City Council on 2026-08-20 10:00 AM.

Though 18 is the age of majority, 21 is recognized not just by the government, but in our culture of really being in that period where you fully become an adult, where Katrina has matured. And to that end, your remembrance, your celebration, your acknowledgement of Katrina has matured over the years as well. Because, I mean, what once started, where you started versus where you were this year and where you were last year has grown and matured every single year. And you've continued to provide new and different ways to memorialize this horrific event to all of us. So I look forward to Katrina 21. I mean, as much as one can look forward to Katrina Remembrance Day, having been through it. But it's just so important to teach generations, and I mean plural, generations of New Orleanians about the New Orleans that was pre-Katrina versus the New Orleans that was post-Katrina. Because for many people in this generation, in this city, they don't know unless you tell them. Thank you. Thank you, Seth, and to the entire Hip Hop Caucus. And, you know, we all know that you may be the front man for everything, but you have a lot of great people working behind you who have your back and help amplify your work in the community. This morning, when I was thinking about Hurricane Katrina, I was reminiscing on a community left behind. And really, as we talk about Katrina, it's two communities that were left behind. During the hurricane, you had everybody who could not escape the city of New Orleans, and as we know, over 1,000 people died because of that. A lot of that was preventable tragedies and fatalities. But then on the flip side, as New Orleans started to rebuild, as people started to come back home, the Lower Ninth Ward was just like this place where, and it's still not back today, you know. And so in a lot of regards, that's still that forgotten community. Everybody up here is trying to do everything we can to uplift the Lower Ninth and all of the city of New Orleans. But as I think about Hurricane Katrina, you know, the Lower Ninth and Lower Ninth was one of the most devastated areas of our city, and still today you can see the residual impacts of Hurricane Katrina. So I want to thank you and everybody up here today for everything that you all do in the city of New Orleans. And I really appreciate that you make the anniversary of Hurricane Katrina like a day of service, like you build up service-oriented activities throughout the city of New Orleans because when we think about Katrina, we should be thinking about that togetherness, how we joined hands, how we helped our brothers and sisters, how we helped complete strangers who became, you know, parts of our family. We're all bonded by that awful tragedy, but when we came out on the other side, it made us stronger. And we realize every day that we're even stronger when we're together. So thank you for amplifying that message, and thank you all for everything that you all do for the city of New Orleans. Good morning, everyone. I want to repeat what everyone said. Thank you all, the Hip Hop Caucus, thank you for taking the lead on this. I always have mixed emotions when it's the anniversary of Katrina, but I lived it. I was 20 years old and—what was I, 19? Anyway, I was in my late 20s, early 20s, late teens. and I lived it, and it was a trying time. You know, I was in college, and I had to have my entire family, extended family, come up and live with me for weeks without any AC. My siblings had to go to school out there, uproot at the drop of a hat and move out there. Had to graduate high school in another city that they never called home, that there's no connection with, and 21 years later, and not only did I live it, we all lived it, and we all are still living it. So the benchmark for the city is always pre-Katrina and post-Katrina. And just looking at how the city has changed, some for the better, some not much for the better. And it's kind of a taboo topic to talk about, but I think it's something that we need to realize and talk about so it doesn't happen again. I'm just thinking of all of those schools that we no longer have. Just over on the West Bank, you had, I wrote them down, William Fisher, Murray Henderson, Madonna 32, All Saints, Baby Ben, old Perry Walker, all these schools in history and tradition that's gone. And if you all don't keep reminding us about it or help remind us about it, we'll lose it forever. Look on the East Bank, Frederick Douglass is now gone. Why is Douglass gone? Because the bywater is no longer the same after Katrina. The Lower Ninth doesn't have a high school post-Katrina. So these are things that we are still living. It may be 21 years later, so sometime, not maybe, it is 21 years later, so sometime we forget what we lost. And it's up to, not up to, but thank you all for reminding us what we lost. Talk to people and neighbors like Tremay and say Tremay has changed a lot since Katrina. The neighbors are different. Schools are different. The culture is different. It's eroding. And I just appreciate you all for keeping it on our minds so we don't forget. And if you forget, you're bound to repeat the same mistakes. So I appreciate it. And again, thank you for all that you all do. Thank you for what you all do, not with just Katrina, but with the whole culture of Veras City. Thank you. Cess, I want to thank you and your team. And I'm not going to repeat what everyone said, but I think by making us remember, we're keeping everything in the front of our minds. The people who haven't come back yet, who want to come back. The housing stock that was destroyed during Katrina. The lives that were destroyed during Katrina. The economy that was broken because of Katrina. So you keep that all in the front of our minds. And I just want to thank you for that, because we need to get back there. We need to get back to a place of community, a place of helping one another. I think we haven't rebounded that yet.

And with your help, I think we will. So just thank you. Thank you to your team for everything that you've done. Well, thank you so much for being here. And like everybody else said, and Councilmember King, I think we're the same age. So we were probably, depending on your birthday, we were either 20 or 21 during Katrina when that happened. And like you all, and like many of us here, I lost everything, too. And my family had some struggles to get back here. But it's organizations like you, it's always hard on this. The month of August, really, and going into September is always hard for me. I know it's hard for everybody in our community. But it's organizations like you all that are lifting it up and reminding us of how far we've come, but also holding us accountable and saying, we still have a lot of work to do. And that's, I think, the most important part, is to always remember where we started and then where we have to go from here. So I really appreciate you all for being here. I know it's always a hard week, these next few weeks. But I appreciate all your efforts. And I look forward to working with you. Thank you so much for being here today. I know that as we enter next week, there is going to be a lot more attention on the event. But as members have highlighted, it is so important to us that you guys really do this year round. You have a wonderful gala. You have a bunch of support activities. And anything this council can do to support what you're doing, your mission, every single year, I know that for as long as I'll be here, I'll continue to work with y'all to make sure that Katrina remains a holiday. I'm sure that many of my colleagues will continue to do that as well, because it is so important that everyone have the space to process what happened 21 years ago. So thank y'all for being here today. We're going to come on down and take a picture with y'all. So just wait up for one second. Just stay where you are. We're going to stand behind you. OK. All right, ladies and gentlemen, we're going to get started. Madam Clerk, you can begin with the roll. Roll call. Council President Morrell. Here. Vice President Woodland. Here. Council Member McCarran. Here. Council Member Harris. Here. Council Member King. Here. Council Member Greene. Here. Council Member Hughes. Here. We have seven members. We have a quorum. Thank you. First, we'll begin with the invocation by the Torrance Sanders. May we all bow our heads for a word of prayer. Gracious and everlasting God, we pause now to first say thank you. We thank you for this day that you have made. We rejoice, and we are glad therein. God, we also thank you for this wisdom that you've given us. We pray, God, that you would bless this council as they gather to consider the matters of this city. Grant them your grace and your mercy. And most of all, God, we pray for the least of these among us, that as we seek the welfare of this city, that God, that you would grant this council everything that they need to make wise decisions, dear Father God, that those, dear Father God, who stand in need would receive everything that they need. We pray, God, that you would bless their families, that you would bless the staff, that you would bless all the members of this great city. And Lord God, we will be careful at the end of it all to give your name all the praise, the honor, and the glory. It's in your mighty, marvelous, and matchless name we pray in the name of Jesus. Amen. Thank you, Dr. Sanders. Next up, we'll have the Pledge of Allegiance by Councilmember Jason Hughes. All right, Madam Clerk, you're up. At the top of page one, we have Consent Agenda. We have a communication from Erin Spears. This may be received. We have a communication from Jennifer Vagno. This may be received. We have a communication from Chelsea Richard-Napoleon. This may be received. We have a communication from Brian McNamara. This may be received and referred to the Governmental Affairs Committee. We have a communication from Charles Anderson, 906 Phillips Street. This may be received. Hearing date, 9-3-26. We have a communication from Hannah Chavis. This may be received. We have a communication from Sierra Green, 111 Chapitula Street. This may be received. Hearing date, 8-20-26. We have a reporter, Robert D. Rivers. This may be received. Hearing date, 9-3-26. We have a reporter, Cassandra B. Robert. This may be received. We have a reporter, Danielle Berger. This may be received. We have a reporter, Yvette Jett, 906 Phillips Street. This may be received. We have a report of Eleanor Berth, 111 Chapitula Street. This may be received. We have ordinance calendar 35,512 by Councilmembers Morrell and Hughes, zoning docket 37-26. We have ordinance calendar 35,513 by Councilmember King, articles 20 and 26, zoning docket 48-26. We have ordinance calendar 35,514 by Councilmember Harris, municipal address 4807, Magazine Street, zoning docket 52-26. We have ordinance calendar 35,516 by Councilmember McCarran, municipal address 53-25, Canal Boulevard, zoning docket 54-26. We have ordinance calendar 35,517 by Councilmember King, municipal address 17-01, St. Bernard Avenue, zoning docket 55-26. We have ordinance calendar 35,519. Councilmember King, zoning docket 5726. We have motion M26 326 by Councilmember Greene by request. The questionnaires received the Governmental Affairs Committee recommended approval. We have motion M26 327 by Councilmember Greene by request. Questionnaires received Governmental Affairs Committee recommended approval. We have motion M26 328 by Councilmember Greene by request. This motion is being moved to the regular agenda and being withdrawn. We have motion M26 329 by Councilmember Harris by request. Questionnaires received Governmental Affairs Committee recommended approval. We have motion M26 330 by Councilmember Hughes by request. Questionnaires received Governmental Affairs Committee recommended approval.

We have motion M26 331 by Councilmember Hughes by request. Questions as received. Governmental Affairs Committee recommended approval. We have motion M26 332 by Councilmember Green by request. Questionnaires received. Governmental Affairs committee recommended approval. We have a motion M26 333 by Councilmember Green by request. Questionaires received. Governmental Affairs Committee recommended approval. We have motion M26 334 by Councilmember Harris by request. This motion has been moved to the regular agenda. Questionnaires received, Governmental Affairs Committee recommended approval. We have a motion M26 335 by Councilmember King by request. This motion is being moved to the regular agenda. Questionnaires received, Governmental Affairs Committee recommended approval. We have a motion M26 336 by Councilmember Kane by request. Questionnaires received. Governmental Affairs Committee recommended approval. We are motion in M26 337 by Councilmember McCahron by request. Questionnaires received. Governmental Affairs Committee recommended approval. We have motion M26 338 by Councilmember Green by request. Questionnaires received. Governmental Affairs Committee recommended approval. We have a motion M26 339 by Councilmember Willa by request. Questionnaires received. Governmental Affairs Committee recommended approval. We have motion M26341 by Councilmember McCarron. Questionnaires received. Governmental Affairs Committee recommended approval. We have M26342 by Councilmember McCarron. Questionnaires received. Governmental Affairs Committee recommended approval. We have a motion M26343 by Councilmember Morrell by request. Questionnaires received. Governmental Affairs Committee recommended approval. We have motion M26345 by Councilmember Morrell. We have a resolution R26346 by Councilmember Morrell. Governmental Affairs Committee recommended approval. We have a resolution R26347 by Councilmember Morrell. Governmental Affairs Committee recommended approval. We have a motion M26348 by Councilmember Harris. Questionnaires received. Governmental Affairs Committee recommended approval. We have a motion M26349 by Councilmembers King, Morrell, McCarran, Green, and Hughes by request. Governmental Affairs Committee recommended approval. This is all matters on consent. All right. We have several comment cards. First we have Dan Feliciano. And Mr. Feliciano, you have commentary on several items, but typically we consolidate those. How many of these cards are yours? Well, good morning and thank you very much for having me today. I was actually just going to provide some commentary about what I was talking about before with Mr. Benjamin Edwards and just read the factual basis of what happened and the tale of corruption at the sewage and water board, and it's actually an unofficial government document. If you just want to keep it down to two minutes for one, I can understand that, but let's go. Let me pick out ‑‑ so what happened here, and two minutes, two minutes is really too short. I remember it used to be three minutes. How did we whittle down the public commentary so much? I mean, only the sinless can judge. I get it. But really, we whittled down the public commentary to two minutes? I don't want to waste a lot of time on that. Thank you very much. Anyways. So the entire part of why I found that Pastor Benjamin Edwards, the head of the sewage and water board for many, many years, was such a fascinating story was because he had this corporation that he formed, and his brother actually ran it, and they did a whole bunch of contracting for the Katrina incident afterwards to inspect all the lines, inspect all the levees, and the greatest part about this was in order to get some of these contracts, which he would attempt to bill $120 for, settled at $90, but only paid like $20 per worker for, one of the greatest schemes ever, he actually used kickbacks that went through church donations, and one of the things was Benjamin L. Edwards Sr. agrees that not all of this donated money was used for scholarship donations. This is repeated several times through the indictment and the official agreement. Now this man has served his time, he got his pardon, he did his time, he had clemency from President Biden, so I'm not trying to disparage this man or anything like that, but for each of the sewage and water boards heads that are coming in, it would be very, very good for them to remember, at least hear one citizen voice to know that there's something going on at the sewage and water board, there's something really going on at the board of liquidation, and I think it has to go with contracts and bonds that go all the way back to the 14th Amendment. So like I said, this is a fresh start for New Orleans, everybody's hands are clean in equity, all that good stuff. God bless you all, but there are people who are going to be watching this. We hear you, Dan. I think it's part of the reason why we said before we, as we take it over, we want the auditor to go in and look at it. Outside auditors, it's going to be a back and forth. So we don't typically do a back and forth, but I'll give you a quick overview. The reason why we selected the legislative auditor was twofold. One, since the sewage and water board is still a state subdivision, they are required to open all and any records to the legislative auditor. A typical auditor, when they go in, there can be arguments of confidentiality or that certain documents should not be allowed in their purview. The auditor, as a quasi-law enforcement agency, can literally look at every single book they want and they cannot conceal anything from them. The second issue is, to be honest, we are in a tremendous budget crisis. The legislative auditor charges the state rate for auditors, not the going rate for auditors, which is substantially less.

So if there are significant irregularities that need us to do a deeper dive, we'll consider a third party at that time, but right now we're looking at who has the most oversight and can look at the books with the most scrutiny and who we can afford to go in to give that deep dive and get a dedicated auditor looking into it on an ongoing basis. That was the logic for now, the legislative auditor. If we discover significant financial irregularities that require a deeper dive, at that point we'd probably consider a third party to do a deeper dig. I have no problems with the ex-president and his team of auditors. They're actually really good at representing the report. I've read a lot of documents and lots of those, like the Washington Post, the Washington Post, there's a lot going on because we've been in this for a long time. We really appreciate you being here today, appreciate your look at this issue. Thank you. I'd like to note for the record that Mr. Edwards was a board member and not the executive director of the Sewage and Water Board, and the council is involved with the appointing of board members and we're taking it very seriously, but we will certainly be looking at everything, including the actions of board members. Thank you very much. Thank you. He was a board member and not the executive director. Thank you. I just wanted to confirm that for the public. Thank you. Thank you. All right. I think those are the only comments we have on the consent agenda. I will move on the consent agenda. Second by Councilmember King. All in favor? All right. All yays, no nays. The motion passes. All in favor? All ayes? All noes? The motion passes. Councilmembers, we have a substitute motion for M26334 by Councilmember ... I skip over to M26335 by Councilmember King, by request, confirming the Mayor's appointment of Kimberly Thomas, Vice-Maurice Shoals as a member of the Sewage and Water Board of Directors for a four-year term beginning on the date this instrument is adopted and ending on June 30th, 2030, in accordance with City Code 159-3. We need the vote to receive. I'll move to receive. Second. Second by Councilmember King. All in favor? All right. Any opposed? Hearing none. All yays, no nays. We need the vote to ask. I'll move. Second. Second by Councilmember King. All in favor? All right. Any nays? Hearing none. All yays, no nays. Okay. 335. And we need the vote on the instrument. So moved. Second. Moved by me for Councilmember King, seconded by Council President Morrell. All in favor? Aye. Aye. Opposed? Six yays, no nays. Thank you. Okay. I'll be handling the next item for Councilmember Harris. Go ahead, Madam Clerk. Add my name to it. I'm going to re-read Motion M26335, Interrected. In accordance with City Code 159-3, the Mayor's appointment of Kimberly Thomas, representing District C, as a member of the Board of Directors of the Sojourn Water Board, confirming a four-year term beginning on the date of this instrument, ending on June 30, 2030. We have Motion M26334, Substitute, confirming the appointment of Jonathan Stewart, representing District B, as a member of the Board of Directors for the Sojourn Water Board. Beginning on the date of this instrument, the adoption of the date of this instrument and ending on June 30th, 2030. We need the vote to receive. I'll move. Second by Council Vice President Willard. All in favor? Aye. Any opposed? Hearing none, six yays, no nays. We need the vote to add. I'll move to add. Council Vice President Willard seconds. All in favor? Aye. Any opposed? Hearing no opposed, all yays, no nays. We need the vote. Adding Council Member Morrell to this motion. We need the vote as adopting. I will move. Second by Council Vice President Willard. All in favor? Aye. Any opposed? Hearing none, six yays, no nays. It is approved. All right. Regular agenda. We have a legislative group in HDLC of Sierra Green requesting to appeal the Historic District Landmark Commission decision of denial of the retention of pain masonry that was previously unpainted at a contributing rated four-story commercial building without a Certificate of Appropriateness for the property located at 111 Chappatoola Street. We have a motion M26350 by Council Member Willard, granting the applicant's request for 111 Chappatoola Street and reversing the HDLC decision. Thank you, HDLC. Staff was informed by the applicant that a mural had been commissioned for the rear of the building after the fact. The applicant is requesting retention as the mural was painted by an artist on a blank wall of the building. Typically, the HDLC does not approve painting over unpainted masonry. The guidelines state that painting unpainted masonry can alter the visual character of the building, obscure craftsmanship of the masonry, and should not be on street-facing elevations or elevations with windows or doors. However, in this case, the mural was painted on a non-street-facing elevation that has no openings. Further, the exposed brick on this elevation is a different color than the rest of the street-facing, more decorative elevations and is likely not the original masonry. Sanborn Map research confirmed that this wall was likely a party wall and not originally exposed. As the mural does not harm the architectural characteristics of the masonry on this elevation, staff had recommended approval of the retention. Thank you. And then we have a comment card from Ciara Green. Ciara, you have two minutes. Okay. Hi, my name is Ciara Green. I own a boutique marketing agency here in New Orleans, and one of my clients this summer was the X Games. During preparations for the event, I was asked if I could help find a wall for Risk, a renowned muralist who was born and raised here in New Orleans and wanted to create something for his hometown. The request came together quickly, so I called a client who connected me with a building owner.

We received permission to use the wall, and based on publicly available information surrounding the New Orleans mural project, we believe that the artist was clear to begin beautifying the wall. There was no advertisement or commercial message, just an abstract painting with beautiful butterflies. It wasn't until after the mural was completed that we learned that the building was considered historic. Importantly, the specific wall Risk painted was primarily made of newer brick. This was not a situation where anyone knowingly chose to alter a historic building. Once we learned additional approval was required, we immediately began trying to correct the mistake. The artist should not be punished for the information he was given. A mural of this scale by Risk would normally be valued at around $100,000, yet he was not paid. He simply wanted to give a gift to the city that launched his career, which allows him to paint all over the world, which is why he's not here right now. I hope you'll consider the spirit in which this mural was created, the cultural value it brings to New Orleans, and allow Risk to keep the gift in his hometown to remain. Thank you. Thank you, Sierra. Members, as Sierra said, this artist acted in good faith, mistakenly believing that all necessary clearances were in place based on local mural project guidance before he actually began the work. Also important to note that this artist wasn't paid. He wanted to do this as a gift to his hometown, a city that he loves, in coordination with the X Games. HDLC said, on their own words, that the mural was a generous gift to the city and the certificate of appropriateness could have been approved at the staff level if the artist would have known to apply before the work actually started. So what we're doing today is to allow this beautiful mural to stay up. I want to thank Sierra for working this all the way through. I want to thank Councilmember Harris for working with my office on this, and the HDLC for helping out with this. Any questions or comments from the dais? I just have a simple question. Councilmember Harris, this is her district, is she supportive? Yes. Okay. All right. With that, I'll move adoption. Can I second it by Council President Morrell? Wait, I think we're supposed to... There we go. All in favor, vote yes. All right. Six yays, zero nays. The motion's adopted. At the top of page 16, we have item 2, zoning docket 5026, has been deferred to the meeting of 9-3. Item 3, zoning docket 5926, has been deferred to the meeting of 9-3. At the top of page 17, item 4, legislative group and zoning docket 6326, in motion line over M26318, has been deferred to the meeting of 9-3. At the top of page 18, item 5, zoning docket 6626, has been deferred to the meeting of 9-3. Zoning docket 6726, has been deferred to the meeting of 9-3. Zoning docket 6826, has been deferred to the meeting of 9-3. At the top of page 19, item 8, zoning docket 6926, has been deferred to the meeting of 9-3. Item 9, zoning docket 7026, has been deferred to the meeting of 9-3. At the top of page 20, item 10, zoning docket 7126, has been deferred to the meeting of 9-3. At the bottom of the page, item 11, legislative group and zoning docket 7226, city council motion M26177. Motion to amend article 5 to allow the inclusion of new structures as part of the adaptive reuse of an existing industrial, commercial, or institutional structure within a planned development and to make recommendations of any other amendments deemed necessary. The proposed text amendment would apply citywide, the recommendation of the CPC being for approval. We have motion M26351 by Councilmember McCarran, granting the applicant's request for zoning docket 7226. Thank you. CPC? Good morning. This is a motion that is essentially asking that the zoning ordinance explicitly state that planned developments employing adaptive reuse of existing structures are not limited to only existing structures. They may also have new construction elements, either through the expansion of an existing building or through the construction of entirely new buildings. This would provide a clear path forward for developers looking to restore the original footprints of any given historic site or to expand on them in a manner that is appropriate and referential to the current and pre-existing structures on the property. CPC recommended approval of the proposed text amendment with an added recommendation to add language ensuring that any new construction as part of an adaptive reuse planned development shall be designed so that the new structures in addition do not overwhelm or undermine the design identity of the original structures on the site. Thank you. Members, as CPC said, the current language in Article 5 of the CZO does not contemplate the addition of new structures as part of adaptive reuse of existing structures in a planned development. So under current rules, a developer couldn't add an unattached new structure as a separate building to the project while keeping a planned development designation. I see the potential of redeveloping significantly large vacant properties in all districts, which may sometimes require new unattached structures. This text amendment request stems from the redevelopment of the former Poor Claire Monastery on Henry Clay. I appreciate CPC's tweaking, City Planning's tweak to require any new construction to match the design identity of the existing site. This change will open up, will open and create more opportunity to adaptively reuse existing large structures spurring economic development and it does not touch the existing neighborhood notification process. So the public must still be involved in these new projects. If there's any questions, okay. With that, I move to approve Motion M26351, seconded by Councilmember Hughes. Vote your machines that are working. All right. Six yays, no nays. Thank you.

At the top of page 21, we have item 12, Legislative Grouping, Ordinance Calendar 34385, along with Motions Linova M23426 and M23427 has been deferred to the meeting of 9-3. Are we done with that? We're going to this. We're going to the next item. Okay. Item 13, Ordinance Calendar 35117 has been deferred to the meeting of 9-3. We have Ordinance Calendar 35384 has been deferred to the meeting of 9-3. We have Ordinance Calendar 35495 has been deferred to the meeting of 9-3. Councilmembers, we have a motion under suspension, M26354. A motion authorizing, I mean, adding a Council President as a signatory and authorizing the Council President to sign the Professional Service Agreement between the City of New Orleans and Fishman Haygood LLP. We need the vote to receive. I'll move. Second. Seconded by Councilmember King. All in favor? Aye. Any opposed? Hearing none. Six yays, no nays. We need the vote to add. I'll move. Seconded by Councilmember King. All in favor? Aye. Any opposed? Hearing none. Six yays, no nays. We could discuss the matter. I think there are individuals from the Law Department here to speak on this one. There they are. Come on down. Good morning. Good morning. Gwyneth, why don't you give us an overview of what we're voting on today? Sure. Good morning. Gwyneth O'Neill, Senior Chief Deputy City Attorney, and Brenna McNamara from the Law Department. This is part of a broader effort of the Law Department to actually look for ways in which the City can file offensive litigation to recoup funds that we believe the City may be owed. And so this case, specifically, without discussing specifics of the litigation, it's an anticipated antitrust action to recover funds due to the increasing prices of fire apparatus equipment. And so there is a... District litigation matter that's pending that it's anticipated we likely would file in state court. And this is, I think that for those in the public who've been watching, this is the Baton Rouge fire vehicle lawsuit, right? It's related to that. It's another claim. Baton Rouge has a separate claim, but it's a related type of claim. Right, so if you're looking for like the details, if you look at the Baton Rouge suit, it's very similar. That's correct, and it's the same firm that John Bel Edwards, former governor, is a member of that met with Baton Rouge has met with us as well. It's a contingency agreement, so the city has no out-of-pocket expenses unless and until there is a recovery. Let's hit that again for the public. With the contingency fee agreement, if the lawyers fail to recover the money from these companies and lose this lawsuit, the city is not at risk. Correct. Alright, are there any questions from the ayes? Hearing none, I will move. Second by Council Member Hughes. All in favor? Any opposed? Hearing none, six yeas, no nays. It is approved. Thank you very much. On page 23, we have item 16, ordinance calendar 35,504 by Council Member Harris, by request. An ordinance to authorize the Mayor of the City of New Orleans to enter into an agreement to grant a servitude to an adjacent property owner for encroachments on or over portions of public right-of-way located at the municipal address 145 Roosevelt Way to fix the minimum price in terms of said servitude agreement to declare that such use as granted in the servitude agreement will incorporate space that is neither needed for public purpose nor shall such use interfere with the use of public right-of-way to set forth the reasons for said servitude and otherwise to provide respect thereto. Thank you, Madam Clerk. This is one of several servitudes that are in District B that will actually gain us a little bit of money. The servitude will generate an annual revenue payment of over $11,000, subject to a 15% increase every five years. With that, I will move. I need a second. Seconded by Council President Morrell. All in favor? Aye. 70 ayes. Thank you. Item 17. We have ordinance calendar 35,505 by Council Member Harris, by request. An ordinance to authorize the Mayor of the City of New Orleans to enter into an agreement to grant a servitude to an adjacent property owner for encroachments on or over portions of public right-of-way located at municipal address 1525 Pretania Street to fix the minimum price in terms of said servitude agreement to declare that such use is granted and the servitude agreement will incorporate space that is neither needed for public purpose nor shall such use interfere with the use of public right-of-way to set forth reasons for said servitude and otherwise to provide respect thereto. Thank you, Madam Clerk. I will move. Can I get a second? Seconded by Council Member King. All in favor? Aye. Seven ayes. Seven yes. All right. At the top of page 24, we have item 18, ordinance calendar 35,506 by Council Member Harris, by request. An ordinance to authorize the Mayor of the City of New Orleans to enter into an agreement to grant a servitude to an adjacent property owner for encroachments on and over the portions of public right-of-way located at the municipal address 1010 Geroge Street to fix the minimum price in terms of said servitude to declare that such use as granted in the servitude agreement will incorporate space that is neither needed for public purpose nor shall such use interfere with the use of public right-of-way to set forth reasons for said servitude and otherwise to provide respect thereto. Thank you, Madam Clerk. I'll move. Can I get a second? Seconded by Council Member King. All in favor? Aye. Seven yes. All in favor? Aye. We have ordinance calendar 35,507 by Council Member Harris by request. An ordinance to authorize the Mayor of the City of New Orleans to enter into an agreement to grant a servitude to an adjacent property owner for encroachments on and over portions of public right-of-way located at the municipal address 2816 St.

Louis Street to fix the minimum price in terms of the servitude agreement to declare that such use is granted in the servitude agreement will incorporate space that is neither needed for public purpose nor shall such use interfere with the use of public right-of-way to set for reasons for servitude and otherwise to provide respect thereto. Thank you Madam Clerk. I'll move. I believe that Council Vice President Willard seconded on the machine. All in favor? Aye. Seven yays. Where does it show who seconded it? Item 20, ordinance calendar 35,508 by Council Member McCarran by request. An ordinance to authorize the Mayor of the City of New Orleans to enter into an agreement to grant a servitude to an adjacent property owner for encroachments on and over portions of public right-of-way located at municipal address 6 Newcomb Boulevard to fix the minimum price of terms of said servitude to declare that such use is granted in the servitude agreement will incorporate space that is neither needed for public purpose nor shall such use interfere with the use of public right-of-way to set for reasons for said servitude and otherwise to provide respect thereto. Thank you Madam Clerk. This is another servitude in District A. It is $1,600 annually. With that, I will move. Seconded by Council Member Willard. Vote your machine. Seven yays, no nays. Thank you. At the top of page 25, we have ordinance calendar 35,509 by Council Member McCarran by request. An ordinance to authorize the Mayor of the City of New Orleans to enter into an agreement to grant a servitude to an adjacent property owner for encroachments on and over portions of public right-of-way located at the municipal address 10 Newcomb Boulevard to fix to fix the minimum price of terms of said servitude agreement to declare that such use is granted in the servitude agreement will incorporate space that is neither needed for public purpose nor shall such use interfere with the use of public right-of-way to set for reasons of said servitude and otherwise to provide respect thereto. Members, another servitude 870 annual. I've moved. Seconded by Council Member Hughes. Vote your machine. Seven yays, no nays. We have ordinance calendar 35,510 by Council Member Greene by request. An ordinance to authorize the Mayor of the City of New Orleans to enter into an agreement to grant a servitude to an adjacent property owner for encroachments on and over portions of public right-of-way located at the municipal address 1660 Norman Street to fix the minimum price of terms of said servitude agreement to declare that such use is granted in the servitude agreement will incorporate space that is neither needed for public purpose nor shall such use interfere with the use of public right-of-way to set for reasons for said servitude and otherwise to provide respect thereto. This ordinance grants this authorizes the city to grant the Black School Incorporated a servitude of approximately 140 square feet on the public right-of-way at 1660 North Roman and to accommodate a fence encroachment. The Black School will pay the city $440 annually with a 15% increase every five years and the servitude remains subject to continued public use of the right-of-way. I move for approval. Seconded by Council Member Willard. All in favor? All in favor? Seven yeas, no nays. We have item 23 ordinance calendar 35,000 511 by Councilmember King by request an ordinance to authorize the Mayor of the City of New Orleans to enter into an agreement to grant a servitude to an adjacent property owner for encroachments on the over portions of public right-of-way located at Municipal Address 221 Royal Street to fix the minimum price of said terms to terms of the servitude agreement to declare as such use is granted in the servitude agreement will incorporate space that is neither needed for public purpose nor shall such use interfere with the public right-of-way to set for reasons of said servitude and otherwise to provide respect thereto. Thank you Madam Clerk. I move, second by Council Member Hughes. Vote your machines please. Seven yeas, no nays. Thank you. At the top of page 26 we have item 24 ordinance calendar 35,000 515 by Councilmember Harris. An ordinance to establish a conditional use to permit a commercial short-term rental in a C2 auto-oriented commercial district in a transient lodging interim zoning district on square 359 lot C in the first Municipal District bounded by Reverend John Raphael Jr. Way, Clio Street, Elkhart Boulevard, Infrared Street, Municipal Address 1131 through 33 Reverend John Raphael Jr. Way and otherwise to provide respect there to zoning docket 5326. Councilmember Morrell voting nay on motion M26279. Thank you Madam Clerk. These next two are commercial short-term rentals that we approved. These are just the ordinances that would finalize the approval of those. Minus Council President Morrell. I've moved, seconded by someone, second by Willard. All in favor? Six yeas, one nay. Item 25 we have ordinance calendar 35,000 518 by Councilmember Harris. An ordinance to establish a conditional use to permit a commercial short-term rental in a CBD2 historic commercial and mixed-use district in a transient lodging interim zoning district on squares 130 lots 14 and 15 in the first Municipal District bounded by Natchez Street, Magazine Street, Hodges Street and Chapitula Street, Municipal Address 422 Natchez Street and otherwise to provide respect there to zoning docket 5626. Councilmember Morrell voting nay on motion M26280. Thank you Madam Clerk. I've moved, seconded by Council Vice President Willard. Five yays, one nay.

At the top of page 27 we have item 26 Legislative Grouping, Ordinance, thank you, Ordinance Calendar 35520 by Council Member McCarran, an ordinance to affect the zoning change from an H.U.R.D.2, Historic Urban 2-Family Residential District to an H.U.B.1A, Historic Urban Neighborhood Business District, to grant a conditional use to permit a standard restaurant as defined in Section 26.6 of the Comprehensive Zoning Ordinance of the City of New Orleans and an H.U.B.1A, Use Restriction Overlay District, on Square 187, Blocks 1, 2, and 3 in the six municipal districts, bounded by Octavia Street, Laurel Street, Constance Street, and Jefferson Avenue, Municipal Address 5433 Laurel Street and 509-515 Octavia Street, and otherwise Supervised by C.A.R.E. 2, Zoning Docket 3026. There's an amendment to Ordinance Calendar 35520 by Council Member McCarran, an amendment to Calendar 35520 to remove all legal impermissible parking provisos and otherwise supervisory respects thereto. Thank you, Madam Clerk. This amendment removes a proviso the law department found legally impermissible. The City cannot enforce employee parking within three blocks of the restaurant, so we must remove the proviso from the ordinance. I just want to be clear that nothing else is changing. The hours remain 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. and the other provisos agreed upon previously by Neighbors and Cafe Malou remain. So I will move on the amendment, right? Seconded by Council Member Willard. Vote your machines. Five yays. Six yays, no nays. And then a motion to approve the amendment. Seconded by Council Member Harris. All those in favor, vote your machines. Six yays, no nays. Thank you. At the bottom of the page, we have Item 27, Ordinance Calendar 35528 by Council Members Morrell, Willa, McCarran, Harris, King, Green, and Hughes. An ordinance to amend Ordinance 300530 MCS as amended in title. An ordinance providing an operating budget of revenues for the City of New Orleans for the year 2026 to appropriate funds to the Office of Community Development for the Right to Council Program to provide legal counsel to residential tenants facing eviction proceedings within the City of New Orleans and to provide housing-related advocacy for tenants in New Orleans and otherwise to provide respects thereto. Thank you. We have a couple of speakers. I think we'll go with them first. First, we have Monique Blossom, followed by Suzanne Johnson. Sorry, not speaking. She's in support, followed by Y. Frank Southall. Go ahead, Monique. Good morning, Monique Blossom, Louisiana Fair Housing Action Center. I want to thank the full City Council for authoring this ordinance to fulfill the budget promise for Right to Council for 2026. I always say that the program speaks for itself, both in the results that we see for our clients and the data that Jane Place collects monitoring eviction court. I call it a gold star program, five stars, A++. You know, we're certainly getting the services that you're funding. The Louisiana Fair Housing Action Center has proudly provided cost-free evictions, eviction defense services to those who do not qualify for SLLS's services. So that's going to be if their income level is a little bit over the minimum or are undocumented community. And we see over and over that tenants are just one missed day of work, of paid work, or a normal but disruptive life event like a car accident, a sick kid, a death in the family. We've even had clients that were advised not to go to work in fear of ice raids. And so this is the kind of thing that any of us can come across because a lot of times life gets disruptive and interferes financially. It also corrects an imbalance in eviction court. No one would go to court without representation. We know that the odds are stacked against you, and Right to Council corrects that imbalance and weighs things more evenly so it's not always weighed in favor of the landlords. And the program benefits from truly dedicated staff and attorneys that go well beyond their job description and pay grade to provide the best absolute services possible for the clients. So looking for to the 2027 budget, I look forward to continuing our discussions and remembering how effective and important this program is. Thank you. Thank you, Monique. Next up, we have Y. Frank Southall. Good morning, everyone. I'm Y. Frank Southall, organizing community age manager at Jane Place. I'm grateful and filled with joy that you all have collectively decided to continue funding Right to Council for the remainder of 2026. This program is a critical lifeline and necessary aspect to fight against homelessness, displacement, and slumlords in our city. We know from our work that in Orleans Parish, over 85% of all tenants facing eviction are Black. Over 55% of all tenants as a subsection are Black women. This makes evictions inherently issue a race, gender, class, and power. To not intervene in the eviction machine is to effectively co-sign onto evicting Black children and Black elders. So thank you for addressing the status quo, interrupting the machine, and leveling the power dynamics. Ongoing, we know that challenges remain down the road. If we look to administrative values defined by our city leaders have come before us, we can ensure the Right to Council is properly funded. Integrity, transparency, teamwork, responsiveness, innovation, diversity, and inclusion. And to quote, we seek a city where all people, irrespective of race, religion, gender, or sexual orientation, share opportunity, responsibility, risk and reward, political power, and economic prosperity. This is the core aspect of Right to Council, ensuring that we're leveling the playing field. Tenants for representation are receiving consent agreements in ways they weren't before the pandemic.

First, this is keeping evictions off records, and this enables tenants to find decent housing and not be forced into slumlord housing owned by certain people whose names rhyme with Runo, Bustle, and Dobert. We all know who these people are. But this is a lifesaver for tenants. So again, thank you so much for taking the responsibility, doing the right thing as representatives of our people. And we look forward to Right to Council being comprehensive funding for 2027, 2020, and beyond. God bless you all. Thank you. Thank you. Councilman Green? Yes, I wanted to just point out and thank the members of the New Orleans City Council. When the president and the vice president sent me a message saying that asking would I support funding for the Right to Council from the monies that have been recovered from Habitat for Humanity, I quickly agreed because I certainly recognize the importance of providing support and representation to those who are involved with our system that involves sometimes them being evicted from properties. I do want to mention while in the midst of this celebration of a good thing, I can't help but reflect on my disappointment with Habitat for Humanity in terms of them not contacting tenants in their units to determine if there was some way that we could have worked with them to maybe to help them to avoid some of the rent increases that happened because of their sales of properties and also whether we could have worked with those tenants to help them to own some of those properties. But the good side is that Right to Council is being supported by all seven members of this council in the midst of the challenges that we have within the budget, in the midst of us being in a position of furloughs personally, we came forward as a council to support this important effort. The good outweighs the bad, but we can't ignore the fact of what happened previously. Again, Habitat for Humanity, do better next time. Thank you. Thank you. With that, I have moved. Councilor Willer has seconded. Everybody vote your machines. That is seven yays, no nays. We have the accompanying ordinance. Yes, we have ordinance 35,529 by council members Morrell, Willer, McCarran, Harris, King, Green, and Hughes. An ordinance to amend ordinance 30,531 as amended entitled an ordinance providing an operating budget of expenditures for the city of New Orleans for the year 2026 to appropriate funds to the Office of Community Development for the Right to Council program to provide legal counsel to residential tenants facing eviction proceedings within the city of New Orleans and to provide housing related advocacy for tenants in New Orleans and otherwise to provide respect there too. Thank you. We have two speakers, Laura Tuggle followed by Elizabeth Harvey. Good morning. I'm so sorry that I didn't put 27 on my card. I'm Laura Tuggle. I'm the Executive Director of Southeast Louisiana Legal Services and I want to thank every member of the council for unanimously standing up for tenants today. They're the backbone of our community and we know how challenging it is and all the different things that you're grappling with and we really appreciate the trust that the council is placing on us and we are very proud to continue operating the program in partnership with Louisiana Fair Housing Action Center and also in collaboration with Jane Place. This is a win-win-win program, gold star, all those things that Monique was talking about. 32 years ago I started out doing eviction defense work and it was a really different place at that time and it makes me so proud to be in this city where we are standing up for tenants in a way that really wasn't done in the past and I was listening to the speakers talking about Katrina and that was a real game changer. Rents went up overnight and they have never come down and so it makes it a very difficult situation for our low-wage workers, our folks on fixed incomes and all the people we serve. The program makes a great impact, helps prevent evictions, helps folks have softer landings if that becomes necessary, helps us work with landlords to get them paid and it's very cost effective. Our per person cost is about $350 a person so thank you so much for everything and we'll look forward to working with you next year also. Thank you. Next up Ms. Harvey. Elizabeth Harvey, also with Southeast Louisiana Legal Services. We all know that evictions and disruptive housing displacement often lead to homelessness, interruption to children's education, job loss, deterioration to mental and physical health, increase in violence and incarceration, continued population migration out of the city, and trauma that can carry over not only in one's lifetime, but can impact generations. It's real harm. Stabilizing housing is a crucial health component for New Orleans. This is our mothers, our restaurant workers, our home health aides, our festival and Saints Game staff, our teachers, our family members and neighbors who make this city what it is. This is who the program impacts every day of the week. Implementation of housing displacement is smart. The right to council ordinance has been one that you, the council, the mayor, our residents, housing advocates have continually championed. And it has been an absolute labor of love to help implement this smart, solution-oriented program over the last four years. It is one part of the city's housing crisis solution, and the desired impacts are well underway and they are real. Disruptive displacement is down. The program is working, but it has much more to do. To lose any of that inertia now would be a great loss to the city of New Orleans. Eviction court is right next door. The necessity and impacts of the program are easy for viewing.

Instead of violent 24-hour evictions that force a person or a family out of their home, when possible, we find ways that landlords and tenants can come together to enter payment plans, to reset broken down communications, to help bridge a dangerous gap. So thank you again for all the support that you are doing for the people who make this city what it is. Thank you. Councilman Hughes, followed by Councilmember Green. Thank you, Mr. President. Ms. Tuggle, I wanted to sincerely thank you. I know we had the opportunity to meet several weeks ago, and I said, just be patient with us. Give us an opportunity to figure this out, and we did. I owe a depth of gratitude to the Council President, because as I'm trying to wrap my head around all of these policy issues, I often go sit with him for historical knowledge, and he really educated me on the importance of this program in meeting with you. I learned that roughly 30% of the cases that you all handle are residents of District E. This program has kept people in stable housing and has really prevented homelessness and displacement in so many cases. So I want to sincerely thank you and all the advocates that have advocated for this program. Mr. President, thank you for your leadership, and to all of my Council colleagues that have banded together to figure out a way forward to keep this program going, I really appreciate all of you. Thank you. Thank you. Councilmember Green. I'd like to mention the name of Mayor Moreno. As Council at large member, she was a strong proponent of supporting the Right to Council program, and there's no one taking out a card to mention her name, but I wanted to let her know that I've seen firsthand the effects of it, and I appreciate the fact that Southeast Louisiana works sometimes with the tenants and the landlords. It doesn't have to always be an adversarial process. Sometimes it's a process where communications can have a very positive impact, and in addition to tenants, landlords appreciate it too. I want you to know that I appreciate your meeting with me, with my office, and also expressing a willingness to work with us on other issues relative to, for example, successions and wills, something that really creates a problem in certain parts of our community. But thank you for your commitment to those who, without your support, would have no representation, and that again goes on both sides, sometimes tenants and landlords. It's all about keeping people in comfortable situations, enhancing the quality of life through your work, and I appreciate the work that you've done. Thank you. Council Member Harris. Well, Laura, you and I have spoken, and I just want to specifically shout out Clerk Chelsea Napoleon next door. We had a whole conversation about filing fees at the court that have not been raised for 23 years. Some of those fees go to support the pro bono project, but I think by raising the filing fees, we can get another source of income to support this program. I think the judges should appreciate that, and the people who file in civil district courts should appreciate it too. So you and I will continue to work, the court, the judges, after the election to figure out how that all pans out, but certainly I think that that is another income stream that can lessen the burden on the city and help with this very important program. Thank you for all of your work. Thank you for making sure that folks are able to stay in the places that they live and that our slumlords are not getting the best of them. Thank you. Thank you. With that, I'll add something real brief. It's been a pleasure working with you all over the years. I think that at times, as you know, when you look at things the city has identified as priorities, whether it be creating an equal playing field for our district attorney and public defenders, whether it be our ordinance regarding the right to counsel, I think that at times, and those ordinances predate me, to be clear, but at times when the city will make a commitment, a political commitment, and say these things are important, sometimes cities will then fall off when they realize that that obligation has a price tag attached to it. I think that today is us reasserting that when we make a commitment as a city, as a city council, that something is a right, and a right to counsel and an eviction proceeding is something that we felt so strongly about we put in ordinance, there is a price tag attached to that. I also want to specifically shout out Laura and your board, because they continue to let you kind of get ahead of your skis sometimes, knowing that the city will make you whole, but also not interrupting services. Because as a partner, you know this partnership is strong, you know that we will pay our bills when they come due, and you fought to make sure that there was no interruption in services as we figured out a way to get there. So I appreciate you always putting those tenants first and making sure this program continues the momentum, as Ms. Harvey said, the momentum where it has been so successful, it is now an expectation, both for landlords and tenants. As Mr. Green said, it is in the landlord's best interest that if you've got a good tenant who falls behind, if there's a way to find out a process, a path to keep that tenant in there, it also helps the landlord out to figure out a path forward and improve communication. So you guys are fantastic, you're great. We look forward to the budget for next year and making sure this partnership continues. Thank you. With that, I have moved, it has been seconded by Council Member McCarron, where is it? Six yays, seven yays, no nays. Thank you very much for being here today. With that, I will move that we go into executive session, seconded by Council Member Hughes. All in favor? Any nays? Hearing none. Seven yays, no nays. We're in executive session. ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...

... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... Yn ystod yr llawer o'r amgylcheddau, mae'n dweud y byddwn yn gwella'r ffyrdd o'r ddau o'r diwylliant. Yn ystod yr amgylcheddau, mae'n dweud y byddwn yn gwella'r ffyrdd o'r ddau o'r diwylliant. Yn ystod yr amgylcheddau, mae'n dweud y byddwn yn gwella'r ffyrdd o'r ddau o'r diwylliant. Yn ystod yr amgylcheddau, mae'n dweud y byddwn yn gwella'r ffyrdd o'r diwylliant. Yn ystod yr amgylcheddau, mae'n dweud y byddwn yn gwella'r ffyrdd o'r diwylliant. Yn ystod yr amgylcheddau, mae'n dweud y byddwn yn gwella'r ffyrdd o'r diwylliant. Yn ystod yr amgylcheddau, mae'n dweud y byddwn yn gwella'r ffyrdd o'r diwylliant. Yn ystod yr amgylcheddau, mae'n dweud y byddwn yn gwella'r ffyrdd o'r diwylliant. Yn ystod yr amgylcheddau, mae'n dweud y byddwn yn gwella'r ffyrdd o'r diwylliant. Yn ystod yr amgylcheddau, mae'n dweud y byddwn yn gwella'r ffyrdd o'r diwylliant. Yn ystod yr amgylcheddau, mae'n dweud y byddwn yn gwella'r ffyrdd o'r diwylliant. Yn ystod yr amgylcheddau, mae'n dweud y byddwn yn gwella'r ffyrdd o'r diwylliant. Yn ystod yr amgylcheddau, mae'n dweud y byddwn yn gwella'r ffyrdd o'r diwylliant. Yn ystod yr amgylcheddau, mae'n dweud y byddwn yn gwella'r ffyrdd o'r diwylliant. Yn ystod yr amgylcheddau, mae'n dweud y byddwn yn gwella'r ffyrdd o'r diwylliant. Yn ystod yr amgylcheddau, mae'n dweud y byddwn yn gwella'r ffyrdd o'r diwylliant. Yn ystod yr amgylcheddau, mae'n dweud y byddwn yn gwella'r ffyrdd o'r diwylliant. Yn ystod yr amgylcheddau, mae'n dweud y byddwn yn gwella'r ffyrdd o'r diwylliant. Yn ystod yr amgylcheddau, mae'n dweud y byddwn yn gwella'r ffyrdd o'r diwylliant. Yn ystod yr amgylcheddau, mae'n dweud y byddwn yn gwella'r ffyrdd o'r diwylliant. Yn ystod yr amgylcheddau, mae'n dweud y byddwn yn gwella'r ffyrdd o'r diwylliant. Yn ystod yr amgylcheddau, mae'n dweud y byddwn yn gwella'r ffyrdd o'r diwylliant. Yn ystod yr amgylcheddau, mae'n dweud y byddwn yn gwella'r ffyrdd o'r diwylliant. Yn ystod yr amgylcheddau, mae'n dweud y byddwn yn gwella'r ffyrdd o'r diwylliant. Yn ystod yr amgylcheddau, mae'n dweud y byddwn yn gwella'r ffyrdd o'r diwylliant. Yn ystod yr amgylcheddau, mae'n dweud y byddwn yn gwella'r ffyrdd o'r diwylliant. Yn ystod yr amgylcheddau, mae'n dweud y byddwn yn gwella'r ffyrdd o'r diwylliant. Yn ystod yr amgylcheddau, mae'n dweud y byddwn yn gwella'r ffyrdd o'r diwylliant. Yn ystod yr amgylcheddau, mae'n dweud y byddwn yn gwella'r ffyrdd o'r diwylliant. Yn ystod yr amgylcheddau, mae'n dweud y byddwn yn gwella'r ffyrdd o'r diwylliant. Yn ystod yr amgylcheddau, mae'n dweud y byddwn yn gwella'r ffyrdd o'r diwylliant. Yn ystod yr amgylcheddau, mae'n dweud y byddwn yn gwella'r ffyrdd o'r diwylliant. Yn ystod yr amgylcheddau, mae'n dweud y byddwn yn gwella'r ffyrdd o'r diwylliant. Yn ystod yr amgylcheddau, mae'n dweud y byddwn yn gwella'r ffyrdd o'r diwylliant. Yn ystod yr amgylcheddau, mae'n dweud y byddwn yn gwella'r ffyrdd o'r diwylliant. Yn ystod yr amgylcheddau, mae'n dweud y byddwn yn gwella'r ffyrdd o'r diwylliant. Yn ystod yr amgylcheddau, mae'n dweud y byddwn yn gwella'r ffyrdd o'r diwylliant. Yn ystod yr amgylcheddau, mae'n dweud y byddwn yn gwella'r ffyrdd o'r diwylliant. Yn ystod yr amgylcheddau, mae'n dweud y byddwn yn gwella'r ffyrdd o'r diwylliant. Yn ystod yr amgylcheddau, mae'n dweud y byddwn yn gwella'r ffyrdd o'r diwylliant. Yn ystod yr amgylcheddau, mae'n dweud y byddwn yn gwella'r ffyrdd o'r diwylliant. Yn ystod yr amgylcheddau, mae'n dweud y byddwn yn gwella'r ffyrdd o'r diwylliant. Yn ystod yr amgylcheddau, mae'n dweud y byddwn yn gwella'r ffyrdd o'r diwylliant. Yn ystod yr amgylcheddau, mae'n dweud y byddwn yn gwella'r ffyrdd o'r diwylliant. Yn ystod yr amgylcheddau, mae'n dweud y byddwn yn gwella'r ffyrdd o'r diwylliant. Yn ystod yr amgylcheddau, mae'n dweud y byddwn yn gwella'r ffyrdd o'r diwylliant. Yn ystod yr amgylcheddau, mae'n dweud y byddwn yn gwella'r ffyrdd o'r diwylliant. Yn ystod yr amgylcheddau, mae'n dweud y byddwn yn gwella'r ffyrdd o'r diwylliant. Yn ystod yr amgylcheddau, mae'n dweud y byddwn yn gwella'r ffyrdd o'r diwylliant. Yn ystod yr amgylcheddau, mae'n dweud y byddwn yn gwella'r ffyrdd o'r diwylliant. Yn ystod yr amgylcheddau, mae'n dweud y byddwn yn gwella'r ffyrdd o'r diwylliant. Yn ystod yr amgylcheddau, mae'n dweud y byddwn yn gwella'r ffyrdd o'r diwylliant. Yn ystod yr amgylcheddau, mae'n dweud y byddwn yn gwella'r ffyrdd o'r diwylliant. Yn ystod yr amgylcheddau, mae'n dweud y byddwn yn gwella'r ffyrdd o'r diwylliant. Yn ystod yr amgylcheddau, mae'n dweud y byddwn yn gwella'r ffyrdd o'r diwylliant. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Yn ystod y 10 mlynedd, mae'r arian yn llai. Yn ystod y 20 mlynedd, mae'r arian yn llai. Yn ystod y 25 mlynedd, mae'r arian yn llai. Yn ystod y 30 mlynedd, mae'r arian yn llai. Yn ystod y 30 mlynedd, mae'r arian yn llai. Yn ystod y 40 mlynedd, mae'r arian yn llai. Yn ystod y 60 mlynedd, mae'r arian yn llai. Yn ystod y 70 mlynedd, mae'r arian yn llai. Yn ystod y 80 mlynedd, mae'r arian yn llai. Yn ystod y 90 mlynedd, mae'r arian yn llai. Yn ystod y 100 mlynedd, mae'r arian yn llai. Yn ystod y 100 mlynedd, mae'r arian yn llai.

Yn ystod y 100 mlynedd, mae'r arian yn llai. Yn ystod y 70 mlynedd, mae'r arian yn llai. Yn ystod y 80 mlynedd, mae'r arian yn llai. Yn ystod y 80 mlynedd, mae'r arian yn llai. Yn ystod y 70 mlynedd, mae'r arian yn llai. Yn ystod y 80 mlynedd, mae'r arian yn llai. Yn ystod y 90 mlynedd, mae'r arian yn llai. Yn ystod y 90 mlynedd, mae'r arian yn llai. Yn ystod y 100 mlynedd, mae'r arian yn llai. Yn yr ystod y 100 mlynedd, mae'r arian yn llai. Yn yr ystod y 100 mlynedd, mae'r arian yn llai. Yn yr ystod y 100 mlynedd, mae'r arian yn llai. Yn yr ystod y 100 mlynedd, mae'r arian yn llai. Yn yr ystod y 100 mlynedd, mae'r arian yn llai. Yn yr ystod y 100 mlynedd, mae'r arian yn llai. Yn yr ystod y 100 mlynedd, mae'r arian yn llai. Yn yr ystod y 100 mlynedd, mae'r arian yn llai. Yn yr ystod y 100 mlynedd, mae'r arian yn llai. Yn yr ystod y 100 mlynedd, mae'r arian yn llai. Yn yr ystod y 100 mlynedd, mae'r arian yn llai. Yn yr ystod y 100 mlynedd, mae'r arian yn llai. Yn yr ystod y 100 mlynedd, mae'r arian yn llai. Yn yr ystod y 100 mlynedd, mae'r arian yn llai. Yn yr ystod y 100 mlynedd, mae'r arian yn llai. Yn yr ystod y 100 mlynedd, mae'r arian yn llai. Yn yr ystod y 100 mlynedd, mae'r arian yn llai. Yn yr ystod y 100 mlynedd, mae'r arian yn llai. Yn yr ystod y 100 mlynedd, mae'r arian yn llai. Yn yr ystod y 100 mlynedd, mae'r arian yn llai. Yn yr ystod y 100 mlynedd, mae'r arian yn llai. Yn yr ystod y 100 mlynedd, mae'r arian yn llai. Yn yr ystod y 100 mlynedd, mae'r arian yn llai. Yn yr ystod y 100 mlynedd, mae'r arian yn llai. Yn yr ystod y 100 mlynedd, mae'r arian yn llai. Yn yr ystod y 100 mlynedd, mae'r arian yn llai. Yn yr ystod y 100 mlynedd, mae'r arian yn llai. Yn yr ystod y 100 mlynedd, mae'r arian yn llai. Yn yr ystod y 100 mlynedd, mae'r arian yn llai. Yn yr ystod y 100 mlynedd, mae'r arian yn llai. Yn yr ystod y 100 mlynedd, mae'r arian yn llai. Yn yr ystod y 100 mlynedd, mae'r arian yn llai. Yn yr ystod y 100 mlynedd, mae'r arian yn llai. Yn y bwysigrwydd, byddwn yn dweud hynny. Iawn. Iawn. Iawn. Iawn. Iawn. Iawn. Iawn. Iawn. Iawn. Iawn. Iawn. Iawn. Iawn. Iawn. Iawn. Iawn. Iawn. Iawn. Iawn. Iawn. Iawn. Iawn. Iawn. Iawn. Iawn. Iawn. Iawn. Iawn. Iawn. Iawn. Iawn. Iawn. Iawn. Iawn. Iawn. Iawn. Iawn. Iawn. Iawn. Iawn. Iawn. Iawn. Iawn. Iawn. Iawn. Iawn. Iawn. Iawn. Iawn. Iawn. Iawn. Iawn. Iawn. Iawn. Iawn. Iawn. Iawn. Iawn. Iawn. Iawn. Iawn. Iawn. Iawn. Iawn. Iawn. Iawn. Iawn. Iawn. Iawn. Iawn. Iawn. Iawn. Iawn. Iawn. Iawn. Iawn. Iawn. Iawn. Iawn. Iawn. Iawn. Iawn. Iawn. Iawn. Iawn. Iawn. Iawn. Iawn. Iawn. Iawn. Iawn. Iawn. Iawn. Iawn. Iawn. Iawn. Iawn. Iawn. Iawn. Iawn. Iawn. Iawn. Iawn. Iawn. Iawn. Iawn. Iawn. Iawn. Iawn. Iawn. Iawn. Iawn. Iawn. Iawn. Iawn. Iawn. Iawn. Iawn. Iawn. Iawn. Iawn. Iawn. Iawn. Iawn. Iawn. Iawn. Iawn. Iawn. Iawn. Iawn. Iawn. Iawn. Iawn. Iawn. Iawn. Iawn. Iawn. Iawn. Iawn. Iawn. Iawn. Iawn. Iawn. Iawn. Iawn. Iawn. Iawn. Iawn. Mae'r adeg yma'n llawn. Mae'r adeg yma'n llai. Mae'n dda. Mae'n llawn. Mae'n dda. Mae'n dda. Mae'n dda. Mae'n dda. Mae'n dda. Mae awgrymiad unwaith ei fod yn ddangos pentyn unwaith aol. Mae'n ddangos e而且m gyda llwyr pe bawn. Mae'r adran hon nod inni gyflog yr ardun. Mae'r adran honno'n ddigon iawn, ond mae'n ddangos gwbl. Mae'r adran honno'n ddigon iawn. Mae'r adran honno'n ddigon iawn. Mae'r adran honno'n ddigon iawn. Mae'r adran honno'n ddigon iawn. Mae'r adran honno'n ddigon iawn. Mae'r adran honno'n ddigon iawn. Mae'r adran honno'n ddigon iawn. Mae'r adran honno'n ddigon iawn. Mae'r adran honno'n ddigon iawn. Mae'r adran honno'n ddigon iawn. Madam Clerk let's get started. Alright can we get a motion to come back in from executive session? Move seconded by Council Member Harris, seconded by Council Vice President Willard. All in favor say aye. Aye. Any opposed? Hearing none we have five yeas, no nays. Council Members we need to go back to consent agenda to reconsider the vote so we can remove some items to the regular agenda. I will move, seconded by the Council Vice President. All in favor? Aye. Any opposed? Hearing none, five yeas, no nays. Then we need to remove items 24 which is motion M26331, item 25 motion M26332, item 26 motion M26333, and item 30 motion M26337. We're going to move them all to consent and re-vote on each item independently with substitute motions. So on our first motion we have M26331 by Council Member Hughes by request. Confirming the appointment of the Mayor's appointment of Kareem Valdeviso. Fulfilling a position of consumer advocate as a board, as a member of the Board of Directors for Suzan Water Board. For a four year term beginning on the date this instrument is adopted and ending on June 30, 2030 in accordance with City Code 159-3. We need the vote to add. I'll add, seconded by Council Vice President Willard. All in favor? Any opposed? Hearing none, five yeas, no nays. We need the vote to receive. I will move by Council Member Hughes, seconded by myself. All in favor? Five yeas, no nays. And we need the vote on the instrument as adopted. Move adoption, seconded by Council President Morrell. All in favor, please respond aye. Aye. Any opposed? Six yeas, no nays. That is adopted. Okay, we have substitute motion M26332 by Council Member Green by request. Confirming the Mayor's appointment of Leslie Bouye representing District D as a member of the Board of Directors of Suzan Water Board for a four year term. Beginning on the date of this instrument is adopted and ending on June 30, 2030 in accordance with City Code 159-3. We need the vote to add. Second. Aye. We need the vote to receive. Second. Aye. And we need the vote on the instrument. So moved, Green. Give me Leslie. Aye. We have substitute motion M26333 by Council Member Green by request. Confirming the Mayor's appointment of David Gallo fulfilling the position of Consumer Advocate as a member of the Board of Directors for Suzan Water Board for a four year term.

Beginning on the date this instrument is adopted and ending on June 30, 2030 in accordance with City Code 159-3. We need the vote to add. So moved. Second. Second. Green. Call for the vote. All in favor. We need the vote to receive. So moved. Second. Call for the vote. Aye. And we need the vote on the instrument. So moved. Second. Call for the vote. Aye. Thank you members. Okay, we have last one. Substitute motion M26337 by Council Member McCarran by request. Confirming the Mayor's appointment of Catherine Wimsley representing District A as a member of the Board of Directors of Suzan Water Board for a four year term. Beginning on the date of this instrument adoption and ending on June 30, 2030 in accordance with City Code 159-3. We need the vote to add. So moved. Second. All in favor. Aye. Vote to receive. Motion. Second. All those in favor. Aye. And vote on the instrument. Motion. Second. All those in favor. Aye. And we need the vote on the consent as adopted. Second. Aye. Okay. Back to regular agenda. On page 28, item 29, ordinance calendar 35,330 has been deferred to the meeting of 9-3. At the bottom of the page item 30, ordinance calendar 35,531 by Council Members Harris, Morrell, McCarran and Hughes by request. An ordinance to amend and reordain ordinance 30,532 MCS as entitled. An ordinance providing a capital budget for the year 2026 to effect the following change to the 2026 capital budget. To deappropriate funds to the Department of Public and Parkways, Property Management, Public Works, the New Orleans Fire Department, the New Orleans Main Library, the New Orleans Recreation and Development Commission, the Office of Sustainability, to appropriate funds to the Chief Administrative Office, the Department of Property Management, the Department of Public Works, the New Orleans Museum of Art, the New Orleans Recreation and Development Commission, and the Office of Sustainability and otherwise to provide respects thereto. Thank you, Madam Clerk. Members, we spoke about this at the Budget Committee. This basically deappropriates money, $35 million, and reallocates it to the CAO's office. Kyle, you want to come up and explain very quickly? So this is the budget ordinance that makes the adjustments necessary for the $35 million that we're going to use to reclass expenses from a general fund, special revenue and grant funds that will allow the cash to be available for the general fund. In addition, this appropriates the cash from the 2026A bond sale that occurred this year. Any questions? I've moved. Second. Seconded by Council President Morrell. Five years. Thank you. Thanks, Kyle. At the top of page 29, we have Item 31, Ordinance Calendar 35532 by Council Member McCarron. An ordinance to amend and reordain Ordinance 30396 MCS regarding energy benchmarking for nonresidential and multifamily buildings. pursuant to Article 14 of Chapter 26 of the Code of the City of New Orleans, to extend the effective date thereof for certain covered properties, to expand the application of the effective date to additional covered properties, and otherwise to provide respects thereto. Thank you, Madam Clerk. Colleagues, as you may recall, last summer the previous Council adopted benchmarking requirements for large buildings in an effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, improving building performance, and support a more climate resilient New Orleans. This is a key initiative of the City's Climate Action Plan, which require properties over 20,000 square feet to track their energy usage and report it annually to the City, with an initial deadline being 2026. In coordination with the Administration's Office of Resilience and Sustainability, we are amending this ordinance to allow for a moderate extension of the initial reporting deadline to January 31st, 2027, which is just six months away. This will allow ORS to continue outreach, answer questions from property owners, and address any technical issues that might lead to inaccurate reporting. Following that date, the City will publish its annual energy performance data for covered properties to promote public transparency and support future energy policies. This is a one-time adjustment to support a smoother implementation. It does not change who is required to report or weaken the underlying benchmarking requirements. I would like to thank Megan Williams and the Office of Resilience and Sustainability for working through this with my office, and I will entertain any questions from the dais. Hearing none, no public comment, so I will make a motion to approve. Seconded by Councilmember Harris. Vote your machines. Six yeas, no nays. Thank you. We have item 32, Ordinance Calendar 35534 by Councilmembers Morrell and Harris. An ordinance to amend Ordinance 30530, MCS, as amended and titled, an ordinance providing an operating budget of revenues for the City of New Orleans for the year 2026 to appropriate funds from each council's office operating budget back to the general fund and otherwise Supervisor Specks there too. Thank you, Madam Clerk, members. As you, as many council members know, we have an amount that's allocated to us each year for our office operating budgets. Ever since the beginning of this year's fiscal crisis, the offices have tightened their belts substantially, and we have seen significant savings. This simply seeks to return a large portion of that money that was unused by the council back to the general fund, because although the money was unused by the council, it was not actually available in the general fund to be expended. So that's what this does. Are there any questions? Go ahead. Thank you, Council President. Madam Clerk, I'd like to be added to this ordinance. We should probably just add all the members who are here. We can add all members. That's fine. So this one, the next one. Well, I'm adding Jason. All right, I'll move. Can I get a second? So seconded by Councilmember Harris. All in favor, please vote your machines.

That is six yays, no nays. At the bottom of the page, we have item 33, ordinance calendar 35,535 by Councilmembers Morrell and Harris, adding all council members. An ordinance to amend ordinance 30,531, MCS as entitled. An ordinance providing an operating budget of expenditures for the City of New Orleans for the year 2026 to appropriate funds from each council office operating budget back to the general fund and otherwise to provide respects thereto. Thank you. This is the accompanying ordinance. I will move, get a second. Seconded by Councilmember Harris. All in favor, please vote your machines. All right, that is six yays, no nays. At the top of page 30, we have item 34, resolution line over R26275. We will be withdrawing this motion. It was a substitute resolution R26275 by Councilmembers McCarran, Morrell, Harris, and Green. In rulemaking, proceeding to establish routes for community solar project, Zachet number UD1803. Resolution in order directing Energy New Orleans LLC to implement a consolidated billing program for the community solar program. We need the vote to receive. I'll move. Second. All those in favor? Aye. Five yays, no nays. Do we need to vote on the resolution? I can talk about it. Okay, members, this is a compromise among parties. I had instructed SunConnect and a couple other parties to speak with Entergy about, and Together New Orleans, about consolidated billing for the community solar program that has spent eight years in the making. This is a compromise among the parties. This substitute resolution adopts key provisions lowering the administrative based fee on a joint proposal by Entergy, Together New Orleans, and SunConnect. It provides ratepayer protections. This substitute resolution strengthens the annual reporting requirements and safeguards to protect non-participating ratepayers from unnecessary bill impacts. And then consolidated billing, as previously discussed in committee, this resolution establishes a net credit consolidated billing. Basically everything's going to go on one bill instead of two bills if you're participating in this program. And by March 30th, 2027, Entergy New Orleans is required to establish and implement consolidated billing. This will allow customers to see their savings on their monthly bills while ensuring that subscriber organizations receive their timely payments. This is the final vital component to the viability of the community solar program. Again, that is in eight years in the making. If there are any questions, Council Member Willard. Thank you. Madam Clerk, can you add me to this? Great. All right. With that, I will make a motion. Seconded by Council Member Willard. Vote your machines. Six yays, no nays. Thank you. We have item 35, motion M26340 by Council Members Hughes and Harris, establishing the official polling place changes for specific precincts in Orleans Parish for the November 3rd, 2026 general election. Thank you, Madam Clerk. This does just that. We needed to make some changes due to some school closures in the city. We've identified alternative locations. Seeing no questions, I will move adoption. Seconded by Vice President Willard. Please vote your machines. Vote your machines. Vote your machines. Five yays, no nays. Item 36, we have motion M26344 by Council Member Harris, directing the City Planning Commission to conduct a public hearing to consider a tax amendment to ordinance MCS4264, amended by ordinance number 26413 MCS, as amended. The comprehensive zoning ordinance of the City of New Orleans to amend article 18.20.8 to change the boundaries by exempting the areas from the intersection of Magazine Street and Washington Avenue to the intersection of Magazine Street and Napoleon Avenue, and to make recommendations for any other amendments deemed necessary. Thank you, Madam Clerk. As many of you know, Magazine Street between Washington Avenue and Napoleon has lost many retail outlets and restaurants. The regulations around this corridor are very strict, which means that it takes longer to develop those sorts of businesses, and so what this would do is direct CPC to take a look at lessening some of those restrictions in this specific corridor. Are there any questions? If not, I will move. Seconded by Council Member Willard. Five yeas. Thank you. On page 31, we have item 37, motion M26352 by Council Members Harris and Willard, tabulating the vote cast in the election held on Saturday, June 27, 2026, Garden District Security District Proposition. Votes for 478, votes against 90, total votes 506, majority of votes 4. Thank you, I'll move. Second by Council Vice President Willard. Five yes. We have item 38, motion M26353 by Council Member Hughes, tabulating the vote cast in the election held on Saturday, June 27, June 27, 2026, Lake Forest Estates Improvement District Proposition. Votes for 72, votes against 46, total votes 118, majority of votes 4. I have moved, seconded by Vice President Willard. Please vote your machines, vote your machines, vote your machines. Five yeas, no nays. Thank you. Council Members, can we get a vote to go to ordinance on first read? So moved. Second. All in favor? Aye. Any opposed? Motion carries. Ordinance on first reads, Ordinance Calendar Number 35,536 by Council Member Harris, by request, an ordinance to authorize the Mayor of the City of New Orleans to enter into an agreement to grant a servitude to an adjacent property owner for encroachments on or over portions of public right-of-way located at the municipal address 4916 South Robertson Street to fix the minimum price in terms of said servitude agreement to declare that such use is granted in the servitude agreement will incorporate space that is neither needed for public purposes nor shall such use interfere with the use of the public right-of-way to set forth the reasons for said servitude agreement and otherwise to provide with respect thereto.

Ordinance Calendar Number 35,537 by Council Member McCarron, by request, an ordinance to authorize the Mayor of the City of New Orleans to enter into an agreement to grant a servitude to an adjacent property owner for encroachments on or over portions of public right-of-way located at the municipal address 5400 Magazine Street to fix the minimum price in terms of said servitude agreement to declare that such use is granted in the servitude agreement will incorporate space that is neither needed for public purposes nor shall such use interfere with the use of the public right-of-way to set forth the reasons for said servitude agreement and otherwise to provide with respect thereto. Ordinance Calendar Number 35,538 by Council Member McCarron, by request, an ordinance to approve rates for slip leases located on or over property owned by the City of New Orleans at the Municipal Yacht Harbor to improve slip leases granted from the New Orleans Municipal Yacht Harbor Management Corporation. NYHMC to individual leases pursuant to section 2-928 of the Code of the City of New Orleans beginning in 2027 and otherwise to provide with respect thereto. Ordinance calendar number 35,539 by Councilmember Harris. An ordinance to amend and reordain Article 25 of the Comprehensive Zoning Ordinance ordinance number 4264 MCS as amended by ordinance number 26,413 MCS and subsequent amendments to add the existing billboard located at 100 Poyer Street, New Orleans, Louisiana 70130 to the list of receiving locations for electronic conversion and to make recommendations for any other amendments deemed necessary and otherwise to provide with respect thereto. Ordinance calendar number 35,540 by Councilmember Harris. An ordinance to establish a conditional use to permit a hotel over 5,000 square feet and floor area and an HUMU historic urban neighborhood mixed-use district and the transient lodging interim zoning district on square 464 lots 15 and 16 and the 7th Municipal District bounded by Earhart Boulevard, Short Street, Fern Street and Oleander Street. Municipal address is 7979 Earhart Boulevard and 3127 Short Street and otherwise to provide with respect thereto. Zoning docket number 5826. Ordinance calendar number 35,541 by Councilmember Harris. An ordinance to establish a conditional use to permit a standard restaurant in the HUB1 historic urban neighborhood business district and the magazine street use restriction overlay district on square 153 lot A in the 4th Municipal District bounded by 6th Street, 7th Street, Camp Street and Magazine Street. Municipal address 2901 Magazine Street and otherwise to provide with respect there to zoning docket number 6026. Ordinance calendar number 35,542 by Councilmember Harris. An ordinance to establish a conditional use to permit a bed-and-breakfast accessory and HURD2 historic urban two-family residential district and the transient lodging interim zoning district on square 717 lot 1A or Y in the 6th Municipal District bounded by Caden Street, South Roman Street, South Prius Street and Upper Lime Street. Municipal address 3200 Caden Street and otherwise to provide with respect there to zoning docket number 6526. Ordinance calendar number 35,543 by Councilmember Willard. An ordinance to amend and ordain section 70-521 through 70-532 within Division 6 of Article 4 of Chapter 70 of the Code of the City of New Orleans to implement standards for contractor responsibilities subject to contract executed by the City of New Orleans to clarify administrative and enforcement processes and otherwise to provide with respect there to. That concludes the ordinances on first reading. Orders of business. Third order of business. We have a presentation. Recognization of James Mays and the M-Line Foundation's inaugural Designer Kids to LA Fellowship cohorts. Speakers James Mays, founder and creator, director of M-Line and founder and president of M-Line Foundation. Designer Kids to LA Fellowship student entrepreneurs. Italy Schaff, Selma High School, Akai Phoenix at Nicar High School, Larray Celestine, the Willow School, New Orleans, Aubrey Smith, Hariburn High School, Kayden Banks at Nicar High School, Gerard Watson, McDonough 35 College Preparatory High School, Skyler Merchant, the Willow School, New Orleans, and Quintel Johnson at Nicar High School. Recognizing James Mays, founder of the M-Line Foundation and creative director of M-Line for his visionary leadership and commitment to expanding opportunities for young creatives through fashion, entrepreneurship, and workforce development. The New Orleans City Council will also recognize the inaugural cohort of the Design Kids to LA Fellowship honoring eight outstanding student fashion designers and creative entrepreneurs for their achievements in design, brand development, and innovation. Thank you Madam Clerk. James, excited to have you here today. Proud to recognize you, president of M-Line, creative director of M-Line, along with your inaugural Designer Kids to LA Fellowship cohort. Welcome to City Hall. Welcome to the City Council. We have an incredible group of young designers and I'm going to turn it over to you guys in a minute in case you have some, you know, want to share some words with us. But through this fellowship, these young designers have the opportunity to learn from industry professionals like James to explore the business of fashion and entrepreneurship, develop their own brands, and gain real world experience that can help shape their futures and our future. Programs like Designer Kids to LA are important because talent is everywhere in this city and opportunities like this help bring that talent to life. New Orleans has always been a special place of creativity, talent, and entrepreneurial spirit. We must continue creating pathways for our young people to thrive right here in the city of New Orleans. Congratulations to each one of you and to James.

Thank you for creating this opportunity for our youth and investing in the next generation of young entrepreneurs right here in the city of New Orleans. We're proud to recognize your hard work today and we cannot wait to see what comes next from you and your team. With that, I'll turn it over to you to share a few words with the council and if any of your fellowship cohort would like to speak, we'll entertain that as well. Then we'll let the council members up here share a few thoughts and then we'll come down and take a picture. Thank you again for coming down today. All right, good morning. First off, thank you. Good morning to the distinguished council members. Thank you, Council Member Wheeler, for the opportunity to come before today. It is truly an honor to share the work we are doing through M-Line and the M-Line Foundation to uplift and inspire young fashion designers in our city. I am James Mays, president and CEO of M-Line. Our mission is to create access, exposure, and meaningful opportunities for young creatives. Recently, we had the privilege to take a group of talented students to Los Angeles for a transformative fashion education experience and an experience that helped shape our new Designer Kids to LA Fellowship, designed to expand pathways for youth designers and future entrepreneurs. I want to give a heartfelt thank you to our M-Line followers, supporters, customers, and employees. Your commitment to investing in high-quality fashion allows M-Line to invest directly into our young people. Your support truly fills the programs and makes moments like this possible. We could not do this work without you. Today, I am proud to introduce several of the remarkable students who participated in the fellowship. Their talent, discipline, and creativity represent the exciting future for fashion in New Orleans. Thank you again, Vice President Willard and members of the Council for recognizing these youth designers and for supporting initiatives and broadening opportunity for our young people. We look forward to continuing this work and building even greater pathways for the next generation of creatives. At this time, I would love to invite our Designer Kids to introduce themselves, and if they choose, share a little bit about their experience with the LA Fellowship. Sounds good. Who wants to start? Hello, everybody. My name is Akai Phoenix, and like he stated, I'm a part of the Fellowship of Designer Kids to LA, and the program was excellent overall. How you all doing? My name is Italy Sheaf. My name is Italy Sheaf. A little bit about your experience. The experience was nice, and I'm looking forward to dropping a unique clothing brand out this year. What kind of brand? A unique clothing brand. Clothing, all right. Look forward to that. My name is Quintrell Johnson. The experience was very nice. It definitely heightened my knowledge. My name is Larray Celestine. I really enjoyed this trip, and I learned a lot of knowledge I would take throughout the years. Thank you. My name is Gerard Watson, and I want to say I truly appreciate James for this opportunity, and it was a wonderful experience, and I feel like everyone should try to join next year. My name is Caden Banks, and I'm a part of the program, and this program really opened my eyes to how fashion really works in the real world, and how everything is really orchestrated. Thank you all for introducing yourself. So I'm just to give you all a little insight about the Designer Kids program. The program was created to give all of these students a basic course on fashion design. Each one of them have their own clothing brand, and we chose the graduating class of 2027, while they were juniors, to be able to jumpstart them into the real world before they graduate high school. So the idea is to, you know, help them create the LLCs, EINs, get a business bank account, and actually, well two of them actually have a brand already, but so they really want to build more knowledge on their clothing brand, I mean, create fashion brands, but I wanted to get the kids jumpstarted before they go to college, so once they graduate and go into the real world, they have something to pour their time into, you know what I'm saying, create the opportunities for their friends, their families, or whoever that's around them, you know what I'm saying. I worked in LA for my first five years. I produced my brand in LA, so I used my resources to take them to different fashion houses and different manufacturers to show them what it's like to create a fashion brand from scratch and be hands-on with it. So that's the idea of the whole fashion program. Over the course of the next seven to eight months, we'll have about maybe three to four more events to know with them, so we're going to be working with them throughout the whole senior year, just making sure they stay on track, and at the end of the year, we'll have maybe a fashion show and a Design the Kids to LA pop-up so they could be able to sell their first collection. Well, I would just ask that you keep us informed of everything that you do moving forward, especially if you guys do a pop-up and a fashion show. I'm sure a lot of us on the council would love to be there. James, I want to thank you for pouring back into this city, for pouring into our youth to try to create more pathways for entrepreneurship. That way, you're in charge of your fate, you're in charge of your destiny, and starting them from the ground up. Just, you know, create a bank account, get your LLC registered, the ins and outs, the fundamentals, that's very important. So you're filling a big gap there, so I just want you to know that we really appreciate that and are grateful for everything that you do, so if you need any support from the council, please let us know. I also want to thank all the family and the parents that are in attendance today. Thank you all for supporting the dreams of your kids.

That's one thing that I wish we could do more in this city, support the dreams of our kids. With that, I'll turn it over to Councilman Green. Thank you very much, James Mays, and thank you for bringing the young people here to our council meeting. I'm honored to be here. I'm always honored when we have an opportunity to recognize young people who are doing positive work, entrepreneurship and creative design, and I look forward to you all, in time, applying your trade right here in New Orleans. We need to build a fashion area in New Orleans, you know, where designers are collaborating with each other. Maybe it can be part of our university system or something, but the main thing is is that you, James, and you, young people, and the parents, are here in support of what is a great program. It's always great to celebrate young people and what you're doing, and so to each of you all, I just say congratulations and keep it up, and know that the city of New Orleans is strongly supportive of what you're doing because you're helping to build a strong foundation for our future growth in our city through your entrepreneurship and investment. Thank you very much, Mr. Mays. Thank you, all. James, first of all, let me congratulate you, brother, on building a very, very quality brand. As soon as I get off of furlough, I'm gonna come support you, but I'm, I'm a, It seems like that won't be any time soon. On my public servant salary, I can't do that right now, but seriously, you've created a lot of positive buzz throughout the city, and I just want you to know personally how proud I am of you. To all of our young entrepreneurs at the table, let me just say from the bottom of my heart how proud I am of you, and as you continue to navigate, James, first of all, no matter how high you've climbed, you've poured back. I appreciate that, and now, young people, as you climb, you're gonna have to pour back, and unfortunately, in this journey we call life, you're gonna encounter some naysayers and some dream stealers. Don't let them knock y'all off y'all game, all right? Just stay true to your dreams and go and achieve them, and to brother Watson, you're a fellow round eagle, so we stick together, so I'm particularly proud to see you at the table, and rooting for you and rooting for you all, so congratulations, and look forward to the pop-up, and look forward to big things that's gonna come from each of you. Thank y'all for coming out. I call you M-Lion, I'm not sure why. Well, Mr. James, once again, the Mays family represents the best of the culture that this city has to offer, whether it's music, whether it's clothing, so thank you for carrying that torch. To our youth, you have a chance, an opportunity to learn from the very best, you don't have to go all around the country, all around the world, you can learn from the very best right here in this city, so please, please take advantage of it, and like Council Member Hughes said, you're gonna have bumps in the road, you're gonna have challenges, you're gonna have naysayers, you're gonna feel like giving up, but I always say, when you're ready to give up, that's right around the corner is your biggest success, so never give up on yourself and continue to do great work and continue to represent this city and yourself, and the way you're doing it right now, thank you. Well, thank you, Council Member Willard, for bringing this, and thanks to you all for being here and participating. I mean, I think this is such an art form that we don't have a lot of here, we don't have really many programs that have fashion design or the business aspect of it, and so it's a great opportunity to keep, you know, so many artists, they grow up here and then they leave here and they don't come back, or they do come back, but they're not contributing necessarily in a way like you are by providing workforce development and opportunities for young kids to learn about something that they are interested in, and they don't have to travel far from home, they can have that education and build their businesses right here at home, and that's really what, you know, we want to happen, we want the youth to grow up here and come here and live here and stay here and grow their businesses here, so I appreciate you all, congratulations, and I look forward to seeing all the work that you are gonna continue to do, and please let us know how we can help you as well. Thank you. All right, thank you, James, we're gonna come down, we have a proclamation for you, we're gonna come down and get some pictures, all right? All right, so thank you all to the council members, and special thank you to all the parents and the chaperones that helped put this together. Give us a plug, what's the address of the store? What's your store address? My store address is 1000 South River. Thank you, thank you. I'm glad to meet you, James. All right. Well, look, I can adjust that, don't worry. First order of business, presentation, Young Leadership Council 40th Anniversary, presented Allison Holtard, Executive Director, Eric S. Bergeon, Board President. Second order of business, presentation, Tanya B. Wilson, recognizing Ms. Tanya B. Wilson for her 38 years of dedicated services to the City of New Orleans Department of Finance, Bureau of Revenue. Ms. Wilson has faithfully served the Department of Finance, Bureau of Revenue as a tax collection supervisor. Her last day of service with the City of New Orleans will be September 1st, 2026. Thank you, Madam Clerk. Today I have the singular honor of recognizing Ms. Tanya B. Wilson for her almost four decades of dedicated service to the City of New Orleans, State of Louisiana, but currently the Department of Finance, Bureau of Revenue. Now, if you know Ms. Tanya, you know that she believes in letting her work speak for herself. But you also know that Ms. Tanya is not afraid to speak for herself. And when Ms.

Tanya begins a sentence with, respectfully, you already know she has something to say. They joke with me, Ms. Tanya, that when I begin a sentence with, let me be clear, that I have something to say, too. I've also recently learned that Ms. Tanya has been joking about taking my job as the District East City Council person. So Ms. Tanya, let me just say, be careful what you ask for. I've had to learn that the hard way. Apparently, you just never told me that yet, but that's all right. So as you enter retirement, I'll be watching you with a very careful and keen eye, but I'll also be calling upon you to partner with you because we can use all the help that we can get as we're striving to move District E forward. All jokes aside, Ms. Tanya's strong work ethic and commitment to public service have carried her throughout her incredible 38-year career, beginning her journey with the Department of Children and Family Services, the department where my mother also worked, and concluding it with the Department of Finance in our amazing city. Beyond her career, the most important title that you probably hold is that of mother. And we know that your amazing daughter, Candice, is truly the apple of your eye. When Ms. Tanya's not working, she enjoys socializing, trying new foods. So we're going to have to go to a couple of amazing restaurants in District E. And it's my understanding that you love a good margarita. So I think you are more than prepared, Ms. Tanya, to enjoy your retirement. Ms. Tanya, after 38 years of dedicated service, you have certainly earned this next chapter in your life. Your work has spoken for itself. Your personality has made a lasting impression. And your service has created a legacy, most certainly worthy of this recognition today. It is my high honor to recognize Ms. Tanya Wilson for 38 years of dedicated service. And I have a couple of presentations to make in a second, but Ms. Tanya, let me just say you represent the best of New Orleans. And when people consider somebody to be a public servant, they think of elected officials. But I tell people on a daily basis, you don't have to be elected to serve. And some of the most impactful public servants throughout the city are those that have never had their name appear on the ballot box. So from the bottom of my heart, on behalf of the residents of District E and all of the residents of the city of New Orleans, thank you for all that you have contributed to our amazing city. And I look forward to celebrating with you as you enter retirement. My colleagues will have some words to say in a second, but I see Ms. Romey and your colleagues, so I'll let you all say a few words. And then Ms. Tanya, we're going to put you on the spot. We know you have no problem speaking, so all right. Romey Samuel, Collective Revenue. I'd just like to congratulate Tanya. I've been asking her for close to a year. She's changed her mind. She has not. But you don't realize the unsung heroes and the importance and the value that individuals bring, the professionalism that they bring to a job. Tanya is that person. Tanya is integral in moving millions of dollars in her responsibility in the Revenue Accounting Unit of sales tax dollars to contribute to the general fund. It is individuals, her team, and Mr. Leal, who manages that area, that make the money move. So, you know, quietly, I can't, wait, let me back up, I'm sorry. Not quietly. She does an exceptional job and has done for as long as I've known her, which has been well over 25, 26 years. She's always willing to work. Now, she will give you some, you know, kind words in her tone, but she's always been committed to this city, and we thank her for her service and wish her the very best in her next endeavors. Thank you. Is your daughter here today, Ms. Tanya? She's at school. Okay, no worries. Yes, Leonard Leal. Just want to thank Tanya for her hard work, dedication, and service. She's been a very good employee, always hard working, always short, very punctual, stays late whenever needed, always there to help out. So, really appreciate her service. Thank you very much. Ms. Tanya, the lady of the hour, the floor is yours. First of all, I want to thank God for even allowing me to be here at this point. Like they say, I love the work that I do. I love my city. I thank you for acknowledging this right now because I could have just walked on out here. I could have been carried out here. I could have been thrown out here, but I got the opportunity to walk out here after 38 years, and I'm so grateful for that opportunity. I'm grateful to be a servant to my city because I love this city. I'm grateful for that. I have been an advocate for civil service, the rights of the employees. I've fought many fights to keep us where we need to be. For the mere reason I've been a part of civil service, I've been a part of the bumping system. I've been, they sent me out the door because I was in band three instead of one and two, but they had to call me back. Everybody got fired before me, so they called me back. So I've been a part of all that. I love the civil service part of it, and I love the service that we give to the city. Family. My daughter, of course, everything to me, but my revenue family. That's how you can come to work every day for 38 years and don't feel the pressure. You just come in with your family, and I appreciate that from them. You see them back there. They're here. We are truly a family, and you don't see that when you see us walking in a hall, in City Hall, but we truly back each other, and I love that about us. So, I said thank you, and I'll wait until you run for at-large. You don't even know what to say. We'll have that conversation over a margarita. Council Member Greene, followed by Council Member McHare. Tanya Wilson, you're opening up a whole lot with those comments.

Congratulations to you on 38 great years of service, and you're somebody whose name I'm going to use when I'm talking to other people out there about why they should work for the City of New Orleans, because it can be a great place to work. You can meet a lot of good people, and you almost become like family to you. 38 years. 32 years ago, I served as the head of economic development under Mayor Morial, and so I had a lot more interactions with the Department of Finance, but I know that the job you all do, it doesn't get a lot of attention, but it's a very difficult job at times, and you have immense responsibilities. I know that you've seen a lot over those 38 years, but thank you for staying with the City of New Orleans, working through the challenges that we've had back then that we have now. I know we have issues now that are bigger, but we've had problems in the past, and they've been worked out well because folks like you have been committed. So to your family, thank you for sharing Tanya Wilson with us for all these 38 years, and thank you for all that you are going to continue to do, because I know that you're going to still be involved with the City of New Orleans. You started off talking about how much you enjoy the city. We appreciate that. Thank you very much, and congratulations. Well, Ms. Tanya, congratulations. I mean, 38 years of public service is incredible, and you know, you said you did it because you love your city, and that's how every employee in this building that chooses to come work for the city and chooses a life of public service. They do it because they love their city. They love their family. They love their city, and that's an incredible, incredible thing, and we sure appreciate everything that you've done. I see your team is back there. I mean, the work that you do is evident because they are here supporting you and supporting you next to you as well. So we really appreciate your service, and I hope that you will do some fun, awesome things during your retirement and get to spend time with family, and we appreciate you very much. Thank you so much. Council Member King. All right. Good afternoon, Ms. Bilson. Congratulations. Thank you. 38 years is doing something that, for 38 years, means two things, that you love it and you're really good at it, and not only do you love it, you have a good team or family that supports you, and to have everyone come down here and sit for hours just to wait to get a chance to support you and to send you off in a grand fashion says a lot about the kind of person you are. So I'm assuming you started this job in 1987, if I'm correct. Well, that's the thing. I told you I was here, and they put me out and I had to come back, so yeah, it was 86. They put me out and I came back in 89. Well, just for a little idea of how long you've been around, I did a quick little search. Some of the top songs on the charts were bad by Michael Jackson when you started. I want to dance with somebody, Whitney Houston. The president was Ronald Reagan, and one of the top grossing movies of 1987 was Beverly Hill Cops 2. So you've seen quite a bit and you've been through quite a bit, but that just shows how great of a worker and an employee you are. When you lose somebody who's been somewhere for 87 years, you lose a lot of knowledge and wisdom. Hopefully whoever takes your place has just a little bit of that so the city doesn't miss a beat too much. Thank you. I think I did my best to pass it on. I think they'll be fine. Okay. Council President Morrell. Thank you. I just wanted to say, so 38 years, right? Yes. So did they kick you out because you lied about your age when you came in? You must have been a little tiny baby. No, I was in band three. Y'all had that band stuff. Y'all changed that. Y'all? I was, I was, I was, I was, I'm 48, so y'all definitely didn't include me, just saying. But no, I mean, it's just, it is a testament to your service how many people have turned out here today to support you and to really see you off in the most amazing way possible. I mean, it is hard in this day and age when you talk to people, especially in younger generations, the ideas of staying in one place for 38 years is alien to them. I'm sure your daughter's like, you've been in the same place 38 years? But to your point, I mean, we need to return to a place where you do have a work family, where you do feel like you're part of a larger effort to improve the lives of New Orleanians because the work you've done in finance, the work you've done to make sure that we are receiving the revenues necessary is how we provide all the services for the people that live here. Every success we've had, I mean, think about it. In the 1990s, when we were the crime capital of the universe, when we were trying to figure out a way how to fund NORD, how to fund NOPD, you were in the trenches helping find the money to have the resources to change the fate of the city. When you look at all the other crises, Katrina, you look at the crisis right now, in every one of those situations, you've been in the trenches trying to help find the revenue to make the city move forward. And though, as Council Member Hughes said, you're not an elected official, you're not on TV, you're not any of those things, without the work you do, nothing else is possible. And I mean, I cannot, I hope today you see as a token of our appreciation because we can't really give you anything to show how much we appreciate you. This is just a token of our appreciation, this kind of hearing and the proclamations and the like. I think the testament to who you are is all the people out here who are in support of you and who are going to remember you and honor you and take from you the lessons to continue doing the great job you've done. And hopefully you've trained a whole lot of people to replace you. I have. All right, Ms. Todd. Thank you, colleagues. Mr.

Wilson, today, on behalf of the entire City Council, we have not one but two proclamations signed by all of the City Council members. We also have some sunflowers for you because we want to give them to you while you can still smell them. Number one and number two, sunflowers represent longevity. And to your finance family who's watching every penny, these were not paid for with taxpayer dollars. So let me put that on the record. So we celebrate you, we congratulate you, and we thank you for your service. We're going to come down and take a picture with you, Ms. Romey, so we can balance it out. You might be moving on beside Ms. Wilson, but y'all stay where you are. Thank you so much. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. All right, first order of business, presentation, Young Leadership Council 40th Anniversary, Madison Holter, Executive Director, Erika S. Bergeon, Board President. Celebrating 40 years, the YLC has played a vital role in developing young civic leaders throughout the City of New Orleans area while creating a meaningful community impact through volunteerism, public engagement, and leadership development. Since its founding in 1986, YLC has connected thousands of emerging leaders to opportunities that strengthen our city and region. All right, well thank you everyone and thanks to you all for being here. Young Leadership Council has been a huge part of the city for 40 years and really a huge part of my life. Part of the reason I am here today on this dais is because of Young Leadership Council. I got involved when I was a financial advisor with Prudential. I started as a volunteer like many of you have and many others that work in this building. We started out as volunteers for Power Ties and Kevin Ferguson, who I know, he couldn't make it down. He's upstairs saving the city as well. He was a project leader and he said, Amy, I think you'd be great at being a project leader. So I said, all right, I'll be a project leader. And then Joe G. Russo, who is also in this building, played a pivotal role in that by saying you should really join the board when you get a chance. And so that is the leadership continuum that we talk about so much within Young Leadership Council. And I think inherently we create it by being leaders ourselves and saying, who in this group can we build up to the next level and continue to help them build up to the next level? And that's really what we need in this city. We need that leadership continuum to constantly be saying public service and civic engagement and involvement is really what New Orleans needs for its young people. It's a great way to get engaged, especially for people that maybe have just moved here and don't know a lot of folks. So I will let you guys take it away. I know Erica and we've got some, Allison, you've got some comments here and then I'll let the council members speak and then we have a proclamation for y'all as well. Member McCarron for this recognition and good afternoon, council members. Thank you so much. It's really been an honor to be the president of YLC during this 40th anniversary. And I'm joined by, as you mentioned, multiple board members and our staff. So if I can introduce them for a second. So Josie Delon is our immediate past president. Elizabeth Umont is our incoming president. Sydney Kastner is our 40th anniversary extraordinaire. Allison Hotard is our executive director. We have a staff of two people. Marissa Hogan is here taking photos. Anna Munoz is a board member and leads the Power Ties effort. Leo John Arnett is our vice president of development. And Jack Torres is on our board, a former project leader who led our YLC recycles initiative. We, YLC, as you mentioned, we're a non-profit, non-partisan civic organization. And our goal is to provide leadership development opportunities for the purpose of retaining young professionals in the city. And just from a personal experience, I was born and raised in New Orleans, but starting a professional life and career here is different. And I was in a great job and I enjoy my job, but I was really looking for that something extra to feel really ingrained in the city. And YLC has been the perfect place for me to feel like I'm meeting folks who are doing amazing other industries in the city. Like you mentioned, we have a lot of folks who are here from out of town and really want to get ingrained. We have folks who have grown up here and want to find another way to really be involved and give back to the city. And especially in this post-COVID era, a lot of people who are working maybe for companies remotely in another state, but want to make sure that they feel really rooted. So we feel like that's a really important mission too, to make sure that those talented people want to stay here and feel that they're really ingrained in our industry here. So thank you very much for this recognition. And I just want to echo Erica's words of saying thank you all very much for all the work you are doing right now for the city to keep it running. The things that you do and show up every day are so important and we're so grateful for all the work that you are all doing to help our city. We, in return, want to help the city also by retaining young professionals and being the voice of young professionals, to let people know that you can live and work here in the city of New Orleans. Awesome. Oh, I do want to mention too, the reason why we have the bridge lights on the Crescent City Connection. I just forgot. I had like points and then I was just like, all right. And Proud to Call it Home obviously are the two biggest campaigns that Young Leadership Council is known for. So with that, I will go down the row and start with Council Member King.

Well, look, it was started in 1986 from the look of the crowd, either everyone was one or two, or maybe not born in 1986, but as it shows, again, if you can stick around for 40 plus years, you're doing something right. So thank you for your leadership and thank you for telling us we're doing a good job. We don't always get that good work that you all are doing for the city. Appreciate it. Thank you. I've had the opportunity over the years to work with YLC in a variety of capacities. I remember distinctly working with YLC when the CAO was on the board of YLC. And I can tell you that I feel like sometimes when I'm dealing with YLC people, it's sort of like Jesuit people. Like when you meet them, the first thing they name drop is I'm on the YLC. I never had the opportunity to be on it, probably because Joe didn't want me on it, but it is a fantastic organization. You give so much back to the city and it's very seldom we have organizations that are constantly offering themselves up, not just for service, but for solutions, because as you said with the bridge lighting, the bridge lighting, after Katrina, the bridge lights were out, while everyone was trying to figure out how to get them back on, YLC stepped up and said, we'll just do it. And they didn't just light them initially. You guys have consistently been involved in finding the permanent solution to bridge lighting. Everyone loves going to Wednesdays on the Square, right? But what people don't realize is that it isn't just a celebration, it's bringing young professionals together to network. And I know so many people that, like you said, were unmoored professionals who moved to New Orleans as a young person. People think college is when you become an adult, but I would say, honestly, when you move to a foreign city, not knowing a single person, that's really when you become an adult. And YLC has been such a tremendous asset in helping people who are young future leaders find community and find a purpose in the city of New Orleans, and we appreciate what you do. Thank you. Kevin Ferguson, come up here. Kevin Ferguson, we're not letting you get off that easy. Come on. I already gave you your shout out, though. But quickly, let me just echo everything that's already been said. And obviously, as citizens, one of the greatest responsibilities that we possess is to be engaged civically. And so I really appreciate that YLC strongly promotes civic engagement. And just want to thank you all for your dedication to the city of New Orleans, all of your great programming from your mentorship programming. Wednesdays at the Square is one of my favorite times of the year. So thank you all for doing that. And just thank you all for being partners with us in the best of times and in the worst of times. So thank you. I'll also say thank you to two very important words for the work that you've done over the last 40 years. You've helped a lot of people feel very good about being in our city of New Orleans, whether they came here from somewhere else or whether they grew up here. By joining YLC and participating in the activities, especially the civic engagement activities, they've gained an appreciation of our city. And I just say thank you for having done that. Actually, YLC is the oldest organization in the nation in terms of what you do, encouraging young folks, especially in that age group, to stay and get involved. So I thank you very much. It's kind of special to be here before you all, celebrating with you, knowing that you did it before anybody else in the nation. And I bet people are copying you throughout the nation, right? We think so. Greatest form of flattery, right? The greatest form of flattery. Congratulations. Thank you for all that you do. And I look forward to the next 40 years. I'm going to be around. We do. We would be remiss to say that we are having an event October 8th, and if any of you would like to join us, please let us know. The answer is yes. Okay, wonderful. Well, thank you all. We have a proclamation. We'll come down and take a picture and give you this. Thank you. Move that we adjourn. Second. Second.