New Orleans Mayor Helena Moreno, S&WB tangle over bill for local control

By Ben Myers

Source: The Times-Picayune | NOLA.com

April 9, 2026

The Sewerage & Water Board has come out against a legislative bill that would give the New Orleans City Council more control of it, despite Mayor Helena Moreno’s support for the measure.

House Bill 573, by state Rep. Stephanie Hilferty, R-Metairie, gives the council broad authority to reorganize the utility’s board, set water and sewer rates and resolve other matters. The bill is aimed at fixing a “misalignment” of S&WB funding and accountability stemming from its messy governing structure, as the Bureau of Governmental Research put it in a 2023 report.

But disagreement over the bill this week illustrated how the current setup, which forces the mayor into an awkward dual role as board president, can lead to conflicting political interests. The bill would transfer more authority to City Hall, but it’s not clear what that might entail. 

Utility officials in a 11-page letter to state lawmakers this week said the bill will subject the agency to unpredictable political whims and further weaken the S&WB’s already deteriorating financial standing.

“A model that is too easily altered by shifting political priorities may become unstable,” wrote S&WB Governance Committee Chair Courtney Scrubbs, before adding that the bill “moves too far toward fluidity in governance structure without adequate safeguards.”

Moreno assailed Scrubbs’ letter in a written statement on Wednesday, saying it “defends the status quo.”

“This is another example of continuing to do things the same way and expecting different results,” Moreno said, accusing Scrubbs of failing to “recognize that the Sewerage and Water Board currently is the top example of a governance disaster.”

Underscoring divides between the new mayor and the utility, S&WB Executive Director Randy Hayman said at a S&WB governance committee meeting on Wednesday that the city and the board should have separate representation at the State Capitol. 

“It is a unique situation to have a lobbyist that represents two parties. When we’re completely separate, it makes sense. When we have issues that are more concentric, it makes for questions sometimes,” Hayman said.

Asked afterward to clarify what he meant, Hayman said “it would be advantageous to have our own lobbyist” when the S&WB and City Hall disagree on legislative actions. He declined to discuss specific bills.

The lobbyist, Paul Rainwater, declined comment.

Moreno, S&WB disagree

Scrubbs and seven other S&WB members serve staggered, four-year terms, and most were appointed by former Mayor LaToya Cantrell. The board also welcomed Hayman during Cantrell’s tenure.

Moreno, who took office in January, has lamented that she does not have enough oversight over the embattled S&WB, a state-created agency that drew scrutiny this year after a series of bursting water mains caused four floods. Though Moreno serves as the board’s president under the current setup, existing state laws make it tougher for her to dismiss board members at will.

In 2023, the Bureau of Governmental Research, a good government watchdog, said the agency’s current setup gives lawmakers with little or no connection to New Orleans control over local water issues, and that the board should either be given far greater autonomy or fold completely into city government.

HB 573 would see the board get far less autonomy, with the bill in its current form giving the council wide latitude over any number of board policies, including rate setting, board makeup and billing. But Scrubbs cited a litany of concerns about the bill in her letter, saying it creates long-term uncertainty, which could sow doubt among utility bond investors and threaten capital financing.

“While intended to increase flexibility, this approach may have the unintended effect of reducing predictability in governance and oversight areas that are central to credit evaluation,” Scrubbs said. 

She cited recent rating agency actions, apparently referring to a pair of S&P Global Ratings downgrades – one for the drinking water system, the other for sewers – to BBB+, indicating moderate investor risk and likelihood of future downgrades.

The sewer system report on April 7 said S&WB revenue streams are “inherently unpredictable and subject to external decision-making, including possible interference at the city level.”

But if things remain as they are, Moreno wouldn’t actually appoint a majority of the board until her fourth year in office, she told WWL-AM radio host Newell Normand on Tuesday.

“All of the problems of the Sewerage & Water Board ultimately become the city’s problem to solve, yet I don’t have that much control,” Moreno said.

The board currently has three vacancies, including a seat reserved for a City Council member, according to its website. 

Moreno also told Normand that Cantrell should have appointed an interim executive director when the job became vacant last year, since Cantrell was term limited. Cantrell instead ordered a national search for a full-time executive, and Hayman came aboard in July.

Moreno, along with council members, haven’t shied away from criticizing Hayman, who has mostly sidestepped the barbs while insisting he and his agency are urgently seeking solutions to distressed infrastructure and funding challenges.

City Council President JP Morrell, a frequent S&WB critic, said in a social media video last month that S&WB is “an entrenched bureaucracy that promotes mediocrity.” He said Hilferty’s bill would “push the envelope.”

“If the City Council and the mayor are going to be held directly responsible for the performance of the New Orleans Sewerage and Water Board… then we need to have control over it to inject the urgency into it,” Morrell said.

Details needed

The bill is expected to narrow in on more specific oversight changes as it moves through the legislative process, but those haven’t been disclosed yet. Hilferty said in a text she expects amendments by the end of the week.

S&WB governance reform routinely comes up in annual state legislative sessions. Lawmakers over the years have tinkered with the board composition, but have yet to come up with a comprehensive solution to a problematic setup: The S&WB is a state agency with state regulations, while the City Council controls much of its funding.

Agency operations, meanwhile, are overseen by a citizen board primarily appointed by the mayor, who serves as board president. And the mayor is sometimes forced to choose between the priorities of City Hall and the S&WB, especially when it comes to sorting out the complex financial relationship between the city and utility.

The BGR executive director, Rebecca Mowbray, said more local control could potentially align funding and operational responsibility, as BGR called for in its 2023 report. She said it’s difficult to evaluate Hilferty’s bill without more details as to what the final version will look like.

“It’s maybe premature to be worried about the sky falling until there are actually hearings and amendments, and we find out more about what Representative Hilferty is trying to accomplish,” Mowbray said.

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