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.”
Documents released to the city council cast doubt on Entergy’s contention that it didn’t know supporters would be paid to show up at public meetings to promote the power plant. An Entergy employee was told of allegations three times, as early as October. Documents also contradict the PR firm’s contention that it didn’t know, either.
A public-relations firm billed Entergy New Orleans about $55,000 to bring supporters of a new power plant to two public meetings. Some of those people were actors. Documents turned over to the city council raise questions about Entergy's claim that it didn't know supporters would be paid.