Monday's Shreveport city council meeting had a major agenda change that was not only unprecedented but also violative of the council rules of procedure. Additionally this change violated the spirit of the Open Meetings Law.
Executive sessions of the council are held to discuss personnel matters and litigation cases. These
sessions have always been conducted at the end of the council meetings. When the Council goes into an Executive Session the members of the media and citizens who attend the meetings leave the council chambers because all of the public business has been conducted.
On Monday the council chair Alan Jackson adjourned the meeting to go into the Executive Session to review two lawsuits against the City of Shreveport. The Executive Session was held in the conference room behind the chambers. Jackson made no mention that the Council would go back into session after the Executive Session.
Once the Executive Session ended, the Council reconvened to hear the report of Attorney Hill on the unauthorized payraises handed out by then Council chair James Green to the Council clerks office. The briefing by Hill was very detailed and well documented.
Unfortunately but not surprisingly Green used his position to harass Hill on her report. Green wanted to make the record clear that he did not comment a crime, which was early on acknowledged by Hill. Green had previously acknowledged his wrongdoing at a press conference and his constant questioning was an abuse of his position.
This conduct was reminscent of Green's badgering of then SPD Chief Ben Raymond on the SPD
response to a call from Green barging into an optical shop. At that meeting Green asked Raymond "what were they going to do, shoot me?"
This anti-police attitude was repeated by Green's response to a traffic spot for tinted windows. Green made a big fuss and accused SPD officers of racial profiling. That lead to his remark that he was a "certain person" who should be afforded special privileges.
Calling the Executive Session before the regular council business was completed clearly was intended to limit the pubilcity on Hill's report. Green usually wants a big audience for his council "sermons" but obviously not so when he was the subject of inappropriate conduct. The chambers were absent media and citizens when the Council reconvened.
The agenda change was the work of council chair Jackson and vice-chair Green. This action certainly speaks to the integrity of both members and the "leadership" of Jackson who has mayoral aspirations.
The agenda change only serves to focus more attention on both Green and Jackson in their actions as council members as well as their actions outside of City Hall in their personal lives.