The board won’t be clued in until the time comes to sign the closing documents, which isn’t expected to happen until June.
While the vote was for a single contract, the debate broadened to how the Convention Center approached minority-business participation in general.
“The public records law means what it says — if the people want to review records of government spending or how decisions are made in positions of public trust those records have to be turned over in a timely fashion,” Scott Sternberg, McKay’s attorney, said.
A plan from three years ago to fix the increased traffic from the lane reduction on Convention Center Boulevard has gone nowhere.
Populous contract vote delayed following board member questions on legality.
The overall price tag for the 1200-room hotel is up nearly $30 million.
The contract was for an iron fence that's already been built. The convention center's general counsel said at this point, the board either has to buy it or "bear the consequences for breaching the contract."
New Orleans Tourism Marketing Corp. may also face legal dispute with Convention Center.
Council resolution calls for return of $32 million the convention center has collected from the transit agency.
A nearly 20-year-old agreement, resulting from a lawsuit, means that the RTA shares about half of its hotel taxes with tourism interests. Councilwoman Kristin Palmer wants all that money going to public transit.
