In The News › Orleans Parish

Speaking at a Bureau of Governmental Research breakfast Tuesday, Williams defended Mauberret’s assessment of the W Hotel, adding more fuel to the speculation that the outgoing 2nd District assessor would have a place in Williams’ office.

Newly elected citywide assessor Erroll Williams raised eyebrows at a recent Bureau of Governmental Research meeting when he launched into an unprompted defense of 2nd District Assessor Claude Mauberret’s appraisal of the W Hotel in the French Quarter.

The new mayor will need to bring residents back, lower crime and improve public education, said Janet Howard, chief executive officer of the Bureau of Governmental Research, a non- partisan public policy research group in New Orleans.

The trade group has asked for a $6.2 million payment to terminate its lease of the building: $5 million that it was supposed to receive from the most recent failed redevelopment efforts, plus the $1.2 million lease termination payment that the Bureau of Government Research had suggested in a report last year.

“The whole point of consolidating assessors was to institute a new system, to reform the system, to ensure that everyone is paying on the same basis,” said Janet Howard, president and CEO of the Bureau of Governmental Research, a nonpartisan think tank. “One of the questions voters need to pose is, when someone claims they are going to adopt reform is, why didn’t they do it before?”

“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.”

Clarkson and others, including the nonprofit Bureau of Governmental Research, believe the city should rid itself of largely vacant skyscraper by selling it.

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.

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.

“We don’t believe that giving out grants to individual businesses is wise. It leaves you very exposed to the risk of patronage,” says BGR’s Janet Howard.

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

“Let’s face it, whether it be the Metropolitan Crime Commission, whether it be the BGR (Bureau of Governmental Research), whether it be the public-private Horizon Initiative to outsource (the economic development) element of government, whether it be outsourcing an element of NORD (the city’s Recreation Department), all of a sudden what the plan appears to be is that they want to in essence neuter African-American (political) power and then have economic leadership stay in the hands of the minority as opposed to the majority, the minority in this case being the white community,” Henry said. “We have to do better than that.”

Gressett explained that if elected assessor, he’ll structure the staff, and make other changes, along the recommendations of the city’s most prominent good government group. “I believe the Bureau of Governmental Research has outlined in their December report ‘In All Fairness’, a blueprint for the organizational structure of the new office into three main offices: appraisal, administration and technology.”

Bishop Paul Morton of Greater St. Stephen Full Gospel Baptist Church was angry with Nagin’s pledge to sign contract reform proposed by the Bureau of Governmental Research. Morton publicly called it a “slave contract” and sent the mayor-elect a letter claiming “that the majority of the African-Americans in this city are disappointed because our candidate of choice did not win.”

Forward New Orleans, a coalition of 30 civic and business groups, has released the results of its push to get all of the candidates for City Council to sign onto its seven-part reform agenda for the city.

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.

Some New Orleans homeowners in Lakeview are taking 7th District Property Assessor Henry Heaton to task.

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.

Praising Louisianians’ “unbelievable resilience and perseverance” in recovering from Hurricane Katrina, a Washington Post editorial writer said Tuesday that most Americans still have “a reservoir of goodwill” toward the still-struggling region.

Persuading candidates, especially front-runners, to sign a pledge vowing to undertake a particular reform can be an uphill battle. Getting the winner to live up his or her commitment can be even harder.

The Industrial Development Board of New Orleans is expected to get an earful today at a public hearing about a property tax break given to the developers of the Hyatt hotel last month even though the board’s own advisers say it was excessive.

One month after City Council members approved a 96 percent pay increase for themselves and a 6.5 percent increase for the mayor, plus an annual increase of 2.5 percent, they are considering a budget proposal by Mayor Ray Nagin that would cut the salaries of City Hall employees by at least 4.6 percent.

I have a dog. He’s a pretty good dog. He’s a good companion; he’s friendly. But he’s a pretty lousy watchdog.

When members of the New Orleans City Planning Commission decided Tuesday to postpone for a month their scheduled vote on the city’s proposed master plan, they were worried how City Council members might respond.

One thing that cannot be disputed about the latest draft of the city’s proposed Master Plan is that it’s a monster-sized document. The plan comprises three volumes and hundreds of pages. As experts and citizens consider the efficacy of the plan, a threshold issue is: How long should the deliberative process take? Earlier this month, the nonprofit Bureau of Governmental Research (BGR), a local government watchdog, released a study criticizing the plan and suggested that the process be slowed down so shortcomings in the current draft can be corrected. “At this point, it is more important to get it right than to get it done quickly,” BGR concluded. We agree — up to a point.

City workers could face a possible 12-day, unpaid furlough as part of a way to bridge an expected $68 million budget deficit in the upcoming year, according to sources.

A philosophical clash over the city’s master plan is surfacing among authors of the plan’s current draft and those who helped craft the 2008 city charter amendment that gives the plan legal force.

The litigation involving the latest failed bid to redevelop the World Trade Center building has been settled, raising questions about whether the city and trade club will continue with the same approach that they’ve been trying since 1998 to redevelop the building, which remains largely empty.

The legal power afforded to the city’s master plan is driving a gap between expectations and what planners say is reality in New Orleans.

New Orleanians can’t express informed opinions on the city’s proposed master plan if they haven’t seen the entire document.

A nationally known urban planner hired by the Bureau of Governmental Research panned New Orleans’ proposed master plan Tuesday, saying the latest draft would be the longest master plan in America yet would fail to provide basic guidance on land-use issues.

New Orleans residents got their first chance to sound off on the first draft of the city’s new master plan.

The city’s draft master plan is “so deficient that it would be a mistake to adopt it.”

A government watchdog group on Monday called on the City Planning Commission to postpone public meetings on New Orleans’ master plan, including two this week, until the entire document is available for review.

Even before it opened in July, renters were anxious to land an apartment in Walnut Square, a new mixed-income apartment complex in eastern New Orleans.

After more than two hours of debate that divided longtime allies and created some of the strangest political bedfellows in memory, the New Orleans City Council voted 6-1 Thursday to authorize millions of dollars in tax breaks for a team of businessmen hoping to redevelop the mostly empty site of the former Lake Forest Plaza mall in eastern New Orleans.

A controversial tax break to fund the redevelopment of an eastern New Orleans mall won approval from the New Orleans City Council today, even thought the council member in whose district the mall resides voted against it.

After hours of apparently tense closed-door negotiations, the leader of an effort to redevelop the site of the former Lake Forest Plaza mall in eastern New Orleans said late today that he expects the New Orleans City Council to vote Thursday to approve a significant tax break for the project.

The council will once again take up the issue of a high-profile tax break. It would help a developer who says his vision will dramatically transform what used to be the Lake Forest Plaza.

Before New Orleans City Councilwoman Cynthia Willard-Lewis supports a tax break for the former Lake Forest Plaza mall, developers and the city are going to have to answer some questions — quickly.

Councilwoman Cynthia Willard-Lewis, a major supporter of efforts in her district to redevelop the defunct Lake Forest Plaza into a modern lifestyle mall, has asked Mayor Ray Nagin to get more detailed information on the proposal and more assurances that the project will move forward as pitched.

Before New Orleans City Councilwoman Cynthia Willard-Lewis supports a tax break for Lake Forest Plaza mall, the developers and the city are going to have to answer some questions.

The office produced few results under Mr. Cerasoli and even less under Mr. Odom, and New Orleanians expect and need a more active office in the future. For example, the Bureau of Governmental Research, a non-profit private watchdog, has been more productive uncovering government waste and inefficiencies — even though BGR has fewer than a third the staffers and budget of the inspector general’s office.

Over the objections of developer Cesar Burgos, the City Council deferred action Thursday on a tax break that Burgos has said he needs to redevelop the mostly vacant site of the former Lake Forest Plaza mall in eastern New Orleans.

The rebuilding of eastern New Orleans is vital to the city’s ongoing recovery, and city officials are right to look for ways to spark economic development there. But the deal being proposed by developers who want to use a portion of sales tax revenues to remake Lake Forest Plaza isn’t a smart way to achieve that goal.

A formal report by the Bureau of Governmental Research says that the proposed Lake Forest Plaza tax increment financing district that will be considered by the City Council Thursday is “fraught with problems.”

On Wednesday, the Bureau of Governmental Research released a report blasting the subsidy, saying tax dollars would be used to “pay for private problems.”

A plan to use taxpayer money to develop a new mall at the site of the old Lake Forest Plaza, while touted as an effort to benefit New Orleans East residents, is actually a plan to benefit the property owners, according to the non-partisan Bureau of Governmental Research.

If the defunct Lake Forest Plaza shopping mall is transformed into a modern lifestyle center, it will have a positive effect on sales and property tax collections in the city as it recaptures retail spending from other parishes, according to an economic impact study commissioned by the developers.

When the developers of Lake Forest Plaza mall go before the New Orleans City Council this week to request a subsidy to refurbish the shuttered site, they have a new economic impact study to support their request.

Developers who plan to overhaul Lake Forest Plaza mall, an 81-acre eastern New Orleans shopping venue that has been shuttered since Hurricane Katrina, envision a sparkling new mall complete with big-box retail, restaurants, a police substation and an amphitheater.

On Thursday, the New Orleans City Council is expected to consider a proposal to use future tax revenue to help transform the site of the defunct Lake Forest Plaza mall into a modern shopping center called the New Orleans East Marketplace.

Unveiling the most detailed plans yet for their proposed redevelopment of the mostly vacant site of the former Lake Forest Plaza mall in eastern New Orleans, developers Cesar Burgos and Ashton Ryan appeared to win several City Council members’ endorsement Tuesday for a tax break needed to let them move forward.

After three years of study and discussion, New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin said Friday that he has issued an executive order establishing a city policy on use of tax increment financing.

The Orleans Parish School Board Financial Working Group is an independent group consisting of experts in education, law, facilities and finance put together by the Scott S. Cowen Institute for Public Education Initiatives in October 2008. The Working Group members include Grover Austin, Rick Conway, Leslie Jacobs, Janet Howard, David Marcello, Farhad Patel, Cleland Powell and me.

Lake Forest Plaza moved a stop closer to revival on Friday, when a public agency agreed to use sales tax collections to help redevelop the eastern New Orleans shopping center, located in an area largely bereft of retail since Hurricane Katrina.

The Bureau of Governmental Research, a non-partisan, issues research organization in New Orleans, called Murray’s bill an “affront to the home rule charter” of the city.

New Orleans voters last fall approved a process to create a city master plan and opted to give the finished product the force of law.

The Bureau of Governmental Research, a nonprofit policy analysis group, says Murray’s bill conflicts with New Orleans’ home rule charter, which gives the city authority to make its own laws. In November, New Orleans voters approved an amendment to the charter to give the master plan the force of law once the plan is adopted.

The Bureau of Governmental Research is urging the Louisiana Legislature to reject three bills that would require voter approval of the city’s not-yet-written master plan before the plan could take effect.

New Orleans City Councilwoman Stacy Head wants to tweak a city program that gives property tax breaks to developers upgrading outdated properties, but a key development official says more significant changes are needed to make the incentive worthwhile.

With the board’s blessing, BGR began surveying what practices economic development boards in other cities have adopted for awarding tax breaks to housing developments, retail centers and other projects. Some of these practices will be a model for New Orleans.

The nonprofit research organization’s report, “The House that Uncle Sam Built: The Continued Expansion of Subsidized Housing in New Orleans,” found that the number of subsidized units in New Orleans jumped from 19,865 in 2005 to 23,999 in 2009, a 21 percent increase.

Group warns trend puts stress on city

The owner of Lake Forest Plaza agreed Friday to repay a delinquent loan he and his former business partners owe the city, while persuading Mayor Ray Nagin to pour additional public money into redeveloping the former shopping center.

After investigating what some called outrageous expenses at the offices of some Orleans Parish tax assessors, the WDSU I-Team looked into how money is spent at the largest of the parish’s seven tax districts.

Eyewitness News found that a Gentilly home owned by one of the city’s most powerful political families, the Morrells, is also on the city of New Orleans’ list for delinquent property taxes.

Attorney and Regional Transit Authority Chairman Cesar Burgos told a neighborhood group this month that he has stepped in as developer of Lake Forest Plaza, a former shopping center whose longtime owners were delinquent on a debt they owe the city.

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.

It always makes me feel good when BGR gets my back.

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.

A government watchdog group wants the City Council to change the law dealing with the way money from an economic development fund is allocated.

On Feb. 3, BGR sent a letter to Councilman Arnold Fielkow, Chairman of City Council’s Special Projects and Economic Development Committee, on the use and operation of the city’s Economic Development Fund.

Attorney General Buddy Caldwell has once again ruled that the New Orleans City Council is within its rights to demand Mayor C. Ray Nagin open the administration’s professional service contract review to public scrutiny.

The head of the New Orleans Building Corp. disagrees with a proposal by the Bureau of Governmental research to sell the city-owned World Trade Center building.

Here’s an option for the New Orleans World Trade Center, a city-owned building that is waiting to be redeveloped after efforts that began more than 10 years ago: Sell it.

Five months after a New York developer backed out of a 99-year lease for the World Trade Center, a watchdog group has issued a report urging the city to sell the building outright rather than pursue what it called another needlessly complex lease with a private investor.

Businessman Hans B. Jonassen was introduced as the new chairman of the Bureau of Governmental Research at a lunch meeting Monday in which the organization also honored Anne Milling and the Whitney National Bank for years of service to the good-government association.

Despite Louisiana Attorney General Buddy Caldwell’s Oct. 15 opinion that the City Council is well within its rights to create greater transparency in city contracting by opening the professional services procurement process to Open Meetings Law, Mayor C. Ray Nagin’s administration continues to fight that effort by asking the AG for a reconsideration.

Louisiana’s board of education unanimously approved a $2 billion school facilities plan for New Orleans, paving the way for the largest school building boom in the city’s history.

New Orleans voters narrowly agreed Tuesday to amend the City Charter to give the city’s forthcoming master plan the force of law, meaning that all zoning and land-use decisions will have to conform to the plan.

As planners create a blueprint for the future of public education in New Orleans, questions have arisen about where to find $1.2 billion to build it. But education leaders say ongoing construction projects are helping streamline the process and point to an affordable school building strategy.

School officials on Monday will unveil a revised school facilities master plan that shifts more projects into the first, five-year phase — the only portion of the sweeping plan currently fully financed — and defers decisions on closing four currently occupied campuses for several years.

As he seeks a 10th term from the 2nd District, U.S. Rep. William Jefferson has yet to draw an endorsement from a single local elected official. But it seems he can count on Mayor Ray Nagin’s vote Tuesday.

BGR questions the School Facilities Master Plan.

The city of New Orleans spends about $3 million every year fixing our streets, and in Baton Rouge they spend in the neighborhood of $26 million.

The Nov. 4 ballot presents Louisiana voters with much more than the all-
important contests for president, U.S. Senate and Congress.

When voters go to the polls Nov. 4, they will be greeted by seven little-heralded proposed changes to the state Constitution, including ones to limit the terms of 10 state boards, require the governor to give lawmakers more notice of a special session, and authorize a temporary replacement to fill a legislator’s seat if the incumbent is called to military duty for at least 180 days.

Recovery School District officials say they don’t need to have financing in place for their entire 20-year school construction program to start replacing aging and flood-damaged buildings.

Two independent groups on Wednesday raised red flags about the long-term financing behind the city’s ambitious and unprecedented school construction plan.

On Tuesday, November 4, New Orleans residents going to the polls will do more than elect the next president.

Virtually everyone living in New Orleans would agree its suffering streets are a major detriment to a
first-rate quality of life in the city. Understanding that is easy.

New Orleans City Council members spent more than an hour Thursday grilling Nagin administration officials about the city’s crime camera program, questioning whether the millions spent on the cameras were properly authorized and whether they have produced meaningful results.

New Orleans spends far too little money on maintaining its notoriously bad streets, but the city can do a better job even with its limited resources, a private, nonpartisan research organization said Tuesday.

Saturday is Election Day. Many of us will vote in a closed party primary for the first time.