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“Further, I will seek the assistance and advice of respected civic groups like the Bureau of Governmental Research, Public Affairs Research Council, Council for a Better Louisiana, etc., to form a watch committee, similar to Court Watch. This committee will have full access to the methods used and the information obtained by the Assessor’s Office and will have my full cooperation in answering any questions regarding the performance of my office.”

Capella’s resolution calls for the crime commission, the Jefferson Business Council, the Bureau of Governmental Research and the East Jefferson and West Jefferson civic coalitions each to appoint one person to an advisory committee. It would help define the job of inspector general and recommend a source of money to run the office.

The Bureau of Governmental Research asked candidates to weigh in on the city’s budget, municipal services, infrastructure and blight. The group didn’t ask the candidates to make any promises, just to provide succinct answers to two questions per topic.

Capella’s resolution will call for a five-member committee to select the IG. The committee will be comprised of civic and business leaders, the Metropolitan Crime Commission and the Bureau of Governmental Research.

With Jefferson Parish mired in political scandal, Councilman Tom Capella called Thursday for an inspector general’s office shaped by independent government watchdogs…. The panel members would be picked by the Metropolitan Crime Commission, the Jefferson Business Council, the Bureau of Governmental Research and the East Jefferson and West Jefferson civic coalitions.

The resolution calls for the creation of a 5 member committee. The panel members would be chosen by 5 different organizations, including one that keeps a close eye on how taxpayer dollars are spent, the Bureau of Governmental Research.

The Bureau of Governmental Research has released the second part of a four-part series of questionnaires completed by the candidates for New Orleans mayor.

The Bureau of Governmental Research releases the first installment in a four-part Q&A series with mayoral candidates, “Questions for a New Mayor.”

The New Orleans mayor’s race will hold the main spotlight in the upcoming elections, and rightfully so as the voters’ choice could largely determine the outside world’s perception of the city for decades to come.

The Bureau of Governmental Research says the current seven-assessor system has been grossly inefficient and has produced inaccurate assessments, depriving the city of needed revenue. But the move to a one assessor system is not guaranteed to make things better.

Replacing New Orleans’ seven elected tax assessors with a single assessor was a triumph of civic activism, a sign that New Orleanians were determined not just to rebuild their city but to reform its government.

The Bureau of Governmental Research issued a report Monday urging the eventual winner of New Orleans’ first citywide assessor’s election to hire an expert staff and adopt the latest computer technology to correct a “grossly inefficient” system.

Mayor C. Ray Nagin’s new executive order regarding professional services contracts goes into effect Wednesday, and one particularly frightening detail for City Council Vice President Arnie Fielkow is the potential absence of a paper trail in the awarding process.

After nearly two hours of often racially charged debate about the desirability and implications of government transparency, the New Orleans City Council failed Thursday to override Mayor Ray Nagin’s veto of an ordinance requiring committees that rank would-be city vendors to meet in public.

Rather than comply with a unanimously approved ordinance requiring committees that recommend firms for certain city contracts to meet in public, New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin has announced plans to suspend the panels and give himself sole authority to evaluate such deals.

The City Council voted unanimously in favor of 100 percent transparency in city contracting, approving council Vice President Arnie Fielkow’s ordinance to open the city’s professional services contract selection process to the state’s open meetings law with a 7-0 vote.

St. Tammany President Kevin Davis told local business leaders Tuesday that he opposes term limits for members of the Parish Council and is against reducing the size of the parish governing body.

Reducing the size of the St. Tammany Parish Council and putting term limits on the parish governing body are the most-discussed elements of a package of proposed Home Rule Charter changes before the council.