Continuing a two-week trend of top city officials asking for more money in next year’s budget, leaders of both the Law and the Safety and Permits departments shook their tin cups Tuesday at a City Council budget hearing.
Sheriff Marlin Gusman would be willing to move away from being paid a daily rate by the city per inmate, he told a City Council budget hearing this afternoon.
The City Council focused on its public-safety budget today, scrutinizing the money it spends on its police and fire departments, ambulance, and emergency preparedness.
National attitudes are shifting on a particular set of issues, representing a long-term trend that will continue for generations -- and this may coincide with the “Kiss Cam” barrier being broken.
The New Orleans Police Department arrested 20,000 people needlessly on warrants last year at a cost to taxpayers of almost $2 million, said Police Superintendent Ronal Serpas at a City Council budget hearing this morning.
The City Council held the first of three budget hearings on public safety today, with Councilwoman Susan Guidry leading a charge for more openness and efficiency in the system.
The demolition of the Parc Brittney condo complex came after The Lens reported exposed the poorly performing nonprofit that owns most of it.
Mayor Mitch Landrieu may consider paying Orleans Parish Sheriff Marlin Gusman a flat fee to keep city inmates in his jail, rather than the current daily-rate arrangement which a consultant said only encourages more incarceration.
The city inaugurated a blight-tracking program today, bringing together several city departments to share myriad statistics with each other and the public.
Anticipating a draft report this afternoon on the appropriate size of a new city jail, a coalition of smaller-jail advocates have renewed the call for an 850-bed jail in line with national averages.
