Goodness, it has been tiring.
Exhausting.
Sometimes boring.
But very enlightening.
I have attended/listened to the following:
a. Councilman James Green's mea culpa news conference on Aug. 15
b. Monday's Audit and Finance Committee meeting that featured more of Green's oratory and the release of documents intended to pull in former council chairs James Flurry and Jerry Bowman, Jr by councilman Alan Jackson
c. Monday's Shreveport Council work session that featured more of Green's lengthy laments
d. Tuesday's Shreveport Council regular meeting that again featured Green's long-winded oratory
e. Wednesday morning interview of councilwoman Ursula Bowman and hubbie Jerry Bowman, Jr. on the KEEL radio Morning Show
f. Wednesday afternoon interview of Alan Jackson on American Ground Radio
g. Thursday morning interview of councilman Gary Brooks on the KEEL radio Morning Show
h. Thursday noon interview of Ursula and Jerry along with councilman Gary Brooks on the Keeling It Real FB and podcast Thursday afternoon interview of Bowman and Brooks on American Ground Radio.
And I have reviewed the Shreveport City charter, Jackson's documents and minutes of two council meetings.
Other than that, It has been a slow week on the continuing saga of Shreveport's Pay Gate.
Taken collectively, all of these public meetings and public interviews certainly substantiate the need for an investigation which four council members approved.
Surely any citizen, other than Green, Jackson and councilwoman Tabatha Taylor, agree with my conclusion.
To say the dynamics of the Shreveport council politics have undergone a seismic change is an understatement.
Quite frankly I regret this fiasco but i am happy to see the unraveling of an unhealthy power structure on the council.
Hopefully, today Friday will be a day without any public meetings/interviews on this matter. But it would be helpful if Green would come out of his cave and allow the media to question him, especially after many revelations that rebut his version of Pay Gate.
John came to Shreveport in January of 1977 when he was transferred to Barksdale AFB.
He’s been active in Shreveport politics since deciding to make Shreveport his home.
John practiced law for 40 years and he now monitors local politics. He regularly attends Shreveport City Council and Caddo Parish Commission meetings.
John is published weekly in The Inquisitor, bi-monthly in The Forum News, and frequently in the Shreveport Times.
He enjoys addressing civic groups on local government issues and elections.