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Although it’s nearly a year before next year’s mayoral primary, potential candidates for Shreveport’s top seat are starting to survey the political landscape at city hall. 

Mayor Ollie Tyler can run for a second term. Although she has not publicly announced her intentions Tyler has held a low key re-election fundraising event with key supporters. 

City Councilman Jerry Bowman confirmed in a recent interview that he has an exploratory committee assessing a potential mayoral bid. Bowman is serving his first term on the council and he will be the council chairman next year.

Former Mayor Cedric Glover now serves in the Louisiana House of Delegates. He has maintained a high profile in the last two years that fuels constant rumors of a 2018 mayoral race. 

Willie Bradford, another first term Council member, has toyed with the idea of a campaign for mayor. At one time second term Councilman Jeff Everson was considering a mayoral bid. Both now say they will not run for mayor.

Tyler will be 73 in January of next year, and she appears to be in good health. If re-elected, she would be almost 78 at the end of her term. Her age could be a factor in a second mayoral campaign.

A Tyler campaign will no doubt emphasize a more “business like” government. She can cite substantial progress on completion of water and sewer projects mandated by the Environmental Protection Agency consent decree. 

Tyler can also point to more efficiencies in government operations with a limited increase in her budgets. The City of Shreveport has less employees now than when Tyler assumed office in December 2013.

Two issues that any Tyler opponent will surely emphasize are the city’s crime rate and the water billing fiasco.

Tyler’s selection of Alan Crump as police chief has been the subject of controversy from day one. Crump is currently on administrative leave after, based on police descriptions, firing at two fleeing suspects in an alleged vehicle break-in.

Many citizens believe that neighborhood crime is a serious and growing problem. In politics, perception often becomes reality at the polls.

The city’s continuing water bill issues are seemingly out of control and nowhere near resolution. Residents are still receiving outrageously high bills that can not be justified by city officials.

And the litigation by Scott Pernici and Michael Wainwright is still progressing. Linn Bragg, who was Tyler’s mayoral campaign manager, figures unfavorably in some deposition testimony.

Bowman has dramatically raised his public profile by calling for the termination of Shreveport Police Department Chief Crump. It’s not clear whether this will help or hurt him in a mayoral campaign. 

Bowman will undoubtedly face two questions if he runs for mayor. The first is a theft conviction that has now been expunged. The second is his failure to vote on Tyler’s sport complex. He attended the council meeting where the vote was taken, but he left the meeting shortly before the vote itself. 

Much like his brother, Jerald, who is on the Caddo Parish Commission, Jerry has a built in political base that he “inherited” from his politically astute mother, Joyce Bowman. How much of his mom’s charisma will pull votes outside his district, and especially with white voters, is an open question.

Another major question for Bowman is his ability to raise funds from the “downtown establishment” that heavily supported Tyler in 2013. Another would arise if he associated his campaign with Braggs. 

Glover, who now sports a white “billy goat” beard, has maintained a high presence on social media since leaving city hall. And he is responsible for the local hearings on the failure of Paul Elio to manufacture cars at the old GM plant. 

Glover constantly reminds the public that he passed the largest bond issue in the city’s history. Glover believes that he, not Tyler, should get the credit, for the massive water and sewer construction projects throughout the City. 

Glover is , no doubt, one of the best orators in the area and he would easily outshine Bowman or Tyler in a media campaign. His ability to raise funds probably exceeds Bowman’s, but how he would match up against Tyler in this category is an unknown.

Tyler’s proposed budget for 2018 includes a 5% pay raise for most city employees. This will be the first in ten years for many workers, a feat not accomplished by Glover. If the Council passes this pay hike, Tyler will be off to a good start in 2018, if she seeks re-election.

It is not too early to talk about next year’s mayor’s race. A serious candidate needs to have a campaign organization in place by March of next year, or sooner for a Tyler challenger. What happens at City Hall for the rest of the year will most likely influence, in a big way, next year’s mayoral candidate field.

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Shreveport City Council James Flurry has openly questioned the need for the City of Shreveport to continue to keep the Architectural/Engineering (A/E) Committee in existence. The A/E Committee reviews responses to Requests for Proposals (RFP) for city contracts in excess of $10,000 and refers three to the mayor for her selection.

The Committee has nine members. These include the directors of public works, water and sewerage, airport director, city engineer, and the MPC executive director along with the council chairman and the city council clerk.

The two members appointed by the Mayor are David Aubrey with AT&T and Linda Biernacki, the owner of Fire Tech Systems. Both of these appointments have been questioned by good government observers. 

Aubrey is the chairman of the committee. It has long been rumored that Aubrey actually lives in Baton Rouge, which he has always denied. Public records show that Aubrey does own a house on Tibbs Street in Shreveport.

Public records also show that Aubrey owns a residence in St. Gabriel, which is a bedroom community of Baton Rouge. The Iberville Parish Assessor records show that Aubrey has a homestead exemption on this house.

Louisiana law provides that “the bona fide homestead consists of a residence occupied by the owner.” A homestead is generally considered to be the permanent residence of the owner. Seemingly, Aubrey should not be claiming to be a Caddo resident since he has filed a homestead in Iberville Parish.

Biernacki was one of the first big supporters of Ollie Tyler when she began her mayoral campaign in 2013. Biernacki made major contributions to the Tyler campaign in the 2013 primary and the runoff. Recently Biernacki has been a leader of Tyler’s re-election campaign fund-raising.

Since January of 2013, the City of Shreveport has paid almost $225 grand to Fire Tech for services to the Fire Department, the City Jail, and Shreve Memorial Library. Many of the services, including the fire stations, were to inspect fire extinguishers and sprinkler systems.

A fundamental premise of good government is the avoidance of conflicts of interest—and even the appearance of the same. Its difficult to identify any reasonable justification for the A/E Committee—which is the only such committee in the state. Even more troublesome are the two appointments by the Mayor.

Hopefully, Flurry will be successful in this effort to abolish the A/E Committee. 

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It’s not official, but it is expected to be when the Caddo Commission adopts it’s 2018 budget in the next few weeks. 

As expected, the recommendations of the Commission’s Appropriations Committee had winners and losers. The annual “let’s play Santa Claus” process is reminiscent of kids divvying up Halloween candy after a big haul. 

This year’s Committee’s work was perhaps the most egregious in terms of good government. Commission president Steven Jackson not only took over the Committee’s deliberations, but also fired two committee members before the last Committee meeting. 

And to top it off, Jackson ignored the established rules for timely submission of requests. He successfully pushed funding for five organizations that were tardy in filing the necessary paperwork. 

The Commission’s share of Riverfront gaming funds is expected to be $950 grand. As further evidence of the Committee’s lack of fiscal discipline, the Committee voted to award a million twenty seven five hundred ($1,027,500) dollars. So taxpayer dollars will be needed to fund the extra $67,500 if the full Commission adopts the recommendations. 

In total, over sixty organizations were funded. Awards ranged from $1 thousand dollars to Steeple Success LLC to $80 grand for the Caddo Council on Aging Meals on Wheels program and $85 grand for the Food Bank of NW La. (For a list of organizations, email John@jesettle.com.) 

Several recommendations are, at best, questionable. One example is $30 thousand to help underwrite the Good Times Roll Festival. Not only was the application received late, but big time fraternity brother Lyndon B. Johnson (LBJ) pushed this funding. 

Previously this year, LBJ sponsored a Commission resolution recognizing Rho Omega and the festival. LBJ participated in the Committee meetings even though he was not a Committee member. 

District wise, there were big time winners and losers when it came to bringing home “the bacon” to constituents. 

Commissioner Matthew Linn (District 4) lead the pack, netting almost 29% of the proposed funding. Politicos believe that Linn’s swing vote to remove the Confederate Memorial was a trade-out to give his district the most money. 

Jerald Bowman(District 5) racked up with almost 14% of the funding. Bowman was the Committee chairman. 

Jackson’s district garnered almost 13% of the funding and Stormy Gage-Watts’ district had 12%. 

Mike Middleton was kicked off the Committee by Jackson after the first two Committee meetings. The final grant moneys were decided at the Committees third meeting. Middleton’s District 8 received no funding. 

Vice President Doug Dominick was not a committee member. His District 1 also drew a goose egg in the funding recommendations. 

Commissioner Jim Smith’s District 11 will receive less than .4% of the Riverfront Funds. 
To say that is was not “pretty” to watch the decision-making process of the Committee in it’s three hurried meetings would be a gross understatement. 

Committee members did not receive the chart of organizations with funding requests until the first meeting started. Very little information was provided about the soliciting organizations much less the need for the moneys. 

So much for following good government practices.

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Perhaps it is no surprise to Louisiana business owners that the Bayou State is not “Heaven” when it comes to operating a business. The report by the Tax Foundation just added salt in the wound by ranking the state lower for 2018 than 2017. 

Now Louisiana is number 42 versus 41 when it comes to a favorable tax climate for operating a business.

The Tax Foundation’s State Business Tax Climate index is designed to enable business leaders, government policymakers, and taxpayers to gauge how their states compare.

The Tax Foundation overall ranking is based on five components, with different percent rankings. These are:

Individual income tax-33.0%

Sales tax-23.3%

Corporate tax-19.0%

Property tax-15.1%

Unemployment insurance tax-9.6%

The ten best states in the index for 2018 are, in order, Wyoming, South Dakota, Alaska, Florida, Nevada, New Hampshire, Utah, Indiana and Oregon.

The ten lowest ranked, or worst, states are Rhode Island, Louisiana, Maryland, Connecticut, Ohio, Minnesota, Vermont, California, New York and New Jersey.

Once again, Louisiana holds the distinction of being worst in the nation for sales taxes. 

In other categories, our state is No. 27 for corporate taxes, No. 29 for individual taxes, and No. 30 in property taxes. 

The only good news in the index is the No. 4 ranking for unemployment taxes. The 2017 ranking was NO. 9; this is the only category to which the state showed improvement.

The report is careful to delineate its purpose and how its rankings should be utilized. Specifically this index is an “indicator of which state’s tax systems are the most hospitable to business and economic growth.”

The Tax Foundation’s information is not determinative on the best states in which to live. 

It does not purport to measure economic opportunity, or even the broad business climate. It does not include crime rates, health care or public education in it’s review nor does it gauge or rank the relative cost of living.

The Tax Foundation report advises that states with the best tax systems will be the most competitive at attracting new businesses, and most effective in generating economic and employment growth. The report acknowledges that taxes are only one factor in business decision-making and that other concerns like access to raw materials , infrastructure and a skilled labor pool are or can be more important. 

However, it is noted that unlike changes to a state’s health-care, transportation, or education systems which can take decades to implement and/or change, changes to tax codes have immediate impact.

And the report did not, unfortunately, include insurance and estate taxes in the calculations. Louisiana does not tax estates before distribution of assets. Nor does it tax the actual inheritances. 

What is undeniable by any skeptics of the Foundation’s index is the fact that taxes paid by businesses are ultimately born by individuals through lower wages, increased prices, and decreased shareholder value. And in some instances, less opportunities by both wage earners and consumers alike as far as the number of businesses in the state. 

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The recently released Louisiana Economic Outlook for 2018 and 2019 has some long awaited, and much needed, good news for the Shreveport-Bossier Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA). Loren’s highly respected report projects two years of moderate growth that should add 1,400 jobs a year over 2018-2019. 

The Shreveport-Bossier MSA (179,000 jobs in 2017) is the fourth largest in the state, trailing New Orleans, Baton Rouge, and Lafayette. This area includes Caddo, Bossier, Webster, and Desoto Parishes. (Webster Parish was recently added to the MSA). 

This projection will be the first uptick in employment after almost a decade of decline. Fueling this recovery will be a rising rig count in the Haynesville Shale, gains in the high-tech sector and anticipated gains in state highway projects. 

Loren’s report highlights many important factors that contribute to the overall economy of northwest Louisiana. 

This MSA area has the State’s largest gaming sector with six riverboat casinos and the racetrack at Louisiana Downs. Collectively these employ over 5,000 people. Competition from the Indian casinos in Oklahoma has been gradually eroding this market, and a decline in overall gaming employment. 

Barksdale Air Force Base is the largest employer with over 9,000 military/civilian workers. 
High tech is a growing presence in this region with the addition of the Computer Science Corporation (CSC), with 500 jobs, as the anchor of the National Cyber Research Park Computer Science Corporation. CSC expects to add an additional 300 jobs by mid-2018. 
The Port of Shreveport-Bossier has a number of large employers that further anchor the MSA economy. The Port tenants employ about 1,500 people. 

Employment in healthcare services is a major economic driver for the MSA. LSU Health Sciences Center has over 5,200 employees. Willis Knighton, despite its recent layoffs, is still a major employer. 

Shreveport-Bossier has the highest concentration of durable goods manufacturing employment in the state. Because of this, Shreveport-Bossier is the most susceptible MSA in the state to national recessions in the state. These employers include Sable Industries (formerly Cell Xion), Frymaster, Ternium and Benteler Steel. 

Total road construction is anticipated to exceed $182 million. These projects include the LA 531 overpass bridge replacement, new $19 million rest area in Ida, $15.1 million to widen Swan Lake Road, and $14.7 million to overlay I-20 from the Texas Street line to Monkhouse Drive. 
The Haynesville Shale exploration boom shielded the local MSA from substantial declines in employment when the U.S. economy began to lose jobs in 2008. Additionally, the award of Global Strike Command to Barksdale Air Force Base helped mitigate the impact of the national recession. 

The major impact of Shale dollars trailed off considerabley beginning in 2010. Now instead of being a drag, the Shale should be a jump start to the MSA’s economy. The Shale is geographically close to the LNG export facilities in South Louisiana and pipelines that are exporting natural gas into Mexico. 

Loren reports that Louisiana began recovery from a twenty month recession in May 2017. He predicts that the state will have over two million jobs by 2019, which will be the first time it has exceeded that level on an annual basis. This recovery will be bolstered by a slightly faster growing national economy, low inflation, and only a slight increase in interest rate. 

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In March of 2015 Elliott Stonecipher filed his much ballyhooed suit against the Caddo Parish Commission, all the then elected Commissioners, Parish Administrator Woody Wilson and Parish Finance Director Erica Bryant. 

Stonecipher’s suit requested several rulings by the Court:

a. That none of the Commissioners were ever eligible to participate in the Caddo Parish Employee Retirement System (“CPERS”) and that no further CPERS payments be made by the Parish for the Commissioners.

b. That all CPERS payments made on behalf of the Commissioners by the Parish be repaid, with interest, to the Parish by each Commissioner.

c. That the Commissioners were not entitled to life and health insurance benefits/subsidies from the Parish, travel expenses, cost of living increases in their salaries, or mileage reimbursement and that no further Parish moneys be spent for the same.

d. That all of the Commissioners repay the Parish, with interest, for all insurance subsidies travel expenses, cost of living increases and travel reimbursements that each received.

In his columns, Stonecipher always proclaims that the legal services provided by the Pesnell Firm were contributed pro bono and thus his Don Quixote search to right all the nefarious deeds of the Commission were to be forever commemorated.

So, where does this case now stand after some 30 months and counting?

Well to begin with the litigation has been a major expense to the Parish.

Over $46 grand was paid to defend the action against the individual Commissioners, Wilson and Bryant. All of these were persons dismissed from the suit.

And an additional $132 plus thousand has been expended in litigating all the issues raised against the Commission. 

To date, Stonecipher has had little to no success in this litigation. But he likes to complain about the Commission legal expenses–that he caused!

The decisions that have been made thus far are:

a. The district court dismissed all of Mr. Stonecipher’s claims against individual parties and commissioners – this was affirmed on appeal and writs denied. 

b. The district court dismissed all claims for mandatory injunctive relief (essentially Mr. Stonecipher sought to collect sums he claimed Commissioners owed the Parish) – this was affirmed and writs denied. 

c. The appellate court reversed the district court’s ruling that the Caddo Parish Commission was not an entity that could be sued (as opposed to Caddo Parish, also a defendant). The Commission did not seek writs, so the Commission remains a party. 

d. The appellate court reversed the district court’s ruling that Mr. Stonecipher did not have standing for prohibitive injunctive relief (to enjoin the payment of unauthorized benefits). The Commission did not seek writs, so this issue remains before the court. 

e. The district court granted a partial summary judgment in favor of the Parish and Commission that reimbursement of travel and mileage was permissible. The Second Circuit found that the district court did not have jurisdiction over those matters because of the other pending appeal, so they remain before the court. 

f. The district court denied the Parish’s motion for partial summary judgment that Commissioners participation in health insurance with the Commissioners paying 100% of the premium was permissible. That issue is still before the court because Mr. Stonecipher has not filed any cross-motion for summary judgment or other motion seeking that determination in his favor.

There are four issues still before the court:

a. The validity of Parish contributions to CPERS (which has been discontinued). 

b. Whether Commissioners can participate in health insurance program if they pay 100% of the premiums. 

c. Whether Commissioners can be reimbursed for out-of-parish travel expenses for Commission-related business. 

d. Whether Commissioner can be reimbursed for mileage according to state standards for out-of-parish travel on Commission-related business.

Most legal scholars had doubts, as in very serious doubts, that Stonecipher’s attempts to require repayment of benefits that had already be received by the Commissioners would be successful. And for his other goals, much of the wind was taken out of his sails by Commission votes after the suit was filed.

In January 2016 the current Commission took office. And in their first few meetings they voted to suspend their CPERS payments and subsidized insurance payments. Additionally, substantial reform was made on travel expenses to be paid by the Parish for Commissioners. Stonecipher could have halted his litigation after these votes, but he chose to proceed. 

The Parish has lost two straight votes on tax renewals. The first was a few years back with one tax proposition on the ballot. The second proposition had four millages on the ballot. Next year there are additional tax millage renewals that will be on the ballot. Thus, in the current political environment it is very unlikely that the Commission will vote to restore CPERS or subsidized insurance benefits.

What happens next in the litigation is up to Stonecipher. Much like in checkers, its his move next. If he continues to sit quietly, no more court proceedings will follow and thus no more public dollars expended in defending the past actions of the Commission. Lets hope this is his course of action. It’s time to shut this parade down. 

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And yes, it’s about time.

In the last several months the reports from the Caddo Parish Animal Shelter (CPAS) continued to hit new lows. Even when observers could not believe it to be possible.

The litany of “bad acts” alleged to have occurred at the shelter reads like a porn movie script.

A CPAS employee was arrested for beastiality with a dog at the shelter. 

A CPAS employee was accused of having sex with this girlfriend in the CPAS parking lot.

A CPAS employee reportedly had sex with an inmate worker inside the CPAS building.

CPAS employees are accused of being part of a dog selling ring. Animals brought to the shelter were being sold on Ebay. 

And all of this was followed up by the mistaken euthanasia of a pet cat, Skittles, that was being retained for a 14 day quarantine for rabies.

Not surprisingly the CPAS director was forced to resign after the issues surfaced this year.

Against this backdrop of “you can’t make this stuff up” , the continuing charges by animal activists of mismanagement of the shelter have not subsided.

To address these concerns, Caddo Parish Administrator Woody Wilson has recently named Kelvin Samuel as the interim Director of Animal Services and Mosquito Control. Samuel had served as the Assistant Director since August of last year.

In an effort to quickly bring Samuel up to speed on successful shelter procedures and best practices, he has been scheduled to visit several high-performance shelters in Kansas City, Missiouri along with Brent Toellner, the Regional Director for the Best Friends Animal Society. After being in the CPAS environment for the last year, Samuel will certainly need a new orientation on how to successfully operate a shelter.

The installation of a long overdue camera/monitoring system that animal activists have been advocating for quite some time should improve CPAS employee accountability. The shelter now has 22 cameras in operation with a 30 day recording archive capacity. The cameras will be primarily utilized to investigate charges of improprieties by CPAS employees within the shelter itself.

The Parish reports that as of September 30, the total adoptions for the year are at an all time high. The rescue total on that date was 871; the previous high for a year is 923. Additionally, 391 animals had been redeemed, that is returned by the shelter to their owners. 

Intake for 2017 is less than 5,000. In 2016, the intake was almost 7,500. And the euthanasia rate for this year is 48% compared to 57% for last year.

Animal activists have also been advocating privatization of the shelter in an effort to improve accountability and to save tax dollars. Wilson has commissioned a privatization feasibility study by Dr. Jared Lorens of the LSU Public Administration Institute. The report is expected to be completed by mid-December of this year.

Despite all these “good steps”, animal activists are still skeptical that the shelter will be operated efficiently and professionally. Concerns are still being expressed that not all the animals brought into the shelter are properly registered, that animal care is deficient and that too many animals are not being saved.

Many volunteer organizations have ceased to spend time at the shelter assisting in the mundane chores of animal bathing, socialization and adoption efforts. One very active group, PAWS4LIFE, has been barred from the shelter. This group was transporting large numbers of animals and cats to areas outside the state for adoption.

Concerns include the lack of safeguards to ensure that dogs that are picked up are not sold before being taken to the shelter, or that not all dogs will be properly registered into the computer tracking program. They report that in the past twenty-two months over 200 canines were missing or not accounted for after being taken to the shelter. 

During that same time frame over ten CPAS employees were fired for misconduct. Many of the remaining employees are suspected of being involved in improper activities at the shelter.

Most importantly, the drastic reduction in volunteers allowed to work at the shelter has increased anxieties over the care of shelter animals and compliance with established policies for dog care and euthanasia.

Although the reduction in the euthanasia rate is commendable, it is below established norms and for that matter the historical low of 33% for the shelter.

So…the good news is that some changes have been made at CPAS. Additionally, statistics on proper operation of the shelter have improved. Whether the new leadership of Samuel can continue improvement at CPAS is an open question.

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Its always sad when an elected official starts off with great promise and then becomes a political manipulator. Such is the case with Caddo Commission President Steven Jackson.

Jackson was first elected to the Commission in late 2016. He defeated, with the help of many good government stalwarts, incumbent Rose McCollough.

In one of his first 2017 votes as a commissioner, Jackson voted with the six white Commissioners to stop funding the retirement plan for Commissioners (CPERS). He was also the deciding vote to stop offering health insurance to commissioners at a subsidized rate.

Jackson became Commission president in January of this year. As president, he appointed the members of the various Commission committees along with the  chairman of each.

As president, Jackson is an ex-officio voting member of all the Commission committees.

During recent months, Jackson has attempted to hijack committee meetings and votes. He has constantly interrupted committee chairmen and insisted that his opinions be followed. 

He added Commissioner Lyndon B. Johnson to the Long Range Planning Committee shortly before the critical committee vote on the report of the Confederate Memorial subcommittee. Johnson’s vote to not accept the subcommittee’s recommendation was the deciding vote.

Jackson later removed Commissioner Louis Johnson and Mike Middleton from the Appropriations/NGO Committee after two meetings to decide how to dole out $950 grand of riverboat funds to local non-profit entities. The Committee had a final meeting after Johnson and Middleton were removed to determine
the final report for the Commission.

Jackson literally took over the three Appropriation/NGO meetings. And he pushed through funding for several organizations that had failed to properly apply for funds.

Jackson also removed Louis Johnson from the Economic Development Committee while it was considering nominations for the Industrial Development Board. Reportedly, Johnson was going to support an individual not approved by Jackson.

Now being referred to as “Hatchet Man”, Jackson is in the final months of his reign as president. His recent actions in manipulating committee membership, will be part of his legacy as Commission president. 

Its unfortunate that Jackson has adopted a “my way or the highway mentality”. His future as a progressive leader has rapidly become tarnished.
 

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It’s time — no, past time — for the Shreveport City Council to establish a planning department and for the city to pull out of the Shreveport Metropolitan Planning Commission (MPC).

The MPC has jurisdiction over Shreveport and five miles outside city limits. The MPC regulates land use, issues permits and approves subdivision plats.

Currently, the city pays the lion’s share of the MPC budget, about 83 percent. The city also provides free office space, in-kind information technology services and financial services.

All fees paid to the MPC for property in the five-mile parish area are passed through to Caddo Parish government. The city gets no MPC fees.

The MPC is “governed” by a nine-member board. The city and parish each appoint four members and they jointly appoint one member.

The MPC executive director does not report to the mayor, city council, parish administrator or parish commission.

MPC Executive Director Mark Sweeney is the only public employee in northwest Louisiana with an employment contract. Sweeney spends MPC funds to prepare his contract.

Last year, Sweeney spent public funds in excess of $15,000 to take two MPC board members and four staff members, including himself, to a four-day convention in New York City. The first two days were a Saturday and a Sunday with very few convention seminars.

Twice a year Sweeney treats the MPC board, its attorney and key staff members to a work session at Chianti’s restaurant on the taxpayers’ dime. The tab for the recent lunch for six board members, the attorney and staff was almost $300.

Until recently the MPC office was closed weekdays from noon to 1 p.m. Totally closed —the lights off, door locked,phone answered by a message. After much public pressure, Sweeney reluctantly opened the MPC office from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. like all other offices in government plaza.

Sweeney’s relationship with private citizens, builders and developers is spotty at best. Those who must work regularly with his office will not publicly complain for fear of retribution.

Many private citizens have complained, especially those who also have conducted business with the Bossier City-Bossier Parish MPC. All say that working with the Bossier MPC is a cakewalk and that the Shreveport MPC is an obstacle course.

The MPC office is over staffed when compared to other offices on the basis of permits issued and size of its jurisdiction. Staff reductions can be accomplished in an internal office — as in other city offices under the Mayor Ollie Tyler Administration.

Current MPC staff members could apply to work for the city planning office.

In addition to the in-kind services, the city will fund the MPC in excess of $1 million in 2017. These funds should be budgeted for an internal planning office in 2018.

The Shreveport City Council passed the Unified Development Code earlier this year along with the zoning map. This ordinance applies to all real estate within the city limits.

The UDC can be easily amended to change all references to the MPC executive director, the MPC board and the Zoning Board of Appeals to the planning director, the planning board and the appeals board.

With these changes, the planning office would be accountable to the mayor and the city council.

New Orleans, Monroe and Alexandria have internal planning offices. Baton Rouge has combined city-parish government. There are no valid reasons for Shreveport not to have its own internal office.

Citizens could then have redress to elected officials when treated rudely, when planning applications become overly cumbersome and when anti-business roadblocks are incurred. This is not the case today. Additionally, the MPC fee schedule, which has discouraged development in Shreveport, could be amended.

And for the parish goes, the city could provide planning services on a most equitable compensation basis. Or the parish could establish its own planning office. And the commission should recognize that the city is in the parish.

The city council’s duty is to the residents of the city, and to those that want to develop in the City. A much more user friendly, accountable planning office is long overdue to combat stagnant economic growth in Shreveport.

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At its regular meeting on October 19 the Caddo Commission is expected to vote on a resolution to remove the Confederate Memorial from the Caddo courthouse grounds.

Most observers believe the vote will be 7 to 5 in favor of the resolution. Commissioner Matthew Linn is expected to vote along with the 6 African American Commissioners for removal. A simple majority of the 12 Commissioners will approve this resolution.

Linn also has on the agenda two proposed amendments to the Caddo Commission Charter. The first provides that the Commission shall establish a system of internal audits, with a minimum of three department audits per years. The second proposal eliminates the internal audits from the responsibility of the parish administrator.

A super majority of 8 votes is required to place these on the ballot for a parish wide election. These amendments must be approved by Caddo voters.

Word on the street has it that Linn has brokered a deal to get support for his amendments from the six African American commissioners in exchange for his vote to remove the memorial. Whether or not he can set an additional vote from one of the white commissioners is an open question. 

A vote to remove will move the hotly contested debate over the memorial from government plaza to the Caddo Courthouse.

The United Daughters of the Confederacy (UDC) own the memorial. Who owns the dirt under the memorial is a question to be resolved. 

The UDC claims ownership as does the Parish. Legally, the issue of “eviction” of the memorial is dependent on this issue. In other words the Parish can not require removal of the memorial if the Parish does not own the land upon which it sits.

The UDC is prepared to seek an injunction to prevent the Parish from taking the monument down. The test for such an order is “irreparable harm” that is not readily compensable in dollars.

There is little doubt that an injunction will be signed until the ownership issue if finally resolved. 

Once the case is litigated before Caddo Judge Ramon Lafitte, it is expected that the “losing party” will appeal to the Second Circuit Court of Appeals. And similarly that court’s decision will be appealed to the Louisiana Supreme Court.

Time wise, this case will easily take 2 years, and probably much longer to be finally decided . In the meantime, the memorial can be expected to stay at 500 Texas Street.
The UDC has retained an attorney and is raising funds for legal fees. Hopefully for Caddo taxpayers, the Parish litigation will be handled internally by its two person legal staff.

The first hearing is set for December 11 on a declaratory judgement action that names both the Parish and the UDC as defendant. The purpose of this action is to force these parties to litigate among themselves the issue of who owns the dirt under the memorial. The Parish is objecting to this hearing.

How this all shakes out will not be known for quite sometime. 

Looking at the year to date, the 2017 Commission will be remembered for the continuing debacle at the Caddo Parish Animal Shelter and how the Confederate Memorial fuss was handled.

So much for the Commission’s 2017 legacy. 

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