At the Shreveport City Council meeting on Tuesday, April 12, the council confirmed two appointments to the Shreveport Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA).
The published agenda for both the Monday, April 11, work session/administrative conference and the agenda for the Tuesday meeting did not have these names/appointments listed.
Thus, the general public who accessed the agenda had no idea that these names would be presented to the council, much less voted on for approval to the ZBA.
The council did open the meeting for a public hearing on the appointments before the vote.
However, the qualifications of the two individuals, much less any other information about them, were not presented to the public for consideration.
And if a citizen had decided to stream the meeting versus attend, then there was no opportunity for public to weigh in on the nominations.
The fact that these ZBA positions had been unfilled for quite some time does not justify a vote that violates the spirit, if not the letter, of the Louisiana Open Meetings Law.
The council has previously approved an appointment without appropriate public notice.
This resulted in litigation that cost the city substantial sums for the attorney fees awarded to the plaintiff as well as paid to private counsel representing the city.
The ZBA vote was a déjà vu moment that could result in litigation despite the fact that this vote was blessed by the city attorney at the meeting.