It’s not enough to ban fakery at Council hearings; we need a real Community Participation Program
A way to generate citizen involvement and grassroots power
Category
Government & Politics
Council freezes most common type of short-term rental licenses in residential neighborhoods
It’s the first major rollback of the year-old law that legalized and regulated rentals via services like Airbnb, VRBO and HomeAway.
New Orleans City Council opens investigation into campaign to pay actors to support power plant
The investigation will "dig as deep as humanly possible" into the astroturfing campaign, said Council President Jason Williams.
Expedia agrees to help city of New Orleans find violators of short-term rental laws
The company told the city it would provide names of more than 200 hosts next week.
New Orleans City Council to consider ban on most whole-home short-term rentals in historic neighborhoods
The council would drop a current study and replace it with one looking at cities with strict regulations.
After astroturfing campaign, speakers at council meetings must disclose any compensation
The council has asked Entergy to preserve evidence of its astroturfing campaign.
School board puts off decision to cancel tax exemptions that cost $3.7 million a year
The city uses the tax exemption to lure companies, so the boards wants to hear from New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell.
Entergy acknowledges astroturfing campaign for power plant, but says it didn’t know about it
The company said it has ended its relationship with The Hawthorn Group. It hired Crowds on Demand, which hired the actors.
New Orleans may have improperly diverted millions in property taxes to pension funds
Those taxes can be used only for what voters approved.
Actors were paid to support Entergy’s power plant at New Orleans City Council meetings
Dozens of people in orange shirts showed up at meetings to support Entergy's new power plant. But for many of them, it was just an acting gig. They were paid to show up and speak on the company's behalf. The Lens interviewed a few of them and reviewed messages outlining the astroturfing effort.
