OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD
Record of Proceedings

New Orleans Civil Service Commission Regular Meeting – February 6, 2026

City Council — Friday, February 6, 2026
BodyNew Orleans, Louisiana
SessionCity Council
DateFriday, February 6, 2026
StatusFILED
Video Record
0:00 / 41:37

Transcript — Verbatim
1:17

Commissioners, are we ready?

1:29

Okay, good afternoon.

1:30

Welcome to the business portion of the Civil Service Commission's regular meeting for Friday, February 6th.

1:35

We do have a quorum with all commissioners uh present.

1:41

Can I get a motion out of executive session?

1:45

We have a motion.

1:46

Second.

1:47

Second.

1:47

Okay, we have a second.

1:48

Now we're out of executive session into our business meeting.

1:51

Thank you, Commissioners.

1:52

Um, we're gonna go ahead and request that you take up item number five first.

1:56

Um item number five is a request from Mayor Moreno under Rule 12, Section 9.1B to exceed 12 furlough days in a consecutive 12 month period.

2:05

Okay, Commissioners, are we so inclined?

2:07

I'll make a motion.

2:09

It sounds like we have uh unanimous, and we will take it out.

2:12

Thank you.

2:14

You want to come forward?

2:18

Good morning.

2:19

So I'm the first deputy mayor and chief administrative officer for the city of New Orleans.

2:24

I've read the rules and realized that the commission has to vote on anything in excess of twelve furlough days, um, and also the mayor has to show extraordinary circumstances.

2:34

So my question to the commission is given the volume of news that has been presented in this chamber and publicly, how much information to show exceptional circumstances do you want?

2:46

Because I don't want to hurt you in making your record, but at the same time, in fairness, there's been a great deal of publicity and notoriety about what the city's financial status is, and I don't want to waste your time either.

2:59

Uh for me, um, and thank you, congratulations to the new administration and to you, Mr.

3:03

Jerusalem.

3:04

Just give us the why.

3:06

Just to kind of reaffirm the why.

3:08

All right.

3:09

So uh I'm I'm gonna start at the beginning then, because I I totally understand what the question is.

3:13

Would you like to come before um I'm happy to say I can yes, I'm happy to sit at the table.

3:17

Thank you.

3:18

Um, if it's all right with the commission, I'd also ask Mr.

3:20

Wagas back, the legislative author to sit with us as well.

3:23

Thank you.

4:19

That there is a cash management crisis on top of that.

4:44

Let me stop there just for one second, maybe to editorialize.

4:48

The reason that we went is because we know how precious the city employees are, and making sure that they are timely paid was at the top of our agenda, and we express so regularly, publicly and privately to state officials.

5:01

Due to the efforts of I uh of us and the auditor, we were able to convince legislators of necessity of circumstances, and that we would put forward a plan to show how we were digging ourselves out of this hole and how we would serve the city employees.

5:20

The State Bond Commission ultimately granted the revenue anticipatory note, and the legislative auditor further became embedded in the city to ensure not only that payroll payments were being done correctly, but that the city as a whole was improving its processes, something that's actually continuing to happen to this day.

5:38

And in fact, Mr.

5:39

Wag Spack and I spoke this morning about some things that we're trying to fine-tune.

5:44

I think this commission knows the RAN will expire by the end of this month, and we are going to work to continue to use our funds to make sure that we are making payroll.

5:55

Here's something that you may not know that I learned yesterday.

5:59

The forecast for the first month of the year, January of revenue was 113 million dollars.

6:08

The city actually collected 65 million dollars.

6:12

Could you say it one more time?

6:13

I'm sorry.

6:14

Yes.

6:14

The projected revenue for January 2026 was 113 million dollars.

6:20

What the city actually collected in January was 65 million dollars.

6:26

Now, the largest piece of that being off is property taxes.

6:34

Apparently we only collected uh about 69 million dollars, or I'd take that back.

6:42

We had 69 million dollars in a property tax forecast, but only collected 26 million dollars.

6:48

Now, I say this for two reasons.

6:50

One, to level set for the commission, and by the way, I've alerted the mayor and the council members to this number, so um it will not be a surprise to them.

6:58

And two, I think we know the likelihood is that most people will pay between Mardi Gras and when it is all due.

7:05

But at the end of the day, the money is not in the city's coffers as we sit here right now.

7:10

Please also remember in addition to the financial challenges that were thrust upon this administration, we also discovered that NOPD retention bonuses had not been properly maintained, causing this administration to have to fund $9.5 million in other funds in order to make sure that those bonuses as promised were paid.

7:32

We also were settled an alleged wrongful uh incarceration case, and for I know Mr.

7:39

Supernot knows this, but for those non-lawyers, federal judgments are a little bit different than state court ones because the federal government can absolutely make us enforce those as opposed to state court judgments, which go on a list.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Fiscal Sustainability███████████████████████████████████35%
Budget Equity Analysis████████████████████████████28%
Procedural████████████████████20%
Personnel Matters█████████████████17%
Summary of Proceedings

New Orleans Civil Service Commission Regular Meeting – February 6, 2026

The Civil Service Commission held its regular business meeting on February 6, 2026, with all commissioners present. The central agenda item was a request from Mayor Moreno under Rule 12, Section 9.1B to allow city employees to exceed 12 furlough days in a consecutive 12-month period, set at up to 22 furlough days, due to the city's severe financial crisis. The commission also addressed routine consent items, including ratification of public integrity bureau extension requests, creation of new job classifications, and approval of examination announcements.

Consent Calendar

  • Minutes for January 14, 2026 – Deferred to the next meeting.
  • Ratification of Public Integrity Bureau Extension Requests – Approved unanimously without discussion.
  • New Classification: Golf Course Superintendent (Parks and Parkways) – Created a new classification at a special rate of $75,000/year for the Joseph M. Bostow MU golf course (formerly Pontchartrain Park). The position was previously unclassified and is now brought into the classified series. Approved unanimously.
  • New Cybersecurity Job Series (Sewerage and Water Board) – Established a new series to monitor networks and investigate security breaches, with pay paralleling the existing IT series. Approved unanimously.
  • New Operational Technology Systems Job Series (Sewerage and Water Board) – Created to manage industrial control systems for water purification, power control, and environmental monitoring, moving contracted support in-house. Approved unanimously.
  • Examination Announcements (11-464 to 11-465) – Approved as part of recruitment and selection, reflecting the ongoing hiring freeze with only two new postings.

Public Comments & Testimony

  • Destiny Price (classified employee and New Orleans native) – Spoke against the furloughs, citing a lack of transparency regarding unclassified employee salaries. She noted that the new Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) receives $325,000, a $100,000 increase from the previous CAO's $225,000, while classified employees face a 10% pay cut (up to $4,000 pre-tax for those earning $44,000). She argued that the furloughs disproportionately harm lower-paid workers and questioned the city's financial priorities. She also expressed appreciation for the administration's efforts to avoid state oversight.

Discussion Items

  • Request to Exceed 12 Furlough Days (Item 5) – First Deputy Mayor and CAO Joseph I. Giarrusso (referred to as Mr. Jerusalem in transcript) presented the request, detailing the city's cash management crisis. Key points:
    • Projected January 2026 revenue was $113 million; actual collections were $65 million, with property tax collections at $26 million against a $69 million forecast.
    • The city secured a $125 million Revenue Anticipatory Note (RAN) from the State Bond Commission, with a $65 million repayment due in March 2026.
    • Unfunded NOPD retention bonuses ($9.5 million) and a federal wrongful incarceration judgment added to the fiscal strain.
    • The city's bond rating was downgraded by two levels.
    • Mayor Moreno's executive order HM2602 established a budget stabilization and efficiency program with reporting deadlines.
    • Layoffs of 35 unclassified employees occurred; a hiring and spending freeze is in effect.
    • Furlough exemptions: Employees earning $39,733 or less are fully exempt; those earning between $39,734 and $44,435 face a graduated number of furlough days. Public safety and revenue-generating departments are generally exempt.
    • The administration has granted multiple rounds of additional exemptions and is seeking to avoid further layoffs by finding $2 million in operational savings.
  • Legislative Auditor’s Comments – The legislative auditor (Mr. Waggasback) confirmed the severity of the crisis, calling March–May 2026 critical months for cash flow management. He warned that failure to implement cost-saving measures could lead to discussions of a fiscal administrator from the state.
  • Commissioner Reactions – Commissioner Monteverdi (employee commissioner) expressed support, noting the administration's transparency and collaboration with employee representatives. He requested a verbal commitment to provide a progress report at the 12-week mark, which the CAO agreed to. Commissioner Supernaught and Chair Richardson voiced strong support, emphasizing the need for unified action.

Key Outcomes

  • Motion to Approve Furlough Request – The commission voted unanimously (all ayes) to approve Mayor Moreno's request to allow up to 22 furlough days in a 12-month period, as presented by the CAO. No abstentions or objections were recorded.
  • Commitment to Report – The CAO committed to return to the commission at the 12-week mark or anytime upon request to provide an update on the city's financial status and potential early termination of furloughs.
  • Item 6 (Fire Union Request) – Noted as a request to address the commission regarding abuse of Rule 9 disciplinary actions, but the commissioner recused themselves and no further action was taken.

Meeting Transcript

Commissioners, are we ready? Okay, good afternoon. Welcome to the business portion of the Civil Service Commission's regular meeting for Friday, February 6th. We do have a quorum with all commissioners uh present. Can I get a motion out of executive session? We have a motion. Second. Second. Okay, we have a second. Now we're out of executive session into our business meeting. Thank you, Commissioners. Um, we're gonna go ahead and request that you take up item number five first. Um item number five is a request from Mayor Moreno under Rule 12, Section 9.1B to exceed 12 furlough days in a consecutive 12 month period. Okay, Commissioners, are we so inclined? I'll make a motion. It sounds like we have uh unanimous, and we will take it out. Thank you. You want to come forward? Good morning. So I'm the first deputy mayor and chief administrative officer for the city of New Orleans. I've read the rules and realized that the commission has to vote on anything in excess of twelve furlough days, um, and also the mayor has to show extraordinary circumstances. So my question to the commission is given the volume of news that has been presented in this chamber and publicly, how much information to show exceptional circumstances do you want? Because I don't want to hurt you in making your record, but at the same time, in fairness, there's been a great deal of publicity and notoriety about what the city's financial status is, and I don't want to waste your time either. Uh for me, um, and thank you, congratulations to the new administration and to you, Mr. Jerusalem. Just give us the why. Just to kind of reaffirm the why. All right. So uh I'm I'm gonna start at the beginning then, because I I totally understand what the question is. Would you like to come before um I'm happy to say I can yes, I'm happy to sit at the table. Thank you. Um, if it's all right with the commission, I'd also ask Mr. Wagas back, the legislative author to sit with us as well. Thank you. That there is a cash management crisis on top of that. Let me stop there just for one second, maybe to editorialize. The reason that we went is because we know how precious the city employees are, and making sure that they are timely paid was at the top of our agenda, and we express so regularly, publicly and privately to state officials. Due to the efforts of I uh of us and the auditor, we were able to convince legislators of necessity of circumstances, and that we would put forward a plan to show how we were digging ourselves out of this hole and how we would serve the city employees. The State Bond Commission ultimately granted the revenue anticipatory note, and the legislative auditor further became embedded in the city to ensure not only that payroll payments were being done correctly, but that the city as a whole was improving its processes, something that's actually continuing to happen to this day. And in fact, Mr. Wag Spack and I spoke this morning about some things that we're trying to fine-tune. I think this commission knows the RAN will expire by the end of this month, and we are going to work to continue to use our funds to make sure that we are making payroll. Here's something that you may not know that I learned yesterday. The forecast for the first month of the year, January of revenue was 113 million dollars. The city actually collected 65 million dollars. Could you say it one more time? I'm sorry. Yes. The projected revenue for January 2026 was 113 million dollars. What the city actually collected in January was 65 million dollars.

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