All right, Nate.

I think we're gonna get Nate and I think we can get started now.

We're within one minute.

Okay.

Roll call.

Uh Councilmember Morel.

Here.

Council Member McCarron.

Here.

Councilmember Harris.

Councilmember Green.

Here.

Councilmember Hughes.

Here.

And uh let the record reflect that Councilmember Willard is present.

We have um all five members.

We have a quorum.

Thank you.

We're gonna go a little bit out of order.

We're gonna do the minutes still.

Um excuse me, Anita, but we're gonna do the deputy mayor presentations last just so we can get through the rest of the pretty non-controversial agenda.

So uh I'll move for the approval of the January 15th minutes.

Can I get a second?

Second my council member Harris, all in favor?

All right, aye, five years, no nays.

The means are adopted.

Next we'll go the appointments.

Uh let's see.

So first up we have Kevin Kimborough, his forms are complete, I believe.

There it is, Kevin.

Come on up.

Your forms are all complete, everything's in order.

I'm gonna ask the question.

Why do you want to be on the NOR board?

Good morning, Council.

Morning.

I want to be on the NOAA council to be able to serve my community and be that voice for our at-risk kids in New Orleans.

All right, that's a pretty good answer.

Uh I will move favorably.

Can I get a second?

Second, agree.

Second by council member Harris.

All in favor say aye.

Uh five years or no nays.

You are moved to the full council for confirmation.

Thank you, Kevin, for being here.

All right.

Let's see what else do I have on here.

Michael, sorry.

Yes, sir.

Mike Barley.

Come on up.

There's my list.

Why do you want to be on the NOR commission?

First of all, good morning.

Morning.

Um want to say it's an honor.

But the reason I want to be on the board is to be able to uh contribute my business and civic experiences to help know it move forward for the citizens.

All right, thank you.

Councilman Harris moves, Councilman McCarron seconds.

All in favor say aye.

Five years, no nays.

You are moved to the full council for confirmation.

Thank you.

Mr.

Polk is deferred to uh future meeting as well as Mr.

Villary.

Uh next up we have number five, which is go ahead, Nita.

I'm sorry.

I'm like running all over the place.

Oh, that's all right.

This is um a motion I don't know that it has a number yet.

Um establishing the parade positions start times and routes for uh the 2026 carnival season per city code 346.

Thank you.

This is a pretty this is a routine motion that's required every year.

So the parade positions.

Okay.

All right.

There are a few changes this Marty Cross season.

Those changes are ocean start time has moved up.

It's now 5 p.m.

rather than 5 30.

Cleopatra start time has moved up to 6 p.m.

from 6 30.

Thursday, February 12th has a new lineup.

Chaos starts at 4 30, followed by Babylon at 5 30, and muses at 6.

The crew of Pygmalion will follow the same route as the crew of Orpheus and Bacchus.

We'll start at Magazine Napoleon and end at the 400th box of Choppatoolis.

Those are the changes.

I will move.

All in favor.

Aye.

All right.

No opposed.

Five years, no nays.

Sorry for the voice voting.

We're having some technological problems today, as usual.

All right.

Number six.

Go ahead, Dita.

Sorry.

This is just a discussion regarding the cooperative endeavor agreement with the sheriff's office for supplemental officer coverage during Mardi Gras.

The term is from February 1st to March 31st with a maximum amount of 3,704,167.

Uh so if the administration here to speak on the oh, there's Buddy.

Buddy.

Buddy, talk about the sheriffs.

We're talking about the Quaber McDeburg with the sheriff's office for supplemental officer coverage.

Just kind of explain what it is.

So the supplemental coverage will be assistant in LPD to cover the areas along the route, be present during the direction of the parade so that we have added support.

Typically, uh with the additional manpower, it helps us secure the blocks better.

It lets us also secure the backside and front side, and also engage in the crowd community with that particular situation.

So we're looking at about 175 per day for the first weekend, and then the numbers will go up just a little bit slightly due to the big parades on the second weekend.

Okay.

Thank you.

All right, thank you, buddy.

Thank you.

All right, next up we will go to the deputy mayor presentations.

We have Renee Lapperoli as well as Kevin Ferguson.

Come on down.

Uh, just for those you know, dozens watching on television right now.

Um, basically, these are not positions that are confirmed by the council, but an effort to have transparency between the new mayor and the new council.

Uh, she has allowed us to have some deputy mayors come and give kind of presentations of what they do and kind of explain to the public what their role is.

Thank you.

Well, never y'all are ready.

Great.

Good morning members, thanks for having us here.

Uh I serve as the uh deputy mayor external affairs.

That includes the office of community engagement, which I want to speak more about how we'll work with you in your offices, as that office does look a lot different now, as you're well aware, as and also um neighborhood community civic and business engagement.

Good morning, council president, members of the committee.

I'm Kevin Ferguson.

I'm the mayor's chief of staff.

Uh, very excited to be here today to talk to you.

Um, my career's really expanded, uh, a plethora of areas going from working in professional sports, working in hospitality and tourism, and then over the last four years working directly for New Orleans and company, through which I had the pleasure of working with many of the folks in this committee and the council as well, uh, both on legislative matters before the city and projects involving homelessness, sustainability, infrastructure, a number of things to improve the city.

Um, coming here and being a part of this administration was really to continue to fulfill and complete that work.

I look forward to working with all of you closely, and for the folks that have heard me speak before, you know I value leadership more than anything else.

And my definition of leadership is really about taking a group of people to a place that they wouldn't normally get on their own.

And I see this body in front of us.

I see the council as a whole as well as the mayor's office as partners in that.

How do we take the city from this position we're in to a stronger point?

Directly underneath me will be uh intergovernmental relations.

You've already had the pleasure of meeting with a number of our team on that to advance both the mayor's interest and the city's interests federally at the state level and as well with this council.

We'll also receive communications department.

But the goal of that is really streamlining communications both inside the government and externally through all the various departments within city government and making sure that messaging is getting out with full transparency, both to our community and our partners.

Boards and commissions are also directly underneath me, and the goal with that is ultimately to make sure these critical boards and commissions that fulfill a role in our community or properly manage, staffed, and that we have this appointments in order throughout the throughout the year.

Um, really look forward to the opportunity, and then more broadly, I'll also be working with our deputy mayors to make sure we're enacting the mayor's vision and agenda for the city and working very closely with all of you on matters related to both city government, the budget, and the various departments that we oversee.

All right.

Well, I'll I'll start.

Uh Kevin, in particular, I want to kind of give you a shout out in the mayor shout out for us really taking a hard look at boards and commissions.

In particular, by ordinance, it is required that boards and commissions report their attendance and whether or not they have quorums and how often they're meeting.

And something that I'd uncovered last term that we're seeking to rectify is that very few board and commissions are doing the required public reporting to the council as required by ordinance of their attendance roles.

And that's important because one when we appoint people through our process, as you saw just seconds ago, to be on these boards and commissions, these are critical boards and commissions to the city of New Orleans.

It is a honor and an obligation to serve on them, and yet we constantly hear from different boards and commissions, they have problems with quorums, they have problems with holding meetings, and part of our role as a council working with the mayor is that when you see members who routinely don't show up, there is a process to remove them to replace them with someone that will.

And these are commissions and committees that have tens of millions, if not hundreds of millions of dollars in contracts where there is no committee meeting to review DB participation or to even ask in a construction committee whether or not there was any effort to secure local companies versus national or international companies.

And it's like I really appreciate the work this administration is already doing working with this council to bring that transparency back that has gone wholly by the wayside because it's amazing to me just how off the rails things have gotten.

Council President, I appreciate your comments, and I want to touch on two things you said.

I think one transparency, right?

And that is really the goal that these critical boards and functions have transparency, both to the mayor's office, the council, and the residents that they're delivering and managing services for.

And the second was really the critical nature of these things.

The reality of government is that we entrust these boards and commissions to oversee a number of critical functions from recreation, airport, and managing our properties and making sure that the people that are participating are committed and also communicating well on what their activities are for those committees and the subcommittees they're on.

I share those same concerns about the transparency again.

Um it is beyond just a fiduciary responsibility.

There is a accountability that everybody has when they're leading these organizations to make sure that the public's well informed and that they're meeting their obligations as far as attendance and participation.

So we're thrilled to take on that work.

We appreciate the support of you and your office and the rest of the council members as we engage in it.

Any other members have questions right now for either of these individuals?

Okay.

Go ahead, Amy.

Sorry, we're doing this uh paper and pen style because the computers aren't working.

Well, congrats to both of you and especially my friend Kevin.

Um we have known each other since our days at Young Leadership Council when we were both volunteers for power ties.

Um, and then I was president in 2019, and you were right behind me.

So I'm very excited for you in your new position.

The only question I have for both of you is can we get an org chart?

And contact information for we will happily supply that to you.

Just a quick point.

There is a requirement ordinance that you provide in the org chart, and that ordinance was authored by your CAO.

So just letting you know that that is that is not uh not optional, it is required.

Yeah.

So you can remind the CAO that he has to give us an org chart.

I will take the lead on that.

We'll make sure we get that to you all today.

Thank you.

Uh Kevin, uh, you know, we have worked together on homelessness and housing issues, and I just am really excited to continue the work with you as we move forward.

Uh, Renee, I think you're fantastic.

We work together um on other issues.

I do have a question about neighborhood engagement, however.

Um, we, including Ollie, um, was at a neighborhood, we were at a neighborhood meeting yesterday, and Ollie said neighborhood engagement specific districts representatives are no longer available.

What is the plan going forward?

Who do our neighborhoods contact within the administration?

Certainly they contact my office, but is there a neighborhood engagement liaison that they can contact that I can tell uh communities and neighborhood associations?

Right, and and I know that uh not only members of the council but the neighborhood associations and others are familiar with that organization.

Obviously, we are leaner, and I am actually developing a plan with my team that I hope to distribute to you all next week and and to your staff and how we're gonna so that that can be communic communicated also to the neighborhood organizations.

Yeah, I you know, certainly we're we're here to help.

That's part of our job is to make sure that we um advance issues to the administration, but it is I think very important to have somebody within the administration that neighborhood associations know that they can contact not only Matthew in my office but also that person.

Absolutely.

Thank you.

Well, good morning, everyone.

Uh, first of all, let me uh thank uh you, Renee, and you, Kevin.

Um, both of you have just been extremely responsive and really excited to work with you over the next four years.

Um, you know, Mayor Moreno has set the tone that she's gonna be a mayor for the entire city of New Orleans.

Um, and you know, there's a lot of excitement in my district, um, which has traditionally been left behind and has felt forgotten.

I'm gonna go back to boards and commissions for a second.

Uh I I appreciate that this administration has been very intentional.

Um, and as you think about the makeup of boards and commissions, uh let's just be intentional about ensuring that district E is represented on boards and commissions.

I can tell you in the past, um, for example, like the non-member city planning commission.

Uh, you know, finally we got one out of nine seats a couple years ago.

Um, but district E has traditionally been, you know, left out of boards and commissions.

So I would just ask that that level of intentionality ensure that district B residents are included.

Not just New Orleans East, which there's a lot of excitement, but the lower ninth water as well.

Thank you, Councilmember.

See, Shante Powell, who's our director of boards and commission is present here as well.

Yeah, and Ms.

Powell has been phenomenal.

I'll say that on the record.

Nope.

I'm just fine.

I don't have specific questions, but I just look forward to working with both of you all.

I appreciate knowing you and I appreciate your commitment to using government to help our city thrive and to help enhance the quality of life.

So I know it's going to be a good period working with you all.

So in advance, I'll just say congratulations and thank you.

I will move that we go into executive session.

Can I get a second?

Second by Council Member Harris.

Five years, no nays.

We are executive session.

Councilman Amy McCarron moves that we come back from executive session.

Councilman Harris seconds.

I move we adjourn.

Councilman Hughes seconds, all in favor.