Governmental Affairs Committee.

Thank you for your willingness to serve in this position and thank you for the meeting that we've had and the work that you've done already. I want to emphasize that in the business that I'm in, which happens to be property management and construction, I don't hear people complain as much about the speed as I do the information that is available to them. And we've talked about in particular areas, you may have to do four or five different, take four or five different paths to get a particular license. You may have to go to the HDLC, to the Vieux Carre Commission, to the Safety and Permits, and to the other offices to get it done. I think that what people are asking for is more information and I encourage you to consider those brochures that say you're trying to get this kind of license, this is what you have to do. Just information that is direct relative to particular ones that you know can be a challenge. If you have to do a hotel in the French Quarter, you may be looking at a different agency for the curb cut, for the Vieux Carre Commission, for the fire, and that gets confusing to people. It's information as opposed to speed. You want to do speed, but it's very important to recognize, well you're not necessarily speed, you want to do it in an expedited manner. But that information and the lack of it, it's challenging to people when they have to come back and do something again because maybe they weren't told about the curb cut, which a lot of people don't think about. But that involves public works. I think you know where I'm going with that. I just appreciate the fact that we've had that conversation, we talked about it, and I just encourage you to recognize that that's an issue. All right, thanks for being willing to serve in this challenging area. Council Member Harris. I also want to thank you for, number one, showing up at the Neighborhood Association meeting yesterday. I think it's important that you continue to show up to these Neighborhood Associations so people can get to know you and your team. I'm excited about the SPARC team. They look like they are ready to go. I did want to ask about the status of the checklist. I know that that's something that we talked about previously when you were here before us. I'm having a second, hopefully close to final, meeting with my team tomorrow for those first four that we've chosen, and so I'm hoping early next week I'll be able to share that with you all just to get feedback. And I think that as we go forward it might be important to do online tutorials and other educational activities just to get the information out. We often get, we just got an email yesterday about someone wanting to build something and where do they start. They had no idea where to even begin and so I think just outlining that information in a way that the public can understand it in a very plain manner, I think that that's where we in the past could have made improvements. I'm excited to share this with you because I think it'll be the step in the right direction. Thank you. Council Member Guerin. Yes, thank you again for stepping up to be in this role. I know Safety and Permits was one of our most complicated departments probably coming in and also one of the ones that you know can can prevent things from happening in the city, whether it's building or events, anything like that. So I appreciate you giving us this presentation and the presentation at the previous committee and just to thank your team as well. I know that this has been a hurdle but we have already seen a lot of processes and progress that has been has been very good for people. I'm getting emails saying I was able to get a permit you know much faster than I've ever been able to get one before so I really appreciate that because that that helps us. I also want to second Council Member Harris's you know the education pieces for people so they know where to start because they often call our office and we're happy to help them but if there's a you know a resource or something that they can go to that would be helpful as well. But other than that I appreciate all the work you've done and we look forward to having you continue. Council Member Hughes. Well thank you Mr. Chairman, Madam Director, good afternoon and let me echo thank you for answering the call to serve our city. Had the opportunity to meet with you I think last week and really enjoyed our conversation and as I told you I look forward to following up at the six-month benchmark and we'll look forward to inviting you to District E very soon. Let me just remind the public that the City Council under the Charter has just a really handful of primary responsibilities. Land use and zoning, the budget, the regulation of utilities and now the confirmation of executive branch employees. Unfortunately for many decades when when folks can't get things resolved in City Hall they come to their council member and then the council member has to so it's layers of bureaucracy that I'd love to see eliminated and I certainly know that's the mayor's goal as well and really appreciate her work. So in that vein I'm aware that the safety and permits assistance and response for council known as SPARC with two safety and permits employees assigned to answer council requests. Do you have a single point of contact for constituents to eliminate the need for constituents to have to come to their council member? That is the ultimate goal, right? This is the pilot phase, if you will, of that project to see what works and doesn't work, get those data trends, and then build out that team. But yes. Okay. Have you given any consideration to district constituent liaisons? So, having a liaison for every council district. Have you given any thought to that? I did initially, and it is a resource constraint that I'm looking to see if I can work around, and even if there's part-time options or something temporary we can do.

But right now, I at least wanted to get two people that I knew I could get on at full time to start. Yes, I think that would be a great idea. Okay. When we get to your six-month benchmark, what milestones will you commit to sharing publicly when we get to that six-month point? Sure. So, we'll be able to share the processes we've changed through using permit stat. So, the KPIs, that should be coming actually even sooner than six months. So, everyone knows where our baseline is, and what we are striving to get to, and what our goal is. So, then at that six months, we will share publicly if we met that goal or not, and if we need to readjust. I will be sharing the SPARC dashboard, if you will, as far as where this council concerns lie, and what we're doing to improve those processes. And again, just our walk-in and our call center metrics of what we're seeing and what we're doing to improve that. Okay. Has cross-training begun? If so, what divisions are currently in training? If not, when is cross-training scheduled to begin? Yeah. So, specifically for the inspectors, I have ordered the books that is going through the process right now to come in to help them to begin studying. So, it's in very beginning phase for that. All right. My final questions are going to focus on morale. What are you doing to uplift morale within the department? And tell me about what investments you're making in terms of professional development. I think one thing we've done very poorly within municipal government for many decades is that we don't invest in our people on an ongoing, consistent basis. So, tell me about that. Sure. I definitely recognize the need for it. I think we have to celebrate wins when we see them. We don't always do that. We focus on the negative. So, I know, at least internally, when we receive compliments from the outside, from city council, even internal, that we celebrate that win with everybody so that the team knows. And we even go so far as including HR so it gets put in the file and really let people know what that means. We have monthly staff meetings where I try to encourage the group and let them know that the good things we're accomplishing and the positive mile markers for professional development. I do recognize that. I think this first step of cross-certifying inspectors is a first step in that. I need to expand that to the larger group and see what we can do to bring that. Well, once again, I thank you for answering the call to serve. And I want to publicly thank the women and men that encompass the Department of Safety and Paramedics and really thank them as well for their dedication to the city of New Orleans. In my four months of being in this role, I've appreciated those employees working with me and my team and being responsive. Look forward to working with you. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Thank you. I'll provide some final comments. I think whether or not you agreed with Mayor Landrieu's great Place to Work initiative, I think its greatest failure is that it promised workers that upon evaluation they would be rewarded with pay raises. And I think that as we seek to restructure how we run city government, I think that if you want to talk about how to reward a worker for doing a good job, having evaluations and having pay adjusted accordingly is a big part of that. Because I will tell you that the number one complaint I've gotten since 2014 is that they're still doing the evaluations, but they're meaningless. Because there's no high stakes and there's no ultimate reward for doing a good job and for your actual supervisors taking the time to explain what you're doing well and what you're doing poorly and how you can improve to generally create a better workplace. And I think, like I said, it was a very controversial measure. I agree with like half of it. But in that respect, when you had that component in there, it really created an opportunity for supervisors and employees to build upon their close working relationship to lead to better outcomes. And that, like I said, there's still departments that do the evaluation, but it's meaningless because I'm sure many supervisors say everything's great because there's no actual risk because a person who is doing a good or bad job is not going to get a pay raise or a pay reduction or anything regarding it. But I guess the point I'm making is that I think part of the reason why morale is low, particularly in safety and permits, is that you have a host of people that want to be innovative and make things different. You've got an equally large group of people who think that nothing's wrong. And I can tell you in the beginning of the second term, there's a lot wrong at safety and permits. I've used examples. I know Ms. Kirby in our meetings, I've said it, like when you have someone trying to install solar panels on their house and safety and permits wants a schematic of the solar panel when there's no one on safety and permits who can read a solar panel schematic, what you see is obstacles and inefficiency for the sake of obstacles and inefficiency. The only position the city should have in a solar panel being installed is, is the electric hookup proper and will it burst into flames, not is it an efficient model. Many of the complaints I hear from safety and permits are about people making something that's black and white infinitely more complex for the sake of navel gazing. And what I saw in our meetings is that you understand that. The role is to do the job that's in front of you, to call balls and strikes. And when you see balls and strikes, don't say we're now going to go swimming. Like you have to look at what the council, what the ordinance is, what the law says, and just rule on it. I use my example, and I think I said this in our meeting, before I joined the council in 2021, I applied for a home occupancy permit for my office, my home office, which is purely an optional thing, but I want to be above board.

I occasionally, in these days, not at all, but I occasionally practice law and I do it in my office. In any other jurisdiction, that is free money from a safety and permits office. It's okay, thank you for letting me know, here's your permit. What I got from safety and permits was, we want a copy of your standing with the Bar Association. Safety and permits does not evaluate the practice of law. They don't regulate it. If I'm practicing law illegally, trusting the Bar Association will catch me. But as someone who understands the process and you see that, that's someone who is so desperate not to do work, they made up work not to do work. And what the city lost out in is free revenue. That's a permit that you give away because it's a permit that someone's voluntarily saying, I want to pay for a permit because I think that the city's owed some revenue. And what is really disconcerting to me is over the last four to eight to 12 to 20 years, how many times has the city been offered free revenue? We've talked about building permits. Building permits are a huge functional part of how we fund safety and permits because building permits are evaluated based upon what the building's going to cost to build. And the timely production of a building permit from the Department of Safety and Permits literally generates revenue. We have so many cases of even well-meaning builders starting construction without a building permit because safety and permits is non-responsive. Not only is that dangerous, but you have buildings that are currently built without building permits where the city got zero revenue for the building of that building. So if you take anything from today, at least from my testimony as well as the other colleagues here up here, is this department just has to want to work. And I don't mean work as far as effort. I mean work as far as be functional, customer service based for purposes of getting a permit out the door unless there's a problem with the permit. Because functionally speaking, when you're looking at a customer service-based organization, the goal should be when a citizen shows up, how can I get you that permit? Not how can I create as many obstacles as possible so that you get frustrated and don't come back for the permit. So I think that's all the council testimony. I appreciate you being here today. Seeing no public comment, I will move to forward you the full council for confirmation. Second by Council Member Karen. Please vote your machines. Five yays, no nays. Thank you very much for being here today. All right. Next up we're going to our item four, which is boards and commissions. And we have quite the gang here. All right. So first we have we will go down the list. Amanda Berger. And just for everyone here for confirmation today, you will all at least by me be asked the same question. You go right here, Amanda. You don't have to come to the front. You're not getting grilled. The same question we give everyone is, why do you want to serve on insert commission here commission? So Amanda, why would you like to serve on the Audubon Commission? Well, first, thank you all so much. I know it's been a crazy week. So thank you for the opportunity to appear before you. So the collection of facilities controlled by the Audubon Commission stand out as some of New Orleans' most important assets. They're important because of the cultural, natural, recreational, and economic well-being of our city. So the overseeing of those assets along with interacting with neighbors and stakeholders is really complex. And so I would like to serve on the commission because as an attorney, I look forward to applying my legal understanding of these complexities to help the commission execute on its charge as effectively and as efficiently as possible. And I know I can do that with my legal background and all of the knowledge I have on Audubon Commission's assets. So thank you so much for the opportunity. I really appreciate your time today. Thank you. Council Member Hughes. Thank you, Mr. Chair and Ms. Berger. This is not directed solely at you. This is, I'm gonna just say it now for the entire Audubon Commission. Look, I appreciate that the Audubon Zoo and Aquarium and now the new Riverfront Park gets a lot of attention. But there's a beautiful asset called the Nature Center in New Orleans East that doesn't get a lot of attention. And so I'm really hoping, I know it's a top priority for Director Swire, and I appreciate that. He's been a really, really great partner and just really want the entire commission to be intentional at uplifting and promoting and enhancing the Louisiana Nature Center because it's a beautiful asset in New Orleans East. Yeah, it is. Thank you so much. Thank you, Chair. Council Member McCarran, one sec. You're still, we've still got more people. Just wanna say thank you for stepping up to this task. I know you'll do a wonderful job on the commission. So I appreciate you being here today and talking to us and I know you'll do a great job. Thank you. Thank you so much. Thank you. The board is clear. Council Member Harris moves. I will second, sorry, Council Member McCarran seconds. Please vote your machines. Five yays, no nays. Report to the full council for confirmation. Thank you. Thank you so much. Next up, Tracy Griffin. Good afternoon. My name is Tracy Heidel Griffin and it's certainly an honor to receive a call from our mayor's office, from the council chambers to be of service. It is certainly something that I don't take lightly to be of service to our city. The Audubon Commission is something that I have cherished like many of you, the resources in front as a participant, as a mother, as a Girl Scout troop leader, understanding the benefits that our city has to offer to the residents, to the tourists that come through the gifts of the Audubon Institute is what I'm here to be a good steward of.

I have cherished every element of interaction with the Audubon Institute, including the Nature Center. On several occasions as a Girl Scout troop leader, bringing my troops to have sleepovers at not just the zoo, but at the Louisiana Nature Center as well. So I value the resources and I take seriously the responsibility of being a good steward to make sure those resources remain viable and accessible to our residents and to our tourists alike. Thank you, Council Member Green. I know that you're gonna do a great job with the Audubon Institute, but I just wanted to thank you because you could have easily said, I'm so busy. You are doing so much in the community, not only at the historic Dooky Chase Restaurant and your family's work is to be appreciated, but I wanna single out or point out at least the work that you do with the young men and women who come there as products of our mentoring society, especially the Silverback Society. Not only teaching them the art of fine dining, but also telling them a little bit about the history of our city, the important aspects of it that many times a young person would not be aware of. So in addition to your continued service in the capacity in which you serve Dooky Chase, thank you for what you do for our community and I know that the Audubon Institute Board is in good hands with your service. Thank you. Councilor McCarron. I just wanna say again, thank you. All of these appointments are District A residents, so I appreciate you stepping up and making the time to be on the Audubon Commission, thank you. Thank you. Councilor Maris moves, Councilman Hughes seconds. Please vote your machines. Five yays, no nays. Someone missing? Grateful. Amy, there you go, five yays, no nays. Thank you so much. Grateful to you all, thank you. Next up, we have Joseph Wilson. Go, go, go. We approve the appointment of the Director of Audubon, Director Hicks, on that ballot. Hi there, thanks for having me today. I think Ms. Griffin and Ms. Berger will be tough acts to follow, but I'll do my best. Why I would wanna be on the Audubon Commission is pretty straightforward, and it's the park is the most important place in my entire life. I go home there every single day and have been for years, exercising every morning and just seeing the different walks of life of the folks that are there, similarly daily or just visiting. It's a slice of nature within the city that we don't get, in my experience, much other ways from what I cross paths with in my daily life. Importantly, what I think I would bring to the commission is related to my professional background. I'm an estate lawyer in town, and how I found that is very useful for boards and organizations is with planned and other giving, which I think is often an afterthought. But in this instance, it could really be a tremendous source of revenue to be able to assist folks that are charitably inclined to give and in what sort of fashion and overview those sorts of bequests and lifetime gifts. Thank you, Council Member McCarran. That's felt clear, all right. I will move, I'm sorry, Council Member Harris moves. I will second. All in favor? Five yeas, no nays. You're forward to full council confirmation. Thank you. Thank you so much. Next up, we have Richard Freeman. Oh, Richard. I don't know you as Richard, you're Wes. Let's get that clarification for the record. I don't know a Richard Freeman, I know a Wes Freeman. Thank you. Yes, Richard is my father or my grandfather. And yes, it is my first name, but I go by Wes. Thank y'all for letting me come in front of y'all this afternoon. I remember Audubon Zoo, not even Audubon Zoo, Aquarium, not even the River View, not even all of the other assets that Audubon has now. But I remember Audubon Zoo as a zoo that was not exactly world class. And when it became world class, it was quite awe-inspiring. And that was a big change. A big change to the city and a big change to the neighborhood. And it was something that was celebrated. And I'd like to keep that celebration going so that we do not waste a wonderful, wonderful asset that we have. So being one of the people who's seen that change, I'd love to see it continue as a wonderful asset. And that's one of the reasons why I'd be considered to serve. Thank you so much, Wes. You have always stepped up when asked to serve. And I appreciate you answering the call this time as well. Councilman McCarran's already moved as well as Councilmember Harris. Please vote your machines. Bob Yeas, no nays. Thank you very much for being here today. Next up, we're going to 4-2, which is the Downtown Development District. First up, we have Ryan King. Is Ryan here or has he got a waiver? Let me check. Where's my waiver list? Yep, he's got a waiver. All right, I apologize. I'm sorry. Mr. King is a reappointment. He has a waiver that was timely sent in. Councilman Harris moves. Councilman McCarran seconds. Please vote your machines. Five yeas, no nays. He is approved. Next up, we have Kenny Rubenstein. That's not Kenny. He's here. Hey, Kenny. Why do you want to be on the Downtown Development District? Well, technically, I'm a reappointment. Okay. At Kwanzaa Knox. And I just want to continue the work we're doing. And, of course, downtown is very important to me and, in my opinion, very important to the city. And I want to continue to grow this. We're in the middle of some good changes and accomplishments that I'd like to see through. All right, Councilman Harris. Yeah, thank you so much for agreeing to serve again. The work of the DD is instrumental in the city of New Orleans. As we know, downtown, French Quarters, the beating heart of our city. And we need to ensure that it maintains its beauty and economic development. So I just want to thank you and everybody who has served and who will serve on the DDD board. Absolutely. All right, it's been moved by Councilman Harris, seconded by myself. Please vote your machines. Five yeas, no nays. Thank you, Kenny.

Thank you, yes. Next up, we have Michael DeSimone. Yeah, hello, Michael. Why would you like to serve on the Downtown Development District? Hello. Thank you for having me. As the CEO of Link Restaurant Group, we have six businesses in the DDD. As a member of the board of directors on the state level for the Louisiana Restaurant Association, I feel like the restaurant community as a whole is such an integral part of New Orleans. And quite honestly, you have to be active if you want to make change and improve everything. So ever since Hurricane Ida, I've really looked for an opportunity to kind of be active on a board. And I think this is a great opportunity. Thank you so much. We appreciate everything the Link Group does, not just as a premier restaurant destination, but also just giving back to the city of New Orleans. Councilmember Harris has moved. Councilmember Hughes has seconded. Five yeas, no nays. Thank you so much. Thank you. Next up, we have Stephanie Burks. Come on down. All right. Why would you like to serve on the Downtown Development District? I would like to serve because I'm already serving. I actually serve with the Quality of Life Committee. And I love my city, and I love the improvement that we are making within that area for us, the safety, the cleanliness, actually also working to improve the economic development and the businesses around the area. So I am looking forward to. In a board, and I think the councilman councilwoman Leslie Harris office for call giving me the call to Divert over to the board. Okay, council members Stephanie, thank you for stepping up. I know that you are extremely busy. So I just want to say thank you for your time I also know that you were Involved in celebrate canal and I think your appointment on this board as well as your involvement with celebrate canal will accelerate The redevelopment of canal street. So I just want to say thank you. I'm looking forward to Your service. You're welcome. Yes. I'm vice chair for celebrate canal with sandra and we are we do have a joint Mission with downtown development. All right, it's moved by jason hughes seconded by councilmember harris. Please vote your machines Five years no nays. You've got the full council. Thank you very much. Next up. We are on number three regional planning commission adrian bruno The infamous adrian bruno Which means more than famous? Hello adrian, why do you want to be on rpc? It's an honor and a privilege to be here Uh, new orleans is my home uh New orleans comes first to me before anything else. New orleans is also the hub of economic development Everything happens because of us. There are some people that don't want to admit that But I believe that new orleans and cooperation and here we've got st. Tammany St. Bernard jefferson parish in the mix here I'm passionate about economic development. I'm passionate about transportation especially rail I'd like to see the rail line get extended the mardi gras line get extended towards the west of baton rouge and connect us I look forward to working with the other parishes and really Getting everybody on the same page and getting them to the point of working together And really turning us into an economic powerhouse as a corridor we're there We have the right elements in place. We have six class one railroads. We have the largest You know riverine highway entry to the united states of america. There is no reason why we cannot Really take this to a whole new level. So it's a passion of mine and it's an honor. Thank you Thank you council member green. Thank you for your willingness to serve. Um adrian. Mr. Bruno Um, I appreciate the fact that you mentioned the rail transportation, um as the chair of the transportation committee I'm so pleased with the success of the mardi gras line And I know that we can do the same going to baton rouge and then eventually going up to shreveport and connecting to i-20 I do want to go out of my way to invite you to come to a special meeting at gallier hall Of the southern rail commission on friday, january the fifth I'd love to introduce you especially because of your interest in an area That's so important in terms of us growing as a community and on a regional level. I just want to emphasize that word regional People think about new orleans and they think that we have concerns and our that our concerns are unique We have sewage and water and flooding problems throughout our district But we also have opportunities to for growth that if we worked on a regional level could really enhance our community So I look forward to working with you on that but especially on that transportation issue Let's make that rail line happen connecting to our airport to baton rouge. It'll continue the growth that's going on in our community Thank you for your willingness to serve. Yes, sir. Thank you mccarran I just want to say thank you. I know you're also a district a resident But thank you for your service on this board and the city. Thanks. Thank you adrian Thank you for stepping up and belonging on the serve. I know rpc is a tremendous time commitment And it takes a certain kind of person to navigate the politics of new orleans and our surrounding parishes And I think you're the ideal person for it Council member hughes has already moved and council member mccarran has already second. So please vote your machines five yeas no nays Thank you very much for being here today. Appreciate it next up Darnell johnson And I don't think anybody called you darnell, but your mom Right darnell johnson Y'all might know him as dj But darnell All right darnell What Why do you want to serve on the new orleans public library board? This is like the dumbest question ever To ask the guy who runs baldwin I appreciate it, but but please answer it for the right. I appreciate the question Thank you all for being here.

Um, of course, you all know how heavily invested I am in literacy Um, you know to me just literacy is that quiet power that Makes a free society possible. Um, because when individuals can read when a society can read, um, When they can read the world, um, it makes it impossible for individuals who want to rule them um, so I think literacy can solve all of our world problems. Um right now Society spends 1.2 trillion dollars on illiteracy Um, if you look at our educational system look at a mass incarceration you look at environmental issues Um, you look at health care disparities rather it's just because Individuals aren't reading right now. You have two-thirds Of um students in louisiana read below grade level. So for me literacy is life. Um, I just want to serve Um do what I can to help um support the civic institution Thank you councilman Well, thank you. Mr. Chairman. Um, good afternoon. Let me uh first thank you for Uh answering the call to serve on this board Um, the library board is probably one of the least attractive boards that people want to serve on in the city But in my opinion, it's it's arguably one of the most consequential boards It's one of the most consequential systems You touched on a literacy Standpoint and that's one aspect which is great And when I served in the legislature, um, you know literacy was my hallmark initiative and We have moved the needle on that two-thirds of third graders that could not read. We're actually now leading the nation in academic improvement around uh literacy and math Um, but our libraries are are safe havens In so many ways for so many people Um, it can be a safe haven for youth Um after school or on weekends or during summer hours, it can be a safe haven for Homeless residents, uh, it can be a hub for our residents to apply for jobs The list goes on and on and on and I can tell you I have been so alarmed Since being on this council and even before I got to the council At the sheer number of times we're having to shut down libraries Uh due to deferred maintenance that has been kicked down the road for so many years And so i'm excited you're answering the call to serve and I hope that the library system Um, you know will really begin to think outside the box. We know resources are scarce everywhere um, but but Every time a library closes it's a burden on our residents. So I just really appreciate you raising your hand doing this. I think you're going to be an extraordinary addition And I look forward to working with you Thanks councilman green Council member hughes touched on what I was going to touch on in terms of libraries closing the nova lavera library for example in the seventh ward the the additional libraries that have closed um Many times that makes a statement to elderly folks and to young people who can't go there That suggests that the city is not interested Even when I ask questions I still don't understand why it takes so long and why we don't have extra parts for air conditioners in the summer But just ask you to be very deliberate about asking those questions. So but it was already brought up so I just want to say thank you for what you've done with baldwin in terms of especially that Corner of elysian fields and rampart and the work that you've done that has enhanced it. It's so great when we hear that Your your event is going to be too large and it can't be there and it has to go to dillard's campus That's a great sign And I appreciate the fact that you're using dillard as a backup location many times because of all the people who are going to show up, thank you for your commitment your commitment to literacy your Investment on the ground and your willingness to continue serving. Thank you dj. Thank you Councilman harris I I also want to reiterate. Uh, thank you and and thanks for serving on this baldwin is fantastic and I'd love to go there I hope that you can use your influence or status to highlight the resources that the library provides Not only physical books not only job readiness training, but things like a seed library Um electronic books i've stopped buying books on amazon and i'm running books Through the library, uh using my kindle, but it's just a fantastic resource new york times subscriptions I mean, there's so many resources that I think that are underutilized and I know that you can use your platform to help Uh promote those and get more people engaged in our library. So, thank you I'll be the bookend so a couple of things first off for those Three people that are watching this online Um, I want to highlight the fact that The amount of work that dj does on a daily basis to provide resources free resources to the families of the city In an effort to engage them our reading is staggering I walked in on sunday when they were doing reading time with Mothers and small children and to say baldwin was packed would be an understatement And The excitement that you had in leading the conversation and getting those kids excited about reading Really encapsulates who you are as a person in that you feel very strongly about literacy And baldwin is a thought hub. I mean, it's a bookstore.

They sell coffee and drinks, but you see people having Really serious conversations about the state of our city our state and our country And you see the speakers you bring through many times for free Just to have people hear the tremendous amount of information that's out there, I mean it is Something that we cannot really put a price tag on I want to highlight the fact That you are coming on this board along with austin today At a time where we're combining friends of the new orleans public libraries and the new orleans public libraries foundation Into the library foundation of new orleans and There is going to be a lot of decisions being made between the board and those support auxiliary organizations And it's really going to take innovative thinkers like yourself and like austin who are really going to be able to help us maximize The resources because if you look back to that vote many people don't recall for the three people who are watching There was an effort by the prior mayor to cut resources to the library and to take part of their millage and put it in the general fund. And what was interesting about that instance is that that measure failed miserably. Yet when the council defied the mayor and put the full funding back to the library, it passed immediately and overwhelming. There is so much public support for our libraries and everything you do. The people of the city love our libraries and as being a member of that board, you and Austin are stewards of the libraries and I can't think of a better person to do it with than you, DJ, honestly. All right, it's been moved by Council Member Karen, seconded by Council Member Harris. Please vote for Machines 5-0. Thank you so much, DJ. Thank you all, appreciate it. Come on down, Austin. Austin, why do you wanna be on the library board? Thank you for having me. I wanna be on the library board. I'm eager to get to work. My commitment to the library is rooted in a lifelong appreciation for the transformative power of literacy, a passion passed down to me by both of my grandmothers. I do not own a bookstore. My maternal grandmother, Florence Shea, was a bookstore owner. She was a rare book dealer who dedicated her life to preserving the written word. My paternal grandmother, Dr. Audrey Lavin, is such a tireless champion for writers and her own library system that they named their author series in her honor. In my professional life, I help companies and nonprofits solve their most significant challenges by navigating complex transactions. This work requires a deep understanding of people, the mechanics of high-stakes decision-making, and the unique landscapes of our city. Because my career takes me into every corner of New Orleans, I've had the opportunity to get to know the diverse people and places that make this city what it is. I wanna bring this strategic focus and boots-on-the-ground perspective to the library board, ensuring this important institution remains innovative, accessible, and community-centered. I'm eager to get to work, thanks for having me. All right, Council Member Karen. Well, thank you, Austin, for stepping up. I know that the library board, when we talked about it, was not the most interesting, but it really could be the most interesting board that we have, and I'm thrilled that you are stepping up to the plate to kind of re-envision it and work with DJ and the rest of the board. Very excited to have you on. Thank you, me too. Thank you. With that, Council Member Karen has moved, Council Member Harris has seconded. Please vote your machine. Five yeas, no nays. Thank you, Austin, appreciate you. Thank you, Council Member. Next up, let me make sure I'm staying on top of this. Next up, we have Raynard Thomas, followed by Pike Howard. Come on down. Why do you wanna be on Sandy Krasnoff? One, I work around re-entry, and across the state, I do re-entry. Also, I do re-entry consulting for the federal government as a consultant for the Bureau of Prisons and Department of Justice. I was the first state re-entry coordinator in Judge White and Judge Hunter courtroom, and from that day to this day, if I'm paid or not, I'm there for those men and women coming out of incarceration. And I would like to see them start working as a collaborative and not in silos. All right, Council Member Hughes has moved, Council Member Harris has seconded. Please vote your machines. Five yeas, no nays. Thank you, appreciate you. Pike Howard, I believe, is not here today. There's a waiver in place. That is due to a last trip obligation, and also, Ms. French also has a waiver that has been received, and it's timely. So, that leaves us with Margaret Washington. Oh, sorry, we have to vote on those. I apologize. Thank you. So, first, on Pike Howard. Next, on Ms. French. Can we make the motion for the record, please? Sure, the motions were both made by Council Member Harris, and I think the second one, one was seconded by Hughes, second one was seconded by McCarran. And these are in favor of? Both are in favor of those two, and they both passed unanimously. All right, so, next up, Margaret Washington, please. Thank you. Thank you for having me. I'm Margaret Washington, and I have served on the Sandy Krasnoff Criminal Justice Council before, because I am a victim of violence, and I want to work as a citizen to combat violence and crime in our city. And I have been an active member of that council, not just in name only, but when they call me to respond to grant writing and to offer grants, I am there. I am a community worker, and I believe that citizens have a responsibility to make certain that all that we do will improve our citizenry and our city. Thank you. Council Member Rios. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Ms. Washington, as a district resident, let me thank you for once again raising your hand to serve. I appreciate it. And I want to publicly acknowledge council, I'm sorry, now Madam Mayor Moreno and Director Powell.

It's significant that on every agenda where we've had these confirmations for boards and commissions, district e-residents have been included on boards and commissions, and that hasn't always been the case in the city of New Orleans. So I want to publicly thank Mayor Moreno and Director Powell for the intentionality. Thank you. Council Member Green. Thank you for mentioning victims of crime, Sandy Krasnoff was a strong proponent of providing support to victims of crime. This morning I attended a human trafficking symposium and some persons who had been human trafficked were brave enough to stand and speak to the people there and just say that they had been victims and they didn't want others to be victims of crime. There's so many things that happen in our community where it's easy to ignore the people for whom the criminal justice system should work best, and that is the victims of crime. Thank you for being willing to serve on this, and let's make this council a very important part of the overall effort to protect victims of crime and to reduce crime so that we have fewer victims. Thank you for your willingness to serve. Thank you. Thank you. You're moved by Council Member Hughes, seconded by Council Member Karen. Please vote your machines. Five yeas, no nays. You'll be forced to council confirmation. I believe I have a waiver also on Ayame Dinkler. Moved by Council Member Harris, seconded by Council Member Karen. Please vote your machines. Five yeas, no nays. That was forwarded to the full council for confirmation. And next up we have item five, which is two contracts for consideration presented to rule 57. The first is a number two professional services agreement between the city and Harriman and Gaynor, LLC for workers' compensation claims administration services to extend a term for one year and reaffirm the maximum accounts payable. I do not see any questions on this item and it is self-explanatory. I will move. Can I get a second? Second by Council Member Karen. Please vote your machines. Five yeas, no nays. And next up we have amendment five, it's a license agreement between the city and Environmental Systems Research Institute to access GIS mapping software to extend the term for three years and to increase the maximum amount available. Any council member issues? No. Council Member Harris moves. Council Member Hughes seconds. Please vote. Five yeas, no nays. The item is cleared. And with that, our agenda is clear. Council Member Hughes moves. We adjourn. Council Member Greene seconds. All in favor say aye. Five yeas, no nays. We're adjourned. Thank you.