Category Archives: Uncategorized

In a two page email to MPC Board members, MPC Executive Director Mark Sweeney listed the reasons that the MPC office has a “Closed For Lunch” office policy. His reasons are as follows: 1. Having a designated hour off for lunch increases productivity. 2. Having a designated hour for lunch is a “no cost perk ”that […]

The City of Shreveport has the opportunity to realize big bucks and solve major civic headaches , all in one swoop, by negotiating with  SUEZ, N.A. to either sell or operate its Water and Sewage Department (DOWUS).  Public private partnerships are becoming very common vehicles for private sector entities to assume a major share of […]

It’s a poorly kept secret, which Mayor Tyler refuses to acknowledge, that Shreveport’s police are lowly paid in comparison to comparable cities. The continual shortage of police officers below the authorized number is due , no doubt, in part to the pay disparity. And its not rocket science to connect the dots between Shreveport’s increasing […]

The Shreveport Caddo Metropolitan Planning Commission (MPC) is a separate governmental entity that is funded by the City of Shreveport and Caddo Parish. The MPC has jurisdiction over all of Shreveport and in the parish to five miles outside the city. This agency is charged with regulating zoning and building development and enforcing zoning regulations. […]

If Shreveport elected officials were to list the top 3 issues that need to be resolved, there is no doubt that these would be at the top of the list: water billing, EPA and SPD. The Pernici Wainwright suit for alleged violations of the non disclosure agreement could cost the City as much as a […]

Its rare, as in real rare, that New Orleans is looked to as a model for progressive government. But such is the case with the New Orleans Redevelopment Agency (NORA), which will serve as a model for the Shreveport Implementation and Redevelopment Agency (SIRA). NORA was created in 1968 and it initially focused it efforts […]

Yes, Virginia, there IS a Santa Claus, but sometimes he gets his Christmas list messed up and lumps of coal are delivered rather than gifts.. Such may be case with the much ballyhooed Unified Development Code (UDC) that was adopted by the City of Shreveport this spring and recently by the Parish Commission.  The UDC […]

Many readers responded to a recent article on questions for Shreveport Mayor Tyler’s request for the Shreveport City Council to fund and additional $150,000 for Shreveport Police Department overtime. One reader had many comments and suggestions that should merit sharing to a larger audience, which includes the Shreveport City Council, Mayor Tyler and many in […]

Finally, Shreveport Mayor Tyler took the initiative to develop a plan to address Shreveport’s ever increasing crime by her request to the City Council to fund an additional $150,000 for the Shreveport Police Department (SPD).  Its unfortunate that she waited so long; thankfully Councilman Willie Bradford put public pressure on the Mayor by the introduction […]

Believe it or not, there IS a magic kingdom at Government Plaza on Travis Street in downtown Shreveport; its located on the fourth floor in the offices of the Shreveport Caddo Metropolitan Planning Commission (MPC). The king is MPC Executive Director Mark Sweeney and his cabinet is the nine member MPC Board.  King Sweeney collects […]