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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 million dollars. The water billing suit could expose the City to tens of millions of dollars payable to city water customers. Legal fees, estimated to be over $150,000 currently, could exceed a half a million dollars if both suits are fully litigated.

Compliance with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) consent decree for upgrading the City’s water and sewage system is being financed with the proceeds of the municipal bonds approved during the last years of the Glover Administration. The City’s departmental resources are being overtaxed with managing these construction projects which are on a short timeline. There is some speculation that the bond amounts may not be sufficient to cover all of the necessary improvements; if that situation occurs general operating funds will be required to satisfy the decree. Reportedly, there is discussion among water and sewer employees that the improvements mandated by the Consent Decree are far behind schedule.

The Shreveport crime rate is becoming alarming to citizens throughout the City and there is no doubt that the chronic understaffing of the Shreveport Police Department (SPD) is a factor. Most knowledgeable observers view the recent vote by the Shreveport City Council to spend $150,000 of operating reserves for more overtime patrols as a band-aid measure that fails to address the underlying problems of low pay, limited investigative resources, and deteriorating force morale. The City’s operating budget would need several million dollars a year to fully staff SPD with competitive salaries including retirement benefits.

Soo, where does one find a financial genie in a bottle, a combination of Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny and the Tooth Fairy, that can provide the economic and management resources to remove these looming fiscal monsters from City Hall? Believe it or not, there IS an answer and its does not require creating the wheel or Shreveport becoming a municipal Guinea pig: a public private partnership (P3), which is a contract between a public sector entity and a private sector entity where the private sector assumes a major share of the risks in terms of financing and construction and ensuring effective performance of public infrastructure projects.

And lo and behold, a world wide P3 company is in fact interested in coming to the City to provide solutions for its water and sewer services including all of the water billing litigation and the current/future water billing as well as the EPA mandated construction. SUEZ, N.A. has over 120 years of experience in water and waste water management, providing over 7.4 million residents with these services working with over 16,000 municipal and industrial sites to meet their water infrastructure needs. Local attorney J. Ransdell Keene will make a presentation to the Shreveport City Council on Tuesday July 25 with two SUEZ solutions for the City: a sale of systems or a lease/concession.

As I see it, a sale could generate the City millions of dollars in a one time payment for a transfer of ownership and risk from the City to a P3 partner including the EPA consent decree and, hopefully resolve the current litigation. With an agreement with P3 partner, the department of Water and Sewage (DOWUS) employees would become employees of  the P3 partner and the water and sewer rates could be regulated by the Louisiana Public Service Commission if there is a sale or by the City if there is a concession.

With a lease/concession agreement the P3 partner would operate the City’s water and sewage system, utilizing its management expertise, technological innovation and customer service experience. This arrangement would generate millions of dollars to the City. This partnership would reduce operational costs and pass future savings to the City; it would also provide capital dollars to ensure that water and sewer systems are sustainable for a 40-year horizon including the EPA consent decree requirements. Water and sewerage rates could continue to be set by the City.

Keene advises that “months of private effort as a citizen has led me to engage the interest of SUEZ in coming to Shreveport. SUEZ is the second largest water, environmental and sewer company in the world. They desire to come to Shreveport and provide a significant solution.  They are world-wide experts in this field, the City would be benefitted by opening negotiations.” Keene expects to address the City Council on Tuesday, July 25 to review how SUEZ can assist the City.
 

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 on elimination of physical blight in the Lower Ninth Ward, the Central Center , Desire-Florida area and the Tulane/Gravier neighborhood. Hurricane Katrina flooding exacerbated housing abandonment and blight in the Crescent City and resulted in the transfer to NORA of 5000 properties acquired by the State of Louisiana through the Road Home program; NORA still serves as a landbank for approximately 2,500 of these properties. 

SIRA’s primary responsibility is prevent and eliminate slum, blighted, and distressed properties by salvage, renewal, redevelopment and/or reconstruction. Currently Shreveport City has almost 6,000 properties that have been adjudicated to the City for the failure of the owners to pay the City ad valorem taxes. These properties are of such low economic value that when the properties were advertised at tax sale, no one purchased them, not even for one ($1) dollar! These lots produce no tax revenue and actually cost the City for mowing and upkeep. In 2016 the City’s mowing expenses were almost five hundred twenty ($520,000) thousand dollars. 

These properties are primarily concentrated in Allendale, Queensborough and the Cooper Road area; many of these have abandoned dwellings or structures that are obsolete, unsafe and unsanitary. The combination of the empty lots and these blighted structures make these areas economic and social liabilities; additionally they consume a disproportionate amount of city revenues because of extra services for police, fire, and public services. To say these decaying neighborhoods are a drain on City resources is an understatement, matched only by the civic eyesore that they represent. 

SIRA will be responsible for formulating workable programs for redevelopment consistent with the Shreveport-Caddo 2030 Master Plan and the City’s Consolidated Strategic Plan to eliminate and to prevent the development or spread of slums and blight. To accomplish these goals, SIRA is to seek out cooperative endeavors with nonprofit organizations and private enterprise. SIRA can acquire properties by gifts, purchase or lease; the City’s large bank of adjudicated properties will give SIRA plenty of initial inventory. 

SIRA is to be governed by a nine member board, three of which are to be selected by Shreveport Mayor Ollie Tyler in her total discretion. The other six members are to be selected by Tyler from names submitted by the Greater Shreveport Chamber of Commerce, the Shreveport Bar Association, the Shreveport Chapter of the Society of Louisiana Certified Public Accountants, The Community Foundation of North Louisiana, the Northwest Louisiana Association of Realtors and the Home Builders Association of Northwest Louisiana. The enabling legislation was passed by the Louisiana Legislature in 2015; after two years; Shreveport Mayor Ollie Tyler has finally started making appointments to SIRA. The appointments recently approved by the City Councl were Kirsten Brown (president of Brown Builders), Dare Johnson (managing partner of Heard McElroy and Vestal, Scott Sevier (Sevier Homebuilders) and Shanerick Flemings (Second Circuit Court of Appeals). Pending nominations to be approved on July 25 are Tom Arceneux (President of Highland Restoration Association) and Lloyd Thompson (NAACP President). 

Hopefully the remaining three board members will be selected soon; why Tyler has waited so long to get these much needed appointments rolling is an open question.  The SIRA has the potential to revitalize these municipally owned properties and return them to the active tax rolls. Many inner city areas are becoming commercial and housing deserts; SIRA could revise this trend and thus help Shreveport’s overall quality of life and economic stability. 

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 is a combination zoning and development ordinance that not only classifies (and in some instances reclassifies) the uses for real estate and includes building and subdivision regulations. The UDC applies to all property within the city limits of Shreveport and the 5 mile area adjoining the city limits that is in the Parish. The city’s version and the parish version of the UDC are slightly different, but for the most part are the same. 

The total costs for developing and implementing the UDC was over $500,000 and the costs were shared by the City and the Parish on an 80-20 basis. The Shreveport Caddo Metropolitan Planning Commission (MPC) is the governmental agency that regulates the UDC. The City contributes over a million dollars to the MPC and handles at no charge the MPC finances. The Parish pays approximately two hundred grand to the MPC. Government Plaza is owned by the City and the Parish; the MPC has rent free offices in this building.

One of the major selling points for adoption of the UDC was to bring Shreveport and the Parish into the twenty-first century as far as zoning and building regulations by combining all of the existing ordinances into one new code that was “modern” ands reflective of current development standards and land uses. Many comparisons were made to Bossier City that has had a unified development code for years; Bossier’s ordinance was cited as the primary reason many businesses go across the river. 
The UDC was also promoted as being a simple and easy to read code that would benefit private citizens and businesses alike And that is the case IF one likes to peruse a three hundred page plus ordinance that is over three inches of paper that fills up a large, as in very large, three ring notebook. And as far as different types of land uses, the UDC has a whopping 120 plus property use classifications that fill up 3 oversize sheets (11 inches by 17 inches). And add to that the UDC has over 30 zoning categories.  

And to top it off, the zoning maps that were adopted as a part of the UDC have changed the possible uses of many properties. In other words, some property uses that were “legal” under the old zoning ordinances are now “illegal” under the UDC. Reportedly a large area south of the downtown airport has now been zoned as “green space”, which is a very limiting classification compared to its previous zoning. MPC Director Mark Sweeney, who is not known for being the poster child for sharing information, has advised that his office does not have a list of properties that have been reclassified by the UDC to have fewer authorized uses than under the previous zoning classifications. 

For those property owners that suddenly have lost value in their property by the more restrictive allowable uses under the UDC there are limited options for relief. The first would be an effort to have the UDC zoning matrix and zoning maps amended; this would require action by the City Council for property in the Shreveport city limits and for property in the parish by the Caddo Commission. If an amendment was passed then it would sent to the MPC Board for a vote, and then back to the governing body. Unfortunately the UDC did not provide for a limited window for easier modification of the zoning maps and the use matrix. 

Another option could be litigation, based on a claim of a “taking” of property by government action. Rather than a forced transfer of ownership of property by expropriation (like for a highway or a public facility), the “taking” would be a loss of economic value because of the change in permitted uses of the property. Needless to say, litigation can be expected if property owners can prove that the reclassification of their property and the permitted uses cause them economic harm. 

Sweeney’s response is that this is too bad too sad; Sweeny says there was plenty of time for the public to review the proposed zoning maps, the proposed property classifications and the zoning matrix of permitted uses. Much like the still unexplained closure of the MPC from noon to 1 pm everyday, Sweeney rules that MPC much like a kingdom in that he can set the rules with no requirement to be accountable to the citizens or for that matter the Council and the Commission who fund his office. If ever there is a governmental tail wagging the property owner dog, Sweeney the UDC and the MPC set the bar for governmental arrogance and non accountability. 

The word to the wise would be to quickly check the zoning maps and the zoning matrix to determine both the property classification (zoning) of one’s real estate , especially undeveloped property, as well as the now permitted uses; these may be substantially different in the sense of much more restrictive than the prior zoning. One could say that the cow is out of the barn, but the sooner the discovery is made the better. 
 

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 her Administration; 

1. Depending on the rank of officers that are working the overtime, this reader calculated that the OT would last a maximum of 5 months–at 4 hours extra per day, 7 days per week. His calculations were based on the pay structure; reportedly overtime is first offered to officers of lower rank. If supervisors or higher ranking officers are worked OT, then the patrols’ may only last 3 to 4 months, according to his calculations. 

2. Community Liaison Officers (CLOs) could be put on patrol and helping with field investigations, so called “knock and talks”. Another suggestion was to pull the School Resource Officers (SROs) from Caddo schools for these efforts. 

3. More take home vehicles by SPD would not only prolong the “shelf life” of a unit, but also provide a higher visibility of police officers. 

4. Establish an SPD Officer Reserve, like Bossier City SPD, Bossier Parish Sheriff and Caddo Parish Sheriffs. (SPD is the only local law enforcement agency in the area WITHOUT a reserve force.) The cost of training , estimated to be $1000 to $1500, would be quickly offset by the number of volunteer hours provided and depending on experience level, reserves can assist with accidents, traffic stops, arrest warrant sweeps, field investigations, etc. Reserve officers can drive the older SPD marked vehicles.

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 and passage of his resolution urging the Mayor to seek the assistance of Caddo Sheriff Steve Prator. 

True to form, Tyler promised that the extra money, if approved, along with new law enforcement strategies to be implemented by SPD Chief Crump would be the miracle cure. Looking through rose tinted glasses both Tyler and Crump failed to address real issues that have existed since Tyler became mayor. The Council will most likely approve her request at its next meeting, although hopefully serious questions will be asked to the Mayor prior to that vote. Here are a few that should be pertinent to a decision on voting for the extra patrols. 

What city budgets will be cut to fund this overtime money?

Will ALL of the extra funds be spent on overtime (OT) for extra patrols, that being uniformed officers driving marked SPD vehicles in neighborhoods? 

Will these extra patrols require additional hours for dispatchers, supervisors
and other SPD personnel; if so, how will these hours be funded? 

What is the anticipated fuel and maintenance costs for the extra patrols, and how will these additional expenses be funded? 

Will the extra patrols be in all Shreveport neighborhoods, and if not, why not and which neighborhoods will get more patrols? 

How many overtime hours have been worked each month this year by SPD officers, and will there be enough volunteers to work to work the extra planned patrols? If not, what other SPD services will be eliminated to shift the current OT hours to patrol OT hours? 
Will the extra OT hours only be used for patrols, or will they also be involved in other law enforcement activities like responses to reported criminal activity? 

Will SPD officers with desk jobs, ie not involved in hands on law enforcement activities, be moved to on the street patrol, crime response time and/or follow up crime investigations? the planned overtime patrols? 

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 money from all the peasants in Caddo Parish. His primary responsibility is to make and enforce rules on building and development in Shreveport and the five mile radius into the parish from the city limits. 

Like all kings, Sweeney decides where he will travel and who will be in his entourage. The king sets the visiting hours in his castle, and the peasants, like all peasants, have no say in what the King does, or does not do, while wearing his crown. Sweeney’s peasants are becoming very frustrated with his actions, and there are rumors that the peasants may revolt and try to overthrow his kingship. 

Believe it or not, this fairy tale recitation of the MPC and its Executive Director Mark Sweeney is, unfortunately, not too far from the truth. The MPC is funded by the City of Shreveport to the tune of over $1.2 million dollars a year and by Caddo Parish in excess of $200,000 annually. The MPC does not pay rent for its office space; Government Plaza is owned by both the City of Shreveport and Caddo Parish. The City’s Finance Department provides finances services for the MPC, at no cost. The MPC also collects funds from zoning applications, subdivision approvals and development plans. 

Neither the City nor the Parish have any real authority over Sweeney. He can set his own office hours; the MPC office is the only government office in Caddo Parish closed for lunch each day from noon until 1 p.m. He can spend from his budget as he likes for office furniture, decorations and equipment; in less than three years these expenditures by King Sweeney are in excess of $80,000. Sweeney just returned from a trip to New York City , accompanied by four of his seventeen employees, and two MPC Board members. This trip cost Caddo taxpayers almost $20,000; there were very few organized activities for the first two days (Saturday and Sunday) of the four day conference.

The Shreveport City MPC was created by an act of the Legislature. It’s time for Shreveport to seriously consider setting up an internal planning office, and stop funding the Shreveport Caddo MPC. A Shreveport planning office could contract with Caddo Parish to provide for planning in the 5 mile parish area. Then, the Shreveport City Council could demand accountability from its planning office; currently King Sweeney reports to no one. 

Believe it or not the Shreveport Caddo Metropolitan Planning Commission (MPC) offices on the fourth floor of Government Plaza are closed each day from noon until 1 pm; the lights are off, the door is locked and the phones answered by a recording. This noon office siesta time has been in effect every since Mark Sweeney became the MPC Executive Director in October of 2014. 

Despite several requests Sweeney has failed to explain why he closes the MPC office during the noon hour. Staffing is certainly not a problem; Sweeney has 17 employees. Government Plaza also houses the offices of the Caddo Commission, Shreveport Mayor and key administrative staff including City Attorney, the Caddo Commission Clerk’s office and the City Council Clerk’s office; none of these offices close at noon. And in fact NO City, Parish, or federal government offices in Caddo Parish or Bossier Parish have a noon siesta hour like the Shreveport Caddo MPC. 

The MPC is funded to the tune of over $1 million a year by the Shreveport City Council and over $200,000 a year by the Caddo Commission. The MPC also has income from fees derived from building permits as well as zoning and special exception applications. The MPC is a separate government entity that, in theory, is regulated by the 9 member MPC Board. Current directors are Theron Jackson (chariman), Nancy Coooper (vice chairman), Winzer Andrews (secretary), Alan Young, Ronnie Remedies, Bessie Smith, Dale Colvin, Lea Desmarteau, and Curtis Joseph, Jr. (Sweeny was Desmarteau’s pick when she chaired the MPC board.)  The Board did NOT approve the noon hour closing , which was instituted by Sweeney.

Sweeney has constantly carped to both the City Council and the Caddo Commission about his lack of funds to implement the Unified Development Code (UDC) that was adopted by the Council earlier this year; it became effective within the Shreveport city limits on May 15th of this year. The Caddo Commission is considering some amendments to its version of the UDC, which regulates zoning and development 5 miles into the parish from the Shreveport city limits. 

Sweeney has been questioned on his excessive expenditures of over $80 thousand dollars for office furnishing and equipment, especially furniture and a  paneled conference room. He recently took two of his board members and four of his staff to New York City with him for a national planning conference that cost over $19,000.00. He now wants to spend $10,000.00 on an outside study to determine how much he can increase the fees charged by his office and how much the City and the Parish should be funding his empire and decorations.

Sweeney’s relationship with the City Council has been up and down, and with Commission mainly down; he has repeatedly criticized the Commission on their insistence on modification of the Commission’s version of the UDC. The Council and the Commission have invested over $450,000 in developing the UDC and the fact that Sweeney is needed , at least for an interim period, to oversee the implementation of the UDC has been his saving grace in terms of both these bodies who fund the MPC. And even with the MPC Board of Directors, the recent renewal of his contract was only approved by a 5 to 4 vote. When the Council and the Commission enter into their budget preparations this fall, the MPC dollars may be substantially reduced by both bodies, especially if Sweeney continues his “I will do it my way” mentality as evidenced by his lunchtime office closure.

Hats off to Shreveport City Councilman Bradford and five of fellow Council members for sending a message to Shreveport Mayor Ollie Tyler that her Administration must do more to address the rising crime rate in Shreveport. Willie Bradford, who is not to be confused with city attorney William Bradford (they are not related), introduced a resolution that the Council approved that urged Tyler “to request the Caddo Sheriff to aid the Shreveport Police Department (SPD) in patrolling and other law enforcement activities within the City of Shreveport in an effort to reduce crime and criminal activity.” Only Councilman Mike Corbin voted against the resolution. 

In support of his resolution Bradford cited SPD statistics, comparing April 2017 to the same year to date period from last year. The department’s report showed sharp increases in homicides (138%), forcible rape (21%), business armed robbery (150%), and business burglary (139%). Neither Tyler nor SPD Chief Crump refuted the statistics, and only Tyler addressed the Council; she has reportedly put a media muzzle on Crump. Tyler adamantly objected to the resolution at Monday’s work session, stating that the Council did not have the authority to deal with matters of her administration. After realizing that she would be on the losing side of the vote at the Tuesday Council meeting, Tyler meekly stated that she “had no problem with the resolution.” 

Tyler advised the Council that she had met previously with Caddo Sheriff Steve Prator, but provided no details of the meeting. Prator advised he met with Tyler “about a month ago. I gave her my philosophy (along with some tangible actions) on reducing crime in the city. Patrolling in the city was not discussed and I was not directly or indirectly a party to the recent resolution. At present the Caddo Sheriff’s Office is involved in the Caddo-Shreveport Narcotics Task Force and the Caddo-Shreveport Financial Crimes Task Force. Much of the work is done in the city. I created these units over 10 years ago. On many occasions I have offered to the Chief of Police and the Mayor assistance with the violent crime problem in the city.” Whether or not Tyler or Chief Crump have taken heed of Prator’s suggestions is an open question; the continuing violent crime wave probably means Prator’s words fell on deaf ears, which is the norm for Tyler when she hears something contrary to her headstrong way of thinking. 

Corbin reminded the Council that crime was usually discussed at every Council meeting and that he was not a fan of symbolic legislation. Later he advised that “a resolution should be reserved for honoring a life well lived, support of community events and support or non-support of actions by other legislative agencies. Resolutions are not meant to affect or change policy. The action taken by the Council today stoops to the level of political theatre.” Corbin said he believes the Council can have a “greater effect using our legislative responsibilities to change funding programs that are not working and to provide funding for those that do work.” 

At a time when strong leadership from City Hall is needed in publicly addressing the rising crime rate, Tyler has consistently dodged hard questions about police staffing, continually defended her hand picked police chief who is poorly qualified for the position, and failed to aggressively involve other law enforcement agencies including the Caddo Parish District Attorney’s office and keeping the Council advised of her actions—which could be done in executive session to maintain needed secrecy. An example of Tyler’s priorities is the manpower and energy she had her office utilize in pitching to billionaire Tom Benson, owner of the New Orleans Saints and Pelicans, an arena proposal in hopes of landing a Pelican developmental league basketball team. This effort, which included a pep rally at the newly opened YMCA facility on Preston, culminated in a trip to the Big Easy by Tyler, Chief Administrative Officer Brian Crawford, City Attorney Bradford and Economic Development Director Arlena Acree. 

Much of the public crime discussion has centered, and rightly so, on the number of repeat offenders as well as crimes committed by individuals who are out on bond. These factors are, of course, outside the control and purview of SPD. Nonetheless, the continued complaints about police response times and the low visibility of police on patrol have not been addressed by Tyler as well as the understaffing of the police department. Just getting Tyler to acknowledge that crime under her administration has substantially increased has taken a major media effort; this is characteristic of her “I am in control and don’t want or need any one else to help” leadership style that is reflected by the fact that the Council was only informed of the New Orleans “pitch the Pelicans” trip by email on the day of the presentation. 

Councilman Corbin correctly notes that “every Council district is affected by crime—directly or indirectly. While many of the homicides have occurred in poorer areas, property crimes have increased in higher income areas. Solving the crime issues will take a larger conversation to include jail space and  prosecution, the Mayor, the Shreveport Police Department, the Caddo Parish Sheriffs Office and the Caddo District Attorney.” Corbin’s suggestion that these individuals/agencies “lock themselves in a room for a Crime Summit and not come out until they can present a unified plan to the citizens and hit the streets” has substantial merit. 
2017 is an election year for the mayor and the Council; Tyler has declined to state if she will seek a second term. It is presumed that the 4 members of the Council who are not termed out—Bradford, James Flurry, Jerry Bowman and Stephanie Lynch—will run for a second term; Bowman has been mentioned as a potential mayoral candidate. If the election was this fall, there is no doubt that crime would be the major campaign issues. Hopefully the Mayor will provide strong aggressive leadership in the very near future that will change this reality; her track record to date does not provide much optimism for Shreveport citizens.

Depending on who one talks to, there was either a big mix up on a meeting date or a deliberate stand up by Shreveport Police Chief with a citizens crime committee at Crump’s office on Tuesday, June 6.   Former Caddo Police Juror David Wyndon and NAACP president Lloyd Thompson headed up a committee that included Tom Pace, Anita Steele, Reverend Mays, Marion Marks, and Bob Brown among others who wanted to meet with Chief Crump to discuss many issues of concern dealing with Shreveport crime. 

Wyndon insists that the meeting had been set for weeks; when the group arrived, Crump’s secretary said she had made a scheduling mistake. The committee waited over an hour for an opportunity to speak to Crump. He never appeared, not even to apologize for any mistake or explain why he could not meet with the group or to offer to reschedule the meeting. Crump had been invited many times to appear to a weekly lunch meeting of concerned citizens although he never made a luncheon; the proposed meeting at his office was an attempt to accommodate his schedule.

Needless to say those that met at Crump’s office were disappointed to say the least; several of the group were insulted. They viewed the actions/inaction of Crump to be a continuation of what they believe to be unresponsive, insensitive and unprofessional leadership of the Shreveport Police Department by Chief Crump and his staff. The committee will most likely address their concerns to the Shreveport City Council and request that Chief Crump be directed to answer a list of questions.   And to make matters more heated, Crump is calling out members of the group and denying any meeting was ever set on his calendar.

To date Mayor Tyler and her administration have dodged hard questions about Shreveport’s crime rate. Tyler frequently refers to secret police operations and the fact that 2017 crime is below the historic highs; she has admitted that crime is on an uptick from 2016. Both Tyler and Chief Administrative Officer Brian Crawford have repeatedly danced around questions concerning the actual number of police officers on the payroll as compared to the authorized number of officers and the relationship of the officer shortage and crime, especially shootings.  Reportedly Tyler will not allow Crump to take any questions or to speak to the media outside her presence.

 
Some of the group’s questions deal with the existence of gangs in Cedar Grove and Queensborough and what steps if any had been implement to deal with this troublesome development, which has been confirmed by at least one member of the committee. Another high profile concern is that of the random shootings, especially at night that,  seemingly occur 2 to 3 times a week, and the fear of many citizens to go outside their residences after nightfall. And some of the committee believe that police officers do not compassionately treat family members of persons shot/killed appropriately at crime scenes when emotions are high.

How all this shakes out is a story yet to be told, but it certainly is another indication that the average Joe on the street is most concerned with Shreveport’s crime and the constant shootings. Tyler usually redirects any negative remarks by pointing to what she hopes will be her legacy markers—paving streets financed by bonds passed during the Glover years, the aquarium which is to open in August, and the proposed sports arena. This citizen group is to be commended for taking the initiative to have Chief Crump address issues that need answers; hopefully their efforts will force Crump and Tyler to be truly responsive. With Tyler’s intentions on whether to seek a second term as mayor next year up in the air, her hand-picked police chief and his performance could well be the litmus test for her political decision. 
 

When Caddo and Bossier voters approved the additional 1.5% hotel motel occupancy tax in the fall of 2015, Bossier Mayor Lo Walker and Shreveport Mayor Ollie Tyler promised that the funds collected from out of town visitors would reap great benefits for both Bossier and Caddo Parish. At the end of 2016 many local citizens had questions, especially after another dismal year for the Independence Bowl, no high profile sporting events and absolutely no progress in gaining additional airline flights out of Shreveport to out of state destinations. This perception changed, at least as far as the Arklatex Regional Air Service Alliance (RASA) is concerned, with the announcement of non stop direct flights by American Airlines to Charlotte, N.C. 

This non-stop jet service will begin on August 22; there will be two flights daily. After its merger with US Air, Charlotte is American Airline’s second largest hub and there are connecting flights from there to more than 250 domestic and international cities with just one stop. Charlotte is the largest city in North Carolina with a population in excess of eight hundred thousand people; it is a regional banking center for nationwide banks. American presently has flights to Dallas-Fort Worth; once flights begin local traveler will not need to go west to DFW before flying east on American Airlines. 

RASA’s incentive to American Airlines for the Charlotte flight is a one-time payment of $200,000 for marketing and advertising. These flights can bring an additional 100 seats coming into Shreveport daily , with a potential economic impact of over eight million dollars annually. Thus, the RASA investment should yield substantial returns. And the good news is that RASA has additional funds on hand of almost three hundred thousand dollars to be utilized to obtain additional flights; high on the list of desired flight destinations are Chicago, Los Angeles and Washington, D.C.  RASA should receive an additional half million dollars each year from the hotel motel tax that will add to its coffers.

An example of how this new connection adds convenience are the total flight times from Shreveport to D.C. Leaving here at 7:15 am, a traveler can be on the ground at either Dulles Airport or Reagan Airport by 1 pm. The Metro, the D.C. mass transit system, can put a visitor at the Pentagon by 2 pm from Reagan; this timeline will be very beneficial to Barksdale Air Force Base, Global Strike Command, Cyber Innovation Center and CSRA’s Integrated Technology Center.

American Airline is committing over eighty million dollars in aircraft for these flights along with equipment and crews. Obviously this will be a long term investment for American and hopefully the local market will support this route. The additional flights should create price pressure for Delta which is desperately needed for Shreveport air travelers who often drive to DFW to cost saving.