(NEW ORLEANS) – Mayor Mitch J. Landrieu will vote “Yes” on 3 ballot measures today, according to the City of New Orleans’ communications department.
He said these 3 issues are critical to the future growth of New Orleans.
Mayor Landrieu will vote “Yes” to Constitutional Amendment 6.
According to the Mayor’s office, this amendment raises the cap on the millage dedicated to police and fire protection in Orleans Parish. This is not a tax increase. Instead, this amendment gives the City the same flexibility and authority that every other municipality already possesses. With its passage, in future years, the City Council can ask the voters of Orleans Parish to consider an increase to pay for enhanced police and fire protection. Under the existing law, the City of New Orleans cannot increase the millage dedicated to public safety to pay for more police officers.
Constitutional Amendment 6 has been endorsed by The Advocate, the Times-Picayune, the Gambit, the Shreveport Times, the Bureau for Governmental Research and the Council for a Better Louisiana.
Mayor Landrieu will also vote for the Law Enforcement District Proposition.
According to the Mayor’s office, this proposition allows the City of New Orleans to pay for the Orleans Parish Sheriff’s Office consent decree without raising taxes or cutting services.
This proposition will help the City pay for the consent decree with an existing millage – the 2.9 Law Enforcement District millage. Under current law, this revenue can only be spent to build things, but the City needs money to pay for operations at the jail.
With the passage of this proposition, the City will not collect any more taxes. Rather, the City will have the flexibility to spend tax dollars more wisely.
With its passage, as much as $8 million will be available in future years to pay for new court-ordered mental health treatment and medical care at the jail. However, if this proposition does not pass, the City still has to pay the bill. To pay for it, the City would have to cut city services.
Both the Sheriff and the Mayor are supporting this proposition. The Law Enforcement District Proposition has been endorsed by The Advocate, the Gambit, the League of Women Voters and the Bureau for Governmental Research.
Mayor Landrieu will also vote in favor of the City Charter Amendment on City Contracting.
According to the Mayor’s office, this Charter change will institutionalize the contracting reforms the Mayor put in place and enshrine the city’s disadvantage business enterprise (DBE) program in the charter. The goal is to level the playing field for small, local businesses and ensure that contracts are awarded based on what you know, not who you know. Without protection in the Charter, the next Mayor could reverse contracting reform and the disadvantaged business program could be eliminated with four votes and the stroke of a pen.
The City Charter Amendment on City Contracting has been endorsed by The Advocate, the Gambit, The Collaborative and the Bureau of Governmental Research.
