Letters: Glad more NOLA citizens looking at what kind of government they want

By Rebecca Mowbray

Source: The Times-Picayune | Nola.com

January 11, 2024

The Nov. 28 column by former mayor Sidney Barthelemy and assessor Erroll Williams makes some vital points about the need to review the City of New Orleans’ governing structure.

At the Bureau of Governmental Research, we want local government to be more effective, efficient, transparent, accountable and responsive to citizens. We were troubled by the results of a Faucheux Strategies survey that found 85% of city voters do not believe they’re getting the services they pay local government for. Citizens deserve to have a government that works.

But we were heartened to learn that former mayor Barthelemy and assessor Williams are calling for an independent, third-party study of the structure of New Orleans government to look for more effective ways of managing the public’s affairs.

On May 30, BGR hosted a webinar with national experts who explored the two main forms of government used by large U.S. cities and discussed opportunities that could come with amending the city charter.

One style of municipal government is the mayor-council or “strong mayor” form, which is used in New Orleans and grants significant powers to the mayor as the chief executive. The other is the council-manager form, where the council is the city’s main governing body and appoints a manager to run day-to-day operations.

Some cities have switched forms over the years. Others have optimized their current form to better manage its benefits and risks.

BGR has no position on possible future changes to the City Charter. Our goal with the webinar was to inform public discussions.

We are thrilled that citizens are expressing interest in examining what form of government might serve our city best.

REBECCA MOWBRAY

president and CEO, Bureau of Governmental Research

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