HEALTH.
UM, IS THERE ANYTHING CLOSER? OH, THANK YOU.
COUNSELING AND MENTAL HEALTH CAME UP AS THE FIRST COUNSELING AND MENTAL HEALTH, AGAIN, CAME UP AS THE FIRST WITHOUT PROMPT, WITHOUT ANY KIND OF PROMPT, WITHOUT ANY KIND OF, THIS IS WHAT WE'VE SEEN IN THE COMMUNITY SO FAR, FOLLOWED BY SOCIAL SERVICES AND ASSISTANCE, A FOOD PANTRY, WHICH WAS ALSO INTERESTING.
AND THEN OF COURSE, UH, PRIMARY HEALTH AND DENTAL SERVICES.
UM, AND SOME OF THE OTHER THINGS, AGAIN, WE PROVIDED SPACE FOR PEOPLE TO LET US KNOW WHAT THEY WOULD LIKE TO SEE, AND THEY ALL BASICALLY TRACKED WITH WHAT WE HEARD AT THE COMMUNITY MEETINGS.
SO BUSINESS SERVICES, LEGAL SERVICES, UM, HIGH SCHOOL COUNSELING, ET CETERA.
SO IN TERMS OF PROGRAMMING, WHAT WE FOUND WAS JOBS AND WORKFORCE TRAINING.
AGAIN, NOT SURPRISING, UH, RECREATIONAL CLASSES, SO DIFFERENT THINGS LIKE GARDENING OR BAKING.
COMPUTER LITERACY IS ALSO ANOTHER THAT CAME UP A LOT, UM, AS WELL, AGAIN, AS GED CLASSES.
FOR SENIOR SERVICES, WE ASKED SPECIFICALLY FOR THE SENIORS, WHAT WOULD YOU LIKE TO SEE? FITNESS CLASSES, ALTHOUGH IT DID NOT TRACK NECESSARILY IN THE COMMUNITY MEETINGS, THOSE ONLINE REALLY WANTED TO SEE THAT.
FOLLOWED BY TRANSPORTATION, UM, AS WELL AS DAILY MEALS.
IN TERMS OF FACILITIES, A MULTIPURPOSE ROOM OR GYMNASIUM, UM, REALLY TRENDED WELL FOLLOWED BY COMMUNITY, COMMUNITY KITCHEN OR COMPUTER LAB GAME ROOM.
AND, UH, DIDN'T NECESSARILY GET A LOT OF VARIETY IN TERMS OF OTHER TYPES OF FACILITIES THAT PEOPLE WOULD LIKE TO SEE.
SO WE ALSO DISSEMINATED A SURVEY SPECIFICALLY FOR THE STUDENTS WITHIN THE DISTRICT.
THIS WAS DISSEMINATED BY THE EAST BATON ROUGE PARISH, OUR SCHOOL SYSTEM.
WE HAD 115 STUDENTS PARTICIPATE, WHICH AGAIN, UM, GREAT PARTICIPATION.
AND SO MOST OF, WE HAD 30 SCHOOLS REPRESENTED.
MOST OF THEM WERE FROM SHERWOOD MIDDLE.
UM, THEY WERE BETWEEN THE SEVENTH AND 10TH GRADES.
WE HAD A LITTLE MORE DIVERSITY IN TERMS OF THIS PARTICIPATION.
SO 66% BLACK OR AFRICAN AMERICAN, 15% HISPANIC OR LATINO, AND SEVENTH PERCENT WHITE.
AND ALSO MOST OF THEM, UH, LIVE WITHIN THE DISTRICT.
SO WE STREAMLINED THESE SURVEY QUESTIONS A LITTLE BIT.
WE WANTED TO ASK THEM SPECIFICALLY, DO YOU ENGAGE IN AFTERSCHOOL ACTIVITIES? AND IF SO, WHAT DO YOU DO? IF THERE WAS A COMMUNITY CENTER, HOW WOULD YOU GET THERE? UM, AND WHERE WOULD YOU LIKE IT TO BE LOCATED? NEXT SLIDE.
SO THIS WAS REALLY INTERESTING.
64% OF THE STUDENTS, UH, WHO ATTEND SCHOOL WITHIN DISTRICT SIX DO NOT ENGAGE IN AFTERSCHOOL ACTIVITIES.
THEY DON'T HAVE ANY ACTIVITIES TO, UH, KEEP THEM OCCUPIED.
THOSE THAT DO, UM, BASICALLY ENGAGE IN SPORTS.
SO IT'S FOOTBALL, BASKETBALL, TRACK AND FIELD DANCE, UH, BAND, CHOIR AND TUTORING.
SO NOT NECESSARILY A WIDE ARRAY OF CULTURALLY AND LIFTING ACTIVITIES.
JUST VERY, VERY, UM, STREAMLINED, UM, AFTER SCHOOL ACTIVITIES.
SO WE ASKED THEM IF THERE WAS A COMMUNITY CENTER, WHAT WOULD YOU LIKE TO SEE? OF COURSE, SPORTS, UH, TRENDED THE MOST, I THINK BASICALLY BECAUSE THIS IS WHAT THEY KNOW, UH, FOLLOWED BY TUTORING.
SO OF COURSE THAT'S REALLY GOOD TO SEE
[01:10:01]
BECAUSE THEY'RE INTERESTED AND ENGAGED, FOLLOWED BY THINGS LIKE ARTS AND CRAFTS.UM, IT'S INTERESTING TO SEE COUNSELING AGAIN AND MENTORING, UH, TREND PRETTY HIGHLY AS WELL.
AND THEN IN TERMS OF OTHER THINGS THAT WERE NOT PROVIDED AS OPTIONS, SO BUSINESS COURSES, PIANO CONSERVATION, I'M NOT REALLY SURE WHAT THAT MEANS, BUT AGAIN, DEFINITELY AN ARRAY OF INTEREST THAT ARE LOCATED WITHIN THE DISTRICT.
SO WHEN WE ASKED HOW WOULD YOU GET TO THE COMMUNITY CENTER, ALMOST 60% OF THEM WOULD HAVE TO HAVE SOMEONE DRIVE THEM.
SO AGAIN, ANOTHER OPPORTUNITY HERE TO PROVIDE A SPECIFIC TRANSPORTATION TO GET STUDENTS TO THE CENTER.
COUNCILMAN DUNN HAS MENTIONED WORKING WITH CATS TO MAYBE GET A SPECIFIC ROUTE, UH, TO GET PEOPLE TO THE CENTER, BUT DEFINITELY, UM, A SERVICE OPPORTUNITY HERE, FOLLOWED BY TAKING THE BUS.
SO OVERALL SUMMARIZING OUR ANALYSIS, OUR ENGAGEMENTS, OUR ONLINE AND STUDENT SURVEYS.
THESE ARE WHAT WE THINK, UM, WOULD BE THE MOST IMPORTANT, UH, PRIORITIES.
PROGRAMMING SERVICES THAT WOULD HELP MEET THE NEEDS OF DISTRICT SIX RESIDENTS.
SO AGAIN, SOCIAL SERVICES, MENTAL AND BEHAVIORAL HEALTH COUNSELING, SENIOR SUPPORT SERVICES AND PROGRAMS, TRAINING.
SO THINGS LIKE WORKFORCE AS WELL AS COMPUTER LIT LITERACY, AFTERSCHOOL PROGRAMMING, AND A MULTIPURPOSE, UM, ROOM OR GYM.
AND THEN FOR AFTERSCHOOL ACTIVITIES, OF COURSE, SPORTS, BECAUSE THIS IS WHAT THEY SAID, THEY WANTED TUTORING FITNESS CLASSES, AS WELL AS, UM, OF COURSE TRANSPORTATION TO THE COMMUNITY CENTER.
SO IN OUR FIRST, UH, ENGAGEMENT ROUND OF ENGAGEMENTS, WE HAD SEVERAL BOARDS THAT PROVIDED IMAGES OR THE MAP THAT I SHOWED YOU PREVIOUSLY OF THE ASSETS WITHIN DISTRICT SIX, AS WELL AS THE, UM, WHERE THE POCKETS OF POVERTY WERE.
AND SO WE HAD THOSE PIECES OF INFORMATION AVAILABLE.
AND THEN WE ALSO HAD THIS THIRD BOARD THAT SHOWED TRANSPORTATION ACCESS.
AND THEN WE ASKED FOLKS, WHERE WOULD YOU LIKE THE LOCA LOCATION OF THE COMMUNITY CENTER TO BE? SO WHAT WE HAVE ON THE LEFT IS WHERE PEOPLE ORIGINALLY SELECTED MOSTLY IN THE CORTANA, UH, VILLA DEL RAY COMMUNITY, AS WELL AS THE NORTH SHERWOOD FOREST.
UH, THE OLD ALBERTSONS BUILDING WAS SPECIFICALLY IDENTIFIED AS A POTENTIAL SITE.
AND THEN WHAT WE DID ON THE COMMUNITY, UM, ONLINE SURVEY, WE DIVIDED DISTRICT SIX INTO SEVERAL AREAS DESCRIBING WHAT COMMUNITIES, UH, FIT WITHIN THOSE SPECIFIC BOUNDARIES.
SO ONLINE PARTICIPANTS SELECTED THE BROADMOOR COMMUNITY, WHICH IS BELOW FLORIDA BOULEVARD, UM, COMMUNITY, THE, THE ONLINE COMMUNITY SURVEY, AS WELL AS THE STUDENT SURVEY.
SO I THINK THERE'S TWO THEORIES AS TO THAT WHY AS TO WHY THAT IS.
ONE IS BECAUSE THE PEOPLE WHO TOOK THE ONLINE SURVEY, AND THIS IS THE COUNCILMAN'S INSIDER KNOWLEDGE, THEY WERE MOSTLY FROM THE BROADMOOR COMMUNITY.
AND SO OF COURSE THEY WOULD WANT THE COMMUNITY CENTER LOCATED, UH, SOMEWHERE NEAR TO THEM.
UM, AND SECONDLY, BECAUSE THEY DID NOT ALSO HAVE THAT ADDITIONAL INFORMATION OF WHERE THE POCKETS OF CON UH, HIGH CONCENTRATIONS OF POVERTY WERE, ET CETERA.
AND SO JUST, UH, NOT HAVING ALL THAT INFORMATION, THEY WEREN'T ABLE TO MAKE, UM, A MORE INFORMED DECISION.
SO WHAT WE DID IN OUR SECOND ROUND OF ENGAGEMENTS, WE ELIMINATED AREAS WHERE WE KNEW THE COMMUNITY CENTER ABSOLUTELY WOULD NOT BE LOCATED.
SO WE KNOW THAT IT'S NOT GONNA BE BELOW FLORIDA BOULEVARD AND ONLY PROVIDED THREE AREAS.
SO WEST OF AIRLINE, THE CORTANA DEL RAY AREA, AS WELL AS, UM, THE NORTH SHERWOOD FOREST COMMUNITY.
AND SO AS YOU CAN SEE, UH, THE RESULTS OF THAT SECOND ROUND OF ENGAGEMENT, MOST PEOPLE, UM, NOW HAVING MOST OF, OR ALL OF THE INFORMATION SELECTED THE NORTH SHERWOOD FOREST AREA.
SO IN TERMS OF NEXT STEPS, UM, ALL OF THIS INFORMATION HAS BEEN PACKAGED AND DELIVERED TO THE COUNCILMAN AS WELL AS THE PROJECT MANAGEMENT GROUP AND THE ARCHITECTS.
AND SO I BELIEVE THEY'RE WORKING ON SITE SELECTION AND MOVING ON TO DESIGN AND PROGRAMMING AS WELL.
AND, UM, I GUESS AS LONG AS NOTHING HAS CHANGED, CONSTRUCTION IS ANTICIPATED TO BE COMPLETED BY, UH, ME OF 2025.
UH, THANK YOU AGAIN, COUNCILMAN, COUNCILMAN FOR WORKING WITH US ON THIS.
CEX REALLY ENJOYED OUR WORKING WITH YOU ON THIS AS WELL AS THE PROJECT TEAM, UM, AS WELL AS THE DISTRICT SIX RESIDENTS.
ALSO, IF THERE ARE ANY QUESTIONS, I'M HAPPY TO ANSWER ANY.
FIRST THING WE'RE GONNA DO IS GO TO A PUBLIC HEARING.
IS ANYONE HERE WISHING TO SPEAK ON THE ITEM? WE NOT GO TO COUNCIL MEMBERS, ANY COUNCIL MEMBERS WITH ANY COMMENTS OR HAVE ANY QUESTIONS.
I WANNA THANK YOU FOR THAT REPORT.
SINCERELY APPRECIATE COUNCIL MEMBER M YEAH, JUST A A QUICK COMMENT.
I HAVE A GREAT PRESENTATION, UH, VERY INFORMATIVE, BUT I, I WANTED TO COMMEND, UH, COUNCILMAN DUNN, UH, WALK, WALKING THROUGH THIS WHOLE PROCESS AND SEEING THIS COME FROM, FROM START TO FINISH AS FAR AS BUILDING A COMMUNITY CENTER IN THE DISTRICT AND EVERYTHING.
I, I THINK, UM, I KNOW I'VE ASKED YOU SEVERAL TIMES AS FAR AS STEPS, YOU'VE ALWAYS BEEN UP TO DATE ON IT, UH, VERY PUBLIC AND EVERYTHING ABOUT IT, AND ESPECIALLY WITH THE PRESENTATION.
BUT I JUST WANTED TO COMMEND YOU ON THE PROCESS OF GETTING THIS DONE.
[01:15:04]
THANK YOU VERY MUCH.[172. 23-01514]
ON.THERE IS A REQUEST TO DEFER THIS ITEM.
YOU WANT TO SAY SOMETHING? GO AHEAD, PLEASE.
I WANNA ALSO THANK ALL OF MY COLLEAGUES FOR SUPPORTING, UH, THE CAR CORRIDOR ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT DISTRICT AND, UH, THE COMMUNITY CENTER.
I WANT TO THANK, UH, WHLC, UH, CE AND ISHA AND TEAM, UH, BJL GROUP, WILSON FOUNDATION, THE MAYOR'S OFFICE, AND EVERYBODY WHO PLAYED A ROLE IN HELPING US GET TO THIS POINT AND PASS THIS NEEDS ANALYSIS.
AS ISHA MENTIONED, WE'RE NOW ON TO LAND ACQUISITION.
UH, WE MADE THE MISTAKE OF, OF IDENTIFYING SOME CANDIDATE SITES AND IN OUR INTERNAL MEETINGS AND, AND PEOPLE STARTED BUYING THOSE PROPERTIES.
SO WE'RE NOT TALKING SPECIFICALLY ABOUT SPECIFICALLY WHERE WE ARE LOOKING RIGHT NOW, JUST KIND OF GENERALLY BECAUSE WE DON'T WANT, UH, INDIVIDUALS TO BUY THE PROPERTY AND TRY TO SELL IT BACK TO US AT A HIGHER RATE.
UH, BUT I WANT, AGAIN, I WANNA THANK EVERYBODY.
UH, IT WAS VERY IMPORTANT FOR ME TO INVOLVE THE COMMUNITY AND GET THE FEEDBACK FROM THE COMMUNITY OF WHAT THEY WANTED TO SEE IN THE COMMUNITY CENTER IN DISTRICT SIX.
UH, I AM A CHILD WHO WAS IMPACTED BY COMMUNITY CENTERS IN, UH, THE DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING COMMUNITY CENTER AND THE CHARLES ARCH KELLY COMMUNITY CENTER, WHERE MY DAD WORKED THERE AS AN ASSISTANT, UH, DIRECTOR.
AND SO I FIRSTHAND KNOW THE IMPACT THAT THE COMMUNITY CENTERS HAVE ON OUR COMMUNITIES, KNOWING THAT DISTRICT SIX DEMOGRAPHICS HAD SHIFTED AND WE HAD SOME UNIQUE NEEDS, SIMILAR TO, UH, SCOTLANDVILLE, OLD SOUTH BATON ROUGE, THE EDEN PARK AREA, AND THE GLEN OAKS AREA.
NOT THE SAME, BUT, BUT SIMILAR.
AND I KNEW A COMMUNITY CENTER WOULD SERVE DISTRICT SIX.
WELL, SO AGAIN, THANK YOU ALL FOR BEING A PART OF THE PROCESS, AND WE WILL KEEP YOU INFORMED AS WE PROGRESS THROUGH THIS PROCESS.
AFTERNOON BANKS, UH, YES, COUNCILMAN BANKS, CONGRATULATIONS.
UM, I KNOW YOU HAD AN AWESOME TIME WORKING WITH ISHA.
UM, TO ME, UH, OUR JJ NEWMAN COMMUNITY CENTER, UH, WAS THE FIRST COMMUNITY CENTER.
AND WHEN I LOOK AT THE DIFFERENT ARTIFACTS, THEY HAD TO GO ALL THE WAY TO WASHINGTON DC TO GET FUNDING, UM, FROM THE DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE.
AND SO JUST, UM, SEEING THIS PROCESS FOR ME IS EXCITING, UM, SEEING HOW IT'S DONE, UH, BY, UH, AS BEING BY THE, UH, COUNCILMAN AND, UM, ALL THE OTHER, UH, COMMUNITY CENTERS WERE ALREADY HERE.
UH, BY THE TIME I START, UH, YOU KNOW, THEY JUST CAME UP.
BUT JUST BEING A PART OF THIS PROCESS IS EXCITING.
AND CONGRATULATIONS AND OTHER COUNCIL MEMBERS.
UH, ITEM 1 72, AGAIN, THERE'S A REQUEST TO DE FURTHEST ITEM FOR HOW LONG, PLEASE TO THE NEXT COUNCIL MEETING, RECEIVING A REPORT FROM THE ENVIRONMENTAL SERVICES DIRECTOR, ADAM SMITH AND REPUBLIC SERVICE ON THE SHORT TERM AND LONG TERM PLAN FOR EAST PARENTS PARISH OUT OF CAR TRASH SERVICE.
THE REPORT SHOULD INCLUDE THE FUNDING SOURCE THAT WILL PAY FOR SAID SERVICE.
IS ANYONE HERE WISHING TO SPEAK ON ITEM 1 72? WE GO TO COUNCIL MEMBERS.
THERE IS A MOTION TO DEFER THIS ITEM BY COUNCIL MEMBER DUN JR.
SECONDED BY COUNCIL MEMBER ADAMS. ARE THERE ANY OBJECTIONS? WE'RE DEFERRING TO THE NEXT MEETING.
JUSTIN, ARE THERE ANY OBJECTIONS? ITEM HAS BEEN DEFERRED TO THE NEXT MEETING.
[113. 23-01591]
13.ON PAGE 16, COUNCIL MEMBERS AUTHORIZED THE MAYOR PRESIDENT TO EXECUTE THE CEA WITH DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION DEVELOPMENT FOR SUBSIDIES FOR AN INTERCITY RAIL SERVICE BETWEEN BATON ROUGE AND NEW ORLEANS BY TRANSPORTATION AND DRAINAGE DIRECTOR.
THERE IS ALSO A REQUEST TO DEFER THIS ITEM.
ALSO A REQUEST TO DEFER THIS ITEM BY THE DEPARTMENT HEAD.
IS THERE ANYONE HERE WISHING TO SPEAK ON THE ITEM? GO AHEAD, FRED.
ONLY THING I WOULD ASK IS THAT ALLOW THE PUBLIC MEETING SO I CAN, IF THERE ARE ANY QUESTIONS AND SOME OF THE COUNCIL MEMBERS, I CAN TRY TO ANSWER THE REST OF THE QUESTIONS IF POSSIBLE.
THAT'S WHY I'M ASKING FOR THE DEFERRAL POLICE COUNCILMAN? SOUNDS GOOD.
IS THERE ANYONE HERE WISHING TO SPEAK ON THE ITEM? ANYONE? MR. STATE'S NAME AND ADDRESS, PLEASE FOR THE RECORD.
UM, 9 1 2 EAST MAIN STREET, NEW ROADS, LOUISIANA.
UH, I AM THE SENIOR ADVISOR OF THE BATON ROUGER FOUNDATION.
I'M ALSO THE VICE CHAIRMAN OF SOUTHERN RAIL COMMISSION, WHICH HAS BEEN WORKING ALONG WITH THE CITY AND STATE AND OTHER PARTNERS TO CREATE THE BATON ROUGE NEW ORLEANS RAIL PROJECT.
IN RECENT NEWS STORIES, THERE'S BEEN INFORMATION SUGGESTING THAT THERE ARE CHANGES IN WHERE THOSE STATIONS WOULD BE LOCATED.
AND WHAT I'LL STAND IN FRONT OF YOU TODAY TO TELL YOU IS THAT, UH, THAT'S NOT GOING TO HAPPEN.
THE PROPERTY THAT'S BEEN MENTIONED, PARTICULARLY AROUND MEMORIAL STADIUM, IS OWNED NOW BY CANADIAN PACIFIC RAILROAD, AND WE HAD CONVERSATIONS AS LATE AS THIS AFTERNOON TO CONFIRM WITH THEM THAT PROPERTY IS NOT FOR SALE.
THEY INTEND TO USE IT FOR OTHER PURPOSES, AND THEY HAVE ABSOLUTELY DECLARED IT WILL NOT BE AVAILABLE TO US FOR A PASSENGER TRAIN STATION THAT PUTS US BACK WHERE WE THOUGHT WE WERE AND HAVE BEEN WORKING ON
[01:20:01]
FOR SOME TIME, CREATING TWO TRAIN STATIONS, ONE 14TH AND GOVERNMENT STREET, THE OTHER ON A SITE YET TO BE LOCATED IN THE BATON ROUGE HEALTH DISTRICT.HEALTH DISTRICT IS CHOSEN BECAUSE OF THE SOUTHEASTERN PORTION OF THE PARISH HAVING LARGEST POPULATIONS, PEOPLE WANTING TO RIDE THE TRAIN FROM ASCENSION PARISH.
BUT MORE CRITICALLY, IN AN EMERGENCY SUCH AS HURRICANE KATRINA, WE CAN EVACUATE PEOPLE FROM NEW ORLEANS HEALTH, UH, FACILITIES, HOSPITALS, INTO OUR HOSPITALS, OR CONTINUE MOVING THEM FORWARD.
UH, THE, UH, STATE HAS, UH, MONEY FOR THE IMPROVEMENTS FOR THE BATON ROUGE NEW ORLEANS RAIL.
GOVERNOR EDWARDS RECENTLY, UH, GAVE 20.5 MILLION TO BE THE LOCAL MATCH FOR THOSE FEDERAL DOLLARS.
AND YOU MAY HAVE SEEN JUST TWO WEEKS AGO, THE GOVERNOR RODE A TRAIN FROM NEW ORLEANS TO BATON ROUGE AND SIGNED AN AGREEMENT BETWEEN AMTRAK AND THE STATE, WHICH SAYS THIS PASSENGER SERVICE FROM NEW ORLEANS TO BATON ROUGE WILL START.
I SHOULD POINT OUT TO YOU THAT IT'S THE FIRST PHASE.
THE LONG-TERM PLAN IS TO CONNECT DALLAS TO NEW ORLEANS.
AND ONCE BATON ROUGE AND NEW ORLEANS IS PLACED, THE SOUTHERN RAIL COMMISSION IS GOING TO CONDUCT FOR FURTHER STUDIES TO LOOK AT BATON ROUGE TO SHREVEPORT.
SO I JUST WANTED TO CLEAR THE AIR AS TO WHERE THESE STATION LOCATIONS WOULD BE.
ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS YOU MAY HAVE AND BRING YOU UP TO DATE ON THE PROJECT.
WE'RE VERY PLEASED SINCE WE'VE BEEN WORKING ON THIS FOR EIGHT YEARS THAT WE'RE ACTUALLY STARTING TO SEE THIS COME INTO PLACE.
THE FINAL THING I WOULD TELL YOU THAT THE EAST BATON RE PARISH REDEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY IN, IN 2018 DID DETAILED WORK THAT DEFINED THE LOCATION OF THOSE STATIONS.
THIS ISN'T ANOTHER ORGANIZATION.
THIS ISN'T BRAF, THIS ISN'T SOUTHERN RAIL COMMISSION.
IN 2018, YOUR REDEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY DID AN EXTENSIVE STUDY THAT IDENTIFIED THE PEN POTENTIAL LOCATIONS.
I'M GOING TO HAVE COPIES PRINTED AND DELIVERED.
SO EACH ONE OF YOU CAN HAVE A COPY OF THIS.
IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS, I'D BE WELCOME THE OPPORTUNITY TO SIT DOWN AND TALK TO YOU AND ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS YOU MAY HAVE.
IS THERE ANYONE ELSE HERE WISHING TO SPEAK ON THE ITEM.
ANYONE ELSE WISHING TO SPEAK ON THE ITEM? STATE NAME AND ADDRESS FOR THE RECORD, PLEASE.
MY NAME IS PHIL FEDERMAN AND I LIVE AT 11 4 4 2 SHERATON DRIVE HERE IN BATON ROUGE.
WHEN I LOOK AT THIS ISSUE HERE, I LOOK AT IT'S AN ISSUE OF SUSTAINABILITY.
THIS IS REALLY SUSTAINABLE, UH, BECAUSE I HAVE EXPERIENCE WITH TRAINS.
I'VE BEEN INVOLVED IN OPERATING A COMMODITY TRAIN.
I'VE ALSO BEEN INVOLVED IN, IN CONSTRUCTING, UH, A A HUNDRED MILE TRAIN, TRAIN OPERATION.
AND I'VE RIDDEN MANY TRAINS THROUGHOUT THE WORLD.
TRAINS REALLY WORK BEST WHEN YOU HAVE A HIGH DENSITY POPULATION.
WE DON'T HAVE HIGH DENSITY POPULATION.
THIS IS NOT LIKE TOKYO WHERE YOU CAN GET ON A TRAIN AND YOU CAN TRAIN.
IF YOU MISS ONE TRAIN, YOU CAN GET ANOTHER TRAIN IN ANOTHER FIVE MINUTES OR 10 MINUTES.
AS I UNDERSTAND IT, RIGHT NOW, THERE'S ONLY ONE ROUND TRIP A DAY.
SO THE PROPOSAL HAS BEEN MADE WHERE WE CAN TRANSPORT PEOPLE DOWN TO NEW ORLEANS, THEY CAN CATCH, TAKE THE TRAIN TO THE AIRPORT.
I FLY THROUGHOUT THE WORLD, AND WHEN I FLY, I TYPICALLY GO OUT IN NEW ORLEANS.
AND WHEN I GO OUT IN NEW ORLEANS, I MIGHT HAVE TO LEAVE 'CAUSE A LOT OF MY FLIGHTS LEAVE AT AROUND SEVEN O'CLOCK IN THE MORNING.
I GET DOWN THERE, I CAN CHECK IN.
THAT MEANS THE TRAIN, IF I TOOK THE TRAIN, BECAUSE IF YOU USE HAMMOND AS AN EXAMPLE, IT TAKES TWO HOURS AND 40 MINUTES TO GO FROM HAMMOND DOWN TO UNION PACIFIC STATION IN NEW ORLEANS.
OKAY, THAT MEANS YOU WOULD HAVE TO BE RUNNING THE TRAIN STARTING AT THREE 30 IN THE MORNING.
ARE PEOPLE GONNA BE DOING THAT? THE PROPOSAL HAS BEEN MADE.
WELL, PEOPLE CAN TAKE THE TRAIN AND RIDE AND GO DOWN TO, UH, THE PROCESS PLANTS, YOU KNOW, BATON ROUGE TO TO GONZALEZ.
WILL PEOPLE REALLY DO THAT IF IT'S ONLY ONE, ONE TRIP A DAY? SO I THINK WE GOTTA BE LOOKING AT THIS.
WE HAVE OTHER PRIORITIES IN THIS PARISH, I THINK, OR TAKE A HIGHER PRIORITY.
AND, AND IT REALLY BOILS DOWN TO WHERE DO WE BEST SPEND OUR DOLLARS? UH, WE'VE GOT PRIORITIES WITH, WITH, WITH DRAINAGE, HUGE DRAINAGE ISSUES THAT ARE NOT RESOLVED.
WE HAVE PRIME ISSUES AND THINGS LIKE THAT.
AND SO I THINK WE'VE GOTTA GO BACK AND TAKE A LOOK AT THIS AND WHERE, WHERE IS THE PARISH REALLY GONNA GO? THANK YOU VERY MUCH.
IS THERE ANYONE ELSE HERE WISHING TO SPEAK ON THE ITEM? COUNCIL MEMBER
UM, YOU KNOW, I I I ABSOLUTELY HAVE NO PROBLEM WITH THE STATE, UM, MAKING AN INVESTMENT WITH A BATON ROUGE AND NEW ORLEANS, UM, PASSENGER RAIL.
BUT I DO HAVE A PROBLEM WITH THE CITY OF BATON ROUGE INVESTED IN ITS IN ITS OWN DEMISE.
UM, FIRST OF ALL, WHEN I THINK ABOUT TRANSPORTATION, I THINK ABOUT THE FACT, UM, THAT FIRST, THAT, UM,
[01:25:01]
IT'S SUPPOSED TO BE AN ADVANCEMENT OF, OF ALL KINDS OF INVESTMENTS.UM, I THINK THAT WHEN YOU LOOK AT THE FACT JUST AS WHAT THE ISSUES THAT WE HAVE WITH THE BATON ROUGE HEALTH DISTRICT, UM, IT'S THE INEQUITABLE, UM, UH, DISPENSATION OF RESOURCES, UH, I BELIEVE, AND IF YOU GO BACK TO THE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT, TRANSPORTATION WAS ONE OF THE MAIN ELEMENTS WHEN, UM, WHEN DURING THE CIVIL RIGHTS.
UH, TRANSPORTATION SUPPOSED TO BE, UH, SOMETHING THAT TOUCHES WHEREVER, WHERE ANYONE LIVES, WHERE ANYONE WORKS, PLAY, GO TO SCHOOL, UM, WORK.
AND IF YOU THINK ABOUT FROM BATON ROUGE TO NEW ORLEANS, FROM THE BATON ROUGE HEALTH DISTRICT TO THE AND FOURTH AND SOUTH 14TH, WE ARE ONLY GIVEN THOSE OPPORTUNITIES TO THE ELITIST.
UM, TRANSPORTATION'S SUPPOSED TO BE A VITAL ROLE IN SHAPING, UM, HUMAN INTERACTIONS, ECONOMIC MOBILITY, AND SUSTAINABILITY.
AND SO WHAT YOU'RE DEALING WITH IS A SEGREGATION OF PEOPLE IN THE SOUTH THAT WILL HAVE A PLAYGROUND OF TRANSPORTATION.
HOWEVER, FURTHER, UM, LEAVING OUT PERSONS THAT LIVE IN THE NORTHERN PART OF THE PARISH, UH, ECONOMIC MOBILITY.
YOU KNOW, YOU ARE HAVING ECONOMIC MOBILITY FROM BATON ROUGE TO NEW ORLEANS, BUT YOU ARE ALSO STARVING EVERY BUSINESS ALONG THAT CORRIDOR, EVERY GAS STATION, EVERY RETAIL BUSINESS, EVERY, UM, QUALITY OF LIFE ASSETS THAT PEOPLE USE ON THEIR WAY TO OR FROM SCHOOL.
I PERSONALLY HAVE NOT SEEN ANY INVESTMENT THAT WE'VE MADE IN ANY BATON ROUGE AREA FOUNDATION PROJECT THAT HAS BEEN BENEFITED THE ENTIRE COMMUNITY.
I THINK ONE OF THE WORST INVESTMENTS THAT WE EVER MADE AND WAS BROUGHT BEFORE THE TAXPAYERS IS THE BRIDGE CENTER.
UH, IT IS NOTHING LIKE WHAT WAS INTRODUCED AND IT HAS NOT BEEN, UH, SOMETHING THAT HAVE SERVED US WELL.
IF YOU LOOK AT THE HISTORY OF RAILS ALL OVER THE COUNTRY, EVENTUALLY THEY NEED A TAXES.
SO ONCE YOU START WITH THIS, AND THEN WE'RE GONNA HAVE A BIG CAMPAIGN FROM THE BATON ROUGE AREA FOUNDATION SAYING, WELL, WE NEED A TAX.
ARE WE GONNA LOSE IT? WE'RE GONNA LOSE IT TOMORROW.
THESE RUSHED, UM, PROPOSALS BEING MADE BEFORE THIS COUNCIL REPUBLIC SERVICES.
IF WE DON'T DO IT RIGHT NOW, WE'RE GONNA LOSE IT.
WE GOT MONEY TO THE END OF THE YEAR AND ALL OF THAT.
AND SO WE ARE GONNA BE SET UP FOR THE OKEY-DOKE, AS WE'VE SEEN SO MANY TIMES.
UM, ACCESS TO OPPORTUNITIES SUPPOSED TO BE A KEY COMPONENT, ESPECIALLY WHEN YOU'RE DEALING WITH PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION THAT ADDRESSES POVERTY, UNEMPLOYMENT, EQUAL OPPORTUNITY GOALS, WHILE ENSURING ACCESS, UM, TO HEALTHCARE AND PUBLIC SERVICES.
I DO NOT SEE WHERE THE, WHERE A TRAIL FROM BATON ROUGE TO NEW ORLEANS WILL GET IN ANY WAY, HELP PEOPLE IN EVERYDAY LIFE.
ALL PEOPLE, WHEN WE DEAL WITH PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION, IT'S NOT JUST ONE PART OF THE COMMUNITY.
IT'S JUST NOT PEOPLE THAT WORK IN NEW ORLEANS.
IT'S SUPPOSED TO SERVE EVERYBODY OR HAVE THE POTENTIAL.
THERE'S A SURVEY, UM, WHICH INDICATED HOW MANY PEOPLE FROM ONE END OF THIS PARISH TO THE OTHER, THAT WILL UTILIZE, UM, THIS FORM OF, UM, OF TRANSPORTATION.
UM, TRANSPORTATION'S SUPPOSED TO BE EQUITABLE.
WE ALREADY KNOW JUST BY THE LOCATION THAT IS NOT EQUITABLE.
YOU KNOW, IT'S NOT CONSISTENT WITH THE GOALS, AGAIN, OF THE LARGER CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT AND ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE.
SO YOU HAVE, YOU'RE GONNA HAVE, UH, PEOPLE IN THE NORTHERN PART WHO ARE STILL TRYING TO DRIVE TO WORK AND THEY'RE HAVING THE CAR FUMES.
BUT THEN YOU HAVE, UM, THIS MODE OF TRANSPORTATION WHERE THE OTHER SIDE, THEY'RE GONNA HAVE CLEAN TRANSPORTATION.
UH, TRANSPORTATION IS A BASIC TO MANY OTHER QUALITY OF LIFE INDICATORS SUCH AS HEALTH.
I DON'T SEE, WE ALREADY HAVE A SHORTAGE OF, IN THE WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT OF EAST BATON ROUGE.
SO IF YOU ARE HAVING, UM, PEOPLE IN THE HEALTHCARE INDUSTRY, AND WE NEED THEM HERE, WHAT'S THE POINT OF ADVERTISING VISIT BATON ROUGE.
AND BATON ROUGE IS BEING A GREAT PLACE TO WORK.
IF WE SO EASILY ARE ABLE TO SHIFT SHIFT PROFESSIONALS IN HEALTHCARE, EDUCATION, UH, EMPLOYMENT, ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT, ACCESS TO MUNICIPAL SERVICE, RESIDENTIAL MOBILITY, AND ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY, WE ARE SELLING OUR OWN SELVES OUT.
AND THEN WE SHOULD 55 MINUTES? YES, PLEASE.
UM, AGAIN, THIS ALSO, IF THERE'S SOMEONE, IT WILL ACTUALLY SHIFT
[01:30:01]
MORE SO A RESIDENTIAL SEGREGATION THAT WE ALREADY HAVE.THIS IS AN EXTRA ASSET IN THE NORTHERN PART OF THE PARISH WHERE PERSONS THAT MAY WANT, MAY WANT TO LIVE IN CENTRAL ZACHARY BAKER IN THE NORTHERN PART OF THE PARISH WILL BE HINDERED BECAUSE THEY DO NOT, THEY WILL NOT HAVE ACCESS OR EASY ACCESS BECAUSE THEY DON'T LIVE IN THE BATON ROUGE HEALTH DISTRICT, AND THEY DON'T, WON'T LIVE NEAR, UM, SOUTH 14TH AND GOVERNMENT.
SO AGAIN, WE ARE, WE ARE ONCE AGAIN SEGREGATING OUR COMMUNITY AFTER SAYING THAT WE WANT ONE BATON ROUGE.
UM, THE OTHER THING IS, UH, TRANSPORTATION INVESTMENTS, ENHANCEMENTS AND FINANCIAL RESOURCES HAVE PRO PROVIDED ADVANTAGES FOR DOWNTOWN.
AND WHILE THOSE SAME THINGS HAVE CONTINUED TO, UH, CAUSE THE PERSON IN ANOTHER PART OF THE PARISH TO BE DISINVESTED, THIS IS NO DIFFERENT FROM THE THREE MILE, UH, THING THAT WE HAVE FROM DOWNTOWN TO LSU.
SO WE'RE NOT GONNA GO THREE MILES FROM DOWNTOWN TO LSU, WE'RE GONNA GO THREE MILE.
WE'RE GONNA GO, UH, SEVERAL MILES TO THE SAINTS GAME, TO THE PELICANS GAME, TO ALL THOSE ASSETS.
AND THEN WE ARE SELLING OURSELVES, AND THEN WE ARE GOING TO PAY FOR, WE ARE SCREWING OURSELVES, AND THEN WE, THEY WANT US TO PAY FOR.
THAT DOES NOT MAKE SENSE TO ME.
UM, THE EXAMPLE THAT, UM, WAS GIVEN AS IT RELATES TO, UH, THE TIMELINE, IF IT TAKES TWO HOURS, I THINK HE SAID FROM, UH, MR. UH, FEDERMAN FROM HU, I MEAN FROM HAMMOND IN NEW ORLEANS.
AND WE JUST HAD, UH, I THINK TWO A WEEK AGO, WE JUST TALKED ABOUT THE AIR, THE, THE TIME CHANGE FROM WA BATON ROUGE TO DC BEING AT SIX 30 NEEDS TO BE THE SEVEN 30 BECAUSE IT WAS TOO EARLY FOR PEOPLE.
SO IMAGINE US HAVING PEOPLE HAVING TO GET ON A TRAIN AT THREE 30 TO GO TO WORK.
WE JUST, WE JUST NOT BUILT THAT.
PEOPLE HAVE A, WE ARE A VERY, UM, OUR COMMUNITY.
IF YOU ARE ON A TRAIN IN NEW ORLEANS ONCE A DAY AND YOUR SCHOOL CALLS YOU TO PICK UP YOUR CHILD, THAT'S GONNA BE THE LAST DAY YOU RIDE FROM BATON ROUGE TO NEW ORLEANS.
IF YOU HAVE A MAMA THAT'S SICK OR A DAD THAT'S SICK, OR ANY OTHER FAMILY MEMBER THAT YOU GOTTA GET OR MAY HAVE AN EMERGENCY, THAT'S GONNA BE THE LAST DAY THAT YOU RIDE TO TRAIN, THIS IS SEGREGATE AGAIN.
THIS IS GOING TO PRODUCE ADDITIONAL SEGREGATION.
THEN WHEN IT DOESN'T WORK, WE GONNA, THEY'RE GONNA BE COMING UP BEFORE US TALKING ABOUT WE NEED TO DO A TAX.
ARE WE GONNA LOSE THIS WONDERFUL SERVICE AND THIS FOOLISHNESS.
NOW A, THE BATON ROUGE HEALTH DISTRICT, UH, MORE IMPORTANTLY, THE BRIDGE CENTER SHAME ON ME, BUT I WILL NOT BE VOTING FOR ANY MORE BECAUSE OF THEM.
I MEAN, SHAME ON THEM, BUT I'M NOT GONNA BE SUPPORTING ANYTHING THAT IS CRAZY FROM THE BEGINNING, BUT THEN IT'S GONNA BE SHAME ON ME.
LET'S FIRST SAY THAT WE KNOW THAT THIS IS JOHN'S DREAM PROJECT.
HE PUT A LOT OF EFFORT INTO IT, BEEN WORKING ON IT A LONG TIME, AND I UNDERSTAND THAT I DON'T DISAGREE WITH THE PROJECT, UH, ENTIRELY.
I JUST DISAGREE WITH THE CURRENT DESIGN.
I THOUGHT COUNCILWOMAN BANKS MADE EXCELLENT POINTS ABOUT ELIMINATING OR NOT INCLUDING ACCESS TO NORTH BATON ROUGE.
AND I THINK IT DEFINITELY NEEDS TO DO THAT FOR ONE REASON, FOR US JUST REACHING THAT COMMUNITY, BUT ALSO TWO, UM, REACHING THE AIRPORT.
UM, AS YOU GUYS KNOW, I'VE SERVED ON THE AIRPORT COMMISSION FOR QUITE SOME TIME.
WHEN YOU TRAVEL AROUND THE COUNTRY, UH, WHEN YOU SEE ROBUST TRANSPORTATION, YOU CAN GET OFF A PLANE AT A AIRPORT, GET ON A TRAIN OR TRAM AND ACCESS A CITY.
THAT'S THE MODEL THAT YOU SEE AROUND THE COUNTRY.
UH, WHAT I THINK THIS DOES WITH ACCESSING THIS TRAIN ON 14 ON THE HEALTH DISTRICT, IT CANNIBALIZES THE BATON ROUGE METRO AIRPORT.
UH, WE'RE CURRENTLY LEAKING 60% OF OUR CUSTOMER BASE IN THE BATON ROUGE REGION TO MSY RIGHT NOW, TO THE BAT, TO THE NEW ORLEANS AIRPORT.
IF THIS IS DONE IN THIS CURRENT STATE, WE'LL LEAK 90, 95% OF OUR, UH, CUSTOMER BASE TO NEW ORLEANS.
AND WE WILL LOSE THE BATON ROUGE AIRPORT.
WE WILL LOSE THAT CONVENIENCE.
AND JOHN IS ONE WHO DON'T THINK WE NEED THE BATON ROUGE AIRPORT.
HE THINK WE JUST NEED TO RELY ON THE NEW ORLEANS AIRPORT.
NOW, CORRECT ME IF I'M WRONG, JOHN, AND I'LL ALLOW YOU TO DO THAT, BUT I THINK THIS CURRENT MODEL CANNIBALIZES, UH, THE BATON ROUGE METRO AIRPORT, AND WE NEED TO MAKE SURE THAT THIS TRAIN DOES EXTEND FARTHER NORTH AND DOES CONNECT WITH THE BATON ROUGE AIRPORT.
UM, IF WE CAN DO THAT, UH, WHILE WE'RE, UH, DEFERRING THIS AND TALKING ABOUT OTHER PLANS, THEN I CAN SUPPORT IT.
BUT IN THIS CURRENT STATE, I CANNOT SUPPORT IT.
AND WHAT WE NEED TO REALIZE TO COUNCILWOMAN
[01:35:01]
BANK'S POINT DISAGREEMENT, AND FRED AND JOHN, CORRECT ME IF I'M WRONG, BASICALLY GIVES THE RESPONSIBILITY OF THE CITY PARISH TO COVER THE MAINTENANCE OF THIS FACILITY.SO WE GONNA PAY THE UPKEEP IT, MAINTAIN THIS FACILITY, WHY IT KILLS OUR AIRPORT.
SO ONE OF THE THINGS, UH, THAT KEEPS COMING UP IS TALKING ABOUT THE, THE DIFFERENT STOPS AND EVERYTHING ELSE.
AND LOOK, I'M, UH, IF YOU GET RID OF THE 14TH AND GOVERNMENT STREET AND MAYBE START AT THE AIRPORT, UH, MAYBE ONE STOP AT THE HEALTH DISTRICT, BUT THAT'S STRETCHING IT FOR ME.
UH, DOES THE JUST YES OR NO, DOES THE, IF WE STARTED AT THE AIRPORT, DOES THAT COVER NORTH BATON ROUGE? DOES THAT CONSIDER COVERING NORTH BATON ROUGE? AND THE REASON I SAY THAT IS, IF, IF WE TALK ABOUT A NORTH BATON ROUGE, STOP A AIRPORT, STOP A 14TH IN GOVERNMENT, STOP A HEALTH DISTRICT, STOP.
I'M GETTING IN MY CAR AND DRIVING TO NEW ORLEANS, I, I, I'M NOT GOING TO, I'M NOT GONNA DO FOUR STOPS IN BATON ROUGE, PLUS THE OTHER STOPS ALONG THE ROUTE.
YOU, YOU KILLED THE WHOLE PROJECT RIGHT THEN AND THERE, BECAUSE NOBODY'S GONNA WANT TO TAKE THAT TIME TO, TO RIDE THE TRAIN DOWN THERE.
I, I'VE, I'VE HAD DISCUSSIONS TODAY WITH PEOPLE, UM, AND, AND, AND, AND LOOK, I'M LOOKING FOR EVERY REASON TO SUPPORT THIS.
I THINK HEALTHY OPTIONS ARE, ARE FOR GREAT GROWING CITIES.
I LOOK AT HOUSTON AND DALLAS AND I KNOW WE'RE NOT THAT LARGE.
UM, YOU KNOW, LOOK, I, I'M ONE THAT THOUGHT THE, THE TRAM THAT WAS GONNA GO DOWNTOWN TO LSU DOWN NICHOLSON, UH, I THOUGHT THAT WAS A GREAT IDEA, UH, THAT WAS GONNA GO FORWARD.
YOU KNOW, I, I ENVISIONED CERTAIN IDEAS AND EVERYTHING, AND THEN I HEARD IT GOT KILLED, UH, BECAUSE IT DIDN'T INCLUDE ENOUGH IN NORTH BATON ROUGE.
WELL, WHAT'S TO SAY AFTER ALL THIS TIME THAT NORTH BATON ROUGE WOULDN'T HAVE BEEN INCLUDED IN THAT? RIGHT NOW? WHAT'S TO SAY THAT WE START THIS PROCESS WITH A PLAN TO, TO INCLUDE NORTH BATON ROUGE? IS THERE TRAILS OR RAILS ALREADY THERE? I'D BE ALL FOR STARTING AT THE AIRPORT START BATON ROUGE AIRPORT, ENDED NEW ORLEANS AIRPORT, UM, YOU KNOW, COVER BATON ROUGE, BUT THE MULTIPLE, MULTIPLE STOPS, THAT'S SOMETHING I THINK THAT WOULD KILL THE PROCESS DURING THE THING.
THE OTHER THING THAT I'VE BEEN LOOKING AT WITH THIS IS, AND, AND MAYBE I'VE MISSED THE MEETING, MAYBE I'VE MISSED THE, THE CALLS, BUT, UM, HAS ANYBODY SAT DOWN WITH THE METRO COUNCIL OR THE MEMBERS DIRECTLY AND TALKED ABOUT THIS WHOLE PROCESS AND PLAN AND, AND EVERYTHING THAT THAT'S GONNA HAPPEN IN THIS? I WOULD LIKE SOMEBODY TO DESCRIBE THE WHOLE PROCESS FROM A START TO FINISH.
YOU KNOW, WHAT TIME ARE THE LEAVE TIMES? IS IT GONNA GET TO NEW ORLEANS FOR PEOPLE IN TIME TO GO TO WORK, IN TIME TO GET UBERS, TO GET TO WHATEVER FACILITY THEY HAVE TO GET TO? UM, WHAT IMPROVEMENTS, IF WE DO THESE IMPROVEMENTS AT A CITY PARISH COST AND TWO YEARS DOWN THE ROAD YOU'VE GOT FOUR OR FIVE PEOPLE RIDING IT EVERY DAY AND IT'S NOT COST FEASIBLE AND THEY END THE SERVICE.
OR NOW ARE WE STUCK WITH THESE FACILITIES THAT WE'RE GONNA HAVE TO DO SOMETHING WITH? UM, HAS ANYBODY THOUGHT ABOUT, HAS ANYBODY TALKED TO THE INCOMING GOVERNOR? UM, YOU CAN SAY THAT THIS IS SOMETHING THAT WAS PASSED BY GOVERNOR EDWARDS AND HE, HE DID THIS WITH THE FUNDING AND SO ON AND SO FORTH.
BUT UNDERSTAND WE WAS IN THAT SAME BOAT, FROM MY UNDERSTANDING.
WE WAS IN THAT SAME BOAT WITH THE TRAM THAT WAS SUPPOSED TO GO FROM DOWNTOWN TO LSU.
AND THIS IS NOT A DISRESPECT TO MAYOR BROOME.
SHE'S THE EXECUTIVE OF THE CITY OF BATON ROUGE.
AND IT, THE WHOLE THING GOT CANCELED.
YOU KNOW, 'CAUSE YOU, YOU HAD A CHANGE OF ADMINISTRATION.
HAVE WE TALKED TO, UH, THE NEW GOVERNOR ENSURE THAT WE HAVE THESE FACILITIES BEFORE WE DEDICATE OUR, OR NOT FACILITIES, BUT THE FUNDING BEFORE WE DEDICATE OUR FUNDING AND EVERYTHING.
AND THE LAST THING I CAN FOCUS ON IS, YOU KNOW, IT IT'S PEOPLE YOU TALK ABOUT THE, THE PROCESS OR THE, THE TIMING OF EVERYTHING.
UM, MR. PHIL BROUGHT IT UP A WHILE AGO.
DO YOU HAVE TO GET ON THERE AT THREE 30 IN THE MORNING? I, I DON'T KNOW WHAT THE ROUTES ARE.
I'VE SEEN SOME STOPS THAT HAVE BEEN PUBLIC OR WHATEVER IT'S BEEN, YOU KNOW, SAID THAT THIS COULD TAKE A TWO HOUR, TWO AND A HALF HOUR TRIP TO GET TO NEW ORLEANS.
AND AGAIN, THE ONLY WAY THIS IS GONNA SURVIVE IS IF SOMEBODY LOOKS AT THIS AND SAYS, I CAN DO THIS MORE EFFICIENTLY THAN TAKING MY TIME OF GETTING IN MY CAR AND DRIVING TO NEW ORLEANS.
AND EVEN IF THAT'S A DAY TRIP TO DO BUSINESS DOWN THERE, THEN CATCH THE TRAIN TO COME BACK.
IT, IT IS GOT TO BE EFFICIENT AND, AND THE TIMING HAS TO BE THERE.
AND I HAVEN'T GOT ANY OF THE, I GUESS THE, THE DIRECT CONVERSATIONS, UM, WITH IT.
[01:40:01]
I SHOULD HAVE JUST WENT TO PUBLIC MEETINGS IF THEY HAD IT.BUT I FEEL LIKE WE'RE DOING THIS FUNDING.
WE CAN HAVE SOME PEOPLE COME TALK TO US DIRECTLY AND, AND GO THAT ROUTE.
SO THOSE ARE JUST SOME OF THE QUESTIONS THAT I WANT ANSWERED BEFORE PASSING SOMETHING LIKE THIS.
I I'M LOOKING FOR REASONS TO MOVE FORWARD WITH THIS.
I JUST DON'T HAVE EVERYTHING THAT I NEED RIGHT NOW, UH, TO DO THAT.
SO COUNCILMAN, I WILL SAY THAT, YOU KNOW, I'M GONNA BE THAT RESPONSIBLE PERSON TO DO THAT.
I DID NOT GET THE ACTUAL AGREEMENT FROM DOTD UNTIL, UM, LATE LAST WEEK.
THAT FOR ME TO BE ABLE TO FORWARD THAT ON TO THE COUNCIL TO BE SURE THEY UNDERSTOOD HOW WE WERE GOING TO ACTUALLY OPERATE THE FACILITY ITSELF.
AND, AND, AND FIRST LET ME SAY THAT, AND I DON'T EVER WANT ANYBODY TO THINK THAT FEDERAL DOLLARS OR OUR TAX DOLLARS, WE DO THAT.
BUT I MEAN THAT WE DO HAVE RAISED GRANT FUNDS AND THE, THE COUNCIL IS GOING TO APPROVE OR WOULD APPROVE THOSE GRANT FUNDS TO BE ABLE TO USE FOR THIS FACILITY TO CONSTRUCT.
IT'S NOT BE GOING TO BE THE TAJ MAHAL, BUT IT'LL BE SOMETHING THAT'S FUNCTIONAL AND OPERATIONAL.
'CAUSE IN REALITY, YOU'RE, EVERYBODY IN HERE CAN SAY HOW WE KNOW IF IT'S GONNA BE SUCCESSFUL.
A LOT OF THINGS CHANGE, UM, IN, IN GENERAL.
BUT I WILL TELL YOU THAT WE WE'RE GONNA GIVE THE BEST INFORMATION WE CAN TO YOU TO MAKE SURE YOU CAN AT LEAST HAVE WHAT WE HAVE TO MAKE THAT DECISION.
'CAUSE SOMEBODY'S ALREADY ASKED ME, WELL, WELL WHAT IS THIS GONNA COST US YEARLY? WELL, IN AGREEMENT IT SHOWS SOME THINGS WHERE WE ARE NOT GONNA PAY DIRECT COSTS FOR THE FIRST THREE YEARS AND STUFF.
BUT AT SOME POINT THE CITY'S GOING TO HAVE A COST.
AND, AND I DON'T DISAGREE WITH THAT.
BUT WE WON'T KNOW THAT UNTIL I, I, I KNOW WHAT THE FUNCTIONS ARE.
UTILITY COSTS, SEW COST, WATER COSTS, LIGHT LIGHTING.
WE'RE GONNA BE RESPONSIBLE JANITORIAL.
WE'LL ALSO BE RESPONSIBLE FOR THE, THE CLEANING AND RUBBING AROUND THE FACILITIES.
I DO KNOW THAT FOR A FACT THAT THAT'S GONNA BE A COST.
THAT BEING SAID, UH, I'M NOT SURE WHAT THAT COST IS GONNA BE UNTIL WE LEAST LOOK AT WHAT THESE ESTIMATES MAY BE.
AND THAT'S ONE OF THE THINGS WE WILL BE DOING WITH DOTD BECAUSE THEY'RE THE ONES WHO PUT THIS ESTIMATE.
AND I WANT TO EMPHASIZE THAT THAT IS AN ESTIMATE, NOT THE REAL DIRECT COST.
WE WON'T KNOW THAT UNTIL WE START TALKING ABOUT THAT AND SAY, GUYS, CAN YOU GIMME SOME PROPOSALS? GIMME AN IDEA WHAT THIS IS GONNA COST US.
AND, UH, I DON'T KNOW THAT I WISH I DID 'CAUSE IT'D MAKE IT A LOT SIMPLER.
BUT I THINK WE WILL KNOW IT FAIRLY SOON IN REGARDS TO THAT.
THE QUESTIONS YOU ASKED, THAT'S THE REASON I ASKED TO HAVE THIS THING DEFERRED BECAUSE I WANT TO BE ABLE TO HEAR EVERYTHING THAT THE COUNCIL HAS.
I'M GONNA TRY TO GET YOU TO ANSWERS TO THOSE, YOU KNOW, AND WE CAN AGREE TO DISAGREE.
AND I APPRECIATE THAT FROM EVERYBODY UP HERE.
AND I THINK, I MEAN, I CAN APPRECIATE Y'ALL'S POSITION, I UNDERSTAND THAT, BUT I WANNA BE SURE Y'ALL KNOW, HERE'S THE INFORMATION AND I JUST GOT IT.
I'M TRYING TO RELAY THAT INFORMATION OUT TO Y'ALL AND IT MAY NOT HAVE BEEN THE BEST PRACTICE, BUT I CERTAINLY DON'T WANT TO BE IN, IN ANY ARGUMENT IN REGARDS TO HOW WE WANT TO DO THIS.
AND THEN ULTIMATELY THIS COUNCIL MAKES THAT DECISION, RIGHT? RIGHT.
LOOK, I, AGAIN, SO MANY GREAT CITIES, THE TRAM SYSTEM THERE, I, YOU KNOW, I THOUGHT WE COULD, WE MIGHT EVEN BE TO THE POINT OF, OF LOOKING TO EXPAND THAT BY NOW IF WE'D HAVE WENT FORWARD WITH IT.
THIS IS KIND OF THE SAME THING HERE, YOU KNOW, IS, IS IS WE START THIS PROCESS, WE GIVE IT A TR YOU KNOW, I UNDERSTAND WE GOTTA PUT SOME MONEY UP, BUT TO, TO GROW AND TO, TO BE A A, A BIGGER, GREATER CITY.
THERE'S GOT TO BE SOME, SOME SERVICES DONE THAT ATTRACT CORPORATIONS AND, AND THINGS LIKE THAT.
NOW, I DO AGREE WITH, UM, MY COLLEAGUE COUNCILMAN DUNN, YOU KNOW, INSTEAD OF THE 14TH AND GOV STREET, IF, IF WE STARTED FROM THE AIRPORT, IF THAT WOULD SATISFY THE NEED OF NORTH BATON ROUGE.
AND LOOK, YOU KNOW, WE HAVE ALL THE SPUR ITEMS, WE CAN USE CATS.
OR EVEN IF THERE WAS A, A DIFFERENT, UH, A SMALLER TRAM RAIL OR DIRECT ACCESS ROUTE FROM, UH, THE COMMUNITY CENTERS THAT HE BROUGHT UP A WHILE AGO THAT THEY COULD GET TO THE TRAM AT THE AIRPORT AND THEN GO STRAIGHT INTO NEW ORLEANS AND STUFF LIKE THAT.
THAT WOULD BE, YOU KNOW, THAT WOULD BE GREAT.
BUT THOSE ARE THINGS THAT, UM, I I THINK WE NEED TO SEE IN A DEFINITIVE PLAN.
AND, AND I KNOW THAT'S NOT YOURS.
YOU GOT IT FROM, FROM THE STATE.
UM, I, I DIDN'T MEAN IF, IF YOU TOOK IT THAT WAY, I APOLOGIZE.
I DIDN'T MEAN THAT WE WAS TRYING TO AVOID US AND, AND JUST GET IT ON THE BOOKS.
I JUST MEANT THAT I THINK THERE'S SO MANY, THERE'S GREAT IDEAS IN THIS PROCESS THAT I THINK WITH, WITH OUR HELP AND IF WE'RE GONNA DO THE FUNDING AND STUFF, WHETHER WE MIGHT NEED TO COME UP WITH A LITTLE MORE OR, OR WE MAY NOT NEED AS MUCH, UM, WE CAN GET THIS DONE IN A BETTER PROCESS OF
[01:45:01]
WHAT THE COUNCIL MEMBERS THINK FROM THEIR DISTRICT AREA.WELL, I CERTAINLY AGREE, AND I JUST WANNA MAKE SURE Y'ALL KNOW THAT I'M GOING, THAT'S WHY I ASKED TO DEFER THE ITEM.
'CAUSE AFTER COMMUNICATING WITH Y'ALL, I DIDN'T FEEL COMFORTABLE THAT Y'ALL, Y'ALL HAD ENOUGH INFORMATION TO PROVIDE.
BUT BASED ON WHAT YOU'RE ASKING ME, I'M GONNA GIVE YOU MORE THAN YOU PROBABLY WANT.
BUT I WANT TO BE SURE YOU AT LEAST HAVE IT.
AND THAT WAY WE CAN MAKE A DECISION ON THAT.
I BUT I, I, I THINK THE INFORMATION THAT, THAT HAS BEEN BROUGHT UP BY THE PEOPLE THAT HAVE DISCUSSED SO FAR AND, AND MAYBE BY THE ONES THAT ARE COMING UP, IS IT, IT'S NOT NECESSARILY.
UM, I I THINK IT'S, I THINK IT'S MORE OF A BROADER GROUP AND, AND LIKE TO GET WITH Y'ALL'S GROUP AND, AND, AND TALK THIS OUT ALSO AND EVERYTHING ELSE.
I UNDERSTAND THAT YOU'RE, YOU'RE MANAGING AS FAR AS BRINGING IT TO US AND SO ON AND SO FORTH.
BUT I, I, I DON'T KNOW WHO'S RESPONSIBLE FOR THE ACTUAL PUTTING ALL THIS TOGETHER AND EVERYTHING.
SO, UM, MY COLLEAGUES BROUGHT UP SEVERAL POINTS THAT WERE A PART OF WHAT I WANTED TO ADDRESS.
ANYTIME WE INCREASE TRANSPORTATION, IT SHOULD PROVIDE EASE OF ACCESS FOR THE LOCAL COMMUNITY.
UM, I'M NOT AGAINST, I ALWAYS CALL IT THE, THE TRAINING DO ORLEANS WAS ABOUT TO USE THE OTHER NAME.
BUT, UM, I ALWAYS BELIEVE WE SHOULD HAVE LOCAL FIRST.
WE SHOULD PUT SOMETHING IN OUR CITY THAT ATTRACTS BUSINESSES TO WANT TO COME HERE AND, AND, AND STRIVE AND THRIVE.
SO I'VE TALKED TO CATS AS THEY PUT FUTURE PLANS IN PLACE.
I THINK THAT UGLY CENTERPIECE ON GOVERNMENT STREET COULD ACTUALLY BE A, A A, UH, RAILWAY LIKE IN NEW ORLEANS MEETINGS, WHICH PROVIDES ACCESS FOR US TO HAVE DIRECT PARKING RIDES TO GO DOWNTOWN.
IT ALSO OFFSET SOME OF THE TRAFFIC THAT'S COMING FROM MAYBE THE I 10 WIDENING.
IT WOULDN'T HAPPEN TO, WOULDN'T NECESSARILY HAVE TO DO THAT IF WE HAD PARKING RIDES IN BATON ROUGE THAT COME FROM MAYBE DENIM SPRINGS ALL THE WAY DOWN FLORIDA THAT DO CROSS THAT CORRIDOR.
SO A LOT OF TIMES WE WANT TO PLAY IN SOMEBODY ELSE'S BACKYARD IN SOMEBODY ELSE'S SANDBOX.
AND WE HAVEN'T TAKEN CARE OF OUR OWN FIRST.
WHEN WE LOOK AT MARKETS LIKE HOUSTON, TEXAS, AND DALLAS, THE ACCESS THAT THEY HAVE FROM PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION, ATLANTA, LOOK HOW THOSE CITIES HAVE GROWN BECAUSE OF LOCAL TRAM SERVICES.
IF YOU LOOK AT THE CITY OF HOUSTON, THEY STARTED WITH A SMALL RAILWAY DOWNTOWN.
AND I'VE GROWN THAT RAILWAY TREMENDOUSLY.
CREATED SEVERAL PARKING RIDES TO GET RID OF THE HUSTLE AND BUSTLE.
WE MAY NOT NEED A THIRD BRIDGE IF WE HAD PARKING RIDES OR IF WE HAD A LOCAL RAILWAY WITHIN OUR MUNICIPALITY.
SO WHILE I'M NOT AGAINST HAVING A TRAIN THAT GOES FROM BATON ROUGE TO NEW ORLEANS, I'D RATHER TAKE CARE OF MY HOUSE.
FIRST OF ALL, I TAKE CARE OF SOMEBODY ELSE'S.
WELL, FIRST I THINK IT SHOULD BE SAID FROM SOMEBODY UP HERE THAT THE TRAIN IS A PRETTY COOL IDEA, RIGHT? SO I DON'T WANT EVERYBODY TO THINK THAT, THAT THE, THE BATON ROUGE COUNCIL IS, IS ALL AGAINST THE TRAIN.
UM, I I WILL SAY HOWEVER, THAT I, I DO SHARE MANY OF THE CONCERNS THAT MY COLLEAGUES UP HERE HAVE.
UH, AND, AND I'LL ONLY ADD TO IT THAT MY MAJOR CONCERN IS THAT, UM, WE AS A CITY PARISH, THIS COUNCIL, THE ADMINISTRATION, UH, HAVE A TENDENCY TO DO WHAT I, WHAT I CALL GENERAL FUND CREEP, RIGHT? UM, WE HAVE A CORE SET OF SERVICES HERE IN THE CITY PARISH, UH, THAT WE FUND THROUGH THE GENERAL FUND.
THOSE INCLUDE DRAINAGE, POLICE PROTECTION, UH, MAINTENANCE OF OUR ROADS AND BRIDGES, ALL ALL THOSE DIFFERENT FUNCTIONS, THOSE CORE FUNCTIONS OF MUNICIPALITY.
UM, AND THEN WHEN WE GO ADDING THINGS, WE SORT OF LOSE SIGHT OF THE FACT THAT, UM, THOSE ADDITIONAL COSTS ARE GONNA IMPACT THE CORE SERVICES.
UH, SO I, I LIKE THE IDEA OF A TRAIN TO NEW ORLEANS.
UM, THERE MAY BE SOME DIFFERENT IDEAS ABOUT HOW EXACTLY TO ACCOMPLISH THAT TO MAKE IT THE BEST PATH FORWARD FOR OUR PARISH.
UH, BUT I THINK WE'VE GOTTA BE REALLY, REALLY CAREFUL ABOUT THAT GENERAL FUND CREEP.
UM, WE'RE ALREADY SEEING THIS YEAR'S BUDGET WHERE WE'VE GOT A REDUCTION IN DRAINAGE MAINTENANCE FUNDING.
UH, TO ME THAT'S, THAT'S UNACCEPTABLE, RIGHT? UH, WE'VE GOTTA PROTECT THAT GENERAL FUND DOLLARS, UH, TO MAKE SURE THAT WE CAN FUND OUR CORE SERVICES.
UM, WE CAN'T GO CHASING AFTER EVERYTHING, UH, THAT LOOKS PRETTY.
UM, ALTHOUGH IT'S A COOL PROJECT, UM, WE'VE GOTTA MAKE SURE AND ADDRESS OUR CORE SERVICES FOR OUR CONSTITUENTS FIRST.
SO THAT, THAT'S JUST MY THOUGHTS AND LOOK FORWARD TO WORKING THROUGH THOSE ISSUES WITH YOU IN THE NEXT COUPLE WEEKS.
I JUST WANTED TO GIVE JOHN AN OPPORTUNITY.
DID I MISREPRESENT ANYTHING ON YOU, JOHN, SPECIFICALLY TO THE AIRPORT? HE LAUGHING.
WITH ALL DUE RESPECT, I WANNA REMIND YOU THAT I CAME
[01:50:01]
HERE TO ASK YOU ALL TO READ THE REPORT.THIS IS YOUR DOCUMENT DONE BY THE EAST BATON ROUGE PARISH REDEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY FIVE YEARS AGO.
IT'S BEEN A PUBLIC DOCUMENT FOR FIVE YEARS.
I'M HERE TO RECALL YOUR ATTENTION TO IT BECAUSE OF THE ITEM ON THE AGENDA TODAY.
MANY OF THE QUESTIONS YOU'VE RAISED ARE LEGITIMATE AND MANY OF THEM ARE ANSWERED IN THIS STUDY, WHICH IS WHY I THINK IT'S SO IMPORTANT THAT YOU TAKE SOME TIME.
WE'VE TALKED ABOUT THE AIRPORT CONNECTION AT LENGTH.
I'VE MET PERSONALLY AS IF OTHERS WITH THE LEADERSHIP OF THE AIRPORT, BOTH PAST AND CURRENT.
YOU KNOW, WE DECIDED TO DO WHAT WE'VE DONE.
WE BEING THE COLLECTIVE BODY, AND THIS ISN'T A BRAFF TRAIN, THIS ISN'T A BRAFF REPORT.
I'VE JUST BEEN DEEPLY INVOLVED WITH IT BECAUSE OF THE SOUTHERN RAIL COMMISSION, WHICH WAS CREATED BY THE CONGRESS OF THE UNITED STATES.
WHEN THAT TRAIN GOES NORTH, AS WE SAID IT WILL, IN A FUTURE PHASE, WE'RE GONNA GET TO LOOK AT NORTH BATON ROUGE AGAIN.
SO I'M GONNA GIVE YOU AN EXAMPLE.
THAT'S, THAT'S MY, THAT'S ALL I NEEDED.
UH, I DON'T NEED ANYTHING ELSE FROM YOU.
AND I'D BE DELIGHTED TO SIT DOWN WITH EASTON AND EVERY ONE OF YOU AND, AND TELL YOU WHAT I, WE GOT, WE GOT IT.
THANK YOU ALL VERY MUCH FOR YOUR ATTENTION.
SO, UH, MAYOR MARION BARON, WHEN HE PUT THE SUBWAY IN, IN DC UH, THEY ASKED HIM WHY HE STARTED IT, WHERE HE STARTED AT, WHICH WAS IN THE UNDERSERVED MINORITY COMMUNITY.
HE SAID, BECAUSE IF I DON'T START IT THERE, IT'LL NEVER GET THERE.
AND IF YOU DON'T START THIS TRAIN IN NORTH BATON ROUGE, THE UNDERSERVED COMMUNITY, IT'LL NEVER GET THERE.
WE DON'T WANNA WAIT TILL THE NEXT PHASE.
WE WANNA BE A PART OF THE FIRST PHASE.
SO IF IT DON'T CONNECT TO THE AIRPORT AND CONNECT TO NORTH BATON ROUGE, YOU WON'T HAVE MY SUPPORT.
YOU MIGHT GET THEIR SUPPORT, BUT YOU WON'T GET MINE.
UH, THERE IS A MOTION, THERE'S A REQUEST BY, UH, THE DEPARTMENT HEAD TO DEFER THE ITEM UNTIL WHEN I, I THINK THAT IF I CAN'T GET THE INFORMATION, BUT I BELIEVE I GET EVERYBODY'S INFORMATION AND, AND HAVE A CHANCE TO DISCUSS THE ISSUE BEFORE THE NEXT MEETING POSSIBLE.
BEFORE THE NEXT MEETING, MAAM? UH, SO FRED? YES, MA'AM.
YEAH, SO WE, A LOT OF MINE HAS TO DO WITH INEQUITABLE AND YES MA'AM.
SO, SO DOES YOUR DATE, OR THAT'S WHY I DIDN'T KNOW IF YOU HAD THAT KIND OF TIME.
WILL YOUR DATA BE ABLE TO GIVE INFORMATION ON RIDERSHIP, UH, CURRENTLY THROUGHOUT THE COMMUNITY OR WHO, WHO'S GOING FROM NEW ORLEANS TO THAT MOVE? THERE, THERE WERE, THERE WERE ACTUAL, I KNOW, TESTS TO LOOK AT WHAT THESE AREAS WOULD BE ATTRACTED TO AND WHY THEY WOULD HAVE THAT SERVICE.
IT IS, IT IS IN THE SAME BOOK THAT, AND WILL IT BE ABLE TO TALK ABOUT THE, IN ABOUT, UH, RESIDENTIAL APARTHEID? WILL IT BE ABLE TO TALK ABOUT THE FACT THAT PEOPLE WILL NOT, THERE WILL BE FUNDING PEOPLE WHO WOULD NORMALLY STOP ALONG THE WAY BETWEEN THEM LOSING MONEY? HA HAVE THEY, IS THERE A WORK ON EACH? YOU SEE WHAT I'M ASKING? YES, MA'AM.
I UNDERSTAND WHAT YOU'RE ASKING.
I JUST DON'T, WHEN I, WHAT I READ IN THIS BOOK, I DON'T SEE THAT.
BUT I, WHAT I'M GONNA DO IS MAKE SURE THAT I REREAD IT AGAIN BECAUSE THERE'S A LOT OF QUESTIONS THAT WERE ASKED THAT I WANT TO PICK UP ON SO I CAN MAKE REFERENCE TO IT IN THE DOCUMENT.
AND THE ONLY REASON I WAS ASKING YOU SURE.
'CAUSE I'M GONNA TYPE YOU MINE AND SEND YOU, AND IT'S ABOUT 20 QUESTIONS AND A LOT OF IT HAS TO DO WITH DATA.
SO THAT'S THE ONLY REASON I'M ASKING YOU.
AND, AND I UNDERSTAND THAT COUNCILWOMAN BANKSON, YOU KNOW, AND I CERTAINLY, UH, I'M TRYING TO MAKE SURE I MEET SCHEDULES BECAUSE WHAT I DON'T WANT TO DO IS TO JEOPARDIZE THE RAISE GRANT FUNDING.
THAT IS THE, IF I DON'T HAVE THAT FUNDING THEN, WHICH HAS ALREADY BEEN APPROVED, BUT I DON'T, AND IF I DON'T MEET A TIMETABLE, WHICH THEY ACTUALLY ASKED ME BY THE END OF THE YEAR, I, I'M TRYING TO VERIFY THAT IF I CAN PUSH THAT BACK AND I MAY COME AT THE NEXT MEETING AND SAY I'M GONNA PUSH IT BACK A LITTLE LONGER, BUT I WANT, I WANT TO BE SURE I DON'T JEOPARDIZE THE FUNDING BECAUSE THAT'S IMPORTANT.
AND YOU, YOU, THE POSITION YOU ARE IN IS EXACTLY WHY WE ARE HAVING A PROBLEM.
BECAUSE THEN THERE'S HEAT ON OUR NECK TO MEET A DEADLINE TO JEOPARDIZE FUNDING, IT'S GONNA GO AWAY.
YOU KNOW, THIS THE FEAR, EVEN THOUGH IT'S REAL, BUT THE FEAR TACTIC, I DON'T KNOW WHEN YOU APPLIED FOR THE GRANT, BUT THAT SHOULD NOT BE OUR BURDEN.
THAT SHOULD IN, IN THIS DECISION.
THAT SHOULD NOT BE OUR BURDEN.
COUNCIL MEMBER, DO YOU HAVE PROMOTION? PROMOTION? DO YOU HAVE A MOTION? I I I REALLY WOULD LIKE TO MAKE A MOTION THAT E AND I AND IT IS TOTALLY UP TO YOU THAT YOU DEFER THIS FOR 60 TO 90 DAYS OR YOU DELETE IT.
BUT THAT SHOULD NOT BE OUR ISSUE AS IT RELATES TO THE FUNDING.
BECAUSE IF IT NEEDS TO GO AWAY, IT JUST MIGHT BE GOD'S WILL THAT IT GOES AWAY.
WHAT'S YOUR MOTION COUNCIL MEMBER? I I, I'D LIKE TO LEAVE IT TO, UH, THE DEPARTMENT TO MAKE AN EXECUTIVE DECISION ON WHAT IS IN THE BEST INTEREST OF THE COUNCIL AND THE COMMUNITY, NOT THE RAISE GRANT COUNCIL MEMBER ROCKFORD.
MR. RY, HOW MUCH TIME DO YOU NEED?
[01:55:02]
WELL, I GUESS QUESTION NUMBER ONE WOULD BE, I'M WANNA LOOK AT THESE QUESTIONS THAT WERE ASKED AND SEE IF I CAN GET THE INFORMATION FROM THAT.AND IF I CAN AT LEAST DO THAT, THEN I CAN AT LEAST PROVIDE THAT DUE TO COUNCIL MY OPINION.
IT DON'T MATTER IF IT'S NEXT WEEK OR TWO WEEKS OR FIVE WEEKS FROM NOW, IF I DON'T ANSWER YOUR QUESTIONS, THEY'LL GIVE YOU A CHANCE TO ANSWER YOUR QUESTIONS, WHICH NOW I AT LEAST HAVE.
'CAUSE IF YOU MAKE A DECISION NOT TO APPROVE IT, WELL THAT'S Y'ALL'S DECISION, BUT IT WON'T BE BASED ON THE FACT THAT I DIDN'T PROVIDE THE INFORMATION THAT YOU WANT IT.
SOME OF IT YOU MAY NOT, I MAY NOT HAVE BECAUSE IT'S NOT DICTATED IN THE REPORT OR THE THINGS THAT WE'RE GOVERNED, THAT I'M GOVERNED BY BECAUSE THIS IS NOT THIS, THIS IS ODD DOCUMENT.
THIS IS THE CITY PARISH DOCUMENT.
BUT I, IT MAY NOT HAVE EVERY QUESTION THAT PEOPLE ARE ASK.
AND I'M GOING TO TRY TO LOOK FOR THAT AND SEE IF IT IS, I'M GONNA PROVIDE IT TO YOU.
AND IF I CAN GET THAT QUICKLY ENOUGH, I'D RATHER DO THAT BY THE, BEFORE THE END OF YEAR, IF NOT THAN I JUST ASSUME PUSH IT TO, TO, TO JANUARY SOMETIME TO TRY TO MAKE SURE THAT I, UH, HOPEFULLY I CAN TRY TO ALSO FIND AN ANSWER TO THAT AT THAT POINT IN TIME TO SEE IF I DON'T JEOPARDIZE THE FUNDING.
AND I, I DON'T DISAGREE WITH COUNCILWOMAN BANKS.
BUT YOU KNOW, IT BECOMES OUR PROBLEM.
IF I, I I TRY TO GET THIS, THIS OPPORTUNITY TO HAVE THIS SYSTEM AND THEN ALL OF A SUDDEN WE CAN'T BECAUSE I MISSED THE OPPORTUNITY ON THE GRANT.
THAT'S MY, THAT'S MY ONLY COMMENT.
SO WOULD A JANUARY DATE BE I WOULD ASK THAT, THAT BEFORE I MAKE THAT DECISION, I WOULD LIKE TO MAKE SURE I VERIFY THE TIMEFRAMES WITH DOTD AND THE FEDS.
I'M NOT, I MEAN, I JUST DON'T WANNA DO THAT.
UH, AND LOOKING AT THESE QUESTIONS, WHICH ARE NOT A WHOLE LOT, AND I'M GONNA GO THROUGH THE REPORT AND THEN, UH, JOHN SPAN DIDN'T REALIZE, BUT HE'S NOW WORKING FOR ME TO DO SOME OF THIS STUFF TOO.
SO, UH, UH, I'M GOING TO SEE WHAT I NEED TO DO TO TRY TO HELP ANSWER YOUR QUESTION.
SO DO YOU WANT TWO WEEKS? 30 DAYS? 30 DAYS, Y'ALL.
BUT MOTION TO DAY, MY QUESTION IS, OH, SORRY.
IF, IF IT'S POSSIBLE, I, I MAY BE ABLE TO GET THIS AND I WANT TO TALK TO THE, THE RIGHT PEOPLE TO BE SURE I DON'T JEOPARDIZE THE FUNDING, GUYS.
AND IF I, IF IT'S NOT A PROBLEM PUSHING IT BACK, I'M GONNA TELL YOU AT THE NEXT MEETING THAT I'M GONNA PUSH IT BACK OR YOU'LL STILL BE GETTING YOUR INFORMATION THAT I MAY HAVE THAT YOU'VE BEEN REQUESTING AND I WILL GET THAT FOR YOU.
COUNCIL MEMBER ROCKER? YES, SIR.
WE HAVE FAITH IN, IN YOU DOING THOSE THINGS.
YOU'VE ALWAYS, UM, BROUGHT TO US EXACTLY WHAT WE NEEDED AFTER WE'VE ASKED.
SO, UM, I'M GONNA MAKE A REQUEST TO DEFER FOR A 30 DAYS COUNCIL MEMBER.
BARAKA, WE DON'T HAVE A 30 DAY DEFERRAL BECAUSE WE HAVE ONE MEETING 45 DAYS IN JANUARY.
YOU HAVE TO BE, UH, DECEMBER 13TH OR JANUARY.
WHAT DO YOU PREFER, MR. RICK? I WOULD RATHER THE 13TH.
AND THEN IF I PLEASE, THERE'S A MOTION TO DEFER TO DECEMBER 13TH AND THE SECOND ARE THERE ANY OBJECTIONS ITEM HAS BEEN DEFERRED TO DECEMBER 13TH, PAGE 15.
[99. 23-01541]
COUNCIL MEMBERS A RESOLUTION PROVIDED.THANK YOU COUNSEL FOR CANVASING FOR THE RETURN OF DECLARING AND RESULT OF THE SPECIAL ELECTION HELD IN THE PARISH OF EAST FAIR STATE OF LOUISIANA ON SATURDAY, OCTOBER 14TH FOR THE PURPOSE OF AUTHORIZING RENEWAL OF THE LEVY, OF THE COLLECTION OF THE 3.13 MEALS AND ALARM TAX TO BE USED ENTIRELY AND EXCLUSIVELY TO PROVIDE FUNDS FOR THE DEPARTMENT OF EMERGENCY MEDICAL SERVICE IN THE PARISH OF EAST BATON ROUGE, LOUISIANA.
ANYONE HERE WISHES TO SPEAK ON ITEM 99? UH, WE GO THE GATHER THE COUNCIL MEMBER.
THE COUNCIL MEMBER ADAMS MOTION TO APPROVE.
[100. 23-01510]
TO ITEM 100.AUTHORIZE THE MAYOR PRESIDENT TO ACCEPT THE GRANT ON BEHALF OF THE LOCAL WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT BOARD.
21 LOUISIANA WORKFORCE COMMISSION OFFICE OF WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT TO ADMINISTER A WORKFORCE INNOVATION OPPORTUNITY ACT PROGRAM IN THE AMOUNT OF $3,588,660 BY THE MAYOR'S OFFICE.
ANYONE WISHING TO SPEAK ON ITEM 100 WHEN I GO TO COUNCIL MEMBERS? IS THERE A MOTION TO APPROVE SOME MOVE BY COUNCIL MEMBER CO.
IF I CAN HAVE THE DIRECTOR COME UP.
I JUST COULDN'T SEE YOU AROUND THE, UH,
[Items 101 & 103]
I, ITEMS 1 0 1 AND 1 0 3 ARE DUPLICATE.OKAY, SO NOT THREE SEPARATE GRANTS.
AND CAN YOU PROMOTE, UH, A LITTLE BIT ABOUT THE ACTIVITIES THAT ARE ASSOCIATED WITH THE 3.5 MILLION MM-HMM.
SO THIS FUNDING COMES FROM THE WORKFORCE INNOVATION AND OPPORTUNITY ACT.
THIS FLOWS THROUGH THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR THROUGH THE LOUISIANA WORKFORCE COMMISSION.
IT'S THEN GIVEN TO THE 15 LOCAL BOARDS IN THE STATE EAST.
BATON ROUGE PARISH IS ONE OF THOSE LOCAL BOARDS FOR AREA 21.
WITH THIS FUNDING, WE, UM, ARE TAR ARE TASKED WITH PROVIDING WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITIES FOR OUR CITIZENS IN THE PARISH.
THOSE ACTIVITIES AND THE FUNDING IS BROKEN DOWN INTO THREE DIFFERENT FUNDING
[02:00:01]
STREAMS FOR ADULTS, DISLOCATED WORKERS, AND THE YOUTH POPULATION.AND IN YOUR EFFORTS, DO YOU GO INTO THE COMMUNITY TO PROMOTE THE OPPORTUNITIES ASSOCIATED WITH THESE FUNDING? UH, YES.
WE PARTICIPATE IN BOTH COMMUNITY EVENTS, PARTICIPATE IN JOB FAIRS AND ACTIVITIES THAT HAPPEN AROUND THE PARISH.
WE ALSO HOST EVENTS AT OUR LOCATION AT EMPLOYEE B, WHICH IS ON PLAN ROAD.
I WELCOME YOU TO DISTRICT THREE TO HOST SOME EVENTS.
UM, I'LL MAKE A MOTION TO APPROVE.
A MOTION TO APPROVE BY COUNCIL MEMBER GOEY, UH, COUNCIL MEMBER BANKS.
YOU AND I HAVE TALKED ABOUT, UM, THE FINANCING AND STRETCHING OF FINANCING THE NEED.
AND SO IS THIS 3 MILLION PLUS, UM, THE SAME FUNDING YOU AND I HAVE BEEN TALKING ABOUT THAT HAS NOT REALLY BEEN ABLE TO, UM, MEET THE NEEDS AND BE ABLE TO REALLY DO A LOT OF THE WORK IN THE ROBUST MANNER IN WHICH YOU WOULD LIKE? SO THIS IS THE NEW ALLOCATION OF FUNDING.
THE FUNDING COMES IN, IT COMES EVERY YEAR IN TWO YEAR CYCLES.
RIGHT NOW WE ARE WORKING ON THE LAST ALLOCATION, THE LAST, UM, REMAINING FUNDS THAT'LL EXPIRE IN JUNE.
THE 3.5 MILLION MO PRETTY MUCH ALL EXCEPT TWO OF THE 15 LOCAL WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT BOARDS HAVE BEEN CUT IN THE RECENT YEARS.
WE WERE CUT BY ABOUT 18% BETWEEN THE LAST, UH, TWO FUNDING CYCLES.
SO THE FUNDING GETS TIGHTER AND TIGHTER, AND IT'S TIED TO THE UNEMPLOYMENT RATE AND, AND OTHER, UM, AVENUES WE HAVE WITH THE FUNDING WE HAVE, WE HAVE PLANNED OUT TO, UM, MAKE SURE THAT WE CAN MEET THE NEEDS OF THE COMMUNITY AND OUR CITIZENS AND GET THOSE WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITIES UP AND GOING.
SO, UM, I DON'T, I KNOW THERE'S A TRADITIONAL WAY IN WHICH, UM, UH, WIOA, BUT I WAS WONDERING ABOUT DIFFERENT, ANOTHER INNOVATIVE METHOD WOULD BE, IS IT POSSIBLE TO, UM, TO WORK MORE WITH, WITH, UH, EMPLOYERS? YOU KNOW, WE TALK, I, THAT, THAT'S MY THEME TRAINING AND EMPLOYERS.
AND I CAN'T SAY THAT IT IS THE BEST.
UM, YOU KNOW, WE, I'VE, I'VE, UH, THERE ARE TRAINING, UM, PARTNERSHIPS THAT HAVE NOT BEEN ABLE TO GET THEIR STUDENTS THROUGH.
I DON'T UNDERSTAND WHY THE BOARD HAS TO APPROVE PARTICIPANTS.
THE BOARD DOES NOT APPROVE THE PARTICIPANTS THAT COME THROUGH OUR FUND, UH, COME THROUGH OUR OFFICE.
THAT'S DONE JUST BASED ON THE WIOA REGULATIONS.
WE ARE WORKING MORE CLOSELY WITH BUSINESS AND INDUSTRY TO DEVELOP INNOVATIVE PARTNERSHIPS.
WE ACTUALLY JUST SCHEDULED MEETINGS TO DO A PARTNERSHIP WITH TWO LOCAL HEALTHCARE, UH, TRAINING PROVIDERS.
AND ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT ROSEBUD, ROSEBUD AND HEART ACADEMY? YES.
AND WHAT'S THE OTHER ONE? HEART ACADEMY.
IT, IT, IT WASN'T THE, UH, BOARD APPROVING THE PART, IT IS THE BOARD APPROVING THE TRAINING PROGRAMS AND, UM, THE EMPLOYERS.
IS IT, SO THE BOARD, AND TO ME IT'S, THAT SEEMS LIKE AN ADMINISTRATIVE MM-HMM.
AND IT IS BECAUSE YOU MEET WHAT, ONCE A MONTH? THE LOCAL WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT BOARD MEETS QUARTERLY.
SO WE MEET, SO THERE ARE PEOPLE WHO ARE APPLY AND THEY HAVE TO WAIT THREE MONTHS.
IS THAT FEDERALLY MANDATED? THE FEDERAL REGULATIONS STATE THAT THE WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT BOARD SET THE PRIORITIES FOR WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITIES.
WHAT THAT MEANS IS THEY'RE GONNA LOOK AT THE LOCAL MARKET ANALYSIS, THE LMI AND SET THE TOP FIVE INDUSTRIES, LET'S JUST SAY HEALTHCARE CONSTRUCTION.
IT, SO I, FROM THERE, WE'RE GONNA, I GOT THAT 'CAUSE SO, BUT ONCE THAT'S SAID MM-HMM.
THE BOARD GOT GUIDE YOU IN THE PRIORITIES BASED ON WHAT? RIGHT.
SO, BUT WHY ARE WE WAITING, FOR INSTANCE, LIKE ROSEBUD, I MEAN NOW IT'S LIKE SIX MONTHS.
BUT WHY ARE WE WAITING UNTIL THE BOARD MEETS TO APPROVE INDIVIDUAL? THE BOARD DOES NOT APPROVE INDIVIDUAL TRAINING OR ELIGIBLE TRAINING PROVIDERS.
WELL, YOU KNOW, THAT'S WHAT, WHAT, WHAT HAPPENED THERE, RIGHT.
THE BOARD FOR ROSEBUD, THE BOARD, IT WASN'T A BOARD ISSUE SPECIFIC.
SO THE EMAILS WEREN'T CORRECT.
WE, WE DO, UM, LIKE I SAID, WE'RE MEETING WITH THEM ACTUALLY NEXT WEEK.
SO ON THE AVERAGE, IS IT 30 DAYS?
[02:05:01]
YES.BUT, BUT THAT'S DEPENDING ON OUR PARTICIPANTS BRINGING THE DOCUMENTS THAT WE HAVE TO HAVE NO, THAT THE TRAINING THE PROGRAM.
OH, FOR THE TRAINING PROVIDER.
I THINK IF YOU BEGIN TO TELL ALL THAT YES.
AND HAVE A, A JOB FAIR FOR EMPLOYERS FOR THE PARTNERSHIP.
IF YOU HAD ANY CLOSING, BUT, UH, THANK YOU SO MUCH.
THANK, UH, COUNCIL MEMBER BANKS.
FIRST I WANNA SAY, I KNOW THERE'S A MOTION ON THE FLOOR IF THERE'S NO SECOND, I WANNA SECOND IT.
I WANNA ALSO SAY, I THINK THIS IS ONE OF THE, UM, MOST IMPACTFUL PROGRAMS AND FUNDING SOURCES WE HAVE IN CITY PARISH, GOVERNMENT.
UM, JUST TO BE CLEAR, THESE DOLLARS PUT PEOPLE TO WORK WHO ARE DISPLACED, EITHER BEEN FIRED, STUDENTS WHO ARE LOOKING FOR WORK.
AND THOSE REENTERING OUR SOCIETY FROM INCARCERATION.
I THINK IT HELPS THE INDIVIDUAL, IT HELPS, UH, A SMALL BUSINESS OR ORGANIZATION.
I'D ENCOURAGE ALL MY COLLEAGUES TO TAP INTO THIS, CONNECT WITH AMANDA AND HER TEAM AND MAXIMIZE THIS PROGRAM.
UM, THERE ARE SOME, SOME CHALLENGES.
I'VE HAD, YOU KNOW, ROBUST CONVERSATIONS WITH THEM AND THEY'VE BEEN WORKING WITH ME TO, TO SPEED THE PROCESS UP WITH SOME PEOPLE GOING THROUGH THE SYSTEM.
UH, I WANNA THANK LESLIE AND HER TEAM FOR GETTING INVOLVED IN INTERVENING.
UH, THERE ARE SOME SHORTAGES, SOME STAFF SHORTAGES OVER THERE THAT WE NEED TO ADDRESS WITH THEM.
UM, AND COUNCILMAN HERSEL LIKE THIS, UH, PAY, UH, PAY IS AN ISSUE AS WELL.
SO WE NEED TO LOOK AT PAY WITH THIS PROGRAM.
BUT, BUT JUST WANNA TAKE, TIP MY HAT OFF TO YOU AND YOUR TEAM AND, UH, I THINK WE NEED TO CONTINUE THIS PROGRAM.
SO I, I HAVE, IF I COULD THIRD IT, I WOULD TO APPROVE THE DOLLARS, BUT I ALSO KNOW HE SAID IT IS ONE OF, IF IT IS NOT ONE OF, IT IS THE MOST IMPORTANT DEPARTMENT THAT WE HAVE IN ALL THE CITY PARISH, BUT IT, IT IS ALSO THE MOST CHALLENGING DEPARTMENT IN ALL THE CITY PARISH.
AND I WORK WITH THEM RELIGIOUSLY.
AND, AND I BELIEVE SOME OTHER STAFF, UM, I MEAN COLLEAGUES HAVE AS WELL.
AND UM, SOME OF THE CHALLENGES ARE WORKFORCE RELATED.
WE TALK ABOUT THAT IN PAY, NOT BEING ABLE TO HIRE PEOPLE.
UM, POSSIBLY HAVING TO LET PEOPLE GO AND BRING THEM BACK ON, BUT CLOSE SOME OF THAT GAP BECAUSE WE CAN'T GET 'EM HIRED.
BUT I ALWAYS ASK PEOPLE THIS, LET'S SAY THE PAGE STUDY DOESN'T WORK.
SO IF NOTHING WERE TO CHANGE, AS A DIRECTOR, YOUR JOB IS TO THINK OUTSIDE OF THE BOX AND NOT MAKE CITY PARISH PROCESS THE EXCUSE TO NOT BE ABLE TO MOVE FORWARD IN A MORE EXPEDITIOUS MANNER.
SO WE'VE HAD SEVERAL CALLS ABOUT WHEN, JUST LIKE THE POLICE, YOU'RE SHORT A THOUSAND OFFICERS.
SO IS THAT AN EXCUSE NOT TO BE ABLE TO POLICE OUR CITY? NO, IT'S NOT.
SO THAT MEANS THAT THERE'S MONIES LEFT OVER.
AND HOW DO WE REALLOCATE THOSE FUNDS TO CLOSE SOME OF THOSE GAPS? I'VE HAD 10,000 CONVERSATIONS ABOUT COMPUTER AIDED SOFTWARE AND AUTOMATION.
BECAUSE THE BIGGEST BREAKDOWN THAT YOU GUYS HAVE IS COMMUNICATION BETWEEN THE APPLICANTS AND THE ORGANIZATION.
WHAT THEY'RE MISSING, WHAT THE NEXT STEPS ARE.
IF BRIAN'S COMPUTER SOFTWARE FOR, AGAIN, I GO BACK TO LIKE WE TALKED ABOUT EARLIER, CAN TELL ME WHEN I'M, WHEN I'M DUE FOR A TRAINING AND THERE'S SOFTWARE OUT THERE THAT CAN SAY, YOU'RE MISSING THIS DOCUMENT BECAUSE I, I HAD TWO HOMELESS PEOPLE QUIT YOUR PROGRAM.
AND I'M GONNA SAY THAT PUBLICLY, THEY'D RATHER BE HOMELESS TO GO THROUGH THE CUMBERSOME PROCESS OF WORK OF, OF EMPLOYED PR AND WORK IN THE WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT ARM.
SO YOUR PROGRAM IS A PROGRAM THAT GIVES A HOPELESS HOPE.
BUT IF THE HOPELESS ARE GETTING BEAT UP BECAUSE THERE'S SO MANY BARRIERS TO ENTRY, THEN YOU BECOME A PART OF THE PROBLEM, NOT A PART OF THE SOLUTION.
AND SO I ASK YOU THAT, I KNOW WE TALKED ABOUT THIS, ABOUT CHALLENGES UP AND DOWN, BUT COME TO US WITH A SOLUTION BY THE END OF FIRST QUARTER OF NEXT YEAR OF WHAT SOFTWARE YOU HAVE CHOSEN.
'CAUSE WHAT YOU DO IS CLOSE THE GAP IN UNDERSERVED COMMUNITIES.
AND, AND I AND I, LOOK, I'M GONNA BE TRANSPARENT.
WE HAVE PARTNERS AND THIS, THIS WAS NOT ON YOUR WATCH AMANDA, SO LEMME MAKE THIS CLEAR.
UM, BUT WE HAVE PARTNERS THAT CHOOSE NOT TO WORK WITH WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT AND BE A PARTNER.
WE HAVE OTHER LOCAL ENTITIES THAT CHOOSE TO COMPETE WITH YOU.
'CAUSE THEY DON'T BELIEVE IN WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT.
YET WE AS A COUNCIL BODY AND AS AN ADMINISTRATION ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR FUNDING YOU AND OVERSEEING WHAT YOU DO.
SO I TAKE THIS PERSONAL BECAUSE PEOPLE WHO ARE EMPLOYED, PEOPLE WHO HAVE A LIVABLE WAGE, PEOPLE WHO ARE EDUCATED
[02:10:01]
DO NOT ROB STEAL AND KILLED.SO YOU HELP WITH CRIME PREVENTION, YOU HELP WITH COMMUNITY INTERVENTION AND I EXPECT TO SEE SOMETHING BY THE END OF FIRST QUARTER.
I'D JUST LIKE TO SAY YES TO THIS EMPLOYEE VR, BUT THERE ARE SOME CONCERNS OF MIND AND THAT IS THAT TIME FACTOR.
AND THE OTHER THING IS WITH THIS, THERE OUGHT TO BE AN INDIVIDUAL PLAN WHEN A PERSON EXITS YOUR PROGRAM.
AND WITH THAT BEING SAID, I DON'T SEE THAT PLAN BEING IMPLEMENTED.
YOU KNOW, MY CONCERN IS WITH A LOT OF ENTITIES, POLICY, PROCEDURE.
AND SO IN THE MAJORITY OF THE POSITIONS IN EMPLOYEE VR, FOLK MAY MAKE $15 AN HOUR, WHICH IS PRETTY GOOD.
OKAY? BUT THEY ONLY HAVE A YEAR TO WORK WITH YOU.
AND A PART OF YOUR JOB IS TO CONNECT THEM TO A JOB, BUT YOU'LL DROP THE BALL WITH CONNECTING THEM TO JOBS.
SO YES TO EMPLOY BR, BUT THOSE HOLES MUST BE FIXED.
AND INDIVIDUAL PLANS FOR ALL OF THE PEOPLE THAT ARE A PART OF THIS EMPLOYEE VR OUGHT TO BE EMPLOYEE VR.
I'VE HAD SOME FOLK OVER THERE AT THE CENTER AND THEY'VE WORKED WELL.
HAVE NO CLUE AS TO WHERE HE'S GOING TO GO TO.
THERE'S NO PLAN AND THAT'S BAD.
YOU DON'T HAVE NO PLAN THAT'S BAD.
HAVE NO PLAN FOR WHERE HE NEEDS TO GO OR CAN GO NO CONNECTION.
THERE IS A MOTION ON THE FLOOR TO APPROVE BY COUNCILMAN MAG GODDE, SECONDED BY COUNCIL MEMBER DUNTON JR.
ARE THERE ANY OBJECTIONS? ITEM 1 0 1 HAS BEEN APPROVED.
[102. 23-01532]
GO TO ITEM 1 0 2 TO AMEND THE 2023 ANNUAL OPERATING CAPITAL BUDGET FOR EMERGENCY MEDICAL SERVICES TO APPROPRIATE 1,500,000 FROM EMERGENCY MEDICAL SERVICES FUND BALANCE UNASSIGNED TO BUILD EMS STATION IN THE PRIOR AREA OF THE PARISH BY EMERGENCY MEDICAL SERVICES DIRECTOR.IS ANYONE HERE WISHING TO SPEAK ON ITEM 1 0 2 AND NOW GO TO COUNCIL MEMBERS.
IS THERE A MOTION TO APPROVE? SO MOVE BY COUNCIL MEMBER GODDE SECONDED BY COUNCIL MEMBER OSA.
ITEM 1 0 3 IS A DUPLICATE ITEM AND WE'RE GONNA NEED, UH, TO DELETE THIS ITEM.
ITEM 1 0 3 IS THE DUPLICATE OF AUTHORIZING THE MAYOR PRESIDENT TO ACCEPT THE GRANT ON BEHALF OF LOCAL WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT BOARD 21 LOUISIANA WORKFORCE COMMISSION OFFICE OF WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT TO ADMINISTER THE WORKFORCE INNOVATION AND OPPORTUNITY ACT.
AND THE MILE OF THREE REMAIN $588,660.
WE'VE ALREADY HAD THE PUBLIC HEARING AND NOW ENTERTAIN A MOTION TO DELETE THE ITEM.
SO MOVED BY COUNCIL MEMBER GODDE, SECONDED BY THE CHAIR AND THE OBJECTIONS ITEM 1 0 3 HAS BEEN DELETED.
[104. 23-01559]
AUTHORIZE THE MAYOR PRESIDENT TO EXECUTE AN AMENDMENT TO THE AGREEMENT WITH THE WALLACE PROJECT IN THE AMOUNT OF 38,500 FOR A TOTAL OF 77,000 TO ASSIST THE CITY PARISH DEVELOPMENT STRATEGIC PLAN FOR BROADBAND AND DIGITAL EQUITY ACCESS ALONG THE COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT APPROPRIATING FUNDS TO SET PURPOSE TO ANYONE HERE WISH TO SPEAK ON THE ITEM WE NOW GO TO COUNCIL MEMBER.SO MOVED BY COUNCIL MEMBER DUNN, SECONDED BY COUNCIL MEMBER HURST.
ANY OBJECTIONS WE GO TO ITEM 1 0 5
[105. 23-01566]
AUTHORIZED THE MAYOR PRESENT TO CHECK EXECUTE AMENDMENT WITH THE CONTRACT FOR THE WASTE MANAGEMENT RENEWABLE ENERGY LLC, FORMERLY BAT RENEWABLE ENERGY LLC TO EXPAND THE GAS COLLECTION SYSTEM TO THE NORTH LANDFILL AND THE MOUNT NOT EXCEED $1,114,000 BY THE ENVIRONMENTAL SERVICES DIRECTOR.ANYONE HERE WITH YOU TO SPEAK ON ITEM 1 0 5? WE NOW GO TO COUNCIL MEMBER.
SO MOVED BY COUNCIL MEMBER HER SECONDED BY THE CHAIR.
[106. 23-01567]
ITEM 1 0 6.AUTHORIZED MAYOR PRESIDENT TO EXECUTE AMENDMENT NUMBER FOUR FOR GRADY CRAWFORD CONSTRUCTION COMPANY FOR THE CONSTRUCTION SERVICE AND CONNECTION WITH DANIEL STORMWATER PIPE REPAIR AND REPLACEMENT PROJECT RESULTING IN THE INCREASE OF THE CONTRACT AND THE AMOUNT OF 975,000 BY THE ENVIRONMENTAL SERVICES DIRECTOR.
IS ANYONE HERE WISHING TO SPEAK ON THE ITEM? WE NOW GO TO COUNCIL MEMBERS.
IS THERE A MOTION TO APPROVE ITEM 1 0 6.
SO MOVED BY COUNCIL MEMBER AMAROSA, SECONDED BY THE CHAIR.
SO MOVED BY COUNCIL MEMBER ADAM SECONDED BY THE CHAIR.
[107. 23-01568]
GONNA COUNT.ITEM 1 0 7 AUTHORIZED THE MAYOR PRESIDENT TO EXECUTE A CONTRACT WITH EJES INCORPORATED TO PROVIDE ENGINEERING DESIGN SERVICES FOR CONSTRUCTION OF THE GEORGIA
ANYONE HERE HAS WISHES TO SPEAK ON THAT ITEM? WE NOW GO TO COUNCIL MEMBERS.
[02:15:01]
IS THERE A MOTION TO APPROVE SOME MOVED BY COUNCIL MEMBER ADAM SECONDED BY COUNCIL MEMBER HUDSON.[108. 23-01569]
1 0 8 AUTHORIZED MAYOR PRESIDENT TO EXECUTE A CONTRACT WITH PROFESSIONAL ENGINEERING SERVICES WITH BONTON ASSOCIATES LLC FOR SERVICE ASSOCIATED REMOVAL BEYOND ENHANCEMENT PROJECTS, ANY AMOUNT NOT TO EXCEED EIGHTY NINE THOUSAND EIGHT HUNDRED NINETY TWO THOUSAND NINETY TWO CENTS BY THE TRANSPORTATION AND DRAINAGE DIRECT.ANYONE HERE WISHES TO SPEAK ON THE ITEM? WE NOW GO BACK TO THE COUNCIL.
SO MOVED BY COUNCIL MEMBER HER SECONDED BY THE CHAIR.
[109. 23-01580]
ITEM 1 0 9 AUTHORIZED THE MAYOR PRESENCE THAT SHE WAS SUPPLEMENTAL ARMENT TO THE CONTRACT OF ENGINEERING FOR LAND SURVEYING SERVICES WITH G-C-S-R-S-L-L-C AND SERVICES ASSOCIATED WITH REMOVAL CAPACITY PROJECT UE ROAD AND THE AMOUNT NOT TO EXCEED $101,160 AND 66 CENTS BY THE TRANSPORTATION AND TRAINING DIRECTOR.ANYONE WHO WISHES TO SPEAK ON THE ITEM.
ANY OBJECTIONS WE GO TO ITEM ONE 11.
[111. 23-01583]
AUTHORIZED THE MAYOR PRESIDENT EXECUTE THE SUPPLEMENTAL AGREEMENT WITH EVANS AND GRAVES ENGINEERS INCORPORATED FOR SERVICE ASSOCIATED WITH REMOVAL BEYOND CAPACITY PROJECT REQUIRED PERKINS CONNECTOR AND THE AMOUNT NOT TO EXCEED SIX $6,767.IS ANYONE HERE WISHING BY TRANSPORTATION DRAINAGE DIRECTOR? ANYONE HERE WISHES TO SPEAK ON ITEM WE GO TO COUNCIL MEMBER.
SO MOVED BY COUNCIL MEMBER HER SECOND BY COUNCIL MEMBER ADAMS. ANY OBJECTIONS? WE
[110. 23-01581]
GO BACK NOW TO ONE 10.AUTHORIZE THE MAYOR PRESIDENT TO THE UTILITY RELOCATION AGREEMENT WITH THE PARISH WATER COMPANY INCORPORATED AND ASSOCIATED WITH THE MOVE BEYOND CAPACITY PROJECT HOOPER ROAD IN AN AMOUNT NOT TO EXCEED $414,865 AND 19 CENTS.
IS THERE 92 CENSUS? IS THERE ANYONE HERE WISH TO SPEAK ON ITEM WE GO TO COUNCIL MEMBERS? SO MOVED BY COUNCIL MEMBER ADAM SECONDED BY THE CHAIR.
ANY OBJECTIONS? ITEM ONE 10 HAS BEEN APPROVED.
[112. 23-01589]
WE DID 11.AUTHORIZE THE MAYOR PRESIDENT TO EXECUTE A PROFESSIONAL SERVICE AGREEMENT WITH MARGUERITE MED SHEETS TO PROVIDE CONSTRUCTION SERVICES FOR STATE AND FEDERAL AID PROJECTS IN THE AMOUNT NOT TO EXCEED 62,500 BY TRANSPORTATION AND DRAINAGE DIRECTOR.
ANYONE HERE WISHES TO SPEAK ON ITEM ONE 12? WE NOW GO TO COUNCIL MEMBER.
SO MOVED BY COUNCIL MEMBER HER SECONDED BY COUNCIL MEMBER ADAMS. ANY OBJECTIONS WE GO TO PAGE 17,
[114. 23-01593]
ITEM ONE 14.AUTHORIZED THE MAYOR, PRESIDENT TEXAS EXECUTE THE CA WITH THE UNIVERSITY OF LAKES LLC FOR FACILITIES OF MAY STREET IMPROVEMENTS IN THE SEWER FORCE.
MAIN AND AMOUNT NOT TO EXCEED $5,350,000 BY TRANSPORTATION AND DRAINAGE DIRECTOR.
ANYONE HERE WISHING TO SPEAK ON ITEM JUSTIN? COUNCIL MEMBER YOU SHOULD RECEIVE ONE EMAIL, COMMENT AND OPPOSITION TO THIS ITEM.
IS THERE A MOTION? SO MOVED BY COUNCIL MEMBER HUR.
SECONDED BY COUNCIL MEMBER ADAMS. ANY OBJECTIONS WE GO TO ITEM
[115. 23-01570]
ONE 15.AUTHORIZED THE MAYOR PRESIDENT TO EXECUTE THE SUPPLEMENTAL AGREEMENT TO CONTRACT FOR PROFESSIONAL ENGINEERING SERVICES WITH MONTANA ASSOCIATES.
LLC SERVICE ASSOCIATED WITH MOBILE CAPACITY PROJECT AUDIT WITH DRIVE FOR DALE CONNECTED IN THE AMOUNT NOT TO EXCEED $64,722 AND 40 CENTS BY TRANSPORTATION DRAIN DIRECT.
ANYONE HERE WISHING TO SPEAK ON ITEM ONE 15 WILL NOT GO TO COUNCIL MEMBER.
SO MOVED BY COUNCIL MEMBER HER SECONDED BY COUNCIL MEMBER ADAMS. ANY OBJECTIONS WE GO TO ITEM
[116. 23-01573 ]
ONE 16.AUTHORIZE THE MAYOR, PRESIDENT ON BEHALF OF DIVISION OF HUMAN DEVELOPMENT AND SERVICES HEAD START PROGRAM TO SUBMIT A RECEIVE A CARRYOVER REQUEST FROM THE ADMINISTRATION FOR CHILDREN AND FAMILIES IN THE AMOUNT OF $4,822,868 FROM THE 2022 GRANT PERIOD TO THE 2023 GRANT PERIOD BY HUMAN SERVICES DIRECTOR.
IS ANYONE HERE WISHING TO SPEAK ON THE ITEM? WE NOW GO TO COUNCIL MEMBERS.
IS THERE A MOTION TO APPROVE? SO MOVED BY COUNCIL MEMBER HER SECONDED BY COUNCIL MEMBER COLEMAN.
ANY OBJECTION WE REGARD TO ITEM
[117. 23-01575]
ONE 17.AUTHORIZED MAYOR, PRESIDENT ON BEHALF OF THE DIVISION OF HUMAN DEVELOPMENT SERVICES OF THE HEAD START PROGRAM TO SUBMIT AND RECEIVE A CARRIER REQUEST FROM THE 2022 HEAD START CARES ACT BALANCE FROM THE ADMINISTRATION FOR CHILDREN AND FAMILIES IN THE AMOUNT OF $1,000,060 $1,060,411 TO THE 2023 GRANT PERIOD BY THE HUMAN SERVICES DIRECTOR.
ANYONE HERE WISHES TO SPEAK ON THE ITEM AND I WOULD TO COUNCIL SUB MOORE BY COUNCIL MEMBER GODDE SECONDED BY COUNCIL MEMBER HURST.
ANY OBJECTIONS? VOTE ITEM ONE 18
[118. 23-01587]
AUTHORIZING THE MAYOR PRESENCE THAT YOU THE INTERGOVERNMENT AGREEMENT WITH THE CITY OF BATON ROUGE, EAST BARR RIDGE PARISH AND THE CITY OF ZACHARY FOR THE COOPERATIVE REPAIR OF THE CROSS-TRAIN PIPE OF THE WJ WICKER ROAD BY DEPARTMENT OF MAINTENANCE AND INTERIM DIRECTORS.ANYONE HERE WISHES TO SPEAK ON THE ITEM WE NOT GO TO COUNCIL MEMBER SOMO BY COUNCIL MEMBER ADAMS SECONDED BY COUNCIL MEMBER HURST.
[119. 23-01590]
ITEM ONE 19.AUTHORIZED THE MAYOR PRESIDENT TO TO ENTER INTO A PROFESSIONAL SERVICE AGREEMENT WITH A HUNDRED BLACK MEN IN METRO BATON ROUGE IN THE AMOUNT OF $186 $250 TO SUPPORT THE ORGANIZATION LAUNCHING HIGH RECENT INTERVENTION EFFORTS.
ITEM CONTEND UPON APPROVAL OF CONTRACT REVIEW COMMITTED BY THE MAYOR'S OFFICE.
ANYONE WISHING TO SPEAK ON THE ITEM WHEN I GO TO COUNCIL MEMBERS? SO MOVED BY COUNCIL MEMBER MAG GODDE.
ANY OBJECTIONS? ITEM ONE 19 HAS BEEN
[120. 23-01592]
APPROVED.ITEM ONE 20, AUTHORIZE THE MAYOR PRESIDENT TO EXECUTE A PROFESSIONAL SERVICE AGREEMENT WITH THE GALVANIZED INNOVATIVE APPROACH IN LEADING EXCELLENCE PLANNING SOLUTIONS IN DOING BUSINESS AS AGILE PLANNING SOLUTIONS IN THE AMOUNT OF $388,500 TO SUPPORT THE EXPENSE OF HIGH RISK INTERVENTION PROGRAM OF SAFE PASTURE SCHOOL-BASED INITIATIVE AND THE OVERALL ADMINISTRATIVE MANAGER OF THE VETERANS COMMUNITY STREET TEAM BY MAYOR'S OFFICE.
I CONTINUE UPON APPROVAL OF CONTRACTS REVIEW COMMITTEE.
JUSTIN CUSTOMER, WOULD YOU SHARE SHEET ONE, EMAIL, COMMENT AND OPPOSITION TO THE SIDE.
IS ANYONE HERE WISHING TO SPEAK ON THE ITEM? WE NOW GO TO COUNCIL MEMBERS.
UH, ITEMS. SO MOVED BY THE CHAIR AND IT IS THERE A SECOND.
[02:20:01]
BY COUNCIL MEMBER GODDE.ANY THE OBJECTIONS? ITEM ONE 20 HAS BEEN APPROVED.
[121. 23-01595]
AUTHORIZED MAYOR PRESIDENT TO AMEND A SEPARATE RECIPIENT AGREEMENT IN THE GALVANIZED INNOVATOR APPROACH AND LEADING EXCELLENCE PLANNING SOLUTION INCORPORATED.DOING BUSINESS AS AGILE PLANNING SOLUTIONS IN THE AMOUNT OF 250,000 FOR A TOTAL AMOUNT NOT TO EXCEED 750,000 TO PROVIDE COMMUNITY-BASED VIOLENCE DIVISION PROGRAM BY THE MAYOR'S OFFICE.
ANYONE HERE WISH YOU TO SPEAK ON ITEM 1 21? WE NOW WITH TO COUNCIL MEMBERS.
IS THERE A MOTION TO APPROVE? SO MOVED BY COUNCIL MEMBER GODDE.
ANY OBJECTIONS? ITEM 1 21 HAS BEEN
[122. 23-01596]
APPROVED.OTHERWISE THE MAYOR PRESENT ON BEHALF OF THE BAT ROUGE PARISH OF EAST BAT ROUGE COUNTY TO A PROFESSIONAL SERVICE AGREEMENT WITH JAMILA SHARP BELL FOR PROVISION OF ADMINISTRATIVE SUPPORT, COMMUNITY OUTREACH AND COMMUNICATIONS ASSISTANCE WITH THE METROPOLITAN COUNCIL DISTRICT FIVE AND THE AMOUNT NOT TO C 65,000 BY THE BY COUNCIL MEMBER HURST.
THIS IS, THERE IS A REQUEST TO DELETE THIS ITEM.
IS THERE ANYONE HERE THAT WISHING TO SPEAK ON ITEM? UH, MOTION TO DELETE BY COUNCIL MEMBER HURST.
ANY OBJECTIONS? ITEM 1 22 HAS BEEN DELETED.
[Items 123 - 152]
COUNCIL MEMBERS WE'RE GONNA TAKE ITEMS 1 23 THROUGH 1 52 TOGETHER, ADJUDICATED PROPERTIES, LOT VARIOUS LOTS.DISTRICT 10, UH, HIGH BIDDER, NO ASSESSED VALUE? NO, THERE'S NO HIGH BIDDER OR ASSESSED VALUE ON THIS ONE PICTURE SO NO FATHER'S IN MY FATHER'S HOUSE DONATED.
AND ITEM 1 24, LOT THREE AND FOUR SQUARE TWO 19 SUBDIVISION OF STROMA DISTRICT 10 HIGH BID OF ROBINS RENTALS.
$3,000 1 25 LOT EIGHT SQUARE TWO 19 SUBDIVISION OF STROMA DISTRICT 10 HIGH BID OF ROBINS RENTALS.
ITEM 1 26 LOT NINE SQUARE TWO 19 SUBDIVISION OF STRU DISTRICT 10 COLEMAN HIGH BID OF ROBINS RENTALS.
18 SQUARE EIGHT SUBDIVISION REMA.
DISTRICT 10 HIGH BID OF ROBINS RENTAL LLC $3,000 LOT 19 SQUARED.
TWO 20 SUBDIVISION INTRU DISTRICT 10 HIGH BID OF ROBBINS RENTALS.
ITEM 1 29, LOT SIX SUBDIVISION RIVERLAND.
ONE THREE ITEM ONE 30 LOT 85 SUBDIVISION RIVERLAND.
DISTRICT THREE GO TO HIGH BID OF TD REAL ESTATE GROUP.
$6,000 ITEM 1 31 BY TWO 11 SUBDIVISION MERIDIUM CONDOMINIUMS UNIT NUMBER TWO 11.
DISTRICT 11 HIGHER BIDDER ACTS, NATIONAL MANAGEMENT SERVICES.
ITEM 1 32 LOT DC SUBDIVISION BROOKSTOWN POLICE DISTRICT FIVE HIGH BIDDER MELVIN BRISTOL, $1,400.
ITEM 1 33 LOT NINE PLUS SQUARE NINE SUBDIVISION STANDARD HIGHEST DISTRICT 10 HIGH BID.
ITEM 1 34 LOT 17 SQUARE SIX SUBDIVISION EATON PARK DISTRICT SEVEN HIGH BID OF AJ ALLEN INVESTMENT.
$7,000 ITEM 1 35 LIE 19 THROUGH 22 SQUARE 51 SUBDIVISION FORTUNE DISTRICT FIVE, HIGH BID OF ACTS, NATIONAL MANAGEMENT SERVICE.
$3,000 ITEM 1 36 LIE EIGHT POINT SQUARE FIVE.
SUBDIVISION FEW QUA LAMONT TOWN DISTRICT 10 HIGH BID OF ESIA JENKINS $1,500.
ITEM 1 37 LOT ONE POINT SQUARE TWO SUBDIVISION ROSEDALE.
DISTRICT 10, HIGH BID OF DISTRICT 10 LLC $20,700.
ITEM 1 38, LOT THREE AND FOUR.
SUBDIVISION INDUSTRIAL CENTER SOUTH DISTRICT 10 HIGH BID.
ASK NATIONAL MANAGEMENT SERVICES $25,000.
ITEM 1 39 BY FIVE SQUARE TWO SUBDIVISION STANDARD HEIGHTS DISTRICT 10 HIGH BID ASK LLC $8,000.
ITEM ONE 40 LOT TWO SUBDIVISION HOLIDAY WOODS DISTRICT FIVE, HIGH BID OF 17TH AND BANKS LLC $16,800.
ITEM 1 41 LOT 12 SUBDIVISION VICTORIA GARDEN DISTRICT SEVEN HIGH BIDDER 17TH AND BANKS LLC $21,300.
ITEM 1 42 LOT SEVEN POINT SQUARE SEVEN SUBDIVISION BELLEVUE DISTRICT 10 HIGH BIDDER ROY BATTLE JR $3,100.
ITEM 1 43 LOT SEVEN PLUS SQUARE 12 SUBDIVISIONS ON CITY DISTRICT FIVE.
ITEM 1 44 LOT 99 SUBDIVISION COLONIAL HILL DISTRICT SEVEN MOTOR ON, EXCUSE ME, MOTOR ON PROJECT DONATION ITEM 1 45 LOT 10 POINT SQUARES 2 63 SUBDIVISION SHORT EDITION DISTRICT 10 COLEMAN AGAIN SUB MOTOR ON ITEM 1 46 LOT 15 SQUARE ONE SUBDIVISION MARICO DISTRICT TWO BANKS MOTOR ON ITEM 1 47, LOT 10 AND EAST EAST HALF OF 11 SQUARE 12 SUBDIVISION BATON ROUGE TERRA DISTRICT SEVEN MOTOR ON ITEM 1 48 LOT E DASH TWO SUBDIVISION SHARON HILLS DISTRICT TWO MOTOR ON ITEM 1 49 LOT 1112 AND 15 PLUS SQUARE 48 SUBDIVISION FORTUNE DISTRICT S MO DISTRICT FIVE MOTOR ON ITEM ONE 50 LOT SIX SQUARE THREE SUBDIVISION MORNINGSIDE DISTRICT 10 MOTOR ON ITEM 1 51 LOT NINE SQUARE FOUR SUBDIVISION NORTH BATON ROUGE DISTRICT TWO BANKS MOTOR ON ITEM 1 52
[02:25:01]
LOT SIX EAST 20 OF LOT EIGHT SQUARE 25 SUBDIVISION SOUTH BATON ROUGE DISTRICT 10 MOTOR ON.IS THERE ANYONE HERE WISHING TO SPEAK ON ITEMS 1 22 TO 1 23 TO 1 52.
IS THERE A MOTION TO APPROVE? SO MOVED BY COUNCIL MEMBER HER SECONDED BY THE CHAIR ON ANY OBJECTIONS? WE'LL
[ADMINISTRATIVE MATTERS]
NOW GO TO ADMINISTRATIVE MATTERS.COUNCIL MEMBERS, IF YOU WILL SEE A SEPARATE SHEET, WE'RE GONNA TAKE ADMINISTRATIVE MATTERS, A AND B TOGETHER.
CONDEMNATION MARGARET, CY 5 2 0 5 CADILLAC STREET DISTRICT FIVE OR PROCEED ON IMPROVEMENT MADE.
B ELAINE BREMAN, LENA, MAGGIE, JACKSON, WILFORD.
THERE FOR DREAMER, BOSS ERNESTINE, J BURS.
JESSE LEE, JACKSON, HAYES, VIRGINIA RAY BURROW, ED WIER, FLORENCE JACKSON, IRENE CHRISTIAN, JACKSON TOWNSEND, WENDY NICKOL, LEWIS WIGGINS, HERMAN CLARK JACKSON JR.
RANDY JACKSON, WILLIE JACKSON.
DOROTHY VAUGHN, VERNON STEVENS JR.
VICTOR STEVENS, LEO STEVENS AND VERONICA STEVENS.
SO MOVED BY COUNCIL MEMBER HUR, SECONDARY BY COUNCIL MEMBER COLEMAN.
IS THERE ANYONE HERE WE SHOULD SPEAK ON THE EMOTIONAL WAY, THE RULES.
ARE THERE ANY OBJECTIONS ON THE EMOTIONAL WAY? THE RULES IS THERE ONE.
SPEAKING ON THE ITEMS A AND B UH, COUNCIL MEMBER, I'LL NOW GO TO YOU FOR A MOTION.
YES, I'D LIKE TO GIVE HIM 60 DAYS FOR THIS ITEM.
YOU WANT TO GIVE HIM 60 DAYS? ON WHICH ONE? B.
THE ONE THAT'S IN, UH, DISTRICT 10.
SO, ALRIGHT, SO YOU WANNA DO THE SAME THING? 60 DAYS ON ITEM A.
ALRIGHT, THERE IS A MOTION ON THE FLOOR TO GIVE ITEMS A AND B BOTH 60 DAYS BY COUNCIL MEMBER COLMAN.
SECONDED BY COUNCIL MEMBER HURST.
ARE THERE ANY OBJECTIONS? WE GO TO ITEM C, APPROVING THE PROFESSIONAL EMS IN EASTBOUND ROUGE, LOUISIANA.
LOCAL 5 4 3 7 AFFILIATE OF IAFF TO PARTICIPATE IN THE PAYROLL DEDUCTION PROGRAM FOR THE CITY PARISH EMPLOYEES AND PROVIDING FOR A COLLECTION OF ASSOCIATION DUES ON PAY PERIOD BASIS.
THE REASON THIS ITEM IS BEING REQUESTED AS AN ADMINISTRATIVE MATTER EMERGENCY ITEM, THE ITEM IS DEEMED AN EMERGENCY TO MEET CERTAIN DEADLINES.
IS THERE ANYONE HERE? EXCUSE ME.
NEED A MOTIONAL WEIGH THE RULES.
IS AN MOTIONAL WEIGH THE RULES.
IS THERE A MOTIONAL AWAY? THE RULES.
SO MOVED BY COUNCIL MEMBER MO.
SECONDED BY COUNCIL MEMBER HEARST.
DOES ANYONE HERE WISHING TO SPEAK ON THE MOTIONAL WEIGHT? THE RULES? ARE THERE ANY OBJECTION TO THE MOTIONAL WEIGHT? THE RULES? DOES ANYONE WISHING TO SPEAK ON THE ITEM? WE NOW GO TO COUNCIL MEMBERS ON ITEM C.
SO MOVED BY COUNCIL MEMBER MOOCH.
ANY OBJECTIONS SHOW COUNCIL MEMBER HUDSON.
ALRIGHT, WE GO TO COUNT ITEM D AUTHORIZING MAYOR, PRESIDENT ON BEHALF OF THE BATON ROUGE AND THE PARISH OF EAST BATON ROUGE INSTITUTE A PROFESSIONAL SERVICE AGREEMENT WITH JAMILA SHARPVILLE FOR PROVISION OF ADMINISTRATIVE SUPPORT, COMMUNITY OUTREACH AND COMMUNICATIONS ASSISTANCE WITH THE METROPOLITAN DISTRICT FIVE IN THE AMOUNT NOT TO EXCEED 65,000.
THIS ITEM IS BEING REQUESTED AS AN ADMINISTRATIVE MATTER EMERGENCY ITEM.
THIS MATTER IS DEEMED AN EMERGENCY AS AN AGREEMENT TO SCHEDULE TO COMMENCE ON DECEMBER 1ST, 2023.
APPROVAL OF THIS CONTRACT WITH A LAW SERVICE PROVIDER TO BEGIN, NEED A MOTION TO WAIVE THE RULES.
SO MOVED BY COUNCIL MEMBER, HER SECONDED BY THE CHAIR.
ARE THERE ANY OBJECT? EXCUSE ME.
ANY OBJECTIONS TO WAIVE THE RULES? IS THERE ANYONE HERE WISHING TO SPEAK ON THE WAIVE THE RULES? ARE THERE ANY OBJECTIONS TO THE MOTION TO WAIVE THE RULES? IS THERE ANYONE WISHING TO SPEAK ON THE ITEM? WE NOW GO TO COUNCIL MEMBERS.
MOTION TO APPROVE BY COUNCIL MEMBER HERS.
ANY OBJECTIONS TO THE ITEM? THERE ARE SOME OBJECTIONS.
WE GONNA VOTE ON THE MACHINE? I SEE MORE THAN ONE.
WELL, WE CAN'T VOTE ON THE MACHINE.
WE DON'T VOTE ON THE MACHINES.
ALRIGHT, SO, UH, CAN I HAVE BRIAN AND, UH, AND ANDY BOTH TO THE, TO THE, UM, AND LINDA, ALL THREE OF Y'ALL COME TOGETHER.
ALRIGHT, SO LET'S TALK ABOUT THE, SO LEMME TELL Y'ALL WHAT I DID.
I INITIALLY USED, UM, MOST STAFF MEMBERS HAVE ABOUT, UH, ONE TO TWO STAFF.
I'VE BEEN ABLE TO CREATIVELY PUT FIVE PEOPLE IN PLACE AND CREATE SUBJECT MATTER EXPERTS IN MY OFFICE SO
[02:30:01]
THAT EVERYBODY DOES NOT DO THE ROLE OF A LEGISLATIVE AID, BUT HAVE HAS A SILOED APPROACH TO MAKE OUR DISTRICT BETTER.I REALIZED THAT THERE WAS NO WAY THAT OUR OFFICES WERE UNDERFUNDED.
THERE'S NO WAY THAT A PART-TIME COUNCIL MEMBER AND A FULL-TIME AIDE CAN FOCUS ON BRINGING BUSINESSES, COMMUNITY REVITALIZATION, FOCUS ON HOSTING COUNCIL MEETINGS, HOSTED ON, UH, FOCUS ON HOSTING COMMUNITY EVENTS, FOCUSED ON ATTENDING OTHER PEOPLE'S COMMUNITY EVENTS, AND THEN PROVIDING SUPPORTIVE RESOURCES TO CREATE LEGISLATION THAT MAKES OUR COMMUNITIES BETTER.
SO WE ARE DEFINITELY UNDERFUNDED.
NEW ORLEANS HAS SIX PEOPLE, INCLUDING THE STAFF ATTORNEY.
SO WHAT I DID WAS SAY, OKAY, IF, IF, HOW CAN, WITHIN THE RULES, HOW CAN I EXPAND MY OFFICE TO MAKE SURE THAT WE ARE NOT UNDER COMMUNICATING AND UNDERSERVING THE PEOPLE THAT PUT US IN OFFICE.
SO I HAVE MOVED TO MORE OF A PROFESSIONAL SERVICE CONTRACTUAL SERVICES APPROACH TO DO THIS.
NOW I'M GONNA LET YOU ANSWER IF THEY HAVE ANY QUESTIONS, BUT IT WAS APPROVED BY FINANCE.
I DID NOT GO OUTSIDE OF MY BUDGET.
MY INITIAL CONTRACT, I USED AN EXISTING CONTRACT FROM CITY PARISH THAT DID HAVE SOME CONFLICTING LANGUAGE THAT I WAS UNAWARE OF.
OKAY? SO ONCE I FOUND THAT THE LANGUAGE WAS CONFLICTING, WHICH IS WHY I DELETED ITEM NUMBER, WHATEVER IT WAS, I GOT WITH BOTH THE PARISH ATTORNEY AND HUMAN RESOURCES TO DELETE ANY CONFLICTING LANGUAGE THAT WOULD DUPLICATE SERVICES AND MAKE THE CONTRACT ILLEGAL.
SO I'VE ELIMINATED THAT I HAVE SILOED MY POSITIONS AND THEY WILL ACT IN A DIFFERENT MANNER THAN THE TRADITIONAL LEGISLATIVE AID DOES.
SO MY QUESTION FOR YOU, ANDY, IS DO YOU FIND ANYTHING ILLEGAL IN MY APPROACH TO SERVE MY COMMUNITY? ONE, ONE IF I PUT AN ORDER, IF I MAY, MAY PRETEND.
ARE HE'S ASKING IF WE HAVE ANY QUESTIONS OF THE PEOPLE THAT ARE UP HERE AND NO, I'M ASKING THEM A QUESTION.
I'M, I KNOW YOU'RE ASKING A QUESTION RIGHT NOW, BUT YOU ASKED JUST A SECOND AGO THAT THEY CAN STAY UP THERE AND ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS THAT WE MIGHT HAVE.
SINCE THIS ITEM IS, IS AN EMERGENCY FOR INTRODUCTION CITY EMERGENCY WITH VOTING NOT INTRODUCTION, WE'RE, WE'RE VOTING ON THE ITEM AS FAR AS APPROVING THIS? YES.
AND SO, I, I CAN'T ANSWER THAT QUESTION.
I CAN'T ANSWER THAT COUNSEL QUESTION.
COUNCILMAN? I CAN'T ANSWER THE QUESTION AS TO WHETHER OR NOT THIS CONTRACT COMPORTS WITH OUR UNDERSTANDING OF CITY PARISH ORDINANCES AND THE PLAN OF GOVERNMENT, ALL THE LEGAL STUFF OUT.
AND SO GO AHEAD, GO LISTEN TO IT.
I, I JUST WANNA MAKE YOU KNOW, SO YES, BASED UPON THE CHANGES THAT WE MADE THIS CONTRACT, UH, COMPORTS WITH CITY PARISH ORDINANCES IN THE PLAN OF GOVERNMENT, I CAN ONLY ANSWER THAT QUESTION.
I CAN'T ANSWER THE QUESTION AS TO FUNDING, BUT I CAN ANSWER THE QUESTION AS I, AND THAT COVERS BRIAN'S.
SO WHAT, WHAT YOU TALKING ABOUT? IS IT ILLEGAL? MY POINT IS, AM I BREAKING ANY LAW BY DOING THIS CONTRACT? AGAIN, YOU MEETING ALL CITY PEERS, ORDINANCES IN THE PLAN OF GOVERNMENT TO THE BEST OF OUR KNOWLEDGE WITH THE CHANGES THAT WE MADE, THANK AND THAT COVERS BRIAN MUCH.
BRIAN, COME TO THE MIC PLEASE.
SO BRIAN, WHAT EXERCISE DID WE GO OVER AND WHAT WAS DONE TO MAKE SURE THAT WE MET THE REQUIREMENTS OF CITY PARISH? MIKE'S OFF ANSWER THAT.
OKAY, SO IT'S KIND OF ON ME TO ANSWER THAT BECAUSE I ASKED BRIAN TO TAKE A LOOK AT IT.
WHAT HAPPENED IS, IS, UH, YOU, UH, IT WAS THIS CONTRACT, UH, WE LOOKED AT THIS CONTRACT IN TERMS OF WHETHER THIS CONTRACT MAY HAVE VIOLATED THE PLAN OF GOVERNMENT IN THAT IT HAD, UH, PROVISIONS IN IT REQUIRING SERVICES BY THIS CONTRACTOR THAT WERE SIMILAR TO SERVICES THAT WOULD BE PROVIDED BY A CLASSIFIED EMPLOYEE THAT WOULD BE IN A POSITION.
AND IT WAS OBVIATING THAT POSITION.
CAN I MAKE ONE POINT THERE? YEAH.
UH, COLLEAGUES, I USED A PREVIOUSLY APPROVED CONTRACT BY THE COUNCIL.
I USED A PREVIOUSLY APPROVED CONTRACT BY THE COUNCIL.
I JUST CHANGED A FEW PIECES ON THERE, BUT GO AHEAD.
SO AGAIN, WE LOOKED AT THAT CONTRACT IN ITS CURRENT, IN ITS PREVIOUS FORM IN COMPARISON TO THE JOB DUTIES OF A, UH, UH, OF A CLASSIFIED EMPLOYEE.
UH, AND IF THOSE JOB DUTIES MERIT EACH OTHER WITH THE SAME, THE CONTRACT CANNOT GO FORWARD BECAUSE THAT PERSON CAN'T OBVIATE THE JOB DUTIES OF THAT SPECIFIC PERSON.
SO WE HAD TO LOOK TO SEE WHERE THEY WERE THE SAME.
SO WE TOOK YOUR CONTRACT, COMPARED IT TO THE, AND I AND I ASKED BRIAN TO COMPARE IT TO THE JOB SPECIFICATIONS FOR THE, UH, UH, LEGISLATIVE ASSISTANT.
AND ANYWHERE THAT THOSE DUTIES WERE THE SAME, THOSE DUTIES CANNOT BE IN THIS CONTRACT.
AND AT THAT POINT, WHAT DO WE DO? I COUNSELED YOU THAT IF YOU WANTED TO GO FORWARD WITH THE CONTRACT, YOU NEEDED TO REMOVE THOSE ITEMS. AND WHAT DID I DO? YOU SAID REMOVE THOSE ITEMS AND BASED ON YOUR LEGAL OPINION, I DID WHAT YOU, YOU REMOVED THOSE ITEMS AND, AND, UH, YOU ALSO CLARIFIED SOME ITEMS THAT WERE IN YOUR CONTRACT THAT WERE SUBSTANTIALLY BROAD, THAT COULD HAVE FELL BACK INTO THE CATEGORY BEING SOMETHING THAT THE LEGISLATIVE AID WOULD'VE DONE.
AND SO THOSE WERE CLARIFIED, SHORTENED, AND MADE MORE SPECIFIC IN
[02:35:01]
THE CURRENT FORM OF THIS CONTRACT TO ENSURE THAT THERE WAS NO CONFLICT.CAN YOU COME TO THE MIC PLEASE? YES.
HAVE I AFFECTED THE GENERAL FUND IN ANY KIND OF WAY BY ASKING FOR A SUPPLEMENT IN THIS CONTRACT? NO.
YOU'LL BE, YOU'LL, YOU HAVE TALKED TO ME ABOUT, UM, THE ABILITY TO DO A TRANSFER OF APPROPRIATIONS WITHIN YOUR COUNCIL BUDGET FOR A LEGAL PUBLIC PURPOSE.
AND IS THIS A LEGAL PUBLIC PURPOSE? I CAN'T ANSWER THAT.
BUT IF HE TELLS ME IT IS, IT IS.
SO MY POINT IS, IS I'VE DONE, I NEVER DO ANYTHING WITHOUT DOING MY DUE DILIGENCE.
I MAY MAKE 'EM DO IT A WHOLE LOT FASTER THAN THEY WOULD WANT TO DO IT, BUT WE GET IT DONE.
SO, UM, THE PERSON THAT I, MY, MY AIDE IS SLATED TO LEAVE DECEMBER 1ST, SO I'VE HAD TO RESTRUCTURE MY OFFICE TO BE ABLE TO SUPPORT THAT.
AND I'VE DIVIED UP HER DUTIES THROUGH MULTIPLE PEOPLE AND THEN CREATED ANOTHER DUTY TO HELP CLOSE SOME OF THE GAPS THAT, THAT WOULD LEAVE AND THINGS OUTSIDE THE TRADITIONAL LEGISLATIVE AID ROLES, WHICH IS WHY THIS CONTRACT IS THERE.
SO I APPEALED TO MY COLLEAGUES THAT THE PERSON THAT I'M ATTEMPTING TO BRING ON BOARD HAS ALREADY PUT IN A TWO WEEKS RESIGNATION AND NOW WAS LESS THAN TWO WEEKS FOR DECEMBER 1ST.
SO THAT'S WHY THIS IS AN EMERGENCY ITEM.
THIS HAS BEEN ON THE AGENDA FOR A LONG PERIOD OF TIME.
WHEN I HEARD YOUR CONCERNS, I ADDRESSED AND MADE THE CHANGES.
AND FOR THE TIMELINESS OF THE APPROVAL AND EXECUTION OF THIS AGREEMENT TO BE COUNTERSIGNED, I ASKED FOR YOUR APPROVAL AND, AND THE ABILITY TO MOVE FORWARD.
SO I ASKED FOR A MOTION TO APPROVE.
COUNCIL MEMBER MO, ARE WE ELIMINATING THE COUNCIL AID POSITION? NO, WE ARE NOT.
SO WE COULD FILL THAT POSITION LATER.
UH, YOU MEAN DELETING THE POSITION FROM HIS ALLOTMENT? IS THAT WHAT YOU MEAN? YES.
ARE WE REMOVING THE COUNCIL A POSITION FROM HIS BUDGET ITEM? NO, WE'RE NOT.
THAT WOULD TAKE A COUNCIL ACTION? NO, WE'RE NOT.
CAN WE FILL THAT POSITION LATER? IF, IF THERE'S FUNDING AVAILABLE ON MY UNDERSTANDING IS THAT HE'S USING THAT FUNDING FOR THAT'S GREAT.
SO WE CAN FILL THE POSITION LATER.
AND WE CAN FILL THAT POSITION AND THE CONTRACT WILL STILL BE IN EFFECT? NO, WE CAN, HE CAN, IF THAT'S FUNDED, WE CAN FILL THE CONTRACT AND WE CAN FILL THE COUNCIL A POSITION IF WE SO CHOOSE.
SO WHAT WE WILL DO IS, UM, IS IS WHEN HE SENDS THE REQUEST FOR THE, FOR THE TRANSFER IN AND WE APPROVE IT, WE'LL PUT A HOLD ON THAT POSITION.
IT'S WHAT WE REFERRED TO THE OTHER DAY AS FREEZING THE POSITION.
SO BECAUSE THERE IS NO FUNDING AVAILABLE FOR THAT POSITION, WE WILL NOT ALLOW IT TO BE REQUISITION AND FILLED DUE TO LACK OF FUNDING.
SO IT REMAINS, BUT IT CAN'T BE FILLED.
SO IN 12 YEARS FROM NOW, WHEN ANOTHER COUNCIL MEMBER IS HERE, CAN THEY REACTIVATE THAT POSITION? YES.
AS LONG AS THERE IS NO CONTRACT TAKING OUT.
DOES THAT IMMEDIATELY REMOVE THE OTHER POSITION OR CONTRACT IN PLACE? IT'S MY UNDERSTANDING THAT THIS CONTRACT HAS A TERMINATION DATE OF 1231 OF 2024.
SO EVERY YEAR IT HAS TO GET RENEWED.
BUT TECHNICALLY BOTH OF THEM COULD BE ACTIVATED AT THE SAME TIME.
I WOULDN'T, I WOULD NOT, I WOULD NOT ALLOW HAVE, IF IT HAD THE FUNDING, JUST THE FUNDING WAS ADDED TO IT OR WHATEVER ELSE.
IF, IF IT ADDITIONAL FUNDING WAS MADE AVAILABLE TO ALL TO THE COUNCIL BUDGETS AND FUNDING WAS AVAILABLE, YES.
YOU, YOU COULD FILL THE POSITION.
WHAT IS THE CAP ON THIS CONTRACT? UH, AND COUNCILMAN CAN ANSWER THAT QUESTION, BUT IT'S MY UNDERSTANDING IT'S, UH, $65,000 AS A CONTRACT THAT THAT'S FOR 13 MONTHS, NOT 12.
BUT THIS INDIVIDUAL PAYS THEIR OWN TAXES, THEIR OWN INSURANCE AND EVERYTHING ELSE.
SO WHEN YOU LOOK AT THE BOTTOM LINE, IT IT IS, IT IS, I THINK IT IS A MUTE POINT WE'RE DISCUSSING.
SO MS. LINDA, THE COUNCIL, A POSITION IS SET UP BY STEPS, CORRECT? YES.
SO TO TAKE THE HIGHEST STEP AND INCREASE THAT POSITION, ALL THE STEPS WOULD HAVE TO BE ADJUSTED.
SO YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT THE CLA OKAY.
THE CLASSIFIED, THE UNCLASSIFIED LEGISLATIVE ASSISTANT TWO HAS, HAS A RANGE OF 19 STEPS.
IF YOU ARE GOING TO, YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT THE OTHER, YOUR OTHER COUNCIL AIDES THAT ARE ACTUALLY EMPLOYEES.
ALL OF 'EM WORK UNDER THOSE STEPS.
IF YOU WERE ACTUALLY GOING, IF YOU WANTED TO INCREASE THAT, TWO THINGS WOULD HAVE TO HAPPEN.
YOU WOULD HAVE TO AMEND THE PAY PLAN TO EXPAND THE RANGE OR CHANGE THE RANGE THAT WOULD ALLOW A HIGHER PAYMENT.
UH, AND YOU'D HAVE TO HAVE A FUNDING SOURCE TO DO THAT.
IT'S QUITE A PROCESS TO, TO GO CHANGING ALL THE STEPS FOR A CITY PARISH EMPLOYEE
[02:40:01]
AND STUFF LIKE THAT.CORRECT? I MEAN, IT'S GETS THERE.
SO WHAT'S THE PROCESS FOR AMENDING THIS CONTRACT? UH, IN ORDER TO THE AMOUNT, WELL, YOU WOULD HAVE, SO ANYTHING OVER $50,000 A CONTRACT HAS TO COME TO THE COUNCIL FOR APPROVAL.
SO ANY AMENDMENT TO A CONTRACT THAT'S OVER 50,000 HAS TO COME TO THE CONTRACT.
SO YOU WOULD HAVE AMENDING, UH, AUTHORIZED MAYOR, PRESIDENT TO EXECUTE AMENDMENT NUMBER ONE OF THE CONTRACT WITH THIS YOUNG LADY IN THE AMOUNT OF 5,000 TO INCREASE IT TO X AMOUNT.
SO I INTRODUCE AN ITEM SAYING I WANT INCREASE THIS CONTRACT FROM 65,000 TO 85, 90 5,000 OR 70,000 MM-HMM.
AND YOU'D HAVE TO HAVE A, YOU'D HAVE THAT, YOU JUST HAVE THE FUND, CORRECT? YES.
YOU HAD THE FUNDS ARE INTRODUCE AND APPROVE AT THE NEXT MEETING AND YES SIR.
WAIT, I WASN'T, OH, YOU'RE NOT DONE.
SO I GUESS I'M GONNA GO BACK TO THE WHOLE THING OF THE POINT OF ORDER THAT I'D ASKED OR WHATEVER AND HAVING DISCUSSIONS WITH YOU, IT WAS MY ASSUMPTION AND I KNOW WHAT THAT DOES, THAT YOU WERE REMOVING THE OTHER ITEM AND INTRODUCING THIS ONE TO BE VOTED ON AT THE NEXT COUNCIL MEETING.
IS THIS CONSIDERED A SUBSTANTIVE CHANGE IN THE ORIGINAL ORDINANCE? SUBSTANTIAL CHANGE FROM THE ORIGINAL THINGS SINCE IT'S ALL KIND OF CONTRACT LANGUAGE? IS THAT SOMETHING THAT YOU, YOU'RE ASKING ME? I'M ASKING YOU IF THIS IS A BE CONSIDERED SUBSTANTIAL CHANGE THAT WOULD REQUIRE REINTRODUCTION OR CAN IT JUST BE CHANGED? AND I DON'T WANNA GO INTO MY OTHER FIVE SO YOU CAN FINISH WITH THAT BECAUSE I MIGHT HAVE SOMETHING.
TYPICALLY, WE, WE, WE DEFER TO ASHLEY AND JUSTIN AND, AND MAKING THAT DETERMINATION AND, AND WE HAD A CONVERSATION WITH ASHLEY AND YOU KNOW, IT'S OUR DETERMINATION AFTER THAT CONVERSATION THAT THIS IS, UH, A NEW, WHAT WHAT HAPPENED IS, IS BY HIM PUTTING FORTH THIS NEW CONTRACT AND MAKING AN EMERGENCY ITEM, WE DON'T HAVE TO GO INTO THAT ANALYSIS OF WHETHER IT'S A SUBSTANTIVE CHANGE BECAUSE WE'RE NOT TAKING THE CONTRACT THAT HE HAD AND MAKING AMENDMENTS ON THE FLOOR.
IF WE HAD THE CONTRACT THAT HE HAD AND WE'RE MAKING AMENDMENTS ON THE FLOOR, WE'D BE DISCUSSING WHETHER THE CHANGES WERE SUBSTANTIVE BY HIM PUTTING FORWARD THIS NEW CONTRACT AS A WHOLE.
WE DON'T HAVE TO LOOK AT THE SUBSTANTIVE CHANGE BETWEEN THIS CONTRACT AND THAT CONTRACT 'CAUSE IT'S A WHOLE NEW CONTRACT THAT HE'S PUTTING IN.
BUT IT'S IN, I'LL ASK WHETHER COUNCIL MEMBER, ROCKER, IS THERE A PROVISION IN THE CONTRACT SHOULD DARRYL HURST NOT COMPLETE HIS TERM, THAT, UM, HIS AIDE OR THE PERSON THAT HE HIRES AS A PART OF THIS CONTRACT CAN BE, UM, CANCELED, UH, REPLACED FOR THE NEW PERSON THAT COMES IN IN HIS, IN HIS POSITION? IT'S NOT THAT SPECIFIC COUNCILWOMAN.
IT HAS A GENERAL TERMINATION FOR CAUSE, UH, PROVISION AS ALL OF OUR CONTRACTS DO.
SO CAN HE, CAN IT BE CANCELED SHOULD HE NOT? I HAVEN'T LOOKED AT IT FOR THAT SCENARIO.
OR HAVE YOU HAVE TO GIMME A MINUTE TO TAKE A LOOK AT IT UNDER THAT SCENARIO.
BUT THAT, THAT MAY, IT MAY OR MAY NOT BE, I JUST HAVE TO KNOW THE SCENARIO, UH, BECAUSE WE HAVE A TERMINATION FOR CONVENIENCE AND A DETERMINATION FOR CALLS AND I CAN READ IT TO YOU, BUT, YOU KNOW, I CAN'T ANSWER THAT QUESTION.
SO THAT, THAT IS INCREDIBLY IMPORTANT BECAUSE I SAT HERE AS SOMEONE, UM, THAT CAME IN, IN A TERM THAT WAS NOT COMPLETED.
I THINK SEVERAL OTHER
THE CITY PARISH MAY TERMINATE DISAGREEMENT AT ANY TIME BY GIVING 30 DAYS WRITTEN NOTICE TO THE CONSULTANT OF SUCH TERMINATION ON NEGOTIATING WITH THE CONTRACTOR AN EFFECTIVE DATE.
IN THE EVENT OF AN EARLY TERMINATION OF THIS AGREEMENT, THE CITY PAGE SHOULD PAY ALL COSTS ACCRUED BY THE SERVICE PROVIDER AS OF THE DATE OF THE DETERMINATION TERMINATION, INCLUDING ALL NINE CANCELABLE OBLIGATIONS AND ALL NINE, UH, CANCEL CONTRACT.
SO WHAT WOULD THOSE, I'M SORRY, I'M TALKING TO THE ATTORNEY IF YOU DON'T MIND.
UM, THE ACTUAL ATTORNEY WITH THE JV.
UM, SO WHAT WOULD THOSE COSTS INCLUDE? I MEAN, I, I WOULD, I CAN'T ANSWER THAT QUESTION 'CAUSE I DON'T KNOW WHAT WOULD THAT PERSON WOULD INCUR, BUT I WOULD THINK IF THEY WERE CHARGED TO PUT ON, UM, SOME KIND OF, UH, REDEFINE OR SOME OF THAT NATURE AND THEY PURCHASED BOOKS OR MATERIALS TO EFFECTUATE THEIR JOB AND THEN, AND THIS MATTER WAS CANCELED PRIOR TO THEM PUTTING ON THAT EVENT, THEN THEY WOULD, YOU KNOW, GET PAID FOR THE COST.
SO WHAT THEY EXPENDED TO PUT ON THAT EVENT IF IT WAS CANCELED BEFORE THE EVENT.
THANK SOMETHING OF THAT NATURE I WOULD THINK.
ALRIGHT, WE'RE GONNA VOTE ON THE MACHINES.
THERE IS A MOTION ON THE FLOOR BY COUNCIL MEMBER HIRST TO APPROVE.
WE'RE GONNA VOTE ON THE MACHINES.
I'D LIKE TO SUBSTITUTE MOTIONS TO DEFER THERE FOR HOW LONG? COUNCIL MEMBER MO? WHAT'S THAT? FOR HOW LONG? UH, TILL DECEMBER 13TH.
THERE'S A SUBSTITUTE MOTION TO DEFER THE ITEM TO DECEMBER 13TH.
IS THERE A SECOND? THERE'S A SECOND BY COUNCIL MEMBER ROCKER.
WE'RE GONNA VOTE ON THE SUBSTITUTE MOTION FIRST TO DEFER
[02:45:01]
TO DECEMBER 13TH.OKAY, WE'RE GONNA VOTE ON THE MACHINES ON THE SUBSTITUTE MOTION TO DEFER TO DECEMBER 13TH.
MOTION ITEM HAS BEEN DEFERRED TO, UH, DECEMBER 13TH.
WE NOW GO TO, THAT'S ALL OF OUR ADMINISTRATIVE MATTERS.
[153. 23-01638]
APPOINTMENTS.DISTRICT CONSIDERATION OF REAPPOINTMENT REPLACING CARDIO FISHER WHOSE TERM EXPIRES ON DECEMBER 31ST.
CURRENT BATTLE IS, CURRENT BATTLE IS CLAUDIA FISHER AND DAVID METCALF.
UH, ANYONE HERE WISH TO NAME ON THE ITEM? WE NOW GO TO THE COUNCIL MEMBERS.
MAKE A MOTION TO APPROVE, UH, MS. CLAUDIA FISHER.
MOTION TO APPROVE CLAUDIA FISHER.
IS THERE A SECOND? SECONDED BY COUNCIL MEMBER ADAMS. ANY OBJECTION? CONGRATULATIONS CLAUDIA.
[154. 23-01645]
HAS BEEN A REQUEST BY COUNCIL MEMBER KNOWLES TO DEFER ITEM 1 54 TO DECEMBER 13TH.CONSIDERATION OF REPLAYING HAROLD KERBER, WHO'S DETERMINED, EXPIRED ON DECEMBER 31ST.
THERE'S NO NAME ON ANYONE WISHING TO SPEAK ON THE ITEM.
I'LL MAKE A MOTION TO DEFER THIS TO DECEMBER 13TH MEETING.
SECONDED BY COUNCIL MEMBER ADAMS. ANY OBJECTIONS? ITEM 1 54 HAS BEEN DEFERRED.
[155. 23-01646]
1 55, CONSIDERATION OF REAPPOINTED REPLACING DAVID METCALF, WHOSE TERM EXPIRES ON JANUARY 1ST.CLAUDIA OF FISHER HAS ALREADY BEEN APPOINTED CURRENT BALANCE.
ANYONE HERE WISHING TO SPEAK ON THE ITEM? WE NOW GO TO COUNCIL MEMBERS.
MR. DAVID METCALF, SECONDED BY COUNCIL MEMBER ADAMS. ANY OBJECTIONS? ITEM 1 55 HAS BEEN APPROVED.
I WANT, I WANNA RECONSIDER THE ITEM.
[156. 23-01648]
ITEM 1 56, COMPLETE STREET CITIZEN ADVISORY.CONCURRENT ON THE MAYOR PRESIDENT'S RECOMMENDATION TO REAPPOINT OR REPLACE OSCAR REED.
RICHARD, WHOSE TERM EXPIRED ON NOVEMBER 16TH, 2023.
ANYONE WISHING TO SPEAK ON ITEM MOTION BY COUNCIL MEMBER BANKS TO APPOINT OSCAR REED? IS THERE A SECOND BY COUNCIL MCC COLEMAN? ANY OBJECTIONS? WE NOW GO TO ITEM 1 57.
[157. 23-01657]
CONSIDERATION OF REPLACING MARTHA RISCO.WHO'S NOT SEEKING REAPPOINTMENT TERM EXPIRES ON DECEMBER 31ST, 2023.
JOHN COSTIN, GARY DAMP, ANN HUFF, DARL HURST AND RONNIE PIERCE.
IS ANYONE HERE WISHING TO SPEAK ON THE ITEM? WE NOW GO TO COUNCIL MEMBERS MOTION.
I'LL MAKE A MOTION TO DEFER FOR TWO WEEKS.
MOTION TO DEFER FOR TWO WEEKS.
I'LL MAKE A SUBSTITUTE MOTION APPOINTMENT TO APPOINT COUNCIL HURST.
I'LL MAKE A, UH, I'LL SECOND THAT MOTION TO APPOINT COUNCIL MEMBER HURST.
WE'RE GONNA VOTE ON THE SUBSTITUTE MOTION FIRST.
WE'RE GONNA VOTE ON THE SUBSTITUTE MOTION FIRST TO APPOINT DARRYL HURST IN THE LIBRARY BOARD.
COUNCIL HEARST COUNCIL MEMBERS, WE'RE GONNA VOTE ON THE MOTION TO APPOINT COUNCILMAN HURST.
WHAT ARE WE DOING? I'M SORRY, I'M SO LOST VOTING WITH THE MOTION.
UM, COUNCILMAN COUNCILMAN WHITE WANTS TO SPEAK.
WHAT IT, IT WAS EMPHATICALLY STATED SEVERAL WEEKS AGO THAT WE HAVE TOO MANY ELECTED OFFICIALS ON THESE BOARDS.
WE GONNA VOTE ON THE MACHINES? YOU GOT A QUESTION COUNCIL MEMBER? HOW LONG CAN WAIT, WAIT, WAIT, WAIT, WAIT.
I WAS JUST WONDERING HOW MANY ELECTED OFFICIALS DO WE HAVE ON THE LIBRARY BOARD? OH, I KNOW.
WE ARE GONNA VOTE ON THE SUBSTITUTE MOTION TO APPOINT COUNCIL MEMBER HURST TO THE LIBRARY BOARD.
MACHINES ARE OPEN TO APPOINT COUNCILMAN HURST FOR ME AS A YES.
WE'RE GONNA VOTE ON THE WHO, WHO WE'RE GONNA VOTE ON THE ITEMS. WE'RE GONNA VOTE ON THE BALLOT.
YOU DO HAVE AN ORIGINAL MOTION ON THE FLOOR OF US TO DEFER.
IS THERE A SECOND TO THE MOTION? SECONDED BY COUNCIL MEMBER
[02:50:01]
OSA.AND LOOK, I I JUST WANNA SAY I SINCERELY, I I HAVE NOT HAD A CHANCE TO INTERVIEW THESE FOLKS YET.
I I HAVEN'T DONE MY DUE DILIGENCE.
THAT'S WHY I'M ASKING FOR TWO WEEKS.
YOU KNOW, COUNCIL MEMBER HURST THOUGH? WELL, I, I KNOW COUNCILMAN HURST AND APPRECIATE HIS WILLINGNESS TO SERVE.
I, I JUST HAVEN'T HAD A CHANCE TO INTERVIEW EVERYBODY SO, WELL I GOT YOU.
SO WE'RE GONNA VOTE ON THE SUBSTITUTE MOTION, WHICH IS TO DEFER, I MEAN THE ORIGINAL MOTION, WHICH IS DEFER FOR HOW LONG.
MR. COUNCILMAN HURST FOR TWO WEEKS TO THE NEXT MEETING.
ALRIGHT, WE'RE VOTING ON THE MOTION TO DEFER.
IS THERE ANY OBJECTIONS TO THE MOTION TO DEFER ITEM HAS BEEN DEFERRED TO THE NEXT MEETING.
WE'RE GONNA VOTE ON THE MACHINES.
WE'RE VOTING ON THE MACHINES TO DEFER THE ITEM FOR TWO WEEKS.
ITEM HAS BEEN DEFERRED FOR TWO WEEKS.
[158. 23-01659 (Part 1 of 2)]
1 58.THE LIBRARIAN CONTROL BOARD CONSIDERATION OF REPLACING JASON JACOB WHO'S NOT SEEKING REAPPOINTMENT TERM EXPIRES ON DECEMBER 31ST, 2023.
IS THERE ANYONE HERE WISHING TO SPEAK ON THE ITEM? COUNCIL MEMBER HUDSON.
WANNA MAKE A MOTION TO DEFER THIS ITEM? THERE'S A MOTION BY COUNCIL MEMBER HUDSON.
SECONDED BY COUNCIL MEMBER OSA.
ARE THERE ANY OBJECTIONS? WE'RE GONNA DEFER THIS ITEM FOR TWO WEEKS.
[159. 23-01662]
1 59.CONSIDERATION OF REAPPOINTMENT REPLACING LESLIE AUSTIN WHOSE TERM EXPIRES ON DECEMBER 31ST.
LESLIE AUSTIN HAS REQUESTED A REAPPOINTMENT.
ANY OBJECTIONS? COUNCIL MEMBERS? IS THERE A MOTION TO APPOINT LESLIE AUSTIN? SO MOVED BY COUNCIL MEMBER ADAMS. SECONDED BY THE CHAIR.
ANY OBJECTIONS WE'RE GONNA SHOWING MR. COUNCIL MEMBER HURST'S? OBJECTION.
I WAS ON THE LAST LIBRARY ONE.
I WAS GOING TO NOMINATE COUNCILMAN HURST.
UH, ANY OBJECTION TO LESLIE AUSTIN BEING APPOINTED TO THE PERSONNEL BOARD.
[160. 23-01664]
REMOVING ON ITEM ONE 60, CONCURRING THE MAYOR.PRESIDENT'S RECOMMENDATION FOR REAPPOINTMENT REPLACE KIANA SOLE WHOSE TERM EXPIRES ON DECEMBER 31ST.
THIS IS A FOUR YEAR TERM KENYATA.
SO REQUEST TO REAPPOINTMENT LETTER FROM THE MAYOR.
WAS THE LETTER TO THE MAYOR WAS RECEIVED.
ANY, ANYONE WISHES TO SPEAK ON THE ITEM? IS THERE A MOTION TO APPOINT KENYATTA? SO MOVED BY COUNCILMAN COLEMAN.
[158. 23-01659 (Part 2 of 2)]
1 61.WE'RE GONNA GO BACK VERY QUICKLY TO ITEM 1 58.
CONSIDERATION OF REPLACING JACOB, JACOB, JASON JACOBS, WHO'S NOT SEEKING REAPPOINTMENT.
MY COLLEAGUES TO MY LEFT WEREN'T PAYING ATTENTION.
COLLEAGUES TO MY LEFT WEREN'T PAYING ATTENTION.
SO WE ARE GONNA RECONSIDER THE ITEM.
THERE IS A MOTION ON THE FLOOR TO DEFER.
COUNCIL MEMBER MO, YOU'D LIKE TO MAKE A SUBSTITUTE MOTION TO APPOINT COUNCIL MEMBER HURST.
WHAT? I DON'T THINK IT WAS ON THIS PARTICULAR ONE.
WHETHER IT'S THIS ONE OR I THINK THE NEXT ONE IS A ITEM ALSO.
UH, SO ONE 50 REQUEST TO COUNCIL MEMBER HURST.
THERE'S A MOTION TO APPOINT COUNCIL MEMBER HURST TO THE LIBRARY BOARD BY COUNCIL MEMBER MO.
WE'RE GONNA VOTE ON THE SUBSTITUTE MOTION.
THE ORIGINAL MOTION IS TO DEFER BY COUNCIL MEMBER HUDSON.
SECONDED BY COUNCIL MEMBER MOSA.
WE'RE GONNA VOTE ON THE MOTION TO APPOINT SUBSTITUTE MOTION.
WE'RE VOTING ON THE SUBSTITUTE MOTION TO APPOINT COUNCILMAN HURST.
WE GOTTA VOTE ON THE ORIGINAL MOTION.
TRYING TO VOTE ON THE ORIGINAL MOTION, WHICH IS TO DEFER THE ITEM FOR HOW LONG? COUNCIL MEMBER HUDSON? UH, ONE YEAR? NO.
ANY OBJECTIONS FOR A TWO WEEK DEFER ITEM HAS BEEN DEFERRED.
ANY OBJECTIONS WE GO TO ITEM 1 62.
CONSIDERATION OF REAPPOINTING PLACING DONALD LEWIS'S TERM EXPIRES ON DECEMBER 31ST.
EFFECTIVE THIS IS A THREE YEAR TERM.
ANY ANYONE HERE WISHING TO SPEAK ON ITEM 1 62? OH, I'M GOING TO 1 61.
[161. 23-01665]
CONSIDERATION OF REAPPOINTING SANDRA DAVIS'S TERM EXPIRES ON DECEMBER 31ST.IS ANYONE HERE WISHING TO SPEAK ON THE ITEM? I'LL MAKE A MOTION.
WE APPOINT C CRICKET GORDON SECONDED BY COUNCIL MEMBER COLEMAN.
ANY OBJECTIONS ITEM? I'M MR. GORDON HAS BEEN APPOINTED.
[162. 23-01666]
ITEM 1 62.CONSIDERATION OF REAPPOINTING DONALD LEWIS, WHOSE TERM EXPIRED ON DECEMBER 31ST.
[02:55:02]
THIS IS A THREE-YEAR TERM.IS ANYONE HERE WISHING TO SPEAK ON THE ITEM? COUNCIL MEMBER DUNN.
FORMER COUNCILWOMAN DONALD COLLEGE LEWIS REAPPOINT.
ARE THERE ANY OBJECTIONS? COUNCIL MEMBER DONALD LEWIS HAS BEEN REAPPOINTED.
[163. 23-01667]
NOW CONSIDERATION OF REPLACING MICKEY F FRYBERG.WHOSE TERM EXPIRES ON DECEMBER 31ST.
THIS IS A THREE YEAR TERM CURRENT BALANCE.
RECEIVED LETTER FROM LOUISIANA RESTAURANT.
ASSOCIATED REQUESTING APPOINTMENT.
ANYONE HERE WISHES TO SPEAK ON THE ITEM? OH, I'M SORRY.
[164. 23-01668]
CONSIDERATION OF REA PLACING REAPPOINTED.ROWDY GODDE, WHOSE TERM FILED ON DECEMBER 31ST.
AND MAY A COUNCIL MEMBER CURRENT BALLOT IS COUNCIL MEMBER GOE.
DO, DO WE WANT ANOTHER POLITICIAN ON THE COMMITTEE? I OBJECT.
MOTION TO APPOINT COUNCIL MEMBER GODDE BY COUNCIL MEMBER HUDSON.
ITEM 1 64 HAS BEEN APPROVED ACCEPTANCE OF LOW BIDS.
[165. 23-01599]
MAINTENANCE TESTING AND MONITORING OF FIRE ALARM IS SMOKE.DOES ANYONE WISH TO SPEAK ON ITEM 1 65? WE GO TO COUNCIL MEMBER THERE.
SECONDED BY COUNCIL MEMBER COLEMAN.
[166. 23-01600]
ITEM 1 66.MAINTENANCE TESTING AND MONITORING A FIRE ALARM AND SMOKE TO TEXAS FIRE REQUEST LLC $23,050.
ANYONE WISHING TO SPEAK ON THE ITEM? WE NOW GO TO THE COUNCIL.
MOTION TO APPROVE BY COUNCIL MEMBER MOOCH.
SECONDED BY COUNCIL MEMBER COLEMAN.
ANY OBJECTIONS WE WROTE ITEM 1 67
[167. 23-01610]
BATON WITH METROPOLITAN, THE AIRPORT EMPLOYEE PARK REHABILITATION EXPANSION.DO JOHNSON PAVING CONTRACT INCORPORATED $537,154 80 CENTS.
ANYONE WISHING TO SPEAK ON ITEM ITEM 1 67 HAS BEEN APPROVED.
ANY OBJECTIONS? ITEM 1 67 HAS BEEN APPROVED.
[173. 23-01603]
OTHER ITEMS. ITEM 1 73.EMERGENCY AUTHORIZATION FOR THE MAYOR, PRESIDENT, AND CHAIRMAN OF THE AIRPORT.
COMMISSIONER NEXT TO AMENDMENT NUMBER TWO WITH LEY AVIATION ACADEMY.
LEASE APPROXIMATELY FOUR 49,615 SQUARE FEET OF LAND ADJACENT TO THE MULTIPLEX FACILITY AT A RATE OF $7,930 AND 40 CENTS PER YEAR.
AND THE LEASE TERM TO RUN, CONCURRENT WITH THE ORIGINAL LEASE BY AVIATION DIRECTOR.
INITIAL DEADLINE FOR AGENDA PASSED IN ACCORDANCE WITH ORDERS 1 6 4 4 2.
THIS ITEM MUST BE DECLARED AN EMERGENCY BY TWO THIRD ROAD OF METROPOLITAN COUNCIL.
THE MOTION TO DECLARE THE ITEM EMERGENCY.
SO MOVED BY COUNCIL MEMBER DUNN.
ANY OBJECTIONS, ANYONE WISHING TO SPEAK ON THE ITEM? WE NOW GO BACK.
MOTION TO APPROVE BY COUNCIL MEMBER.
[174. 23-01696]
1 74, AMENDING AND REACTING TO ORDINANCE 1 9 0 0 1, ADOPTED OCTOBER 11TH, 2023, WHICH ESTABLISHED VOTING PRECINCTS FOR WARS ONE, TWO, AND THREE IN EASTBOUND RIDGE PARISH AND DESIGNATING POLLING PLACES SO HAS CHANGED THE FOLLOWING POLLING LOCATIONS.WARD THREE, PRECINCTS ONE A AND ONE B.
FROM GRACE CHURCH AND CENTRAL TO BRECK JACKSON COMMUNITY PARK, 1 2 2 5 0 SULLIVAN ROAD, BATON ROUGE, LOUISIANA, 7 0 8 1 8.
FROM THE
BY REGISTER VOTERS REASON FOR EMERGENCY TO ALLOW THE CHANGE TO BE MADE PRIOR TO QUALIFYING FOR THE MARCH 24 ELECTION IN ACCORDANCE WITH ORDINANCE 1 6 4 4 2.
THIS ITEM MUST BE DECLARED AN EMERGENCY BY TWO THIRDS OF THE METROPOLITAN COUNCIL.
SO MOVED BY COUNCIL MEMBER, UH, ADAM, SECONDED BY COUNCIL MEMBER HUDSON.
UH, ANY OBJECTIONS? IS ANYONE HERE? WISH YOU TO SPEAK ON THE ITEM.
MOTION TO APPROVE BY COUNCIL MEMBER HUDSON.
SECONDED BY COUNCIL MEMBER ADAM.
OH, YOU WANT TO RECONSIDER? POINT OF ORDER.
WHAT'S THE, WHAT'S THE PROCEDURE ON RECONSIDERING, WHICH, WELL, THIS IS A THING.
WHAT, UH, WHAT ITEM ARE WE RECONSIDERING? COUNCIL MEMBER MO EMERGENCY.
THE EMERGENCY ITEM D BROUGHT ITEM.
WHAT, UH, WHAT ITEM? COUNCIL MEMBER.
IT'S ALL RIPPED UP BUT IT'S THAT ONE.
YOU WERE ON THE PREVAILING SIDE OF ADMINISTRATIVE D.
YOU WERE ON THE PREVAILING SIDE.
YOU NEED A SECOND FROM SOMEONE ON THE PREVAILING SIDE.
SECONDED BY COUNCIL MEMBER, UH, BY COUNCIL MEMBER ROCKER.
[03:00:01]
RECONSIDER.ARE THERE ANY OBJECTIONS ON A MOTION TO RECONSIDER? YOU WANT TO SPEAK? COUNCIL MEMBER HURST ON THAT ITEM? YES.
SO THERE'S A MOTION TO DELETE THE ITEM BY COUNCIL MEMBER HURST.
ARE THERE ANY OBJECTIONS TO DE LEADING ITEM D? TELL HIM WHY.
ENJOY YOUR, UH, UH, THERE'S AN OBJECTION TO DEPOSITION.
ALRIGHT, IS THERE A MOTION TO RECONSIDER ANY OTHER ITEM? ADJOURN.
MOTION TO ADJOURN BY COUNCIL MEMBER AMAROSA, SECONDED BY THE CHAIR.
AS ALWAYS, PROTECT YOUR MENTAL HEALTH.
READ TO YOUR CHILDREN AND WHEN YOU'RE DONE READING TO THEM, HAVE THEM READ BACK TO YOU.