Goodness, good-government advocates have suddenly awoken from the holiday siesta. Either that or they are trying to keep a New Year’s resolution to examine local government.
With all the brouhaha of the upcoming lighting of the Bakowski bridge, these muckrakers have now focused on the Red River Waterway Commission, which agreed to fund $1 million for the Texas Street Bridge lighting.
Ron Lattier was appointed to the Red River Waterway Commission in 2018.
Ron Lattier was appointed as the Shreveport City Attorney on Aug. 20, 2020. Lattier voted to approve the lighting project.
The city of Shreveport executed a Cooperative Endeavor Agreement (CEA) with the Waterway Commission on Jan. 21, 2021. Presumably, this document was reviewed and approved by the Shreveport City Attorney's Office prior to execution by Mayor Adrian Perkins.
This agreement imposes obligations on the city of Shreveport for a 20-year operation to provide funds for maintenance, security, repair and replacement.
One question is if Lattier, wearing the commissioner hat while wearing the city attorney brim, had a conflict of interest when voting to approve a project that imposed a monetary obligation on the city of Shreveport.
The second question is related. As the city attorney, should his office have reviewed (if it did), the CEA between the city and the Waterway Commission after he voted to approve the project?