The emails show that the NOPD and Louisiana State Police have had a formal relationship since at least 2018 that provides the NOPD access facial recognition software.
The council has long relied on pricey — often politically connected — private firms to do its regulatory work.
The French Quarter sales tax renewal, which was used to pay for Louisiana State Police patrols, was also rejected.
Officials on Wednesday repeated several of the false and misleading statements that the Cantrell administration has used to sell the proposal to the public.
The Cantrell administration and library officials have come out strong in favor of a package of ballot initiatives that would cut the library budget by 40 percent in favor of housing and economic development. And they have repeatedly made false and misleading statements about the proposal.
City Council makes few changes to Cantrell’s lean budget proposal.
"Voters are asked to approve a nearly 40% revenue cut for public libraries without a strategic plan or a clear roadmap," the report said.
Explaining its previous denials, the department said that it doesn’t employ its own facial recognition software. Instead, it accesses the technology through state and federal partners. An ACLU lawyer said that was a ‘distinction without a difference.’
Board member Andrea Neighbours also criticized a proposed policy from the Cantrell administration to change employee discipline and grievance policies.
The ongoing coronavirus pandemic, a new president and Mayor Cantrell’s property tax proposal make it tough to predict how much money the city will have to work with next year.