City Council on 2026-11-05 10:00 AM.

Item 12, legislative grouping. Ordinance calendar 35583 by Councilmembers Morrell and Harris by request. An ordinance relative to the levy of ad valorem taxes upon the assessed value of all property, real, personal, and mixed, subject to taxation in the City of New Orleans and relative to the levy of ad valorem taxes on property located in special development and security districts in the City of New Orleans for the year 2027. To leverage millage rates for the year 2027 to reallocate the tax receipts for state millage and otherwise supervised respects thereto. Amendment to ordinance calendar 35583 by Councilmembers Morrell and Harris by request. An amendment to ordinance calendar 35583 to clarify in language relative to the roll forward of certain millages to correctly reflect the roll forward in millage rate in sections 5 and 6.309 mills. To remove references to millages not being rolled forward and to clarify that the provisions of ordinance calendar 35582 not subceded by this ordinance remain effective. Thank you. Ms. Santino, I think you probably want to speak on the amendment. Come on up. So the amendment is what changes the ordinance currently from capturing all of the millages to the millages that are only impact the general fund. So you are speaking on the early childhood millage, correct? Correct. Okay, go ahead ma'am. Thank you, sir. My name is Ariane Santino and I am a child care provider in New Orleans East and I in particular want to acknowledge my councilman Jason Hughes for being a significant advocate for early child care and education. I can tell you I've seen the landscape of New Orleans East change over 20 years and the council support for the ECE millage has been something that has created a significant impact with children and families in our area and as a consequence of that this roll up is an opportunity for us to expand that and also receive a state match as a result of that. So my hope is while I understand the challenges that this council faces, we're just hoping that you will consider and continue to consider the needs of children and families. There are over 6,000 children in New Orleans birth to three that remain unserved and we have the child care centers and providers that have the infrastructure to support them now. So thank you for your time. Thank you, Ms. Santino. I don't see any other comments on the amendment, so I will move on the amendment. All right, make sure that shows up. All right, vote your machines. Seven yeas, no nays on the amendment. Now on the ordinance as amended, we have Mr. Dunn would like to speak, followed by Ms. Emojula. This is just a parolary from my previous statement. Just wanted to, I guess, use something that you might have been familiar with, Mr. Morrell. This is a excerpt from Black Laws Dictionary, second edition, regressive tax. The taxation that takes place on a larger percentage of lower income and smaller percentage of an income that is higher. So just wanted to clarify that New Orleans is one of the cities with the lowest income homeowners in New Orleans East, Gentilly. Many of them make very low income. And yeah, just to add that additionally. You were going to say something? Well, I understand you might be a little confused. But when you describe a regressive tax versus a progressive tax, a regressive tax would be a sales tax, which applies to everyone, regardless of their income level. The reason why property taxes are considered progressive versus regressive is because the valued amount of your property tax is tied to the valuation of the property. So a person with a property that is more expensive pays more than a person who has a lower tiered property. So when you're talking about regressive versus progressive in tax definition, sales tax is considered the most regressive type of tax as far as tax is concerned, whereas property taxes, because they're tied to the value of the property, are considered progressive. So I get you looked up Black's Law Dictionary, but you're not understanding how taxation works and how tax definition works. I do understand how taxation works, but I'm talking about the large majority of the population in general where the taxes come from are comparatively poorer than the rest of the nation. I appreciate your comments. I am reminded of a comment that John Bel Edwards once made to a colleague of mine. I can explain it to you, but I can't understand it for you. Thank you. Thank you. Sarah Mojula has a card filled out. Sarah, what is wrong with your, why are you hobbling? When you're 42, maybe you shouldn't play soccer. That's fine. That sounds like a, OK, I'm not taking the bait on that one. OK. It's OK. I ruptured my Achilles. That's fine. Hi, Sarah Mojula with Vera and the Big Easy Budget Coalition. I'll start by saying, yes, we're in support of a role forward on millages that make the community better. The early childhood millage, the education ones, library, parks, those all make sense. As we at Vera, a lot of what we say around things that prevent crime and violence is that the criminal legal system is often the catch basin for a lot of our systemic failures. So making sure to fund the things that prevent entry into the criminal legal system, like what I just listed out, makes sense. I think a lot of us, one of the frustrations that we're having is that we don't think any of the programs that do prevention or make sure that our communities are safe should have ever been on the chopping block for this budget season. And so we're re-emphasizing that, that these programs should never have been kind of bargaining chips for this role forward. It makes sense generally. Also, we have to bring up, and I continue to restate this, that when we look at how the cuts were made across the board and the need for now needing to have a millage, when we look at those cuts, there's just not equity or fairness in how those cuts were made. A $10 million cut to the health department is way different.

It's a 62% cut, as opposed to a $10 million cut to the biggest line item, which is the police department. That's a 6% cut. And we can absorb that, and then maybe also not re-burden the residents of the city. So I leave it there. It's a general support for some of those things in the millage role forward. Thank you. Thank you. Mr. Kelly. I rise before you again. I'm against any increase in anything. I just came back from the law department. Public record request, here's my receipt. City of New Orleans, during the furlough, early retirements, and layoffs. City of New Orleans, hiring freeze exemption request form. Total cost, annual salary, $200,000. To Jeffrey Swartz, signed by Brandy DeLarge, budget director approval, and chief administrative officer. The rich keep getting richer, and the poor keep getting poorer while you own the backs of the property owners and the investors in this city. Here is proof. Just came from the fifth floor, public records. Thank you. Ms. Clevenger. Thank you. Good morning, Morgan Clevenger. Talking about property taxes again, we have an enormous number of over-assessed, over-valued properties in the city, particularly because many of them are in a state of non-recovery from unmitigated losses over the last five years. And I continue to say that over and over again, because it's a reality that nobody is really dealing with. We also have to ask the question, for all the dashboards and everything, when you really look at it, we don't see budget breakdowns. We don't see really line items where we can really have confidence that these items were super scrubbed, super scrutinized to make sure we were saving money on consultants and third party contracts. There are several contracts on the agenda today. We also know we have the highest sales tax in the nation, and we are the poorest state in the nation. So when we talk about poverty, when we talk about low to moderate income working poor homeowners, these are the folks that make New Orleans what it is. Because the beauty of New Orleans has always been its people and its diversity of backgrounds, whether it's economic, whether it's racial, whatever the demographic is, that contributes to who we are as a people. And when people are pushed out because they can no longer afford to live here, this is a constant displacement we have seen since Katrina. We will not have New Orleans anymore. So the affordability piece is super important. And the overvaluing and over-assessing of properties basically brings in more money to the assessor and the city, and it's not based on reality. Thank you. Thank you. That is all the cards. I know that there are several customers that would like to speak. Mr. Hughes, your button is pressed. All right, why don't we go to who else would like to speak before we get to the? Eugene, all right, go ahead. Yes, good morning. First, I want to start off by thanking the Moreno administration and the COO's office for the difficult work that you have done. Because it's always tough to identify areas in which you need to make cuts, because no one in general is demanding cuts. They want to see more services. We've even heard that amongst people who say, don't increase taxes, but give us more services. And I don't know how that's possible. At the end of the day, though, it's important to recognize, and Council Member DeRusso, you are a member of the council, as were other members of the council who are here today. In 24, 25, and 26, we had an opportunity to raise taxes, to roll forward the millage. We chose to not do so because we heard the concerns of residents relative to insurance costs, that the assessments were higher than they expected. So we made sacrifices then that really cost government, if you will, if you consider it a cost, hundreds of millions of dollars since 2024. But in the meantime, we were also asked to increase the wages of workers. So when we put out our sanitation contracts, we said to our contractors, you must pay at least $15 an hour. We increased every wage recipient in the city of New Orleans to $15 an hour over time, but without raising taxes. I want to make it clear to the public that the city council has not raised taxes, at least since I've been a member of the city council. There have been millage increases because voters have voted on the early childhood education millage and on other factors. But for the general fund purposes of the city of New Orleans, the monies that are needed to pay police and fire and the like, there have not been general tax increases. But we were asked to stop the hemorrhaging and the loss of offices. We were asked to provide vehicles that made offices more efficient in doing their work. We were asked to make sure that EMS, for example, could continue to provide the services. And we've done that all without tax increases. But we've lost a lot since then, especially since 2022, whether it be the federal government with the hundreds of millions of dollars in cutbacks in different areas, with the state taking resources from us, for example, traffic, camera revenues, and the like. But in the midst of that, we've been able to do so without layoffs and without tremendous decreases in the level of services provided. Well, sometimes adjustments have to be made. And I know that Mayor Moreno, in terms of her submission, would like to potentially make more resources available to do those things that her administration counted on doing. And I appreciate the patience because I think that things will be better in the future. We could increase mills a lot more than is being recommended today. But there's sensitivity because we've heard public concerns that people want to see certain things done before we talk about certain millage increases. But what I have heard clearly and consistently is that people don't want to see cuts in police. When we're moving in the right direction, we're going to have some of the lowest crime rates in the history of our city.

We're going to have this year the lowest homicide rate, for example, a number of homicides since the 1960s. Well, that's because we made resources available to the law enforcement community and there's been cooperation. It's important to recognize that I don't want to pay one additional mill or one additional bit of taxes, but I recognize that city government cannot survive on the same resources year after year and meet some of the demands of the public. So I at this time thank the Moreno administration and the CAO and members of the council, for example, in the past who were part of the process of saying we are not going to raise our millage. We are not going to do those things that impact our citizens in that way. But at some time we have to make adjustments based on reality. And I think today's vote, the modest increase that is being put forth relative to millages is a reasonable response to the fact that there are more needs. And I'm partially voting, I guess I should always wait and say I'm going to hear every comment, but I know what the comments are going to be. I'm partially voting in favor of this because of Mayor Moreno and because she asked me to. We elected a mayor with a landslide. We elected a mayor who was on the council for eight years. She received the support of the citizens of this city in a way that. that maybe no other mayor has done so before. And whereas I know that there will be criticisms in time, at this particular time, I'm saying to Mayor Moreno, thank you for your indulgence, thank you for your support of this particular initiative, and I'm supporting it because the city council and you working together can move our city forward in ways that we haven't seen before. We're moving in the right direction in many respects, especially with regards to crime. Let's continue to move in that way, and I'm strongly supportive of this initiative. Thank you. Thank you. Council Member Hughes. Thank you, Mr. President. Before I make my comments on the millage, I do want to recognize four extraordinary young scholars who are joining me today, shadowing me from St. Augustine High School. Mr. Kai Carmichael, Mr. Dominic Thomas, Mr. Vincent Baptiste, and Mr. Oliver Casimir. They picked a heck of a day to shadow me and this council, but gentlemen, if you just stand, I'd like to acknowledge your presence and say welcome to the city council. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. That's a great high school. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. I agree. And it takes a Ron Eagle to show them that. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. On a serious note, Mr. President, members, we have three primary responsibilities as a member of the city council. The most important of which, in my opinion, is our responsibility as appropriators, is our responsibility for the budget. This is not an easy vote. And the easy thing for me, I had a very good reason not to be here today. But in the memory of my dad, my dad taught me and my brother that your word is your bond. And I gave my word to the residents of District D that I'd show up every day to represent them. And I'm gonna do that with this vote. I take a slightly different take than my colleague. I know some will phrase this as a tax increase. You can look at it that way. I think the first thing we have to look at, though, these millages are millages that the residents of the city of New Orleans democratically voted on to tax themselves. And it gives the city council discretion and authority to either roll back or roll forward. Now, this is my first year on the council, but I will say previous councils have done their best not to abuse rolling forward millages. And I thank previous administration and previous council for doing their best to be good stewards of taxpayer dollars. Today we find ourselves in this quagmire because we already started at $125 million deficit because the previous council, to their credit, had to go take out a $125 million loan because if they didn't, they would have had to basically lay off the entire city's workforce. So when we raised our hands on January 12th, we already started $125 million in the hole. It was necessary to keep the city's workforce intact. So today the question becomes, do we cut the budget by $80 million or do we cut the budget by much less? I can tell you for me, laying off the city's workforce saying, Merry Christmas, you no longer have a job is just not an option for me. Steve, you and I, Director Nelson, have been great partners. We're making some good progress. The best way to stop that progress is to gut your budget, to stop the streetlight repairs, to stop the pothole repairs, to stop the pothole repairs, to stop the street repairs. At a time when my residents, even though we gotta work with a little bit more swiftness, we're making progress and we're moving in the right direction. Chief Harrison, our citizens feel safe. NOPD, our public safety partners, do a yeoman's job in this city. When they wake up in the morning, as you know, Ben, anybody, their families don't know if they're coming home, they don't know if they're coming home. They put their lives on the line to protect us. Just five years ago, people across this city were afraid to stop at red lights, stop signs. They must still be afraid, because they're still running them. But the truth is, no matter where you go, people feel safe. We can't go back. We have to keep our foot on the gas. Dr. Avegno, you're one of the best that can be found anywhere in this country. The only way we can begin to restore your budget is to make some tough decisions, to restore some dollars to our general fund. And to you, Mr. Lodge, to you, Mr. CAO, to you, Mr. Legere, I thank you all for your partnership, because this is partnership. And we all love this city at the end of the day.

And that means we're going to have to make some tough decisions now to ensure that we put our city on a path to prosperity, which I know we're going to continue to do, because we all collectively love this city so much. And I do want to thank the mayor in her absence for being such an extraordinary ambassador and partner for this city. And while we're taking the vote, this is partnership every step of the way. And the mayor and I had a very direct conversation as recent as yesterday. And she certainly doesn't take delight in the situation that we find ourselves in either. I say to the residents of District E, when I held my hand up to the mayor, when I held my hand on that Bible with my dad, I made a promise that I would be a fierce, unapologetic advocate for our district. I do that every single day. Sometimes people don't like my delivery, but just know it's passion. And we've got to keep progress in motion. And the best way to not keep progress in motion is to gut the budget. To gut our city's workforce. And I'm just not prepared to do that. My vote today will be a vote in favor of the millage roll forward. It will be a vote in favor of maintaining our city's workforce. It will be a vote in favor of taking our workforce off of furlough. It will be in favor of moving the city of New Orleans forward. Now as we do this and in the spirit of partnership, there's a couple tough conversations that we're gonna have to have with urgency. I've received so many calls from non-profits asking us not to gut any money dealing with non-profits. Non-profits do great work, it's not lost on me. The reality is, majority of our non-profits don't put any skin in the game. And that is not a sustainable model for this city. And so next year, we're gonna have to make some tough decisions to ensure that our non-profit, non-governmental entities are putting some skin in the game. Because we cannot continue to balance the budget solely on our homeowners. The second thing I will say, Mr. CAO, and I look forward to working with you, I will continue to say we've gotta act with a great sense of urgency to finalize the contract to ensure that properties can be auctioned. Because that is most certainly revenue for our city and I certainly look forward to continuing to work with you on that. So Chair Harris, thank you for your leadership throughout this process. Mr. President, thank you for your leadership. And to all of my colleagues, thank you for your leadership and your partnership. I know this is not easy for any of us. But we love this city. Thank you, Madam Mayor. Thank you to all of you at the table. And to all of our city's workforce who show up every day. We have sustained furloughs for the past year. From the bottom of my heart, thank you for everything that you do. And while today is a tough vote, one thing I know, the sun will rise again. Thank you, Mr. President. Thank you. Council Member Willard. Thank you, Mr. President. This is my seventh year as an elected official. I've taken thousands of votes. And this one is probably the most difficult vote that I've ever taken. During my previous six years, I was committed to bringing in relief, property tax relief to people in New Orleans, people in Louisiana. Last year when I campaigned, a part of my theme was to bring in a more affordable New Orleans. Shortly after I got elected, we discovered that there was a deficit over 100 million. And City Hall was smoldering, to be frank. And up to Monday night, I was a firm, hard, unequivocally no on this roll forward. And there was nothing that would change my mind. I spoke to a friend, and our conversation convinced me that I should not be absolute, and that I should give it consideration. And as I started that process, I said, what about the promises all of us made for a better New Orleans, for a stronger New Orleans, for a New Orleans that can thrive, that can be a jewel of the South? Our city has so many needs. The residents of our city have so many needs. And the only, I guess panacea as I see it, the only solution That I can come up with to fix our revenue issues in the city of New Orleans is to expand our base bring in more residents in the city of New Orleans and To create more companies and businesses in the city of New Orleans. We have to increase who contributes to the pot. I Want y'all to know that I spent a lot of time analyzing this vote, ramifications of this vote, and other options. When we go back to that big that big goal, increase the population, have more businesses in New Orleans, there's really three ways that I think we can achieve that. One, cannibalization from other parishes. Bring people who live in other parts of Louisiana into the city of New Orleans. Two, entice former New Orleanians to move back to the city. Three, improve our conversion rate. What do I mean by that? Every year we have about 10 million visitors come to the city of New Orleans. I know personally I've met and spoke to many people who visited New Orleans, fell in love with New Orleans, and decided to make New Orleans their home. All three of those options require the city to put its best foot forward continuously. Good roads, good schools, proper lighting, proper street signs, trees being properly trimmed, grass being cut, homelessness services being provided. All of that requires investment. My assignment was to determine if I thought as a city we could do better or even retain the status quo with a deficit of about 70 million dollars. I'll give you all some numbers. The 2026 budget, 885 million dollars. Is that accurate, Joe? It is, Councilmember. Part of that 885 includes 160 million in one-time funding. Is that accurate, Joe? It is, Councilmember. 2027 budget requests came in at 847 million. Recurring revenues are 748 million. Is that accurate, Joe? It is, Councilmember. 23 million dollars available in one-time funding for 2027. Correct.

To take it a step further, REC, which is the official body that signs off on revenue for the City of New Orleans, could potentially recognize up to an additional 9 million dollars in revenue. That will be on top of the 748 we have budgeted right now. That 9 million comes from Wisner money, the increase in the STR nightly fee, and a potential permit fee increase, which this Council will vote on today. Best-case scenario, that would leave us with a deficit of 68 million dollars. The roll forward today brings in 23 million dollars. That's 23 million in less cuts that we would have to make as a city. If we don't roll forward, our revenue ceiling is locked in for the foreseeable future. We're all struggling with inflation. On a municipal government's budget, inflation will eat away at really any good that you can do. If we lock in right now, it makes it harder for us to deliver on promises. It makes it harder for us to provide the programs and services and the quality of life that every New Orleanian deserves. It makes it harder for us to provide programs and services that the most vulnerable New Orleanians depend upon. Dr. Ovegno. Here's my analysis. And I agree, a lot of the proposed cuts should have never been on the chopping block. However, when you're talking about a deficit of this magnitude, there virtually are no cuts that can go on a chopping block that someone doesn't determine to be essential. A roll forward today potentially restores funding to citywide sanitation services, cleanup after Mardi Gras parades and special events, the low barrier shelter, public defenders, the DA's office, juvenile court, health department programs for mothers, babies, people suffering from mental health disorders, violence interruption programs, right to counsel to prevent wrongful evictions and a further increase in our city's homeless population, grass cutting and tree trimming services and jobs for our youth during the summer. Personally, I believe all of those deserve to be funded. You want to know what's ironic? It just happened this way. I made a list of everything that's proposed to be cut that I could not live with and that list comes out right around 21 million dollars. So if you agree that at least some of those cuts cannot be stomached and we don't do a roll forward, here's another option. Look for 23 million dollars in other cuts. So I did my homework and I looked. Here are options where we could go back into the budget and swap out cuts, more layoffs, furloughs next year, cuts to NOPD, cuts to the fire department, further overtime reductions, reductions to municipal court, reductions to NORD. To be clear, I'm not okay with any of those reductions either and to be clear, those reductions only make up a fraction of what we would need to cover. The final option as I see it is to come up with another way to generate revenue. Some of the ideas that I came up with, a sales tax increase, which is the most regressive form of taxation because the poorest people pay the most of their income in that tax. Structure a form of a local earnings tax. It's like an income tax. Go to Baton Rouge and we can fight for more hotel motel tax, more short-term rental tax. We can have properties that do not contribute to any type of millages contribute and share the cost of services that every business and every individual in the city of New Orleans receives. Of all those options, the overwhelming majority are no guarantees. A couple of them are likely not feasible at all and all of them would require time to study, propose, write, lobby, pass, if you pass it, and to set it up. I committed last year to helping everybody in this city fall further in love with this city. And I committed to helping bring prosperity to the city of New Orleans. A city cannot cut its way into prosperity. In fact, I believe the election results from Tuesday show us that. I believe those election results were a referendum on that cut, cut, cut mentality. This roll forward allows us to continue the work that has been started this year, but it also forces us to live within our means. Because even with this roll forward, we still have to make about 40 million dollars in cuts. In business, if your revenues don't cover your expenses, you have two options. You can reduce those expenses, fire people, try to renegotiate on your cost of materials and your logistics, you can reduce some of your services, or the other option, you can increase prices. I think with this budget, the city of New Orleans is taking both approaches in a pretty strategic manner. We're keeping vacant positions unfilled, we're reducing reliance on outside vendors and contractors, we're re-evaluating necessary contracts, we're generating 23 million in new revenues. By the way, the median cost to a homeowner in the city of New Orleans to bring in that 23 million is about $150 a year. It's still an increase and there's people in the city who can't afford it. One thing that I want to say is I am committing to explore options to try to set up some type of funding that may be able to help those most in need to better deal with this millage roll forward. I'm also committing to making sure as a council that we really re-evaluate the budget next year, and we make sure that this 23 million in new revenues is worth the squeeze. To make sure that it delivers tangible, palpable results, and if it does not, like the council has the opportunity to do every year, I'll lead the charge on a rollback, because that's what you deserve. That's the transparency that everybody in the city deserves.

I think our budget should be and is a moral document and I think overall in the city of New Orleans we place a high value on protecting our mothers and our babies, on mental health services, clean up after our parades and our special events, making sure our public defenders and our public safety services programs and departments are adequately funded, mitigating new unhoused people in the city of New Orleans, serving and providing the support that our current unhoused people have in the city of New Orleans, grass cutting services, tree trimming services and jobs for our youth in the city of New Orleans. This roll forward puts us in a position to preserve those values and with this roll forward we continue on the work that we've started this year. Thank you. Thank you. Council Member McCarran. Thank you, Council President Morrell. Look, just like you've heard from my colleagues, this decision is a tough one. You know, we've thought about it for months now. We knew that this was going to be a possibility for several months. I've talked about it with District A. I went out there and I had two town halls. I had engagements at multiple neighborhood meetings over the last several weeks and nobody is really excited about something, a roll forward. You know, I'm not excited about it. I had the, you know, riot act for my parents, but they see the progress that is being made. They see the work that you all are doing. Steve and I had a conversation yesterday and I know that Scott Boyle and his team from DPW are out right now in District A putting up stop signs that haven't been put up since 2025 or 2024. This is the kind of work and coordination that we have seen over the last several months since we got elected for the people of New Orleans. And the people of District A have emailed in support and emailed against it, but ultimately we have to decide today, do we want to continue moving forward and making things better for residents or do we want to stay the same or potentially go backwards? And, you know, we've seen over the last several weeks that you guys have done incredible work to get this budget in a place that does not affect essential services. You know, we've worked from a hundred million dollar deficit. We still have one and even as my colleagues said, you know, this potential partial roll forward is only going to fund 21 or 22 million dollars and we are still going to have to make tough cuts. You guys have curbed over time and continue to do that in a transparent way so that so the people can see on a dashboard and every month at our Budget Committee how you guys are making sure that we are not overspending. We've had layoffs, we've had furloughs, there's been over 500 city workers including us and our staffs and you all and your staffs that have been furloughed for the last full year and still continue until the end of the month. So with that, I've weighed the pros and cons of how we do this and I think our constituents are trusting us that if we pass this today that we will do the things that we say we're going to do with this money. We will have the sanitation services that will pick up trash in our parks and our public sidewalks. We will have the trash services to pick up illegal dumping. We will have everything that we need to cut grass in the public right-of-way on a regular schedule. We will have everything to fix the streetlights, to fix the streets, and the sidewalks that we have not seen be repaired in so long. So with that, you know, I am going to support this because the residents have elected us for a reason to represent them and to make sure that we are providing the basic services to make their lives better and I will continue to hold the administration accountable as they will hold us accountable to make sure that this spending is going to do what we are saying it's going to do. To restore these basic services and continue the progress forward. And so I appreciate everyone's hard work on this. As I said, it was not an easy decision but today I am in support of this partial roll forward to continue the progress for the residents of District A and the residents of this city. Thank you. Thank you. Councilmember Harris followed by Councilmember King. Thank you. Very briefly, first I want to thank the mayor, the CAO's office, all of the deputy mayors for their 10 days of testimony that we sat through. I think the most poignant for me was when we had the sanitation workers come and say that a deep cut to their budget would result in trash overflowing on our streets, would result in two weeks of no Mardi Gras cleanup, would result in dirty parks. And as I said, we cannot have an unclean city that's not going to attract the businesses here. We also can't have people who rely on jobs at the city laid off all of a sudden. So that was poignant for me. The other moment of the 10 days of testimony was when the residents from the low barrier shelter came and testified about how that shelter gets them back on their feet. So when I saw the cuts to Mardi Gras cleanup, when I saw the cuts to low barrier shelter, I was really incensed. So I do and I am grateful for the mayor putting forth her proposal that those two things would not be cut, the right to council would not be cut, and other essential services that make our city safe and clean would not be cut. As Councilmember Hughes and Willard said, the only way we're going to get out of this is to grow our economy. And we have to attract businesses here and we can't do that with the cuts that were proposed. So I see no other way to raise the money that we need to maintain essential city services. I have heard from constituents who understand that the $100, $150 cost is something that they can bear for right now. And hopefully that cost will not go up in the future. So that's my vote.

I just want to thank everybody, my colleagues, for working on this, for voting for the roll forward, and for the continued work that we have to do to pass this budget on November 19th. Because it's going to take all of us to do that together. Thank you. Councilmember King. Basically, if we don't roll these millages forward, basic services will suffer. I think we all can agree on that. Light remediation will suffer. Less grass will get picked up. I'm sorry, less grass will get cut. Less trash will get picked up. And more jobs will get cut. This vote today is not easy. And leadership is not easy. But this vote today is very necessary. So I'm going to give the administration, I'm going to give this vote a vote of yes from me. But I just ask that the administration and the folks in front of me keep a couple of things in mind. Because people say, well, we're already getting the short end of the stick on services. Our streets are already bad. What are we giving money to? What are we paying more money for? And that's a very valid concern, a very valid question. So I just want you to keep these things in mind. I know this additional money we get from this roll forward won't cover everything. But please keep in mind the potholes and the street lights that are out on Tullis. Berkeley Drive in Algeres has been a failing street for over 40 years since the 80s. Flooding in Treme on Esplanade by Little Dizzy. Between Robeson and St. Claude, there are no catch basins on Port Street, Spain Street, and Gallia Street. Crescent Park needs to be better maintained. We all know that. There's nothing new to anyone on the desk in front of me. But people ask once again, what am I paying for? What services am I going to get? What services would be enhanced with the extra money to roll forward? And I want to let them know that I have forgotten about their request. And I know you all have forgotten about your request about Esplanade. I'm just making it fresh in your mind right now. That's all. So I said let's continue to attract new businesses to this city. Let's continue to attract residents to this city. Let's continue to have crime going in the right direction, which is down, which is one of the lowest downturns in crime this city has seen in decades. And let's continue to make this city one of the best cities in the country and in the world. Thank you. Thank you Councilmember King. I had a lot of thoughts coming in here today, but I want to start with something really specific. I was elected to the legislature in 2006 as a 28 year old. It was a jarring experience joining the Louisiana Legislature in the wake of Hurricane Katrina when this city was on its knees and everyone was trying to figure out a way to profit from it. Every dollar we saw that came in from the federal government left this city and went to convention centers across the state, to companies that weren't from this city or even the state. And it was a very, very difficult time. But I will tell you that the most difficult time, even beyond the twilight of the Blanco administration, was the Jindal administration. The Jindal administration was a tremendous lesson in what happens when you have executives who lack leadership, lack they spine, and lack the ability to make hard decisions. The hardest vote legislators can make is to raise revenue, is to tax. It is literally the vote that every legislator despises. And I say that because during the Jindal years, the legislature lacked the intestinal fortitude to raise taxes and they were drunk off Katrina money. And you saw revenue go up and up and up, one-time money being used to plug holes, physical property being pawned off at a rate of which you would have never have seen. At one point there was a plan, both during the Blanco administration and Jindal administration, to sell the lakefront. The reason why there is a lakefront management district, that it exists, is because the New Orleans delegation, when I led them, had to create a body to take the lakefront so that governors could not sell it. I say that because I have lived long enough in politics to see history repeat itself. As many of you may recall, I know what Councilman Druso, now CAO Druso, was up here. I constantly fought with Gilbert Montano about the using COVID dollars to create a budget. I used to say, are we doing Jindal math? And he would sit there and go, we're not doing Jindal math. And yet we all saw last year when the budget imploded, it was Jindal math all over again. It was administrations using one-time money to prop up budgets without revenue to sustain it. This week, the city, by an overwhelming margin, passed a charter amendment to change how we budget. And I will tell you, it would be very difficult for me to vote for this today had the charter amendment not passed. Let me explain that to you why that's the case. Before the charter amendment, the way this city operated is that the council would recognize an appropriated budget, you would give us revenue, and then we would all count on the fact that administration, a CAO, a government, would spend that money appropriately. But there was no transparency on how that money was spent. I know with Sarah and with Nellie who are here today, that has been a critique that this council and the previous council took to heart when we proposed the budget amendment. Because what you would see each year is so many groups would spend their time, their effort, people would show up this council chamber advocating for things in the budget. We would pass a budget thinking that those things were funded, and then throughout the year we'd find out they weren't. And what nothing's more frustrating for a legislator to go into a budget season saying I'm working with an administration to make sure that maternal health care is funded, to make sure that a low barrier shelter is funded, and then after the budget's passed you have people saying these programs are gone and these things aren't funded.

And then you have to explain to your constituents over the course of the year why the promises made were not promises kept. The vote today is a vote on the millage, but the vote on the budget is two weeks from now. You will see a council working together with an administration to pass a budget in two weeks that will show you how we're going to spend this money, will show you how we're going to spend this millage money. And not only that, for the first time in the history of the city, when that budget is passed it is locked. The things that we say, that moral document, Vice President Willard, will legitimately be a moral document, a binding contract between the council, the administration, and the people we serve. Mayor Landrieu, at the time when we were dealing with the Jindal administration, made this line, as the Jindal administration sought to cut and create one-time money to balance the budget, where he said you cannot cut your way to excellence. And he is a hundred percent correct. With that being said, let's be very clear, even with the millage roll forward, we are facing a tremendous deficit. The council will not stop looking for additional efficiencies to raise more money, to restore more programs. Part of this process, with this new budget, the way it's structured, is that as REC recognizes new revenue, the administration will have to work with the council and have public hearings on how that new revenue is spent. I know it does not seem that way today, but next year is going to be a completely new experience when it comes to transparency and spending in the city of New Orleans. You will see how every dollar is spent. You will have the ability to come to this chamber and argue for how you want your money spent, because for every dollar we recognize at REC, we will have to vote with the administration as to how your money is spent. I was asked by someone the other day why I'm the author of this millage roll forward. It's not something that people who are budget chairs often do, but I did this because when John Bel Edwards became governor, I was elevated in the Senate to chair the Revenue and Fiscal Affairs Committee in the Senate. That was the taxation committee. It is a taxation committee for the Senate in the legislature, and I was tasked in that role in figuring out how to dig ourselves out of the massive hole the Jindal administration caused. I knew that this was going to be a difficult vote. I knew that today was going to be a hard vote, and I knew that my experience as the former chair of Revenue and Fiscal Affairs, talking to all of my colleagues, explaining to them that though this is a hard vote, it is a necessary vote, and it is part of a lengthier path to bringing the city to prosperity. But make no mistake, all votes of this magnitude will be used to judge us when that time comes forward. Not for me, because I'm leaving the council, riding into that sunset, but the most important thing to remember is we are judged by our works. With this revenue that is created by rolling this millage forward, how we will truly be judged as a council and administration is how we spend your money and what are the results. And I want to confirm today to everyone, we are aware of that responsibility and we will make you proud how this money is spent to improve your quality of life and improve the city in which you live. With that, members, I will move for the vote. Seconded by Councilmember Harris. Please vote your machines. Mr. Chair, I know I don't have to do this for the record. I feel that we're all of the same accord. I'd like to be named as a co-sponsor for this legislation. Madam Clerk, will you please add all council members as co-authors? I see them. So far, I haven't. Okay. All in favor, say aye. Aye. Any opposed? Seven yeas, no nays. As amended. Thank you, council members. Thank you. At the bottom of the page, we have item 13, ordinance calendar 35,584 by Councilmembers Harris, Morel, and Green by request. An ordinance relative to the levy of fees on property located in special security and improvement taxing districts in the city of New Orleans for the year 2027 and otherwise to provide respect thereto. Thank you, Madam Clerk. This item sets 2027. Y'all ready to vote? Councilmembers, you ready? You ready? All right. Are we going to take a break? Ready? All right. We're on item number 13, which sets the 2027 property parcel fees for neighborhood security and improvement districts throughout the city. This ordinance authorizes the city to collect these fees through property tax bills and distribute proceeds to the respective districts. With that, I'll move. Seconded by Councilmember Morel. All in favor? Aye. Seven yays. Thank you. On page one, we have approval of the minutes for the meeting of October 1st 2026 and October 15th 2026. I'll move. Seconded by Councilmember Hughes. All in favor? Aye. Seven yays. Seconded by Councilmember Gonzalez. All in favor? Aye. Seconded by Councilmember Lujan. All in favor? Aye. Seconded by Councilmember Mendoza. All in favor? Aye. Seconded by Councilmember Gutierrez. All in favor? Aye. Alright. Consent Agenda, we have a communication from Bobby Mason, this may be received. We have a communication from Ron Lazo, this may be received. Hearing date 11-1926. We have a communication from Amy B. Trepanyea, this may be received and referred to the Budget Committee. We have a communication from Amy B. Trepanyea, this may be received and referred to the Budget Committee. We have a communication from Kelly O'Connor, this may be received. Hearing date 11-1926. We have a communication from Ella DeRusto, this may be received. We have a communication from Matt Torey, this may be received and referred to the Public Works Committee. We have a communication from Matt Torey, this may be received and referred to the Public Works committee. We have a communication from Matt Torey, this may be received and referred to the Public Works committee.

We have a communication from Matt Torey, this may be received and referred to the Public Works Committee. We have a communication from Elizabeth Russo, this may be received. We have a communication from Elizabeth Russo, this may be received. We have a communication from Elizabeth Russo, this may be received. We have a communication from Josiah Jerusa, III, this may be received and referred to the Government Affairs Committee. We have a report of Robert D. Rivers, this may be received. Hearing date 11-1926. We have a report of Kim DeLarge, Jr., this may be received. We have a report of Yvette Jett, this may be received, 3643 Camp Street. We have a report of Yvette Jett, this may be received, 2322 Burgundy Street. We have a report of Joseph I. Jerusa, III, this may be received. We have a report of Lenay Crowley, this may be received. We have Ordinance Calendar 35576 by Councilmember Willard. This is referred to the Community Development Joint Committee, Community Development Committee recommended approval. We have Ordinance Calendar 35590 by Councilmember Hughes, Municipal Address 7542-7550 Forest Glen Road, Zoning Docket 6426. We have Ordinance Calendar 35591 by Councilmember Harris, Zoning Docket 7026. We have Ordinance Calendar 35592 by Councilmember McCarran, Municipal Address 1227 Calhoun Street, Zoning Docket 7426. We have Ordinance Calendar 35593 by Councilmember King, Municipal Address 1722-1732 Paulga Street, Zoning Docket 7626. We have Ordinance Calendar 35594 by Councilmember Harris, Municipal Address 4001 Magazine Street, Zoning Docket 7926. We have Ordinance Calendar 35595 by Councilmember Harris, Municipal Address 714-716 Carondelet Street and 730 Gerard Street, Zoning Docket 8026. We have Ordinance Calendar 35596 by Councilmember Green, Municipal Address 1863-69 Love Street, Zoning Docket 9326. We have Ordinance Calendar 35599 by Councilmember Harris, Municipal Address 514 Jackson Avenue, Zoning Docket 7126. We have Ordinance Calendar 35605 by Councilmember Harris, Municipal Address 1622 Talladonna Street, Zoning Docket 5926. We have Ordinance Calendar 35611 by Councilmember Harris, Municipal Address 1207-1227-1329 and 1401-1411 Jackson Avenue, 2112-2119-25 Coliseum Street, 1200-1326 and 1223-33 Josephine Street, 2111-2129 Camp Street, Zoning Docket 7726. We have Ordinance Calendar 35612 by Councilmember Harris, Municipal Address 1900 Carondelet Street, Zoning Docket 7826. We have Motion M26459 by Councilmember Harris, Budget Audit Board of Review Recommended Approval. We have Motion M26460 by Councilmembers Willard, Morrell and Harris, Community Development Recommended Approval. We have Resolution R26463 by Councilmember Willard by Request, Climate Change and Sustainability Special Development Project Committee Recommended Approval. We have Resolution R26464 by Councilmembers McCarran, Morrell, Harris and Green, Climate Change, Sustainability, Economic Development, Special Development Project Committees Recommended Approval. This is all matters on consent. Madam Clerk, I'm not in receipt of any cards. So are there any cards over there? All right. With that, I will move. Second by Councilmember Green. Please vote your machines. Hopefully they work. All in favor? Aye. Any opposed? Hearing none, 6 yays, no nays. At the top of page 15, we have Item 1, Legislative Grouping. IZD Appeal of Ron Lazzo, Zach Smith, Consultant in Design. Requesting to appeal the Transient Lodging Interim Zoning District to permit three commercial short-term rentals in the CBD2, Historic Commercial and Mixed-Use District, Residential District on Square 168, Lot 8, and the 1st Municipal District, bounded by Graveyard Camp, Common, and Magazine Streets. Municipal Address 517 Graveyard Street, IZD 126. We have motion M26474 by Councilmember Harris, approving the applicant's request for IZD 126. Do we have anyone from CPC here? No? Oh, come on up. I'm here, though I haven't prepared a presentation for this item. You don't have a report for this item? No, I do not. Okay, well, I can tell you that this motion approves an appeal of the Transient Lodging Interim Zoning District. This property is a three-story commercial building. The building's first two floors are commercial space, including serving as headquarters for the Lucky Dog Hot Dog brand. The third floor was recently renovated to contain three residential units, which the applicant is requesting to operate as a CSTR. The commercial short-term rental is a permitted use in the CBD2, Historic Commercial and Mixed-Use District. On October 24, 2024, the previous council approved a CSTR application for this property. The building permit for this renovation for the renovations were issued on August 27, 2025, and then the IZD went into effect. This approval aligns with our previous approval for this location. Are there any questions? Ron Lasle, you want to speak? You're in favor of it? All right, I'll move. Seconded by Councilmember Morrell. I need one more vote. Six yays. Thank you all. At the top of page 16, we have item 2 has been deferred to the meeting of 11-19. Item 3, Legislative Grouping Zoning Docket 8426, Jags Holden, LLC. Requesting a conditional use to permit a commercial short-term rental in the MU2 High-Intensity Mixed-Use District in the Transient Lodging Interim Zoning District on Sq. 557 Locks N046 in the 1st Municipal District, bounded by Gravitt Street, Satante South. We're going to come back to item 3. At the top of page 17, we have item 4, Zoning Docket 8626 has been deferred to the meeting of 11-19. Item 5, Zoning Docket 9226 along with motions M26-476 and M26-477 has been deferred to the meeting of 11-19. At the top of page 18, we have item 6, Legislative Grouping 9826 along with motion line over M26-450 has been deferred to the meeting of 11-19. At the top of page 19, Legislative Grouping Street Name Change 226 along with motions line over M26-452 has been deferred to the meeting of 11-19.

At the top of page 20, we have item 8, Legislative Grouping Ordinance Calendar 34385 along with motions line over M23-426 and M23-427 has been deferred to the meeting of 11-19. At the top of page 21, Ordinance Calendar 35117 has been deferred to the meeting of 11-19. At the bottom of the page, item 10, Legislative Grouping Ordinance Calendar 35566 by Councilmember Morrell by request. An Ordinance to Amend the Real Damn Section 10-52 and 10-122 of Chapter 10, Sections 26-15 26-17 and 26-19 of Chapter 26 and Sections 146-108, 146-143 146-438 and 146-543 of Chapter 146 of the Code of the City of New Orleans to establish charges to increase for permits regarding alcoholic beverages, building regulations and street and sidewalks and otherwise to provide respect thereto. This matter was referred to the Governmental Affairs Committee. We have an amendment to Ordinance Calendar 35566 by Councilmember Morrell. An amendment to Ordinance Calendar 35566 to stipulate when the department is to collect certain fees and to clarify when certain fees are required and otherwise to provide respect thereto. Thank you. First up, the amendment simply clarifies that we are removing the ABO fee application fee as well as adding $50 to the zoning review fee for application submission. I have moved. Councilman Green has seconded. There are no cards. Please vote your machines. Six yays, no nays. It is adopted. Next up, we have the ordinance as amended. This simply codifies several different permit fees to bring us up to the levels of similar cities and similar parishes. I will move. Can I get a second? Second by Councilmember Harris. Please vote your machines. All right. Six yays, no nays. On page 24, we have item 14, legislative grouping, ordinance calendar 35,598 by Councilmember McCarran. An ordinance to establish a conditional use to permit a car wash in the MU1 medium intensity mixed use district in the East Sea Enhancement Corridor Design Overlay District on Square 762, Lots 11, 12, 13, 14, 18, 19, 20, 21A, 22A, 23B, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, and 28 in the First Municipal District bounded by Tulane Avenue, South Pierce Street, Eulala Street, South Carrollton Avenue, Municipal Address 4118-26, South Carrollton Avenue, 4036-52, Eulala Street, and 4041-51 Tulane Avenue, and otherwise Supervisor respects thereto. Zoning Document 6726, there's an amendment to Ordinance Calendar 35,598 by Councilmember McCarran, an amendment to Ordinance Calendar 35,598 to insert a ninth proviso as originally recommended by the City Planning Commission, and otherwise Supervisor respects thereto. Thank you, Madam Clerk. Members, this is an amendment to add the landscaping proviso, which was accidentally left out of our original motion. Approving this conditional use, City Planning had originally recommended and approved this proviso, so we're simply adding that back in. So I will move. Seconded by Councilmember Harris. Vote your machines. Five yays, zero nays. Okay, and then I will move on the ordinance as amended. Seconded by Councilmember Morrell. Vote your machines. Five yays, no nays. Thank you. At the top of page 25, we have Ordinance Calendar 35,601 by Councilmember McCarran. At the top of page 25, we have Ordinance Calendar 35,601 by Councilmember Harris by request. An ordinance authorizing the Mayor of the City of New Orleans to enter into Amendment No. 1 to a Cooperative Endeavor Agreement between the City of New Orleans and the Board of Supervisors of the Louisiana State University Agricultural and Mechanical College to extend the existing Cooperative Endeavor Agreement for the public purpose of street improvements on Gravier Street between Claiborne Avenue and Galvez Street along the LSU Health Science Center in New Orleans as more fully detailed in Amendment No. 1 to the Cooperative Endeavor Agreement, Exhibit A, and otherwise to provide respects thereto. Thank you, Madam Clerk. This is a CAA relative to the roadway and drainage improvements along Gravier between Claiborne and Galvez. This extends the agreement through June 16, 2027. There is no fiscal impact. I'll move. Seconded by Councilmember McCarron. Six yays. Thank you. Councilmembers, we're going back to page 16. Item 3, Legislative Group and Zoning Docket 8426, JAGS holding LLC requesting a conditional use to permit a commercial short-term rental in a MU-2 high-intensity mixed-use district in a transient lodging interim zoning district on Sq. 55, lots N046 in the 1st Municipal District bounded by Gravier Street, South Chauncey Street, Braddish Alley, and South Rushblade Street, Municipal Address 247 Gravier Street, the recommendation of the CPC being for denial. We have a motion M26473 by Councilmember Harris denying the applicant's request for zoning docket 8426. Thank you, Madam Clerk. CPC, do you have a report for this one? I do, yes. Okay. Yes, this is a property that's located at 247 Gravier Street. It is currently developed as a two-story, five-bedroom, single-family residence. While the MU-2 mixed-use high-intensity district normally allows short-term rental to be permitted by right, the request requires a conditional use because the site is located in a citywide transient lodging interim zoning district, which allows short-term rentals only as conditional uses. Although the Planning Commission finds that the proposed use is generally consistent with the master plan and the intent of the zoning district, sufficiently meets the standards for approval in Article 4 of the CZO, it does not, however, meet the approval standards written in the transient lodging interim zoning district, which is intended to consider the existing conditions for the permitted use on a case-by-case basis. In this case, there is a proliferation of short-term rentals, 36 commercial short-term rentals licenses currently operating within a block radius of the subject site, which were licensed before the current ICD regulation took effect.

And ultimately, this would take away a single-family dwelling away from long-term housing, which is a detriment to the city's state of housing at large. During CPCs, there were three neighbors familiar with the property who spoke in opposition, noting the location was in proximity to an abundance of other commercial short-term rentals. Also one constituent stated that the applicant had multiple STR violations on record. For all these reasons, the Planning Commission recommended denial of the request. Thank you, CPC. Renee Celestine, you have two minutes. Hello. Thank you all for having me today. I'm Renee Celestine. I'm a licensed real estate broker and a licensed residential and commercial contractor. My husband is J.C. Celestine, who is also an entrepreneur in this city. I am here respectfully requesting a deferment so our short-term rental permit for file 4247 can be fully reviewed. We invested in this neighborhood when there were overgrown lots and blighted properties, and we built four new construction homes with the purpose of commercial STR due to its zoning. Today, three out of the four are permitted. Unfortunately, the analysts on our files seem more focused on closing the permits than helping us through the process. In December 2024, after the TRO was lifted, the city began reviewing renewals we had submitted six months prior. It started with the first file of 632 South Muro, which closed. We asked, why was it closed? They commented saying that we did not respond to the comments. I had to go back and forth with the analysts saying that we did. She finally said, send the proof. She said, send it in 20 minutes or we're going to close your file permanently. I was on the highway with four of my kids. I had to pull on the side of the road because she said if I did not submit it that she would close the permit permanently. I have an email stating how I was on the side of the road resubmitting everything that we submitted in six months prior to that. I think that's unacceptable. That's poor customer service. I feel like the analysts didn't want to issue the permit at all with everything submitted, so going up against me. So this property, we own the property next door. It's costing us $5,000 a month with no income because we don't have a permit on this property. Thank you. This motion denies the conditional use to permit a commercial short-term rental in an MU2 high-intensity mixed-use district in the transient lodging interim zoning district. As CPC noted, there are currently 36 active licensed STRs within the immediate vicinity of the subject property. The transient lodging study recommended a temporary nature for STRs. However, conditional uses offer a permanent entitlement. The city is currently undergoing changes in zoning regulations that would result in CSTRs being neither permitted nor conditional in this district. In addition to receiving a recommendation of denial from CPC, the application received strong opposition from neighboring residents. With that, I will move. Seconded by Councilmember McCarron. Five yeas. Thank you. On page 26, we have Item 19, Ordinance Calendar 35608 by Councilmember Greene, by request. An ordinance authorizing the Mayor of the City of New Orleans to enter into a Cooperative Endeavor Agreement between the City of New Orleans and the United Negro College Fund, with a term greater than one year, for public purpose of the City of New Orleans to host the UNCF Employee Workplace Giving Campaign to support local students, as more fully detailed in the Cooperative Endeavor Agreement form, Exhibit 8, and otherwise supervise respects thereto. I'll start off with an important fact. No city funding is required here. This authorizes an extension of the City's agreement with the United Negro College Fund through September 30, 2028. The agreement allows City employees to support local students through voluntary, one-time donations or payroll deductions. Again, no city funding is required. I've moved. May I have a second? Councilmember Amy McCarran has seconded. Members, please vote your machine. We have five yeas. The measure is approved. Thank you for your support. At the bottom of the page, Item 20, Ordinance Calendar 35609 by Councilmember Greene, by request. An ordinance authorizing the Mayor of the City of New Orleans to enter into a Cooperative Endeavor Agreement between the City of New Orleans and United Way of Southeast Louisiana, with a term greater than one year. The public purpose of delivering programs and services that target community needs centered around building a good life with a primary focus on education, income, and health is more fully detailed in the Cooperative Endeavor Agreement Form, Exhibit A, and otherwise to provide respect thereto. We have a comment card from Mr. Gary Collard. Good afternoon, I guess. So I just wanted to make a comment about the United Way. The CEO of United Way charges $950,000 for his services, almost $1 million for his services. Last year, United Way had more expenses in payroll than they provided in services. So here's a group, like most NPOs, that want to take your money and, without providing all the services they say they're going to do, you have in your budget meetings several NPOs come here asking for more money, and the problem is they don't have any control on their expenses. So every NPO has four brother-in-laws working for them, you know? So they have to control their expenditures so they at least equal what they're going to provide. That's all I wanted to say about that. Thank you for your comment. I do want to start off by emphasizing that there's no city funding required relative to this CEA. This authorizes a two-year agreement with the United Way of Southeast Louisiana to conduct its annual employee fundraising campaign supporting education, income stability, and health programs. The city will provide staff coordination and event space, but no city funding is required. I move for approval.

May I have a second, please? Seconded by Council President J.P. Morrell. Councilmembers, please vote your machines. Seven yeas, no nays. Thank you. Councilmembers, we're going to go back to page 24. We have item 15, ordinance calendar 35,600 by Councilmember King, by request. An ordinance authorizing the Mayor of the City of New Orleans to enter into a cooperative endeavor agreement between the City of New Orleans and Community Foundation Realty, Inc. for the public purpose of supporting entrepreneurs in the energy sector in New Orleans through the creation of a business incubator, as more fully detailed in the CEA Exhibit A and otherwise supervised respects thereto. Thank you, Madam Clerk. The CEA between the City and Community Foundation Realty, a subsidiary of the Baton Rouge Area Foundation, provides capital bond funds that will be invested in an energy innovation incubator at the NSA site. The incubator project will spur economic growth by fostering the development of businesses, creating innovation solutions, and apply technology focused on industrial power, carbon management, maritime technologies, and related industries, and providing space for start-up businesses to pre-commission, build, fabricate, and deploy critical innovations for pilot and demonstration purposes. The new businesses that grow out of the incubator will create both direct and indirect jobs for New Orleans. A screen. Who's second to vote? Thank you. Seven yays, no nays. I hit the wrong button. The whole screen went down. Thank you. On page 25, we have item 17, ordinance calendar 35606 by Councilmember King. An ordinance to provide for the designation of public property within a specified area of the City of New Orleans as a temporary special event clean zone during the time period beginning at 6 a.m. on Monday, January 11, 2027, and continuing through and until 1159 p.m. on Saturday, January 16, 2027, the effective period. Relative to the use of public areas in conjunction with the 2027 college football playoff semifinal at the All-State Sugar Bowl and relative activities and events produced by the college football playoffs to provide for a temporary prohibition of certain commercial activities in the special event clean zone unless approved, sanctioned, and authorized by the City or as set forth in the sponsors as defined below special event permit, if and as applicable, to provide for the establishment of one or more public participation areas. To provide for the establishment of fines and penalties for violations of this ordinance to establish the special event clean zone within the area bounded by Pontchartrain Expressway, Chapatula Street, Earn Street, proceeding across the Mississippi River to the West Bank Levee, Esplanade Avenue, North Claiborne Avenue, Tulane Avenue, and South Broad Street, excluding the Louisiana Superdome property, New Orleans Smoothie King Arena property, and the Ernest and Morreale Convention Center property to provide a sunset period for applicability and otherwise to provide respects thereto. Thank you, Madam Clerk. I think you said it all. With that, I move for adoption. Second by Councilmember Harris. Six yays, no nays. Thank you. At the top of page 26, we have item 18, Ordinance Calendar 35,607 by Councilmember Morreale, an ordinance to repel Chapter 2, Article 4, Division 4 in its entirety in the Code of the City of New Orleans relative to the Edward Wisner Donation Advisory Committee and otherwise to provide respect thereto. Thank you, Madam Clerk. This ordinance repeals references to the Edward Wisner Donation Advisory Committee. As you know, there has been extensive litigation regarding the Wisner donation and trust, but considering recent court developments, this is no longer necessary. So I will move. Can I get a second? Second by Councilmember Caron. Please vote your machines. Seven yays, no nays. At the top of page 27, we have item 21, Ordinance Calendar 35,610 by Councilmember Morreale, by request, an ordinance to amend and reordain Section 2 of the Code of the City of New Orleans to increase the competitive selection threshold applicable to contracts for professional services and otherwise to provide respect thereto. Thank you, Madam Clerk. This ordinance, as stated by the clerk, is done by request by the administration to increase the threshold. One second. It's in the process. That's that one. Thank you. Okay. The threshold for professional services hasn't changed in the dozens of years and has lost place with inflation. Surrounding public entities have raised their threshold even higher to 100K while we will remain at 50K versus the initial 10K. The City will continue to comply with transparency and accountability measures as well as introduce new controls that include ensuring multiple price requests, reporting requirements, and rules to prevent abuse of a professional service contract. With that, I will move. Second. Second by Councilmember Caron. Please vote your machines. Six yays, no nays. We have item 22, Ordinance Calendar 35,613, has been deferred to the meeting of 11-19. Item 23, Legislative Grouping, Ordinance Calendar 35,614, along with amendment, has been deferred to the meeting of 11-19. At the top of page 28, we have item 24, Ordinance Calendar 35,615, has been withdrawn. At the bottom of the page, item 25, we have Ordinance Calendar 35,616 by Councilmember McCarron, by request. An ordinance authorizing the Mayor of the City of New Orleans to enter into a cooperative endeavor agreement between the City of New Orleans, the New Orleans Recreation Development Commission, and Cabrini High School for a term greater than one year for the public purpose of supporting, promoting, stimulating public interest in, and raising and distributing funds to benefit the construction, creation, preservation, and maintenance of public parks, playgrounds, recreational facilities, and recreation and other leisure programs and activities in the City of New Orleans.

That is more fully detailed in the CEA Exhibit A, and otherwise Supervisor expects there too. Thank you, Madam Clerk. I have one card from Morgan Clevenger. Morgan? Hello. I wanted to comment on this mainly really to ask, what is this really about? It's a CEA. I didn't have time to look at the exhibit, but what does it do, basically? Because you have the Nord in there, you have a private Catholic school, so what's going on? Essentially, Cabrini will provide the maintenance to the facility, and in turn, they will be able to use the park for specific events and school functions. I know IGR is here if they want to elaborate on the CEA. Is this the playground? It's Desmare Playground. Okay, it's Desmare. Okay. Because I think that if this is a blueprint on how we can help other Nord facilities, like our playground, Stalling St. Tilly, I'd like to know more about it and how we can all work together. But is there any city money going into this or okay? All right. Well, thank you. Yes. Thank you Okay members no other questions. So with that I'll make a motion to approve Seconded by Council President Morrell at your machines Six years your own a's. Thank you At the top of page 29 we have item 26 on this count of 35,000 617 has been deferred to the meeting of December 4th Well motion line over m25 182 has been deferred to the meeting of 1119 At the top of page 30 we have item 28 motion line over m25 183 has been deferred to the meeting of 1119 well motion line over m25 184 has been deferred to the meaning of 1119 Well motion line over m25 186 has been deferred to the meeting of 1119 at the top of page 31 item 31 motion line over m2 518 a7 has been deferred to the meeting of 1119 well motion line over m25 189 has been deferred to the meeting of 1119 At the bottom of the page we have motion line over m25 522-35 is deferred to the meeting of 1119 on page 32 we have item 34 motion line over m25 236 has been deferred to the meeting of 1119 motion line over m25 238 has been deferred to the meeting of 1119 Motion line over m25 288 has been deferred to the meeting of 1119 At the top of page 33 item 37 motion line over in 25 for 35 has been deferred to the meeting of 1119 motion line over m26 38 has been deferred to the meeting of 1119 Motion line over m26 39 has been deferred to the meeting of 1119 at the top of page 34 item 40 motion line over m26 41 has been deferred to the meeting of 1119 And motion line over m2683 has been deferred to the meeting of 1119 motion line over m26 84 has been deferred to the meeting of 1119 At the top of page 35 we are motion lying over m26 1 15 has been deferred to the meeting of 1119 motion line over M26-0 40-2 has been deferred to the meeting of 11 19 motion m26 455 has been deferred to the meeting of 1119 on page 36 We have motion m26 for 50 6 has been deferred to the meeting of 1119 motion m26 457 has been deferred to the meeting of 1119 motion m26 458 has been deferred to the meeting of 1119 at the top of page 37. We have motion m26 461 deferred to the meeting of 1119 and referred to the utilities telecommunication committee item 50 motion m26 462 by councilmember Morrell Directing council utilities regulatory office to issue and advertise a request for qualifications for a technical advisor Thank you Fifty One second, please You Thank you, this is simply issue well allowing Kiro to issue the RF Q I will move I get a second Second by councilmember Willard all in favor I All right, that is five yeas no nays, mr. Haley you have a card in for number 49, which was deferred. You still want to speak up 49? Okay Good afternoon councilmembers. My name is speaking on I'm 49. So we'll go back to 49. I don't work then you got oh, yeah Sunday out of Haley on behalf of HG. I just wanted to inform the council that I received the temporary restraining order to me by the Civil District Court prohibiting Scott Spivey impulse for consulting for entering into this contract with the city I have a copy of that TRL for you as well as the filing. Okay. Thank you. Thank you Should we know anything about that? We're not We do it for time 51 Item 51 we have motion m 26 for 65 by councilmember morale by request adding the president of council as a signatory to amendment number two to the professional service agreement between the city of New Orleans and GC Inc and authorizing the president of council to sign amendment number two to the professional service agreement between the city of New Orleans and GC Inc Thank you, are there any questions on this contract? All right, we need so for the administration come down Talk about contracts Come on down You go there. You can go to the well. All right You want me to do this one? All right You Counselor will it Just for the contracts that are getting funding. I just wanted to know if we've identified the funding source And what is the funding source for the contract? Yes, this is bond funds So this is a continuation of their existing contract to manage the Ag Street solar farm project. Okay, this is all bond funds Okay. Thank you.

I also have a question though about this matter since it's um, you know an important project to replace the You know the tragedy that occurred in the past relative to the toxic dump Could you also explain the on-site inspections that are going to take place so that the community knows? Sure, as we get a developer on-site and they start any sort of construction obviously with it being An environmental environmentally challenging site We are going to have a resident inspector on-site through GEC to ensure that things are either built property Properly and through the contract And if any changes are necessary that they get approvals first before the developer may change anything I'm most concerned that a community would be concerned about the environmental impact For example, if dust is kicked up or whatever might be the case, but you're assuring that the inspections will include Might it include air quality inspections if necessary. We have some pretty strict Restraints from EPA and LDEQ on what we can even do on the site So we have to operate within those to begin with to prevent a lot of that from happening, right? There's been a lot of consternation about this site for obvious reasons for decades and I know the members of the public who live in that area would want to know that they are being protected as Construction and development goes on on a positive note. I just want to say that it is good to see the administration in your office Working to continue Development in this particular site or at least to get the development going it's important that we replace something that was terrible with something that is Conducive to enhance quality of life and environmental concerns in that desired community. The work is appreciated. Yes, sir Thank you Next I'll move sorry In a second think about customer green, please vote your machines I Be as known as Six days on this at the top of page 38 We have item 53 motion m26 for 66 by councilmember morale by request and adding the president of council as a signatory to amendment number five to the contract between the city of New Orleans and global solutions group Inc and Authorizing the president of council to sign the amendment number five to the contract between the city of New Orleans and global solutions grouping Are there any questions? Hearing none. I will move I Get a second thing my gals over Harris, please watch your machines Six days no days We have item 54 motion m26 for 67 by councilmember morale by request Adding the president of council as a signatory to amendment number one to the big contract between the city of New Orleans and look great services of MS Inc and authorizing the president of council to sign the amendment number one to the big contract between the city of New Orleans and looks great services of MS Inc Yeah, hey Jonathan, can you come tell us the source of funding for the previous contract? Thank you. That's number 53 just for Global solutions group general fund funded. It is in the 26 budget and then the proposed 27 budget. Thank you All right, and we're on currently number 24 any questions on 24 hearing none I will move I get a second Thank you, my customer Willard, please vote your machines That is Five years six days no days. Thank you at the bottom of the page item 55 We have motion m26 for 68 by councilmember morale by request Adding the president of council as a signatory to amendment number one to the big contract between the city of New Orleans and southern disaster recovery LLC zone one and authorizing the president of council to sign the amendment number one to the big contract between the city of New Orleans and southern disaster recovery LLC zone one Thank you, are there any questions on this item you're not I'll move Second my customer King, please vote your machines Six days no nays at the top of page 39. We have item 56 motion m26 469 by councilmember morale by request adding the president of council as a Signatory to amendment number one to the big contract between the city of New Orleans and southern disaster recovery LLC zone two and authorizing the president of council to sign the amendment number one to the big contract between the city of New Orleans and southern disaster recovery LLC zone two Any questions? No, no move Second my counselor McCarran, please look your machines All Right six years no days item 57 We have motion m26 for 70 by councilmember morale by request Adding the president of council as a signatory to amendment number one to the big contract between the city of New Orleans and the Supreme Developers LLC and authorizing the president of council to sign the amendment number one to the big contract between the city of New Orleans and Supreme Developers LLC Any questions, can somebody weigh in on the source of funding? Thank you, Austin. You're welcome general fund. It's in the budget. Yes, sir. Thank you All right, I will move. Second by Councilmember Harris, please vote your machines. All right, six, five. We're missing. Okay, six yays, no nays. We have item 58, motion M26471 by Councilmember Morrell, by request, adding the President of Council as a signatory to amendment number one to a professional service agreement between the City of New Orleans and Thompson's Consulting Services, LLC, and authorizing the President of Council to sign amendment number one to the professional service agreement between the City of New Orleans and Thompson's Consulting Services, LLC. All right, are there any questions on this item? Hearing none, I will move. I'll give it a second. Second by Councilmember Harris, please vote your machines. All right, six yays, no nays. At the top of page 40, we have motion M26475 by Councilmember King, directing the City Planning Commission to conduct a public hearing to consider renaming West Park Drive to Femfotel Way. And there is an amendment to this motion, an amendment to motion M26475 to correct the street name. We need the vote to receive.

I'll make a motion, give it a second. Second by Councilmember Green. All in favor? Any opposed? Hearing none, six yays, no nays. We need to vote to add. A motion to vote to add. Second by Council President Morrell. All in favor? Aye. Six yays, no nays. You can discuss the matter. Okay, thank you. The missing crew of Femfotel recently purchased a large vacant parcel in Algiers where they plan to build their headquarters. Several of us had the pleasure of attending their groundbreaking a couple weeks ago. The parcel board is West Park Drive, which is a street that's only a block long. Accordingly, the crew has asked us to consider renaming this street after their organization. So this motion directs the City Planning Commission to do just that with this move of adoption. Second by Council Vice President Willard. All in favor? Aye. Any objection? Hearing none, six yays, no nays. Thank you. That was on the amendment. Now we need to vote on the matter. Well, I thought that was. All right. All in favor? I'll make a motion to second by Councilmember Harris. All in favor? Aye. Any objections? Hearing none, six yays, no nays. On page. It says 7 but I only stick with up there. I just want to. It says 6, 1. I don't know. 6, 0. Right. All right. One second. All right. We have item 60, motion M26478, approving the 2027 budget and implementation plan of the Housing Trust Fund Advisory Committee for the Housing Trust Fund as received by the City Council on the consent agenda of its September 3, 2026 regular meeting pursuant to City Code 70-415.342. Thank you, Madam Clerk. This motion is just the procedural approval of the Housing Trust Fund implementation plan as received on our consent agenda two months ago. Liz Holman is here from the Office of Community Development. If there are any questions from the dais. If not, we have several cards. The first is from Daisy LaGru. Good afternoon. As Council mentioned, my name is Daisy LaGru. I am here with Housing NOLA here to remind Council, just as I reminded the Housing Trust Fund Advisory Committee on yesterday, that 75 percent of voters voted for the Housing Trust Fund. That's three out of every four residents across the City of New Orleans that stated clearly that they want their city to invest directly in the immediate needs as it relates to housing across the City of New Orleans. The Housing Trust Fund is an intended source to be able to address those immediate needs. It is not a replacement or a bailout or anything in between there. It should go directly to those three out of four residents who stated at the poll that they want their city to invest in the crises that they are facing every single day. We heard from a lot of that, even in the room today. We heard from a lot of that yesterday at the Advisory Committee. My reason being here today, as we continue to do every day, is we're asking the Council to consider that, be courageous, think outside of what we have to do to check the box. We understand that there's a crisis across the board. As Councilmember Harris just stated, this is a procedural thing, so in that procedure there is an opportunity for you guys to send this recommendation back to the Council. Think beyond the current recommendation of the $9 million going towards what has been framed as this bailout, and identify if there is a way that we can fully fund the fortified roof programs to help alleviate some of the pressures that our current homeowners are seeing, help stabilize some of the issues that we're seeing, and truly give those funds back to those three out of four homeowners. Thank you. Morgan Clevenger, followed by Paula Peel. Good afternoon, Morgan Clevenger. So yes, Daisy was absolutely correct in that the voters, what they voted for in 2024 is now 2026, and from the Housing Trust Fund Advisory Committee meeting yesterday on the quarterly report, so far only three roofs have been actually done. And the recommendation for 2027 is 70% funding for large developers. Those projects may or may not get off the ground for two or more years. And I have to say, when we talked about the millage this morning, I have been relentless, and even last year, 2025, every budget hearing, fortified roofs, fortified roofs, because our people are not able to go forward. And we talked a lot about this morning, the Council people, members, you had great statements about why you were voting for the rural forward in the millage, but we have to remember that we have to take care of the people that are in the most need. And it is really discouraging to have five years go by with people's roofs caving in. Council Member Willard, last year you came to my house, you met with 20 of our senior homeowners who were really up against it. A year has gone by. We haven't seen any progress, and in fact, some of our elderly neighbors are actually at a point where they're going to lose their home. And they may become homeless. So when we talk about millage rolling forward in the future, who gets left behind? This is an opportunity for you guys to say, let's fund this and make sure that our most vulnerable people, we're strengthening them, we say we care about them, and we're thanking the homeowners who are actually having to pay this millage. And yes, $150 is a lot of money. Paula Peel? Just to put out there, part of the Affordable Housing Trust Fund, you don't have to come back, Morgan. Part of the Affordable Housing Trust Fund funds gap funding for the state fortified roof grant program, meaning that if you get that $10,000 grant, the city will give you additional money to help you actually afford putting the fortified roof on your property.

There's also part of that funding, a program that NORA administers, where they are going to put fortified roofs on other properties that don't have the fortified roof state funding, and potentially will help homeowners find roof replacements for those who cannot get insurance right now because they do have a roof, a hole in their roof. So I wanted to put that on the record, because we are trying to help people get through these issues and help people stay in their homes and help people bring down their insurance costs. Thank you. Good afternoon. I'm Paula Peel, Director of Housing and Family Resources of New Orleans. We are a HUD-certified housing counseling agency. We get all the phone calls for all the needs that the community has in our community. We make referrals as well. I'm asking the council to reduce funding to those large projects. They're for-profit, most of them. They can get loans. They can use their own profits from their previous projects that they have. I don't know if you're looking at profit and loss statements, but you need to, to see what they have and what they can do with it, rather than taking money from poor people. We know we're the 50th state in the country with the highest rate of poverty. I'm wondering when we're going to start focusing on trying to get our people out of that. But this funding for the housing trust, and we did sit in a meeting, we had a lot of great conversations, should be used to support senior residential housing in need of repairs, rehabilitation of abandoned properties, fortified roof repairs, foreclosure prevention, which is becoming very high in our community by our seniors who are losing their homes. And I don't know where they're going to go. And single family home ownership, for sure, because that's how we create generational wealth. And I'm just asking that you look at the performance of these folks submitting for money, because they should have money if they already have tax credit deals. I mean, I've been in this game for 40 years. I know what everybody does in housing. I'm an award-winning housing agency that built housing in rural communities and in New Orleans. And every day I get the calls, not my staff, me, on what the families are asking for. And we can't continue to fund projects. And if they want to fund these projects, why don't they just help to do rehab of the properties that's already available to be rehabbed? And then we won't have to deal with separate funding, because we need to start getting our families out of poverty. Thank you. Thank you, Maxwell. Thank you, Councilmembers. Maxwell Chardula on the Housing Trust Fund Advisory Committee. I want to start with some good news. Even though the budget crisis meant that our Housing Trust Fund actually got funded a lot later than we expected this year, right, our administrators didn't actually see money in the accounts until about September. We do know that there are three fortified roofs that were completed already. Again, if we'd gotten that money sooner, there'd be a lot more, but I think it's really a credit to all the folks involved that we already have three with roofs on. And I said before that I'm feeling really optimistic about our housing ecosystem, everybody pulling in the same direction on this. I've been doing this work, advocacy in the city around housing, for over a decade, and I haven't seen everybody moving in the same direction like this before. So I think that's great. And all the people who contributed to this budget, I think, deserve a thanks for that. Including the folks who have been and continue to show up and comment and provide feedback. The roughly $30 million that we have to spend each year in the Housing Trust Fund is never going to be enough to serve everyone, and so that's why we've done our best to try and balance priorities, fund things that will bring units online quickly, and then also not miss any big opportunities to support the people who are most in need. What we're not interested in doing is pitting people in need against each other. So homeowners in need of health and safety repairs absolutely deserve them. In need of a fortified roof, absolutely deserve them. Just as deserving of that support are elders trapped in a moldy rental unit, who have been promised new affordable rental units by the city for years, and who are most likely to end up on the street if we don't deliver. And so this budget does save 370 units of affordable housing in larger developments that the city owes money to, and that they're ready to break ground as soon as possible as part of this strategy. It also brings our funding for homeowners to $10 million. That's to help make repairs, put on fortified roofs, create new resilient homes for first-time homebuyers. So I'm asking for your support. Thank you. Thank you, Maxwell. Any questions from the dais? Council Member Green? Yes, I want to just say to Maxwell, I appreciate your work. We don't agree on a lot. Well, no, everything. But we agree on one thing. I'm sorry. Boy, was that like, that was like a Freudian slip, huh? We don't agree on everything, Maxwell. But I do agree on this. I want to thank you for your work. But when I hear the word mentioned, courage, and they speak of the city council, I can't help but respond to this. When the housing trust fund was created, it was made clear that they didn't want the city council to be dominating the decision-making. They didn't want politics involved with it. Here we have a committee that has met, including yesterday, that has made some decisions. But we're being asked, in some respects, to just throw those decisions aside. That is not what voters voted on. That is not what the discussion was relative to decision-making. And the trust advisory committee meets on a regular basis.

I want to encourage everyone to put their proposals forward to a committee that was duly appointed, with public input, and also as the result of voters' determinations that they did not want the city council to simply spend the money directly. So at the end of the day, thank you for the work that you do. Let us move forward. There's going to be a need for additional funding every year. I can tell you that in my district, while people are talking about roofs, I'm talking about people who have houses that are near blight. So at the end of the day, I wish that I could provide money for all of them, too. I understand that we have concerns in certain areas. I want to create more homeowners. But when I look at communities like Desire, not the 7th Ward, I see people whose houses have been deteriorating because they don't have the resources. And I've asked them to put forth their applications or to work with organizations to help get the support that they need on Desire Street, on Kluwett Street, and the like. So the bottom line is that we should move forward, and there's not a need to pit one against another. The advisory committee was created because of some of the comments that the public gave us. Thank you. Councilmember Greene, I wholeheartedly agree. Look, this is the second year of the Housing Trust Fund. The advisory committee has spent the money in the way that they see fit. I think that we need to implement this plan, and thank you, Maxwell, for your service. I'll move. Second. Seconded by Councilmember Greene. Oh, you beat me. Okay. Seconded by Councilmember Morrell. Excuse me. From my understanding, the committee does not have the authority to make a decision. Morgan, you are out of order. You are out of order, ma'am. Six yays. Thank you. At the bottom of the page, we have motion M26479 by Councilmember Greene, directing the City Planning Commission to conduct a public hearing to consider a text amendment to Ordinance No. 26413, MCS, as amended. The comprehensive zoning ordinance to amend Section 14.2A on Table 14.1 to designate single-family dwellings as permitted use in an SB1 suburban business district. This motion directs the City Planning Commission to consider allowing single-family homes, a very important staple in our real estate community, as a permitted use in the SB1 suburban business district. Some vacant lots in these districts actually sit among existing homes, yet our current zoning prevents a single-family home, interestingly enough, from being built without an individual zoning change. This proposal would create an additional opportunity, based on the recommendations of the City Planning Commission and the decision of the Council, to develop vacant property and provide housing compatible with the surrounding neighborhoods. So today's motion simply begins a public hearing and review process. The proposed zoning amendment would, of course, return to the Council for final consideration. I've moved. Members, may I have a second? Thank you. Council Member Harris. Members, please vote your machine relative to motion M26479. We have six yeas, no nays, and thank you very much. At the top of page 41, we have item 62, motion M26480 by Council Member Green, directing the City Planning Commission to conduct a public hearing to consider a text amendment to Ordinance No. MCS 4264, amended by Ordinance No. 26413 MCS, as amended the Comprehensive Zoning Ordinance of the City of New Orleans to amend section 12.2.B.4 to eliminate the 5,000 square foot minimum use restriction for retail sales of packaged alcoholic beverages in the HUB1 neighborhood business district. I want to make clear from the start that this motion does not authorize alcoholic beverage sales at any particular outlet without going through the processes. This motion simply directs the City Planning Commission to review the 5,000 square foot minimum requirement that currently prevents smaller neighborhood businesses in HUB1 districts from applying to sell packaged alcoholic beverages. I want to emphasize applying to sell them. Smaller retailers, such as one who came before the Council a month ago relative to seeking the potential for selling low alcoholic content beverages, but it was too small, the business should have an opportunity to seek approval through the conditional use process with careful consideration of neighborhood compatibility and potential impacts. The motion, again, does not authorize alcoholic beverage sales. It simply begins a public process to re-evaluate the restriction and recommend potentially appropriate safeguards, including whether sales would be limited to low alcohol content beverages. Our goal is to support neighborhood businesses while protecting quality of life in those communities. I've moved. May I have a second? Council Member Harris has seconded. Members, please vote your machines. We have six yeas, no nays. Thank you very much, members. Council members, we have a motion under suspension, motion M26481 by Council Member Harris, hereby declaring the exterior marble, stucco, and portico ceilings of Galea Hall to be an imminent threat of life and property and a public emergency. Also hereby authorizing the Department of Property Management, pursuant to the authorization contained in the City Code Section 70-428 to contract directly with Cypress Building Conservation LLC for an emergency stabilization of the exterior of Galea Hall and full restoration of its portico ceilings in an amount not to exceed $528,080 and a written contract shall be executed. All right. Do we need to move to do anything? All right. All right. We need the vote to receive. I'll move to receive. Seconded by Council Member King. Are we, we need five people. All in favor? Aye. Five yays, any nays? No nays. Okay. We need the vote to aye. All right. I need one more, we got it. Thank you. This is the vote to aye. I'll move to add. Seconded by Council Member King. Seconded by Council Member Green. One more vote, please.

Aye. Five yays. Machine's not working. Machine's freaking out. Five yays. You can discuss. All right. Late last week, pieces of marble fell off the front of Gallier Hall onto the sidewalk below, the largest being the size of a softball. This represents a clear public safety hazard as more could fall if left unaddressed. Therefore, the council is being asked to declare the situation an emergency. A contractor, Cypress, has been identified who has quoted the total cost of the work to stabilize the building at $500,028. The funding will not come from the general fund, dedicated Gallier Hall maintenance fund and capital fund dollars will be used. We have Austin here, if anybody has any questions. If not, I'll move. Seconded by Council President Morrell. Five yays. Thank you. Council Members, we can make a vote to go to ordinance on first read. So moved. So moved. Council Member Green. I'll move. Second. Second. There you go. Members, just a reminder, after first read, did you have a special order? Ordinance on first read, 35,000, sorry, Ordinance Calendar Number 35,618 by Council Member Morrell, an ordinance to amend and reordain Section 10.1 and Ordinance Section 10.2 of the Code of the City of New Orleans regarding alcoholic beverages and changes in state law pursuant to LA Act 2026, Number 692. To amend definitions and provide for complimentary alcoholic beverage service and otherwise to provide with respect thereto harness calendar number 35,000 619 by councilmember McCarran and Harness to grant a plan development to permit the adaptive reuse of a former monastery monastery into multifamily dwellings in HURD to historic urban to family residential district and the CPC character preservation corridor design overlay district On square 27 lots 1 through 24 in the 6 municipal district bounded by a magazine Street Henry Clay Avenue Constance Street and Calhoun Street The municipal address is 720 Henry Clay Avenue and otherwise to provide with respect there to zoning docket number 73 26 hardness calendar number 35,000 620 by councilmember McCarran and hardness to affect zoning and An ordinance to affect the zoning change from an h-u-v-1 a historic urban neighborhood business district to an HURD to historic urban to family residential district on square 187 lots 1 2 & 3 in the 6 municipal district bounded by Xavier Street Laurel Street Constance Street and Jefferson Avenue the municipal address is 5433 Laurel Street and 509 through 515 Octavia Street and otherwise to provide with respect there to zoning docket number 81 26 hardness calendar number 35,000 621 by councilmember Harris an ordinance to establish a conditional use to permit a live performance venue in an MU 1 medium intensity mixed-use district on square 19 lot a in the 4th municipal district bounded by Harmony Street Chapitula Street 9th Street and st. Thomas Street the municipal address is 3157 Chapitula Street and otherwise to provide with respect there to zoning docket number 87 26 hardness calendar number 35,000 622 by councilmember King and hardness to establish a conditional use to permit a neighborhood commercial establishment in an HMR3 historic marinate remain by water residential district on square 238 lot 4a and the third municipal district Bounded by Burgundy Street, LaSave Street Duffy Street and Poland Street the municipal address is a 14 Poland Street and otherwise to provide with respect there to zoning docket number 88 26 hardness calendar number 35,000 623 by councilmember King an ordinance to establish a conditional use permit a multifamily dwelling limited to four units maximum in HMR3 historic marinate remain by water residential district on square 630 lot C or 19 in the third municipal district bounded by North Claiborne Avenue Columbus Street, North Robeson Street and Keller X Street The municipal address is 1515 Keller X Street and otherwise to provide with respect there to zoning docket number 89 26 hardness calendar number 35,000 624 by councilmember King and hardness to establish a conditional use to permit a commercial short-term rental in an HMC to historic marinate remain by water commercial district and the transient lodging interim zoning district on square 369 lot B or part 7 in the third municipal district bounded by St. Claude Avenue, St. Rock Avenue, North Rampart Street and music Street the municipal addresses are 2404 through 2406 St. Claude Avenue and otherwise to provide with respect there to zoning docket number 9026 on this calendar number 35,000-625 by councilmember Hughes an ordinance to establish a conditional use to permit a commercial short-term rental in an MMU maritime mixed-use district and the transient lodging interim zoning district with a property located at lot 540 in the third municipal district bounded by Shepard's her highway by you Delisere Shepard into a pass and the regal ease the municipal address is 24 to 4 8 5 5 Chef mentor highway and otherwise to provide with respect there to zoning docket number 9426 or in this calendar number 35,000 626 by councilmember Hughes and hardness to establish a conditional use to permit a commercial short-term rental in an MMU maritime mixed-use district and the transient lodging Interim zoning district for the property located at square 3 a Catherine land company Like like 7 in the third municipal district bounded by Shepard's her highway like st. Catherine The municipal address is 2 5 8 9 4 Shepard's her highway and otherwise to provide with respect there to zoning docket number 9626 or in this calendar number 35,000-627 by councilmembers King Morrell Willett McCarran Harris green and Hughes an ordinance to rename Huntersville playground bounded by st. Bernard Avenue the interstate 10 West off-ramp Allen Street and North Claiborne Avenue Dr.

Jerome big duck Smith playground at Huntsville and otherwise to provide with respect there to Arnis calendar number 35,000-628 by councilmember green by request and artists authorized the mayor of the city of New Orleans to enter into an amendment to the Cooperative endeavor agreement between the city of New Orleans and the Regional Transit Authority to reduce the maximum amount payable and incorporate a new budget applying to the full term of the agreement as more fully set forth in the form attached here to as Exhibit a and made a part here of and otherwise to provide with respect there, too Or in his calendar number 35,000-629 by councilmember green by request and ordinance to authorize the mayor of the city of New Orleans to enter into a cooperative endeavor agreement Amendment one between the city of New Orleans the bunny friend neighborhood Association relative to community engagement services for sg 1005 upper Nightward flood mitigation project except for more fully in the see a form attached here to made a part here of and otherwise to provide with respect to Ernest count number 35,000-630 by councilmember green by request and artists authorizing the mayor of the city of New Orleans to enter into a grant agreement between the city of New Orleans and United States Department of Transportation for a term greater than one year for the public purpose of developing a strategic plan for the area surrounding the United passenger terminal in the city of New Orleans is more fully detailed in the grant agreement form Attach your to as exhibit a and otherwise to provide with respect there, too Arden is calendar number 35,000-631 by councilmember green by request and Arden is authorized the mayor of the city of New Orleans to enter into amendment number three to a previously executed cooperative endeavor agreement between the city of New Orleans and the University of New Orleans relative to the provision of a graduate intern To assist the City Planning Commission Brownfield division to modify the provisions thereof to extend the duration for one year and to add additional funding is more set fully forth in the amendment number three attach your to his exhibit one and made a part thereof and otherwise to provide with respect to Arden is calendar number 35,000-632 by councilmember Harris an ordinance to amend and reordain article 17 figure 17-2 maximum building height and figure 17-3 maximum floor area ratio of the comprehensive zoning ordinance ordinance number 42 64 MCS as amended by ordinance number 26,000 413 MCS and subsequent amendments to limit the allowable height to 35 feet in an OS in Neighborhood open space district for the property located on square 26 in the first municipal district founded by Convention Center Boulevard Yeah, 9th Street, South Peter Street and John Churchill Chase Street the municipal address is 350 John Churchill Chase Street and otherwise to provide with respect there to Zoning docket number 83 26 and that concludes the ordinances on first read Thank you Next up that'll work. We have special orders. Yes first order of business Presentation recognizing Renee the joy hole Honoring Renee the joy hole upon her retirement as publisher of the Louisiana Weekly We're gonna have or net and Chris come on down to the table up front We're gonna have you sit the table right up front All right Bad look why don't you read the brief? Watch I'll move over one seat because of that mic in front of you Chris is terrible Oh, you know you have no problem talking I'll be sure go ahead Special orders of business first order of business Presentation recognizing Renee the joy hole honoring Renee the joy hole upon her retirement as publisher of the Louisiana Weekly Well Honestly, I didn't think this day was ever gonna come Honestly, I didn't think it was either well look for those of you who don't know Who are watching this from the cheap seats at home? Renette Hwa Hall is the publisher of the oldest African-american owned paper in the South at this point, right? Yes. All right. Yes, the Louisiana Weekly This paper was started in 1925 by your grandfather You are the third generation to run this paper and As a subscriber, thank you as a subscriber It has always been amazing to me How you lead an institution in the weekly that continues to still cover the stories that matter? As we have this new generation of people with AI and laziness producing clickbait that is neither investigative or really interesting you can still rely on the weekly to really Talk about the things that matter to New Orleans and matter to the black community as a whole throughout the state of, Louisiana It has been a pleasure Working with you and being covered by you even when the coverage wasn't flattering Because that's important it's important for those who are in the fourth estate to hold us as Elected officials and government to account and the weekly has never shied away from that I Will be extremely sad to see you go just because I can literally I said earlier today. I said I got elected in 2006 and Then when I thought about this today, I was like and I've been in front of you since 2006 Answering your questions answering your very valid criticisms and Advice at times and it has been part of what's developed me as an elected official and as a person in the city of New Orleans, so I know I have several colleagues who might want to say something I know Eugene's gonna say something, you know, I'm gonna say something is in District D. Well, we're all going to speak, Renette, and then we'll let you and Chris speak to close it out. I think that's probably the best way to do it, so that way we don't have to have you talk and have us embarrass you by constantly giving you your flowers in the midst of it. Go ahead, Eugene. Council Member Morrell jokes all the time. He loves to hear me talk. Thank you, District D. Located, Louisiana Weekly.

My aunt, Barbara Nelson, Blackwell Nelson, used to contribute to the Louisiana Weekly. But I also had my first job as a Louisiana Weekly newspaper person. The papers were delivered to my doorstep and we got them to the people who needed to get them to. That was my first experience with people not answering the door to pay their bills. But I stayed with it. But most important, over a hundred years, and when you think about those times, how courageous it was to even talk about anything related to African-American development, African-American business, African-American social, putting on the front page pictures of African-Americans in beauty and in doing positive things, you recognize that there was a lot of courage involved with creating such an institution a hundred years ago. So I thank you for that. I thank your family for creating that atmosphere. But it's just important to recognize that while you retire, we know that you're going to still be around and that you're going to still be involved. But I appreciate the Louisiana Weekly, not just because of my aunt, not just because it was my first job, but because as I look at over a hundred years, I've seen tremendous progress. And one of the reasons that the progress exists is because we've been able to tell our story. And you, during your time of leadership and editing, have kept that story going. So congratulations on your retirement. I wish you the best. You can still call me about what's going on over there on that street, the guy next door, et cetera, et cetera. Glad we got the street fixed. But the bottom line is that you've done so much over your decades' involvement with the publishing industry, and I look forward to continuing to see you out there. But wish you the best. Enjoy your travels and do those things that it takes to celebrate the decades that you've had of success. Thank you. Thank you, Councilman. Councilman Willett. Thank you, Mr. President. Ms. Frenette, huge loss. The city is going to miss your coverage. One thing I've always respected and appreciated by the Weekly is that the news is fair and objective, and that's how news is supposed to be. It's supposed to be objective. It's not supposed to be skewed one way or the other, and I believe you and your team have been doing that. I know that our vote this morning is going to receive some criticism from your paper because that's the type of news coverage that you guys provide. I'm thinking back to my grandfather and his generation and my father and his generation, and although you will be dearly missed, I know, because it's part of your generation, that you have poured into, mentored, and trained others to come behind. That is a key function in life, to make sure we pass down what has been poured into us and what we have gained as people. I want to thank you for everything that you have done for the city of New Orleans. I want to thank you for writing and providing coverage to those opportunities, those individuals, those events, those organizers that other publications ignore. I want to thank you for, in many ways and many times, giving a voice to those who are sometimes left voiceless in our news coverage. So, thank you for everything you've done, and I pray and hope that you have a wonderful retirement. Thank you. Thank you, Councilman. All right. Councilman King. Good afternoon, Ms. Burnett. I remember, well, you was here a couple months ago, about a year ago for you and your family, celebrated 100 years, and you're here on your retirement. So, congratulations on your retirement. Seeing you here reminds me of the first time we met. I believe it was virtually around 2021, doing the first campaign, and you asked, well, why did I want the endorsement of Louisiana Weekly? And I gave all these glowing, politically correct remarks, and your response was, do you have a subscription to Louisiana Weekly? I said, you got me to, I don't. But I want you to know, ever since then, I have been a faithful subscriber, going on six years to Louisiana Weekly, and I enjoy reading the articles and reading the paper when I get a chance to. So, keep up the, as a, I know you won't step away fully, but as a part-time retiree, keep up the great work and keep, like Councilman Bullard said, the unbiased reports coming out. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. And just because I'm retiring, you can't let your subscription last. Right. Don't doubt on it. It won't go away. It won't go away. Councilwoman McCarran. Well, thank you. I know we haven't had an opportunity to meet yet, as I'm the new council member here, but so wonderful on your retirement, and I look forward to hopefully getting to know you in your retirement, as you enjoy that time of your life, and I look forward to continuing to read the paper. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. All right, now we're turning over to you, and you've got to introduce your protege, and all his wonder, and all his mentorship. Yeah, well, I am, thanks, I did not expect this at all, but, you know, there's a time, just like Councilman Green, my first job was delivering the Louisiana Weekly, and I've had many jobs within the company since then, but it's time, and I have someone who is more than capable to fill my shoes, to fill my shoes, and this is my son, Christopher DeJua Hall. He is the fourth generation that will be running the paper, and like I said, I have all the confidence in the world. Otherwise, I would not step aside, and he has his ways of doing things, and I will, if he needs me, I'll be there, but I am hopeful that at least for the next 50 years, the Louisiana Weekly will make its 151st year in publication, but again, I did not expect this. I'm just truly grateful that I've had the opportunity to what I hope is contribute to the community. I still believe in the value of the printed paper, and that you all will continue to support us in that endeavor, and I don't know if y'all want to hear from Chris. You want to hear from Chris.

If Chris wants to. You're following her now, you better have something to say. She's never at a loss for words. True. Just like Councilman Green and my mom, my first job was also at the Louisiana Weekly, selling newspapers in Punta Trent Park. All of my children. And as I got a little older, and it was time for me to get a job, I remember telling my mom, I don't want to work for the paper at this junction. I want a real job, and she looked at me with disgust. What do you mean a real job? Come to find out years later, it was a real job, and it is a real job now. As she is stepping away, we still plan to keep doing what we've been doing, covering and giving the voice to those who often go unheard, and that's what I plan to do going forward. Thank you. We really appreciate y'all being here today. I know it was unexpected. That's the best kind of time to give someone a proclamation or something is when they don't expect it, because what's very telling is you've done the work, and you've never sought accolades, and that's really like true service is when you do the work when no one's looking, and I appreciate you coming here today and giving us the opportunity to celebrate you. I'm going to come down. I'm going to bring your proclamation, and we're going to come stand behind you and take a picture. Thank you. Thank you. Okay, can we get a motion to adjourn? Motion to adjourn.