The New Orleans City Council Criminal Justice Committee met on April 27, 2026, with Councilmember King presiding. The meeting featured updates on the dormant Brechtel Golf Course and the stalled Gaul Manor demolition, a detailed proposal to raise city employee wages to a living wage, and multiple presentations on workforce development programs aimed at reducing crime through economic opportunity. Public comments highlighted the need for justice system accountability alongside job creation.
Michael Carum from the Department of Parks and Parkways provided an update. The 100-acre course, donated to the city in 1931 with a restrictive covenant for public park use, has been closed since 2005. The department currently maintains about one-third of the site. A $700,000 funding request for 2026 for a master plan and park reinvestment was not received. Plans to open the course to the public remain stalled due to public safety concerns and lack of funding.
Councilmember King led a discussion on the long-stalled demolition of the Gaul Manor property in Algiers. The original $3 million set aside for demolition was spent or moved without clear authorization under a previous administration, and only partial work was completed. The current contractor (Robert Wolf Construction) has not met DBE requirements. King showed photos of overgrown grass and debris near nurseries and homes, calling the conditions unacceptable for residents and children. He stated that monthly updates will be provided until the demolition is complete, with increasingly aggressive reminders. The administration, under Mayor Moreno, has committed to resolving the issue. Councilmember Hughes requested and received confirmation that demolition data had been sent to his office.
Amy Tripigny (Civil Service Director) and Robert Hagman (Compensation Director) presented a proposal to increase city employee wages to a living wage. They cited the MIT Living Wage Calculator, which sets the living wage for the New Orleans metro area at $20.49/hour. The city's current minimum is $16.73/hour (40-hour positions) and $16.67/hour (35-hour positions). The proposal includes two strategies: (1) raising the city minimum wage to $19.36/hour (35-hour) and $19.42/hour (40-hour), and (2) providing a $2,600 annual housing allowance for Orleans Parish residents, prorated for part-time employees. The cost for classified employees only is estimated at $4.1 million for the wage increase (affecting 582 employees) and $5.2 million for the housing allowance (affecting about 2,000 employees). Councilmember Harris requested refined cost estimates including unclassified and part-time employees. The presentation noted that the living wage is a long-term goal to reduce turnover, reliance on public assistance, and poverty-driven crime. Councilmember Hughes and King voiced strong support, framing it as an investment that pays off in reduced criminal justice and social service costs.
Several organizations presented their workforce training programs, emphasizing connections to high-demand jobs and second-chance hiring for justice-involved individuals.
Councilmember King played a video of Darien, a former federal prisoner now employed as a garbage truck driver through Ivy Waste, a company that provides second chances. King emphasized that gainful employment is a key crime prevention tool. Councilmember Green echoed the importance of job opportunities and encouraged residents to access council offices for help overcoming employment barriers.
Note: The agenda and minutes were not available for this meeting; the summary is derived solely from the transcript.
Morning, Miss Anita, we can start. Good morning. Roll call. Councilmember King. Councilmember Morel. Councilmember Harris. Councilmember Green. Councilmember Hughes. We have two members. We don't have a quorum. Councilmember Hughes is present. We have three members. We have a quorum. Thank you. Make a motion to accept the minutes from last meeting. Second by Councilmember Harris. Three A's, no nays. All right. Good morning, everyone. Welcome to April's criminal justice committee meeting. We're going to start the meeting with a brief introduction. Well, I'm sorry, with a brief presentation from Mr. Michael Carum related to the um update with Break Tall Golf Course. Good morning, Councilmember King. Councilmember Hughes, Councilmember Harris. As you all know, the course uh did not open after 2005 and um has sat dormant um for the last 20 years. Uh it originally was donated to the city in 1931 uh with a restrictive covenant uh to be used as a public municipal park. Um the Department of Parks and Parkways in the last five years has undertaken the demolition of the clubhouse, um uh over a 40,000 dollar clearing of sections of the hundred acres uh to explore with council member king and others the possibility of using it as a passive green space uh in the absence of a larger funding for uh uh that space. Um ultimately uh we currently maintain about a third of the hundred acres. Um there are some larger issues with opening it up to the public uh related to public safety that have prevented us from uh doing that with any interim uh redevelopment plan. We've also worked with Capital Projects uh to look at uh reusing funding that was allocated for Skelly Rup for uh soccer facility and multi-sport fields. Uh now understand the capital projects, uh Councilmember King and uh Senator Carter are are looking at the possibility of reviving that possibly at uh the hundred-acre site or back at Skelly Rup. Uh at present, uh our teams, as I said, maintain about a third of the facility uh with additional funding. We would want to focus on repairing sections of the fence uh on the perimeter um of the site and possibly extending our maintenance of the site for uh visibility purposes for the most part um and uh possibly opening it up to the public in the future, but funding remains an issue. In 2026, uh we requested over 700,000 for both Brechtel Park and the golf course uh to reinvest in the park itself and to uh fund a master plan to combine the 120-acre park and the 100-acre uh former golf course. Uh we did not receive that funding, and we plan to submit uh that funding request in this year's capital improvement plan. Um that's all I have, Councilmember King. Uh if you have any questions, I'd be happy to answer them. Just wanted to make the public aware of what's happening, and if you can tell us the anticipated next step of action, the next step and when that may happen. Uh at this time we don't have any plans to open the the site to the public. Um as we've seen for some fencing repairs around Brechtel Park. But at this time it remains closed to the public and will continue to make uh maintain the sections that we do maintain and the tree canopy around it. All right. Well, that's the update. Um I appreciate the time, Mr. Carroll thank you. We'll see you next month for another update. Are you ready? All right. All right.