JOHN E. SETTLE JR. EDITOR FOCUS SB NEWS SETTLETALK
The political hot stove was really cold for the first couple weeks of the new year. But no longer.
The challenge is not what are the suddenly burning issues. but where to start. So in no particular order of priority, here's a list.
1. New councilman Alan Jackson is employed full time at Grambling State University, and, thus, is on the state payroll. He also is on the city of Shreveport payroll as a council member.
a. Is Jackson required to take personal time off to attend council meetings during the business day? Jackson and Grambling have refused to answer that question.
b. Do Jackson's positions at Grambling and on the council violate the prohibition against dual office holding?
2. The Perkins administration introduced an ordinance to establish a Shreveport Metropolitan Planning Commission at the council meeting on Jan. 25. MPC Executive Director Alan Clarke objects to some of the language in the proposed ordinance.
a. Why was the proposed ordinance not reviewed before introduction with Clarke?
3. The MPC , which now only has jurisdiction over in the Shreveport city limits, has a nine-member board. Under the legislation that created the MPC, four board appointments were made by the parish, four by the city, and one is a joint appointee.
a. Should decisions being made only on properties within the Shreveport city limits be voted upon by appointees of the parish, especially by one parish appointee who lives outside the city limits?
b. The term of a parish appointed seat has expired, and Mayor Perkins has nominated that same person to again serve on the MPC board. Can the city council confirm a person for a parish-designated seat?
4. New council president James Green has made the 2022 council committee appointments, which are totally within his discretion. Council members John Nickelson and Levette Fuller voted against the selection of Green as council president.
a. Nickelson was not reappointed chair of the Audit and Finance Committee. Fuller was not reappointed chair of the Infrastructure Committee. Was this political payback by Green?
b. Alan Jackson, who was appointed to the council on Dec. 29, was appointed to chair the Audit and Finance Committee. After less than 30 days on the council, does Jackson have the requisite council experience for this chairmanship?
5. Former Shreveport Comptroller Ben Hebert has made substantial allegations against Shreveport's interim chief financial officer (CFO) Kasey Brown and the Perkins administration. These include a whistleblower's complaint that his termination as comptroller was because he complained of financial irregularities. Hebert also complains that the nomination of Brown to be the permanent CFO represents both age and race discrimination against him.
a. Should the council confirm the nomination of Brown as permanent CFO?
6. On Jan. 11 the Shreveport City Council voted 5-2 for a 13% pay raise for city employees. The language of the various budget amendments effectuating the pay raises did not specify all employees of each department. The Perkins administration decided all city employees would get the raise.
a. Should the department heads, assistant department heads and the mayor's administrative staff receive these pay raises?
b. The 13% pay raise was spearheaded by council member Tabatha Taylor, whose significant other is city attorney Ron Lattier. Taylor's vote increased Lattier's pay by $19,500. Should Taylor have recused herself from that vote?
7. City Attorney Lattier has been a board member of the Red River Waterway Commission (RRWC) since 2018. He was appointed city attorney in August 2020. While city attorney, he voted to approve funding for the Bakowski Bridge of Lights by the RRWC that requires the city to maintain the lights for 20 years.
a. Was this vote by Lattier a conflict of interest with his job as city attorney? b. The city attorney's office presumably approved the Coop
b. The city attorney's office presumably approved the Cooperative Endeavor Agreement with the RRWC for the funding. If so, what this a conflict of interest for Lattier?
c. Lattier is paid a per diem for RRWC monthly board meetings plus expenses. Is his position on the RRWC a prohibited dual office holding?
8. The interim director of the Shreveport Airport Authority, Stephanie Tucker, submitted her resignation letter to Mayor Adrian Perkins on Jan. 21 of this year, to be effective on Jan. 31. Tucker said after 40-plus years in aviation, she was retiring.
a. The SAA had not, as of press deadline of 8 a.m. on Wednesday, announced Tucker's resignation. Why not?
9. The Shreveport Airport Authority posted a notice of a special meeting to nominate an interim director to succeed Tucker. The meeting notice was invalid because it did not meet the requirement of the Open Meeting Law, and, thus, the meeting was cancelled after a Settle Talk mailing.
a. This is not the first time the SAA has failed to comply with the Open Meetings Law. What's the deal with the administrative staff?
The list could go on, and it will in future columns. The questions raised above deal with issues of good government, governmental ethics, dual office holding and legal interpretation of state laws and city ordinances. The questions are the easy part of the puzzle. Getting cred
The questions are the easy part of the puzzle. Getting credible answers to them is the real challenge.
THIS ARTICLE WAS PUBLISHED IN THE February 4 ISSUE OF FOCUS SB - THE INQUISITOR. SUBSCRIBE TODAY AT http://www.theinquisitor.com