By JOHN E. SETTLE JR
Editor / Publisher
 
It wasn't pretty to say the least.

The Shreveport City Council voted on a proposed $35 million bond package at its Tuesday, Sept. 8, meeting.

The  vote was 3-3. Council members Levette Fuller, John Nickleson and Grayson Boucher opposed the bond package.

Council  chair James Flurry was absent due to an illness. He would have voted NO if present.

The bond package was proposed as a line of credit for a possible shortfall in income by year end. The operative word is "possible."

The tie vote resulted in an angry uproar from Councilman Jerry Bowman Jr. That was followed by extensive interrogation of Boucher by Councilman James Green.

Ugly is the only word to describe how the meeting quickly became a debacle.

Bad government was evidenced by the following missteps:

After the contentious vote Council vice chair Fuller failed to call the  next agenda item. This opened the door to the divisive  post-vote debate.

a. Bond counsel  Alex Washington was clearly out of line lecturing  the council on the position of the administration.

b. The administration failed to present a compelling argument for the proposed bond package line of credit, and for that matter the refinancing of the $50 million bond package.

c. Green violated council protocol by questioning another member on the reasons for his vote.

d. Bowman also violated protocol by attacking Councilman John Nickolson on his opposition.

The council agreed to reconsider their votes on both the $50 million and the $35 million bond packages at their next meeting.

The likelihood of passage is up in the air, especially after the divisive  post-vote comments.

The issues for council members and their constituents are not that hard.

Should the council refinance the $50 million bond package to get lower payments for a longer term and incur substantial bond counsel fees?

Should the council pursue a $35 million bond line of credit to subsidize future 2020 operating costs? This assumes that council members are willing to subsidize the 2020 budget with borrowed funds.

These questions are fundamental to how the city budget will be handled this year — and the following years.

Hopefully, Shreveport citizens will weigh in on these critical votes by contacting their council representatives.

 

THIS ARTICLE WAS PUBLISHED IN THE September 11 ISSUE OF FOCUS SB - THE INQUISITOR.