Testing, testing.

Friends and family about council member legs.

No, good afternoon.

Friends and family of our council member Alex.

Welcome to the inaugural organizational meeting of the next New Orleans City Council.

This mic is not good.

Make it work.

And to the members of the public watching online, welcome as well.

Thank you again to the Warren Eastern High School Marching Band for the beautiful performance.

Good afternoon.

My name is James Baker, and I'll be serving as your master of ceremonies for this inaugural meeting.

On October eleventh and again on October fifteenth, the people of New Orleans selected a new group of leaders to represent them as our new city lawmaking body.

Today, the New Orleans City Council begins its work to serve our friends and neighbors, the residents of a city that is world renowned.

It is now my honor to introduce to you the members elect of the new city council.

City Councilmember, Leslie Harris.

And City Council member Jason Hughes.

And now, ladies and gentlemen, please rise for the invocation to be given by Pastor Jamal Weathersby.

And please remain standing following the invocation for the rendition of our national anthem by the New Orleans Maritime Military Academy and the Pledge of Allegiance, which will be led by the children of the incoming council members.

Let us bow our heads for a word of prayer.

Thank you, God, for this new season, this new year, this new term, and even this new day.

Lastly, we ask for success.

Amen.

Come on, y'all can do better than that.

Thank you to the amazingly talented New Orleans Maritime Military Academy for providing a beautiful tribute to our country.

And thank you to the kids of the council members for giving us a beautiful rendition of the pledge.

And now we will begin the oaths of office.

City councils have served for centuries in New Orleans, and for decades they have gathered to deliberate to deliberate in the very cham in this very chamber.

While the times, circumstances, and pressing issues of the day vary widely across the years, every term has begun the same way with a sacred oath to faithfully serve the public.

Amy McCarron will now come forward to take her oath of office.

The Constitution and the law of one and the Constitution of the Law State that I will equip and impartially and that I will faithfully and impartially discharge discharge and report all the duty all the duties and council member district in accordance with that my ability and please that my ability to make understanding and understanding some helping that somebody got the king will now come forward to take his oath of office.

The oath will be administered by the Honorable Nandi Campbell, Rollings Parish Criminal District Court.

Eugene Green will now come forward to take the oath of office.

The oath will be administered by Associate Justice Piper D.

Griffith, Supreme Court of Louisiana.

Stand.

You stand in.

Yep.

Repeat after me.

I Eugene J.

Green.

I Regine J.

Green.

Do solemnly swear.

Do solemnly swear.

That I will support the Constitution.

That I will support the Constitution.

And laws of the United States.

And laws of the United States.

And the Constitution and the laws of this state.

And the Constitution and the laws of this state.

And then I will faithfully and impartially and impartially discharge and perform.

Discharge and perform.

All the duties incumbent upon me.

All the duties incumbent upon me.

As council and district D.

As councilman district D.

According to the best of my ability and understanding.

According to the best of my ability and understanding.

So help me God.

So help me God.

Congratulations.

Jason Hughes will now come forward to take his oath of office.

The oath will be administered by Louisiana State Senator James Jimmy Harris the third.

You solemnly swear.

That I will support the Constitution.

The laws of the United States.

And in force.

Discharge and perform.

Discharge and perform.

All the duties that cover the for me.

All the duties accommodate the form.

As council member district.

According to the best of my ability.

According to the best of my ability.

And understand it.

So he'll be done.

Matthew Willard will now come forward to take his oath of office.

The oath will be administered by Judge Ben Willard.

I am Matthew Willard.

I Matthew Willard.

And I will support the Constitution.

The laws of the United States.

The laws of the United States.

The Constitution.

The Constitution.

The laws of the state of Louisiana.

And laws of the state of Louisiana.

And that I will faithfully and impartially.

And that I will faithfully and impartially discharge and perform.

Discharge and perform.

All duties incumbent upon me.

All duties incumbent upon me.

As council member at large.

As council member at large.

According to the best of my ability.

According to the best of my ability.

And understand.

And understanding.

So help me God.

So help me God.

The oath will be administered by Judge Kern Reese.

And then I will faithfully and impartially discharge and perform.

Discharge and perform all the duties.

All the news incumbent upon me.

Council member at large.

To the best of my ability to understand it.

So help me God.

Ladies and gentlemen, it is my great honor to present to you the New Orleans City Council.

Thank you all for joining us on this special day.

To conclude today's ceremony, I'd like to welcome New Voices, New Orleans, to close us out.

I know it's all we're saying something they ain't heard.

Don't want to share a labor.

That's just how I am this radio.

That's just the I am this video.

That's just a lot of God.

I am my father.

I am the same member.

That's just the I am this radio.

You can only be who you team to the black votes and white boats I hate.

I have all your baby.

I'm a be aside.

I'm a big news.

That's just the right time.

I am saying that we only need who we are.

Oh, yeah.

I'm playing all the time.

That's why I am just a video.

This is the last I am a hot I can think of you can only be who you are.

That's the I am.

That's the I am video.

You can only be who you are.

That's the I am just a video.

That's the last time I am I never said that you can only be who you are.

You can only be who you are.

We are gonna get started with our regular meeting agenda.

Before we do that, I do want to take a moment to acknowledge some of the elected officials, former and current that with us today.

I want to begin by acknowledging our mayor, Mayor Helena Moreno.

I want to extend a special thank you because this is the first time a mayor has been here in a while for our actual confirmation.

So we appreciate you being here.

Um I'd also like to acknowledge former Councilmember Jerusalem, former council member Willard Lewis, former council member Cynthia Hedge Morrell.

Additionally, I would like to acknowledge our district attorney, Jason Williams.

Michelle Woodfork.

We saw Senator Jimmy Harris.

I know I saw former representative Ted James Representative Kyle Green and Representative Alonso Knox.

Also former criminal clerk of court, Arthur Morell is here today as well.

Gotta cover both faces or I can't go home.

As well as we have a plethora of judges.

Could you all stand at once?

I don't want to forget a judge.

As I am a practicing attorney, that was important.

Thank you all for being here.

Are there if there are any other elected officials that I missed?

Please stand up at this time so we can acknowledge you.

All right.

With that, madam clerk, we can start the meeting.

Roll call.

Councilmember Morell.

Here.

Councilmember Willard.

Councilmember McCarron.

Here.

Councilmember Harris.

Here.

Councilmember King.

Councilmember Green.

Here.

Councilmember Hughes.

Here.

We have seven members.

We have a quorum.

Thank you very much.

I believe we have several motions that will be taken out of order.

We're on page four.

Page four.

We have motion M2623.

Our council members Morrell Willard MacMorrell McCarron Harris King Green and Hughes.

Electing Councilmember at large division two JP Morell to serve as president and council member at large division one Matthew Willard to serve as Vice President of the City Council for their term January 12th 2026 to January 7th 2027.

Thank you.

Move by Green, seconded by Harris.

Please vote your machines, ladies and gentlemen.

That is okay.

It is adopted.

Next up.

We have motion M2625.

Our council members Morell, Willard, McCarron, Harris, King, Green, and Hughes, appointing Ashley J.

Becknell to serve as executive counsel for the city council with a base salary of grade 109, step 56.

Thank you.

Sorry.

Councilmember Hughes.

Second by myself, please vote your machines.

Seven years, no nays.

It is passed.

Well, congratulations, Ashley.

There you go.

Thank you, Eugene.

We're on page two.

We have motion M2622.

Council members Morell, Willard, McCarron, Harris, King, Green, and Hughes.

Confirming the President's appointments to the membership of the Council Standing Committee.

The Budget Audit and Board of Review Committee.

Councilmember Leslie Harris, Chairperson, Councilmember Matthew Willard, Councilmember JP Morell, Councilmember Amy McCarron, Councilmember Freddie King.

Climate Change and Sustainability Committee.

Councilmember Amy McCarron, Chairperson, Councilmember Matthew Willard, Councilmember JP Morrell, Councilmember Leslie Harris, Councilmember Eugene Green, Community Development Committee, Councilmember Matthew Willard, Chairperson, Councilmember JP Morell, Councilmember Leslie Harris, Councilmember Freddie King, Councilmember Eugene Green, Criminal Justice Committee, Councilmember Freddie King, Chairperson, Councilmember JP Morrell, Councilmember Leslie Harris, Councilmember Eugene Green, Councilmember Jason Hughes, Economic Development and Special Development Projects Committee, Councilmember Willard Lewis, I'm sorry, Councilmember Willard, Chairperson, Councilmember JP Morrell, Councilmember Amy McCarran, Councilmember Eugene Green, Councilmember Jason Hughes, Governmental Affairs Committee, Councilmember JP Morell, Chairperson, Councilmember Amy McCarran, Councilmember Leslie Harris, Councilmember Eugene Green, Councilmember Jason Hughes, Public Works, Sanitation and Environment Committee, Councilmember Jason Hughes, Chairperson, Councilmember Matthew Willard, Councilmember Amy McCarron, Councilmember Freddie King, Councilmember Eugene Green, Quality of Life Committee, Councilmember Jason Hughes, Chairperson, Councilmember Amy McCarran, Councilmember Leslie Harris, Councilmember Freddie King, Councilmember Eugene Green, Transportation and Airport Committee, Councilmember Eugene Green, Chairperson, Councilmember Willard Lewis, Councilmember Leslie Harris, Councilmember Freddie King, Councilmember Jason Hughes, Utility Cable and Telecommunications and Technology Committee.

Councilmember JP Morrell, Chairperson, Councilmember Matthew Willard, Councilmember Amy McCarron, Councilmember Freddie King, Councilmember Jason Hughes.

Those are the committees.

Move by me, seconded by Council Vice President Willard.

Please vote your machines.

Who is Councilmember Willard Lewis?

She's out there.

We're on page five.

I'm sorry, page four, number five.

Motion M2626.

Council members Morel Willard.

McKaren, Harris, King, Green, and Hughes.

Selecting Councilmember Leslie Harris as the council's voting representative on the revenue estimated conference for the term beginning on January 12th, 2026, and selecting Council President JP Morell as the council's non-voting representative on the revenue estimated conference for the term beginning on January 12th, 2026.

Move by Councilmember Hughes, second by Councilmember McCarron.

Seven yes, no nays.

It's adopted.

We're on page five.

We have motion M2627 by Council Members Morel, Willard, McKaren, Harris, King, Green, and Hughes.

Authorizing a president of the City Council to execute a document waiv any conflict presented by Mr.

Swisnik, representation of the mayor on the City of New Orleans and any of the below caption matters, including appeals and related proceedings.

Council City of the Council of the City of New Orleans versus Edward Wisner donation et al.

Case number 2022, 6775, Civil District Court for Parish of Orleans.

Mayor Latoya Cantrell versus New Orleans City Council.

Case number 2025, 2626, Civil District Court for the Parish of Arleans.

Rice Group LLC versus New Orleans City Council.

Case number 2024, 6729, Civil District Court of the Parish of Orleans.

Henry Consulting, LLC versus the New Orleans City Council, case number 2025, 8353, Civil District Court of the Parish of Orleans, and Allean Parish School Board versus City of New Orleans at all.

Case number 2019, 5174, Civil District Court for the Parish of Orleans.

Councilmember McCarron.

Machine.

Oh, there you go.

All right.

Seven years, no nays.

Adam, you can go work for the side now.

All right.

We're back on page four.

We have motion M2624 by Council Members Morell, Willett, McCarron, Harris, King, Green, and Hughes, electing Aisha R.

Collier to serve as clerk of council for a term beginning on January 12th, 2026, with a base salary of grade 99, step 20.

Thank you.

Move Council Murris, second myself.

Seven Ya's, no nays.

Hey, congratulations, Aisha.

Thank you for your service, Laura.

All right.

I believe that concludes the items on our agenda.

What we're gonna do right now, ladies and gentlemen, is we are going to give every council member five minutes.

Five minutes just means he's gonna turn off the mic, but I might still talk.

Five minutes each for a moment of personal privilege, and that will conclude our councilmate.

We're gonna start with A, go through E, then Council Vice President Willard, then myself.

So floor is yours, Councilmember McCarron.

Thank you.

Uh five minutes um from campaign time is is uh a long time as opposed to one or two minutes that we were usually getting.

Um thank you all for being here today.

First, I want to thank my husband Ross and my family.

Um the kids were tired out from this morning's uh ceremony, so they're at home, but um it's a such a sacrifice to be in this role, and I'm I'm so grateful that I have their support and and this is gonna be a wonderful four years.

Um I do want to thank my incoming staff, Sharay, Leanne, Claire, Alex, and Razan.

Um I have been in your shoes, and I know the hard work and the dedication and the sacrifice that it takes um in order to execute someone else's vision, and I'm thrilled that you all agreed to be part of this journey with me.

So thank you for that.

Um to my fellow council members, as I look down this row, I see an amazing group of public servants, um, and I'm honored to move the city forward with all of you to Mayor Moreno and her team.

And I'm honored to move the city forward with all of you.

To Mayor Moreno and her team.

I am all in, and I look forward to working with everyone on your team with you closely so we can move the city forward like I know we all need to need to.

Finally, to the residents of District A.

I am honored to represent you for as your council member for the next four years.

So thank you again for electing me to represent you.

I'm honored and a privilege to do that, and I look forward to seeing you here.

Thank you so much.

So if you've been in this chamber before, I typically don't talk long, Noone.

You know, I'm I'm very short with my remarks.

Um but I do want to thank my husband Jeff B out there.

I want to thank Kamala Green, who came all the way from New York City, my sister friend, and everyone who's here to support me.

Richard Perk, you talked me into this job.

Kicked me under the bus, and here I am.

And I'm here for another four years.

I do want to take a moment to thank my team.

Uh they've been amazing the first term, and I'm excited to add Dominique, who is newly here with me as well.

I couldn't do this job without them.

We had a toast upstairs before this, and I honestly could not do any of the work that we've done without my amazing team, Matthew, Alison, who's guided all of my work on homelessness on clearing the DNA sexual assault kit backlog.

I also want to announce, and Dr.

Veg know is out there and she knows this, that we have housed 1,500 people off the streets of New Orleans.

Kevin Ferguson could not have done it without you either.

So home for good, y'all go home for good, New Orleans.org.

Donate right now, take your phones out.

I'm looking at you all right now.

You can help this effort, and we will continue the effort.

And I'm so excited, Mayor Moreno, former councilmember Jeruso, day one, um, for continuing this work, and I know we're gonna do it together.

I know we're gonna work with our state partners to continue to ensure that every new or new Orlean has housing, has a safe place to lay their head at night.

That's the commitment that I made to you four years ago, and that's what we will continue to do.

I also just want to say thank you to all of my council colleagues.

Eugene Green, Councilmember King, Councilmember Hughes, Councilmember Morrell, all of you, Councilmember Willard, Councilmember McCarran.

I look forward to working with you.

We've we've done great things in the past four years.

And again, I think this is a strong, solid council.

I think every person in New Orleans is looking to us to ensure that we have a balanced budget, that we're not spending money on random cars, and that we are doing the things that the people need, the people's work.

So that's what I heard this morning at the inauguration, and that's what we will continue to do as your city council.

So thank you all.

Thank you all.

Good afternoon, everyone.

I want to start off by by thanking God for this day and for putting us here today.

Um I am truly grateful to represent this city for another four years.

I am very humbled to represent the great district team of district C.

Very honored to represent some of the best communities in historical cities, historic sorry, historical neighborhoods in the world right here in District C.

I want to thank my family, my beautiful wife, the kids, who sacrifice more than people realize.

I want to thank my parents will always be in there for me, be my biggest supporters.

I want to thank my staff who I couldn't do this without do this job as effective effectively without them.

Uh, Mr.

Charles Tony, I've been knowing for 20 years.

Um, he is now gone to administration.

He was a big part of our success.

I want to personally thank him for all that he's done.

I want to thank and uh tell my new staff, let's get ready to roll our sleeves up and work.

Um, to the new administration, uh, Mayor Moreno.

I am looking forward to a working relationship with you.

Um CAO Jeruso, looking forward to a uh continuing that working relationship, Dr.

Vegno, Ms.

Gibson, the whole team.

Um, I'm looking forward to a great work in relationship with a lot of communication and uh a lot of a lot of honesty going back and forth.

To my elected officials in the audience, uh, we can't move this city forward just in City Hall.

Um, it's going to take collaboration with our district attorney, Mr.

Williams, our mayor, sorry, our Sheriff Elect.

Um Sheriff, I'm about to say chief, uh, Sheriff Woodford, um, all of our judges, criminal court judges, civil court judges, uh, Mr.

Ingleberg with the D8 with the public defender's office going to take everyone hands to the plow moving forward to make this city what it can be, and that is a first class city around the world.

I also want to thank and I'll just want to acknowledge my council members, uh, Councilmember McCarron, Harris, Willard, Morrell, Green, and Hughes.

I look forward to working with you all.

I'm sure everyone won't get along and agree on everything.

Um, but as long as we keep the communications, line of communications open and respect um levels high.

I think we'll make the city um all that it can and all that it will be.

And to the staff behind us, um, you all get a lot of credit, but you do so much work to make this this city hall move forward.

So I'll thank you all, and I look forward to working with you all for another four years.

And I look forward to representing this district and this city and making it the best it can be.

Thank you.

Thank you.

It's a pleasure and an honor for me to be here on this afternoon, and I have so many people to thank, but of course, I want to start by thanking God for his presence in my life and for all that I have been blessed with.

When I think of that, I also think about my family, and I want to just recognize my wife, who's originally from Brooklyn, New York, and just loves New Orleans.

She never goes back to Brooklyn.

She loves New Orleans so much.

Jennifer Green, and also, well, thank you.

And also my two sons.

If you all can stand for a second, there's Jonathan Green and Eugene Green, and then my brother, who's from Dallas, Texas, and everybody, um Mayor Moreno, I'm trying to get him back here to New Orleans.

Okay, he left after Katrina.

He sees everything that's going on here.

I think he wants to come back.

So, but I I want to also thank my staff members.

I'm gonna ask my staff members to stand just for a second.

I would appreciate the work that you've done before.

I think that they know what I mean when I say staff stand.

Um, but I thank you all for the work that you do, and I know that Sandra is somewhere near and that indomitable Piers Huff.

Where's Pierce Huff?

Thank you, Pierce Huff for all of the work that you do.

Thank you, staff members, and to also staff members from other offices because we work so well together.

I want to acknowledge your presence and also the work that you do to help make our office stronger.

So my fellow council members and to voters.

Voters, you did a great thing.

You re-elected four council members and elected two state representatives who have experience in government and elected a council member who is formerly a staff member of a great council member here.

So we have experience going into the job, and I'm looking forward to working with them to our mayor.

Mayor Moreno, it's been a pleasure to work with you for four years.

It's been a great pleasure.

We've accomplished a lot together, and I can't wait to see what's on the horizon.

We're gonna continue to move in the right direction.

Working with you and your enthusiasm and your motivation and your commitment to this city, I certainly recognize it and appreciate it.

So the gentleman who is next to you, our council member now, CAO Joe Jeruso, I want to thank you for those four years.

Your experience, the guidance that you provided to me, has helped make me a better council member.

And in your position as the chair of budget, when I was able to and ask for certain things that we needed that were gonna make our district better, you were right there in support of it, especially in certain communities that I want to give a little bit more focus to.

I appreciate that work very much.

To our fellow elected officials, especially our state officials with whom I want to work more because the state owns so many assets in the city of New Orleans, the Superdome, the Convention Center, the Arena, City Park, and others.

I want us to work more together so that the state might identify some of the needs that we have as a city and to work with us closely.

In terms of my district, I'm just so honored to recognize to represent this district.

You all see me upbeat a lot in going to a lot of meetings.

There's a reason for that.

My district D includes six schools of higher education and nine high schools.

I go to graduations all the time.

I go to celebrations all the time where I see young people who are excited about living in the city of New Orleans and about graduating.

So when you see me upbeat, a lot of it has to do with what I see every day in my district.

There's a lot going on in our city, and in terms of our young people, there is a lot going on in our city.

That is another reason that I enjoy this job.

But in the district, we've experienced some significant changes.

Crime reduction, we've worked with blight reduction to demolish over 175 blighted properties and street work, even though there's a lot to be done in our district.

We've also transitioned a number of people who were unhoused over the last four years into better situations.

When we decommission a homeless encampment, it's putting people into a better situation.

And we have positive projects going on in our city, the Mirabu Water Gardens Project, the Gentility Resilience District Project, continued crime reduction and the like.

So I just want to say as I close out my um remarks, I'll say this.

I'm looking forward to working with the council members.

I've chosen to serve on eight committees.

Well, I was actually appointed to eight committees, and I said I'll take them all.

I'm gonna see you all on a very regular basis.

But as we work in the committee format, and as we work to the commute for the benefit of the community, I just want to let you all know how proud I am to work with you, and I'm looking forward to continuing to do the things that we've been able to do, and especially now that we've added very talented folks to continue to enhance the quality of life for people in the city that I enjoy.

And to our residents of District D in our city, I remain committed to you.

We are doing right things in some respects.

We have so much more to do, but as a city, we are a great city that has only greatness ahead of us, and working with our mayor, council, our CAO, our elected officials, and others, we are going to achieve many great things.

So thank you very much for this opportunity.

One minute.

But I was under that five minutes ago.

It was hard.

It was like five, ten, but we'll take it.

Okay, all right.

Well, thank you, Mr.

President.

And uh, let me say, blessed are the brief.

So I will uh do my best to be brief.

Following Councilmember Green.

Watch, you're not gonna do it.

Watch.

But uh seriously, let me first uh just thank the head of my life, the Almighty God, for the opportunity to be here at this moment.

Uh, let me thank my pastor, Fred Luther Jr.

and my first lady, Elizabeth Luter, and my Franklin Avenue Baptist Church family for always interceding on my behalf and keeping me on their prayer list.

Uh, to my amazing family, uh, my father, who was a letter carrier for over 30 years, my mother, who was a state worker at the Department of Children and Family Services for over 40 years, uh, and to my entire family, my amazing family who walked this journey with me.

Thank you from the bottom of my heart.

To my 94-year-old grandmother who caught a city bus uh for many years to work at Woolsworth to serve from a counter that at one point in her life she couldn't even eat at.

Uh, couldn't be with me today, but I know she's watching.

Um, and I certainly appreciate her and the foundation that she's laid.

Um, to the amazing, extraordinary residents of district E for giving me this opportunity.

It's not lost on me that only seven of us get this opportunity to serve.

Um, and so I'm just so extraordinarily humbled and grateful.

And to the district D participants, Judge Nikisha Urban Knott, Senator Jimmy Harris, uh, Sheriff Michelle Woodfork uh that participated uh with me today.

Thank you so much.

And to my DA, our DA, even though he's not a district E resident, he's an amazing partner, and uh really, really appreciate you.

Uh let me also just thank uh and acknowledge Councilmember Thomas who served for the past four years in this seat, but served for almost two decades in public service, and let me thank and acknowledge all of my predecessors that served in district in this district E seat.

Uh, I stand on your shoulders.

I see Councilmember Cynthia Willard Lewis who guided this district through Hurricane Katrina when so many wanted to turn it into green space, but you fought for us valiantly, and I thank you and appreciate you.

To the incoming amazing district E team, let me just say, ladies and gentlemen, get ready.

We have built an extraordinary team that's gonna make this district proud.

Um, and and really excited about uh them and and and and what they uh bring.

I certainly feel the magnitude of this moment on my shoulders.

But council member green, I'm a Ron Eagle, I'm a Southern Jaguar, I'm a member of Cap Alpha Psy, and I'm an East Beast.

So I'm equipped for this moment.

Yes.

Everywhere I go, Madam May, people are excited.

I was in Walmart, colleagues, just this Saturday, and many of our residents who lost hope suddenly have hope again.

They're giving us a chance.

We have an amazing moment, amazing talent, and you, Madam Mayor, and the seven colleagues and the extraordinary talent in this building.

What we do with this moment is up to us, but I have no doubt we are going to meet the moment.

So no more words, just results.

Let's go get them to God be the glory.

All right.

It's gonna be vice president.

You follow you follow that one.

I'm used to following him.

Um first I would like to say I am very excited to join this council with my brother and my former seat mate, now councilmember Hughes.

Uh, many of you probably don't know.

We sat next to each other for six years on the House of Representatives floor, so I want to thank God for putting me into this position.

Um I think he put me here at this moment at the right time, uh, and I truly believe that we have a strong council sitting before you today.

Council President Morel, I look forward to working with you.

I look forward to learning from you.

I ran for this position because I grew weary of seeing the city of New Orleans continuously kicking the can.

At what point do we get serious about fixing our streets and improving our infrastructure?

Are we ready to build a plan, a retention plan for our high school and college graduates?

When is a good time for us to restore faith inside of City Hall and to have a city hall that provides basic city services at a level that rivals our world-renowned hospitality sector?

Ladies and gentlemen, that moment is here today.

Block by block, neighborhood by neighborhood, we will turn things around in this city.

People all over the world save up so that they can come and experience Mardi Gras so that they can visit the French quarter so that they can taste our exquisite cuisine and create everlasting memories.

My priority is to make sure every person who calls the city of New Orleans home is excited to work, live, and raise a family here.

To my family, thank you.

Thank you so much for your unwavering support and love.

I would not be here today without each and every one of you.

To my supporters, thank you for believing in me.

For six years I had the honor of representing this city in the state legislature, and I want everyone to know that I'm prepared to bring that same energy, that same passion, and that same accessibility here into City Hall.

Congratulations, my friend, Mayor Moreno.

Today's inauguration was beautiful.

It was amazing, and I too am all in for New Orleans.

To my colleagues, it truly is an honor to serve alongside each and every one of you, and I look forward to the dynamic progress that we will usher into this great city of New Orleans.

From street lights to potholes, excellence in city services, recreational and educational opportunities for our youth, from affordability to sustainability, workforce development to good paying jobs for everybody in the city of New Orleans.

To the people of New Orleans, we have our marching orders.

Now let's make it happen.

All right, guys.

Jude, Fiona, and Alexander who's hiding behind Joe.

I appreciate your love.

I appreciate your support.

I appreciate the sacrifice of the fact that public service is a collective sacrifice for families.

And it's only by you guys allowing me to serve that I can be here today.

I want to thank my parents, Arthur and Cynthia, for teaching me what public service is.

I want to thank my former colleagues, Helena Moreno and Joe Jeruso, Helena for helping me transition to local leadership because it is very different than the state of Louisiana, and very different.

And to my cousin Joe, who not only we both didn't go into tax law, but you taught me how to count and do accounting.

So I appreciate all the work you've done.

I want to thank Jimmy Harris for all the work he does at the state level to lead our delegation.

I want to thank my big brother James Carter, who just walked in, who has been the example of leadership of the city of New Orleans.

I want to thank my staff Crystal Hendon, Julia Zuckerman, Mona Brignack Sullivan, James Baker, Sennera, Mason, Keith Lampkin, everyone who's been out here helping me for the years that we've been here, because this job running a council office is not about the council member, it's about the staff.

Because without a great staff, you cannot be a great council member.

I want to thank I want to thank the voters that voted for me and the voters that didn't, because I work for all of you now.

Now, I want to take a moment and read a quote.

It's very lengthy, but I think it's appropriate.

Doesn't matter what the press says, doesn't matter what politicians or the mob say, doesn't matter if the whole country or city decides that something is something wrong is something right.

This nation and this city were founded by one principle above all else the requirement that we stand up for what we believe, no matter the odds or the consequences.

When the mob and the press in the whole world tell you to move, your job is to plant yourself like a tree beside the river of truth and tell the whole world no, you move.

Ladies and gentlemen, we have a moment right now when I talk to people across the city.

Part of the hope of the city council, the hope of the city is because in this uncertain world at the federal and state level, people rely upon city government, which is closest to you to represent your values and your principles.

What I will tell you is that when we came here four years ago, there were a lot of naysayers that said the purpose of government of a council and mayor is to go along with the get along, to not make waves and don't make things harder.

If you make accountability a thing, then you will have to be accountable by those changes.

This council, previous council was not dissuaded by that.

We embraced it.

We raised the bar of accountability of what this city can aspire to be.

And I can tell you that part of the hope you see today is because people saw the work of this previous council of the mayor-elect to hold ourselves accountable to you.

And we as a council will continue to hold ourselves accountable.

Do not lower the bar, raise the bar on what this city can do for you, what it can be.

Because that is how we become better.

That is how we deliver better services.

That is how we become the city we collectively deserve.

And as we face the uncertainties, the pressures from the federal and the state level, remember when it comes to our city, to our values, to what we think is important, we will continue to stand by the river of truth with you.

And when the world tells us that we need to bow to it, we will say no, you move.

Thank you.

All right, that concludes our council meeting.

Councilman King beat you to it.

Oh what's that?

Oh, I forgot.

I'm so used to the mayor not being here.

Uh, would you like to address the council?

All right, all right, all right.

Well, first, uh, thank you for the opportunity to address the council for the very first time.

This is gonna be one of many, many times that I'll be addressing the council.

Uh, first, once again, congratulations to every single one of you.

Um I'm so proud to have the opportunity to serve alongside in partnership with you.

Obviously, uh, we are equal branches of government, and therefore the best way that we can move our city forward is if we have a partnership, if there is that level of coordination, is that that there is that level of core of collaboration as well.

We have a lot of challenges.

Um for those of you who are new to this council.

Let me just tell you that the financial issues that we're facing right now at this time, if it weren't for the actions that the previous council would have taken, they would have crippled, they would have collapsed the city of New Orleans.

That being said, I want you to understand that we are still in very, very fragile ground.

That every step we take to get us out of this, we will have to do this together.

I actually wake up in the middle of the night thinking about our financial crisis that we're in because that's how severe and significant it is.

I think about people who are working within our city hall right now, who are doing a good job for the people of the city and who deserve to have a job here, and we must do what we can to protect those jobs, and at the same time figure out how to get us out, clause out of this financial crisis that we're in.

And so I say all of this to you because it can't just be a one-sided type of approach to finding solutions.

Can't just be all coming from my office, the mayor's office.

I I appreciate the talented people who are working in the mayor's office.

But I'm gonna need every single one of you as well to come up with different ideas and solutions.

That's how we really collaborate.

That's how we really work together to get us out of where we're at and make sure that we finally can deliver the New Orleans that we all know that it can be.

And so I look forward to there being a new day between the council and the mayor so that we do have this collaborative approach.

And look, I get it, I know we're not always gonna get along.

I mean, JP calls me all the time, immediately just start screaming, and then I have to like tone them down, and then I'm like, you're wrong, and then he goes, okay, maybe you're right, you know, that kind of thing.

Um so we're not always gonna get along.

There's sometimes going to be some friction, but just because we may have days like that doesn't mean that all of a sudden we are split and divided.

We will work through those issues.

You have my commitment and the commitment of the people who work for me uh to make sure that that we're always working through these issues.

We have so much, so much that we can deliver for the people of New Orleans, so much.

As I said this morning, there is nothing that New Orleans can't be.

The sky is the limit.

We can move in a new direction if we're all in.

Thank you.

God bless you.

All right.

With that, Councilman King as beaten council member agreeing to the motion to adjourn.

I'm gonna give you this.

Second by Councilmember Harris.

Seven Ya's, no nays.

We are adjourned.

Thank you for being here, ladies and gentlemen, everyone.