Here's a little noise, and a break

If you missed this story from Thursday, Caddo and Bossier residents can sound off on noise in early August at a joint meeting between the two parishes' governments.

The Commission and Police Jury will consider ordinances aimed at setting allowable levels of loudness.

"Excessive noise can mean one thing to you and another thing to me," Caddo Parish Attorney Charles Grubb said. "What this proposal does is it puts some objectivity into what is excessive."

Read the prop for yourself here.

And on another note, dear readers, I'll be taking a blogging break for a short while. I've got vacation next week followed by the Asian American Journalists Association convention. There I'll be an editor/mentor for college students producing a multimedia project that includes a newspaper, website and Internet video broadcasts. Follow me on Twitter if you'd like to see more about that.


Watch the City Council and Commission for me while I'm out. You never know when they might try to pull a fast one.

Full list of Shreveport's fall election qualifiers

A reader pointed out it was hard to find this list on our site. So here is a recap of all the candidates who qualified for Shreveport offices in the Oct. 2 election.

Shreveport mayor

• Dana Bruhnke, no party
• Roy Burrell, D
• David Cox, other
• Cedric Glover, D
• Tim Goeders, R
• Hersy Jones Jr., other
• Debra Lindsey, other
• Parker Ward
• Bryan Wooley

Shreveport City Council

District A:
• Rose Wilson McCulloch, D
• C. O. Simpkins, D
• Lillian Thomas Wade, no party
• Michael D. Williams, D

District B:
• Deborah Allen, no party
• "Jeff" Everson, D
• Craig B. Lee, other
• Sheva Sims, D

District C:
• Oliver Jenkins, R
• Jacob "Jake" Toloso, no party

District D:
• Deanna Candler, R
• Michael D. Corbin, R
• Phillip A. Templeton, other

District E:
• "Ron" Webb, R

District F:
• Joe Shyne, D

District G:
• Samuel L. "Sam" Jenkins Jr., D
• Jerry L. White, D

News release about Shreveport's ongoing trash pickup issues

Workers load plant clippings  in 2008.

The city news release posted below didn't get much play last week. But I thought it would be good to post it as just another increment in this ongoing story. (Think plan to buy new garbage trucks.)

Shreveport sent this out July 13:

The City’s Solid Waste Division is asking citizens for patience and understanding as crews work diligently to get back on schedule for regular weekly collections.

“Baring any unforeseen occurrences or situations, we will be back on schedule after Wednesday, July 14, 2010,” says Public Works Superintendent Fred Williams.  “We are still providing once a week collection, except in some areas we have come a day or two late and we apologize.”

Plagued by mechanical problems, Williams explains that a reduced number of operating solid waste vehicles has significantly impacted weekly collections.  “We have been operating with 36 to 38 sanitation vehicles instead of the 47 that are needed to finish our daily/weekly routes.” 

Additionally, last week, sanitation crews worked a holiday (4th of July) schedule.  They were off Monday and worked Tuesday through Friday without the benefit of a non-collection day to catch up and go back to those areas that were missed.   

“We are asking the citizens of Shreveport to be patient with us as we get back to and continue to provide the level of service that they expect.”

For questions of further information contact:  Fred Williams, Superintendent, Office of Public Works, Solid Waste Division @ (318) 673.6300

Shreveport City Council Chairwoman takes witness stand

I'm not covering the case, but fellow reporter Nicole Blake Johnson has been sitting in on the residency hearing of a Caddo School Board candidate for District 12.

The one in question is Michael Collins, a Republican, seeking the seat of incumbent Democrat Dottie Bell. City Council Chairwoman Joyce Bowman, who sometimes pals around with Bell, apparently took the stand.

Not sure what she said, but I think we may hear more tomorrow,  after Judge Ramon Lafitte makes a decision.

And here are Shreveport City Council member duties

I wouldn't want the City Council to feel like no one pays attention. So since I posted Shreveport's mayoral duties yesterday, here are the council's:

With respect to the organization of the city government, the council by ordinance shall have the exclusive power:

(a) To create and establish new functions of the city government and assign responsibility for administering same;

(b) To create and establish new departments to administer functions not established by this Charter; and

(c) Upon recommendation of the mayor, to reassign or terminate functions, offices and duties which have been specifically assigned by this Charter, or which have been previously assigned by council action, provided, however, that no such ordinance shall change the duties and responsibilities assigned by this Charter to the elective officers named in section 3.01 hereof or those duties and responsibilities assigned to the fire and police departments under Article 11 of this Charter.

Read more here.

Shreveport mayoral duties

Just thought I would pluck this section of Shreveport's charter since we've been discussing the mayor's office.

It comes from Section 5.02 - Powers and duties of the mayor

All executive and administrative powers under this Charter shall vest in and be exercised by the mayor, except as may be otherwise specifically provided in this Charter. In the exercise of such authority, the mayor shall be responsible for the conduct of the executive branch of the city government and shall administer all offices, departments, boards, commissions and agencies thereof. 

It shall be the duty of the mayor to see that the provisions of this Charter, the ordinances and resolutions of the city, and all laws of the municipality are enforced. 

Specifically, but not by way of limitation of the other provisions herein made, the mayor shall: 

(a) Subject to the provisions of Article 14 of this Charter, appoint all officers and employees of the several departments of the city, except those officers and employees who are to be appointed in some other manner under the provisions of this Charter; 

(b) Subject to the provisions of applicable state laws and of Article 14 of this Charter, remove at his pleasure all persons appointed by him; 

(c) Sign all contracts, bonds or other instruments or documents requiring the assent of or execution by the city, except those which some other officer is authorized hereunder to sign, and be custodian of the corporate seal; 

(d) See that the terms and conditions of all contracts are faithfully executed;

(e) Have a voice but no vote in the proceedings of all boards, agencies, committees, commissions and authorities of the city of which he is not made a voting member; 

(f) Annually present to the council a report on the condition of the affairs of the city together with any advices, proposals or recommendations he deems worthy of consideration by the council or the people of the city; and 

(g) Exercise such other powers and perform such other duties as may be prescribed by this Charter, by ordinance, by resolution, or by applicable law.

 

Read more of the charter here.

Let the political games begin, Shreveport

Qualifying's done, and now the real campaigning can get started.

The Shreveport mayor's race, with nine contenders, obviously will be something we will follow closely. There will be some competitive council races as well.

So stay tuned. In the meantime, what do y'all want to know more about? And what are the biggest issues facing Shreveport's next round of leaders?

Shreveport now has 7 mayoral candidates

Here's the list, including two surprises.

1. Dana Bruhnke, independent.
2. Roy Burrell, Democrat.
3. David Cox, independent.
4. Debra Lindsey, independent.
5. Cedric Glover, Democrat.
6. Parker Ward, Libertarian
7. Bryan Wooley, Republican.

That's all for today. But we still have one more day of qualifying. I'll be dispatching via my Twitter feed on Friday.

Thanks, Shreveport City Council, for the notice

Just wanted to give props to your City Council for doing the right thing last week.

Office worker Eric Whitt (who sits at the council office front desk and often answers phone calls) is quitting to move on to another job in the Dallas area, I'm told. So the council and staff decided to take him to lunch on Friday.

And since there was a chance that could mean a quorum at the noon gathering, clerk Arthur Thompson sent public notice. I didn't crash the party, but I could have since council staff fulfilled the law. I don't hear too often of local government boards meeting without giving notice, but I do hear when they gather two-by-two, which technically means they don't have to inform us. (And that us means you and me, not just journalists.)

Now, the next question is how much did lunch cost us taxpayers?

Good luck in The Metroplex, Eric.

Read more here about Louisiana open meetings law.

Lagniappe from LSU-S student's City Council announcement

Folks were probably expecting some follow up from Mayor Cedric Glover' re-election party last night. Unfortunately I couldn't attend because of a death in my family.

But I did want to offer a little from Tuesday's City Council announcement gathering for LSU-S student Deanna Candler. It was at Catina Laredo on Youree Drive. She works there.

A possible alliance worth noting: fellow Republican Ron Webb attended.

Candler is the second announced candidate for Bryan Wooley's District D seat. Michael Corbin is the other.