The lawyer for groups opposed to the Entergy New Orleans power plant in eastern New Orleans says urging recipients of foundation donations to publicly support the company violates tax law.
As City Council considers $5 million fine over paid actor scandal, council members receive letters from charitable groups supported by Entergy.
Two councilmembers indicated that they are open to revoting on Entergy’s proposal for a new power plant in eastern New Orleans.
"If Hawthorn can get more people I will pay," Charles Rice wrote in October 2017, weeks before a utility committee meeting.
The new deadline for the investigation into the use of paid actors at City Council meetings is Nov. 2, nearly two months after the original deadline.
The case involves a dispute between two European billionaires. According to the suit, Crowds on Demand repeatedly defamed Zdenek Bakala as part of a conspiracy to extort millions of dollars from him.
New Orleans City Council set to vote on pushing the deadline to October. Investigators say they need more time to review additional records.
A judge will rule on whether the council violated the Open Meetings Law.
We know about the scheme to pay people to show up at meetings to support a new natural gas plant in New Orleans. But that was just a fraction of more than a million dollars the utility spent to burnish Entergy’s reputation, script support and monitor opponents.
Cantrell’s spokesman said she knew about the relationship, but “on this and on every other issue — Mayor Cantrell thinks for herself.”
