Metropolitan Council - Regular Meeting

We have a huge crowd that have joined us and of course we would love to have you with us uh any month that you would like to come down on the second and fourth Wednesdays at 4:00 this time. Here is the mayor president prom of East Baton Rouge Parish, Councilman Brandon Null. Councilman, thank you Dennis. Welcome everybody to the Metropolitan Council meeting this Wednesday, April 22nd, 2026. We'll call the meeting to order. Ashley, do we have a quorum? We have a quorum.

All right. We're going to have the invocation led by Pastor Gerald Robinson, followed by the pledge by Attorney Tiffany Foxworth. Eternal God, Father, howful you allow. And so God, we thank you, oh God, for all who have gathered in this place. And now God, we pray in Jesus' name that you will pour out upon us your wisdom, God, your knowledge and understanding, dear God, that this may be a meeting of peace and understanding that we may do and say the things that are pleasing in thine sight and that are in the best interest of all of your people. and God will be sure to give you the glory, the honor, and all of the praise. It is in Jesus' name we pray. Amen.

Amen.

Please put your hand over your heart. I pledge of allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Thank you.

All right. Adoption and approval of the minutes. We're going to have number one adopt approval and adoption minutes metropolitan council meeting of April 8, 2026 and the Metropolitan Council zoning meeting of April 15, 2026 by council administrative treasurer. Do I have a motion? Motion by Councilwoman Coleman, second by Councilwoman Amarosa. Is there any opposition? Motion carries. Ashley, can you please read the introductions?

Section 2.12, introductions. Number two, amend the 2026 pay plan for the classified, unclassified, and unclassified, contract, fire, and police employees of the city of Baton Rouge, Parish of East Baton Rouge so as to make the following changes effective May 16th, 2026. Increase the pay grade of the parish attorney classification by Councilman Lauri Adams, Councilman Dwight Hudson, and human resources director. Number three, amend the 2026 pay plan for the classified, unclassified, nonclassified, contract, fire, and police employees of the city of Baton Rouge Parish of East Baton Rouge so as to implement changes to the classified and unclassified pay plan effective June 27th, 2026 by the mayor, president, finance director, and human resources director. Condemnation introductions. Number four, Santiago T. Clark, 6676 Greenill Street, Council District 5, Hurst. Number five, Henry Robbins, 4099 BIP Street, Council District 7, Harris. Number six, Joseph Collins, 4836 Jean Street, Council District 7, Harris. Number seven, Reneica Anderson, 3736 Delaware Street, Council District 7, Harris. Adjuicated property introductions. Number eight, lot 1, A1, Square 28, Scotland Edition, Council District 2, Kenny. Number nine, lot 9, part Square 1, Lemon Place, Council District 10, Coleman. Number 10, lot 21, Square 23, Subdivision, Hickey Town, Council District 10, Coleman. Number 11, lot 8, square 89, Estroma subdivision, council district 10, Coleman. Number 12, lot 1, A1, square 20A, Sub Scotland edition, Council District 2, Kenny. Number 13, lot 8, Square 2, Subdivision, Plank Road, Council District 7, Harris. Number 14, 20 parts, Square 39, South Baton Rou, Council District 10, Coleman. Number 15, lot 15 plus square subdivision, Richmond Park, Council District 10, Coleman. Number 16, lot 14, part square five, subdivision Scott, Council District 10, Coleman. Number 17, lot 10 plus square six, subdivision Scott, Council District

10, Coleman. Number 18, lot 68, subdivision Highland Gardens Addition, Council District 7, Harris. Number 19, lot 41, Subdivision Cypress Park, Council District 9, Hudson. Number 20, lot 44, subdivision Cypress Park, Council District 9, Hudson. Number 21, lot 10 plus square 4, subdivision North Baton Rouge, Council District 2, Kenny. Number 22, lot 34, park, square 39, subdivision South Baton Rouge, Council District 10, Coleman. Number 23, lot 1 8 council uh square 5, subdivision Dayton, Council District 10, Coleman. Number 24, lot 133, subdivision Victoria Gardens, Council District 7, Harris. Number 25, lot X, JJ Burke Estate, Council District 10, Coleman. Number 26, lot 9, square 164, subdivision South Baton Rouge, Council District 10, Coleman. All items require reading have been read and a motion to introduce all items is in order.

We have a motion by Councilwoman Coleman. Second by Councilwoman Adams. Is there any opposition? Motion carries. All items are introduced. All right. Go to your second sheet for or your separate sheet for condemnations. I'm going to read the DPW recommendations and then field from the council recommendations. Then we'll have a public hearing. Recommendations are to proceed with items 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, and 50. There's no uh deferrals or deletions. Anybody have any separate recommendations? We all good? Okay. Anyone wishing to speak on these items? Seeing none, we'll go to councel. Motion by Councilwoman Harris, second by Councilwoman Coleman. Is there any opposition? Motion carries. All items will proceed. Item 51. Amend the 2026 pay plan for classified unclassified non-classified contract fire and police employees of the city of Baton Rouge Parish of East Baton Rouge by ordinance number 1 19726 data 1209 2025 so as to implement municipal pay plan municipal police police pay plan changes effective May 16, 2026 and appropriate $5,615,000 for set purpose by mayor president finance director and human resources director. Okay, I know there's a lot of people who are wanting to speak on this item. What we're going to do is uh I think Chief wants to speak and then we're going to have proponents and uh just line up um any proponents who want to speak for it and then we'll have opponents. I'm not sure if we have

overflow on the eth floor, but if we do um when when I start seeing the line uh get down to just a handful of people, we'll call people from the eighth floor so they can come down and make sure everybody has a chance. Chief.

Good evening, council. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to address you today. The Baton Rouge Police Department is one of the best police departments in the entire country. This is not just my opinion, but a fact based on any metric available. In my over 26 years of law enforcement experience, I have been all over the country teaching classes to law enforcement and being taught classes. I have brought all that I have learned back to BRPD, including firsthand knowledge that what we have here in Baton Rouge is absolutely one of the most well-trained, most organized, most technologically advanced, and most professional departments in the country. We serve the citizens of Baton Rouge and we also protect the hundreds of thousands of people that come into Baton Rouge to work, have dinner, attend the hundreds of sporting special events, attend college, sporting events, use the airport, or just pass through on our two major interstates. If you are in the city of Baton Rouge and you call 911, there are only three agencies that will be responding to your call for help. Three, Baton Rouge Fire Department, East Baton Rouge EMS, and the Baton Rouge Police Department. That is it. We enter these calls on nights, weekends, and holidays, equipped to handle any crisis our community faces. But our department is doing all of this at critical staffing shortage. Based on population size and calls for service, our department is allotted for 696 officers. As I stand here today, we are right about 525 officers. That is off 70 officers short with more officers schedules to retire in the next few months. When I worked first district dog shift at night in North Baton Rouge, we had we had 13 officers on my squad. That same squad now has seven. We are asking our officers to answer more calls for service, use more technology, wear more hats, but with less people and fewer resources. This is putting a toll on the officers of the Baton Rouge Police Department that cannot be ma maintained.

We're short in every division. From our dispatchers who answer the calls to the uniform officers showing up to crime in progress to our detectives that do the serious case followup and even our operations personnel. Your Baton Rouge Police Department desperately needs these raises so that we can attract, recruit, and hire more top tier talent to fill our ranks. The pool is already small for those that are willing to take the calling of being a law enforcement professional. We need our salaries to be able to compete with the other agencies across our area. The only thing holding us back from being able to hire these officers is the pay not being competitive. Without hiring more people, our numbers will quickly drop below 500 officers and we will no longer be able to provide the same level of services that we currently are able to provide. How can we staff a special event that requires 200 officers and still serve the city? I fear some divisions would need to be eliminated and some call types won't be answered in person. I ask that would you would please vote yes on this item as it is proposed. Thank you very much. I will be listening to all the public comments and stand ready to be called back up to answer any questions you may have.

Thank you chief. Any other uh proponents wishing to speak? Consible. Good evening. Okay. I stand here today as the city constable for the city of Baton Rouge and to advocate on behalf of the men and women that work at the constable's office that works for the city of Baton Rouge. I'm not standing here to say Baton Rouge city police should not receive this pay raise today. I've said this from the beginning and I will continue to say they do deserve a pay increase. Constables do deserve that increase as well. Uh when we talk about law enforcement, at one time they were saying that constables wasn't law enforcement, but we've established that in December the mayor said constables are law enforcement. So what I asked the city of Baton Rouge and this council, whenever we're talking about law enforcement, please keep city constables in mind when you talk about it. Now, from what from what I'm understanding today, there's another uh agenda item coming up in two weeks, and I'm asking this council to please consider giving constables a pay increase in two weeks when they come back up again. I'm not telling y'all not to give it to Baton Rou City Police because they need it, but just like they need it, all other law enforcement and city parish employees need it. So to the people that told me we're next, to the people that says they're fighting for us, I hope and I pray that in two weeks you will continue to fight and do what's right. It's not about black and white. It's not about Democratic or Republican. It's about doing what's right for the people that work for the city of Baton Rouge. Thank you. Thank you, Councilman. Any other proponents wishing to speak? Okay. I thought we'd have a line, so Okay. If you're on the eighth floor and you and you wish to speak, come on down and state your name for the record.

Brandon O'Neal. I'm president of the Baton Rouge Union Police. As president of the Baton Rouge Union Police and voice for our officers, I stand before you today in strong support and strong support of the proposed pay scale. This plan is more than just numbers on paper. for its meaningful investment and the men and women who put the uniform on every day and serve this city with dedication and professionalism and sacrifice. For far too long, our officers have operated in an environment where compensation has struggled to keep uh keep pace with the demands of the job and the realities of today's economy. This proposal begins to correct that. It provides structure, competitive pay that rewards experience, encourages retention, and makes recruitment a high um a high qu for high quality candidates more attainable. From the union perspective, one of the most important aspects of this plan is the long-term vision. It is not a temporary fix. It creates sustainability. officers can now see a clear path forward in their careers, knowing that their commitment to this department will be recognized and valued. This proposal also strengthens our department as a whole. When we take care of our officers, we improve the morale, reduce turnover, and ultimately enhance the level of service we provide to the citizens of Baton Rouge. Simply put, it's about fairness, sustainability, and respect for the profession. It sends a clear message that the that Baton Rouge values the police officers and will and is willing to invest in their future. On behalf of the union, I urge your support for this proposal. It is a step in the right direction for our officers, our department, and our community. To Mayor President Sid Edwards and council, thank you for your time and support.

Yes, sir.

My name is Yeal Bander. That's spelled Y I G A L B A N D E R. I'm not aware that I represent anybody but myself and my family. Uh we've lived in the same house in Sherwood Forest for the past 40 years. Um, often when I drive west on Goodwood Boulevard, uh, I see a constable vehicle parked in front of a house on the south side of the boulevard. Um, usually with some kind of lights on. It's nice to see a law enforcement vehicle there. It makes us feel a little safer. And um of course I support a pay increase for the police and EMS. Uh, I am here to also express support for a pay increase for the constable deputies and to point out as a lawyer that I've made a study of uh the law enforcement status of the constable's office and I know the mayor president himself and the chief have all acknowledged that the constable's office is law and the deputies are law enforcement. I'd like to point out that the attorney general has also issued an opinion uh based on statutory interpretation that constable deputies are law enforcement. So that should be kept in mind as well. Thank you very much. Any other proponents? Good evening. My name is Paula Collins

and I am a proponent for the police pay raise, but I I am also a proponent for the council's pay raise. It was mentioned that there's going to be another hearing in two weeks. Rather than divide this community, pit departments against one another, create the environment, the mental environment that's going on in our city now as it relates to who's who versus the council and the police. I only stand as a proponent asking that if you have something to review on May 16th that you include the police and the council as one to keep our communities together. Good afternoon. My name is Corporal Brian Strong. I'm the current president of the Magnolia State Peace Officers Association. The Magnolia State Peace Officer Association is a nonprofit and community services organization dedicated to the betterment of law enforcement and the administration of justice in the state of Louisiana. Our organization has hundreds of members including officers and dispatchers throughout the state of Louisiana. Here in the Capitol area region, we have members representing multiple local agencies. Some of these agencies include the East Batru Sheriff's Office, City of Baton Rouge Council's Office, State Police, but without a doubt, the largest department that makes up the members in our areas of the Baton Rouge Police Department. I'm here today on behalf of the Magnolia State Police Officers Association's capital chapter to support item 449, which is a raise for the men and women of the Baton Rouge Police Department. The Baton Rouge Police Department is the premier law enforcement agency in the state of police in the state of Louisiana. This is my 17th year with

BRPD and since joining BRPD, we have seen a steady decline in officers and a drastic increase in calls of service. During this time, officers have been asked to patrol and cover larger areas, which have led to further increases in case loads and less downtime for our officers. For years, I've literally seen hundreds of officers leave this department due to for for jobs with less stress, less time away from their families, and most importantly, for more money. The issue of money has not properly been addressed for years, and this has led to the department being down almost 170 officers. Passage of today's item will be an important step in attracting qualified applicants and retaining our skilled law enforcement professionals. BRPD provides superior training for its officers. We have seen officers come to BRP BRPD to obtain certification in this training and then leave for higher paying job opportunities. We are the police department for the capital city of Louisiana. There is no reason why any surrounding agency should be be paid more than this department. We handle more calls. We handle more events and we make more arrests. Some of the same agencies that call us for assistance make more than this department. While doing research, I discovered several lo several of these local agencies that pay their newly hired police officers fresh out of academy either the same or more than my base pay after 17 years. It is my hope that this item is approved. This is not an issue about money. This is an issue about public safety and the citizens of Baton Rouge. The public safety of our community should be the number one priority for any city stakeholder. The passage of this item will be an investment in the safety of our community and will ensure the dis the stability in the future of the Baton Rouge Police Department. So I ask again that you please support the men and women of the Baton Rouge Police

Department. Thank you for your time and your attention.

Good evening. My name is Judge Evette Mansville Alexander. I'm the chief judge of Bary City Court. I have with me my four fellow female judges on the front row. We're here today in support. We love our police. We They come in our court. They do their job. They're the greatest police officers that I know. But we also believe that our constable should be included as a law enforcement. When you say law enforcement, there's a definition, a legal definition. And in the state of Louisiana, if you qualify for the supplemental fund that you get, then you're a law enforcement. What we're here today to say is we do not believe that our constable, which is our law enforcement for the City Court of Baton Rouge, should be left out of this pay raise. So, we implore you today to please include them on that. And please excuse us because at the capital, they're trying to infringe on our city court jurisdiction. So we have to run over there before the justice of the peace take that away. So but we're here today just to show our support on that issue and we would very much appreciate it. They're the law enforcement that we have in our courts every day. Our our bailisters to protect us to help us get things done. And there's no way you can say we're giving law enforcement a raise without giving them one. Also, thank you for your time. Good evening. I'm Dr. Gerard A. Robinson, senior of the Mchu Missionary Baptist Church, 1255 Louise Street, Baton Rouge, Louisiana. And I'm grateful for all of you and the work that you do. I'm especially grateful for Chief Morris and uh all the work that they do. As a matter of fact, chief, a couple of your

officers every Sunday uh work extra duty at our church to secure uh that area and that perimeter. So, I am eternally grateful uh to the police officers and the very very fine work that they do in our city. Uh but also I'm grateful for councils because when I've called them, they have rushed to to my aid to help me in whatever the situation may have been, whether it was eviction or whatever it may have been, uh councils have been there as well. And so I ask humbly that as we do any consideration all for all of these law enforcement officers, uh, the police officers wear weapons, the constables wear weapons, what that signifies to me and this community that all of their lives are in danger every day. And so what I would ask and submit uh and implore you as leaders in in in the city of Baton Rouge is that when you do your reconsideration and your thought processes that you will consider uh the council's office as well uh because in this economy listen I'm not I'm sure that everybody in here would like to get a pay raise and so I'm asking you to consider them if you would be so kind. Thank you for your time. Good evening. I am Alfreda Tilman Bester. I am uh vice chair of 10,000 women Louisiana. I am a former Louisiana labor secretary and I am former general counsel for the Louisiana State Conference of the NAACP. A lot of former stuff. I just I want to say that this

ordinance concerns me because it is one more thing that appears to be divided along racial and party lines. When we call for our police department, we don't ask what party they belong to. We don't care what race they are. We care that they are available to come out and see about us. Law enforcement in this parish, we have a sheriff, we have a police department, and we have a constable office. I've litigated in city court. It's the constable's office that staffs that city court and protects me as an attorney, the litigants who are there, as well as the judges who are there. We have an opportunity as a council and as a city right now to bring healing and and cohesiveness to our community. We're saying that two weeks from now, we're going to come back and we're going to make sure that we take care of the rest of our city parish employees. We know today that we have the opportunity to do that. Why would it be necessary for us to defer on those people for two weeks instead of bringing all of them? the police department who I want to see have a pay increase. They deserve a pay increase. The study that was commissioned by the uh city parish says that a 30% increase is in order.

Been practicing law a real long time. I've been in various positions. Very few times even at promotion did I get a 30% pay increase. And the ones that I did get, I was very happy about it. There's an opportunity and we've identified funds that we know that we can pay all of our people. When those people who are not police officers go to the store, pay their utilities, pay their mortgages, they have to pay money just like the police officers. And I think that we need to respect them. We have an opportunity to increase their morale, to increase their compensation, to heal this community, and not leave

just simmering before all of us a another division that is unnecessary. So, I'm asking you, yes, take care of our police officers, but I'm asking you also to take care of our constable office and all of the employees of East Baton Rouge Parish in accordance with the the study that was commissioned by this city parish that says that those dollars are available and if we can do it in two weeks, we can amend this today to take care of all of our people today. Thank you, Mr. Noel.

Thank you. Thank you. Good afternoon to the mayor, the council, the supporting staff, the police officers, the conible, and all citizens of the city of Baton Rouge. When I speak, I don't speak for me. I speak for we. I was a 40-year employee of the city of Baton Rouge. I have been retired for 18 years. All employees who work for the city of Baton Rouge need money. I totally support giving funding to the police department because they need it. They are our public service officers as well as the constable office. They are our public service safety employees. But when you look at money and you look at the city of Baton Rouge and all of the employees, you need to consider I'm a retiree. I haven't gotten a raise since I retired, but I live with that. And I was glad the gentleman before me brought that up. We all need money. We all need support. We all need to the council, the police department, and the council members to consider when they make decisions to consider all of us because it's all of us working together. We, not me, that makes the difference. So, the chief, I support you. The

constable, I support you. I support the little man who was out there doing the dirty work for the city of Baton Rouge. I support the citizens because I once worked in human resources. I was the employee eration ima employee relations officer. I trained the citizens the the the people and the employees on their rights and responsibilities in the workplace and all of those stand things should should stand. So today, when you make your decision and when you decide to do what is best for all of us, please consider that. And I I stand aside and I didn't come to speak, but I'm never but I'm always prepared. Thank you very much.

Thank you. Can you give us your name for the record, please, ma'am? My name is Jacquelyn Lindale, Germany. Thank you, Mr. German.

I speak at the council. I testify at the state capital. I was at a town road showing last night. You going to see me around town because it's about we, not me. Thank you very much. Good afternoon, council. Everyone assembled here today. Deputy Chief Sharon Douglas, chief of staff for the Batri Police Department. So, what is the going hourly rate for a hero? This is not a rhetorical question. Baton Rouge police officers answer calls most people will never answer at a price that does not reflect the weight of those calls. So I want you to feel what we are asking of them. I also want you to feel how we are feeling in police work. There is no normal shift. An officer can go from a traffic stop to a domestic violence call to holding the hand of a victim toward toward running toward gunfire all within hours. And they don't get to choose which moments they face. They don't get to pause. They don't get to process the trauma before the next call. They make splitsecond decisions with incomplete information and are expected to be steady, composed, and right every single time. Since 2016, BRPD has lost nine officers. Nine. Can you believe one of our fallen officers with five years of service died making $39,000 a year before taxes? And another officer with over 20 years of service made about $61,000, a figure only $2,000 more than the proposed starting pay. That tells us

plainly that the pay is behind. So sit with that for a minute. A life of service, a life of sacrifice, a life that ended in the line of duty. But the compensation attached to that life did not reflect the risk carried while living. We are asking our heroes to risk everything and still figure out how to make ends meet making less than adequate pay with continued rising costs. So what happens when heroes perceive they are undervalued while being underpaid? They work more to keep up with the rising costs. They push through exhaustion physically, mentally, emotionally, not because they want to, but because they have to until they can't any longer. The reality is officers leave because compensation does not match the calling. This profession is a calling that someone has to do. Help us keep the talent that we have. Help us attract more talent to this organization because when they leave, we lose experience. We lose stability. We lose family. We lose community. As I close out, I pray that I am preaching to the choir. So I ask again, what is a fair competitive wage for a hero? Let's be clear. We will never be paid what we are truly worth. But if we broke down every role that an officer plays and the risk that they face, I could argue the rate for a hero is at least $250 an hour. But that's not what we're asking. We're asking for a fair, competitive, reasonable compensation. Please don't let the men and women of BRPD see you not value them as essential stakeholders in this community. Give them their due. Give it to them now. Give them the flowers while they are

living and serving in the capital city. Vote yes. It is necessary. It is not an option to delay. Thank you. Thank you.

Good afternoon, council. My name is Tan Downey. I'm a civil rights advocate litigator out of Washington DC. I certainly port adequate pay for law enforcement. Uh, however, if this budget is going to be used to facilitate the abridgement of constitutional obligation, I feel it's important that I bring this to your attention because there's nothing more destructive to our union than paying people to violate the Constitution United States. So, please allow me to explain. Constitution is the overarching requirements that every state must follow. I trust that we all understand that states cannot enact their own alternative legislation, substitute it for the guarantees of the constitution, then go out and enforce it. That would obviously be an unconstitutional act. Clause one of amendment five to the United States Constitution says no person shall be held to answer for a capital or otherwise infamous crime unless on presentment or indictment of a grand jury. That's clear. You have indictment by a grand jury before arresting someone and holding over for a capital or if crime. However, the state of Louisiana here has enacted its own alternative legislation that permits prosecuting attorneys and law enforcement to charge by information, not indictment. That is unconstitutional. Now, an emolement violation is when you pay someone to violate the constitution. Can't do that. If you receive federal funding, you can never pay someone to violate federal law. There's two areas of the constitution that reinforces this. The first is article 1, section 10. That's where it says that no state shall create any law that shall impair the obligation of contracts. Police officers, prosecutors, judges are under contract. That's a contract to perform based upon the oath or affirmation they took to support and defend the Constitution of the United States of America. So when the state of Louisiana creates a law that directs them to disobey the Constitution, that would obviously be a violation of article 1, section 10. Now, the second place that reinforces this is the 14th Amendment. where it says that no state shall create or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges and immunities of United States citizens. The privileges and immutes of United States citizens are at a minimum what is enumerated within the bill of rights the first 10 amendments they cannot be impaired. This was affirmed by the United States Supreme Court 2019 Tims Indiana as a result state of Louisiana here has created a law and is enforcing that law through agents whom unfortunately you all pay to violate the constitution United States and as a result there's currently an inordinate amount of people currently in prison here in the state of Louisiana illegally and unconstitutionally. So, I'm preparing to litigate this in the United States Supreme Court on behalf of more than 700,000 people are currently in

prison here in America illegally and unconstitutionally. I'm here today to let you guys know that we cannot pay these people to violate the Constitution because criminal sanctions can come from that. We don't want to head down that path. I certainly don't either. Uh, but I must make sure that you're aware that paying people to violate the Constitution is an emolement violation. It is illegal and it is a crime. So, I'm asking all of you to please take a look at clause one of amendment five to the United States Constitution. confirm what I'm saying to be true and then direct those agents act in a lawful constitutional manner that's consistent with the obligations they have codified in the constitution United States. I have a notice here all my contact information is in it. I would love to answer any questions that you have and help work together to figure out how we're going to resolve this. Uh but I do need to say that you now have a lawful duty to take action and failure to take action uh is is is a crime. Uh and your willfulness and knowledge of that crime would derive from the prom or from the public notice that I just provided. So I'm asking each one of you to please step up, discharge the duties of your office who fulfill the obligations and promises that you made to the people of the state of Louisiana and let's choose to protect, defend, and preserve the Constitution United States. Sir, who should I give this to?

Okay.

Yes, ma'am. Honorable council chief constible, it's nice to be here again. I spoke to the council about several years ago. I'm Major Pat Chosen with the Baptist Police Department. Retired. I retired 10 years 11 years ago when I came to the council was also in Baton Rouge PD. I spent 40 years at Baton Rouge PD. I love these guys. They deserve a raise. They honestly do. I see a few that I remember, but some of them I don't because they they came on since I left. I wanted to talk to y'all about this. I I I consider myself an expert on this on this law enforcement deal because these guys work hard. These guys work hard. And from what I found working for both agencies, yes, there's a little bit of a rift going on right now because of everything being said, but bottom line, we go to the same academy. We take the same test. We go to the same post academy. Same test. We do the same thing. We just have different duties right now. We have lost four four constables to the Bats Police Academy in the last year and a half because they can take it and they can take the guys and just put them in the in the post academy, a really quick one, and then they're on the street because we have the same training. And I just wanted to tell y'all that I believe that yes, give them the raise. They they need it. We got two raises in the 40 years I was with BRPE. One when Woody Dumis was mayor and don't do the math, okay? And the second one was was was when Kip Holden was mayor. And I really and truly believe that they deserve a raise. And I think the constiples need it, too. And I'm just telling you from my personal opinion. And I've been I've been around the block, okay? I mean, I've I've I've done every gamut for the police department you can imagine. I've been

over the operations bureau. I've been a night chief. I've been shot on duty. I've got life-saving wards. I've I've run the gamut of everything. So, I know what I'm talking about. So, if y'all think about it, give the conible a little bit of a raise. I'm not asking for myself. I'm asking for these guys because they they do work hard. They can step into whatever they need. No, they they don't go out there and chase calls like these guys do, but we are on the streets and if something happens, we handle it. And if something happens and I need help, I call the BRPD because I love these guys. Thank you so much.

Thank you. Good morning or afternoon. Um, I think somebody stole my thunder. My coworker, uh, Deputy Chief Douglas, kind of pretty much put everything in perspective. She and I work together, um, with the chief um, in recruiting and training. My name is Reggie Rishard. I am a 20-year veteran of the Baton Rouge Police Department. 15 of those years was spent recruiting for the best police department in this country. You know how I know? Because I've been to places. We trained. I've been to Minneapolis. I've been boots on the ground in St. Louis. I've worked with families of the fallen. I've worked with the families of BRPD of those that have taken their lives because of the job and the pressure. Chief Led put pressure on us as a recruiting team when there was hiring freezes, but there was no limit. We had to fill it. When there was a when I was in recruiting in 2017, we were in a crisis and that was at 40. And even during all the stuff that we went through, 90 days, if you're not aware or you don't remember, 90 days of trauma to this city and to this police department. 90 days we went from we didn't like each other till we liked each other and then we came together to save people's lives together. Since 2016, we have trained VRPD has asked has answered the call that everyone has asked federally on training from bias-based profiling to everything that this city has asked for us to do. They have stepped up and they have done that.

The biggest thing in recruiting that we when I left to start the uh wellness program for BRPD which was tremendous, it was a tremendous advancement for us because we were able to take care of officers when nobody wanted to take care of us. And then Brian Thompson, because we're going to honor him, took his own life because of financial and the strain of this job. And because of him, this is why we are here fighting for this race. Because financially, I married a police officer. I know what the impact is on my children. I know what it was like during 911, Katrina, the floods, the protest, to be away from my kids for 16 days. There's a price to this job. There's a human element to this job. But see, BRPD has stood up. They've asked to become bridgeuers. They spent the last 10 years being in town conversations, finding solutions, trying to be bridge building with this community. It's time for our gut for y'all to stand behind them so they can continue to excel with technology, but more so with people. And I'm asking you, this is from the heart of somebody who served this city. This is coming from someone who loves and hired most of the officers that you see in this room.

And I'm asking you for once, show these officers that you stand behind them, those that we've lost in the fallen, those that we've lost to circumstances, and the ones that are still willing to stand up here and serve this community today. Thank you. Thank you.

Good afternoon, council, mayor, police, chief, council. Um, my name is Harold Greer. I am the local 3030 president as well as work with council 17 for ask me union. Uh I am a proponent for uh this particular uh motion that's being made with the police getting it raise. However, I want to pick it back on something that uh Deputy Chief Douglas uh spoke on. She spoke on heroes and that's that's a a lofty title and I do think that Baton Rouge police officers are our local heroes as well as the fire department as well as anyone that put their life on the line. A lot of times people do not understand, you know, the role that the conipal's office, you know, play in the role of law enforcement, but certainly they get into precarious situations themselves. And they also deserve just as much fight. They deserve just as much, you know, pay raise and recognition as our other local heroes deserve. And I just like I said, I think that, you know, when you talk about law enforcement, all of law enforcement should get the raises that they certainly deserve and that they work for and put their lives on the line for. I also know that the ordinance uh is being proposed in two weeks as it relates to public, you know, service workers, you know, and I just look at that and as I digest that, even our lowest ranking, you know, public service workers making $10 and and 30 cent an hour. Imagine that. Anyone in here makes $1030

an hour? I know not because I wouldn't work for it. But they have people that sacrifice and have to work for it in the proposal to give them a 20% raise. That's $2. Maybe if I was making $100,000 and I got a 20% raise, that's $20,000. But again, these are the people that work on these streets in that hot sun during the summer, during the cold winters, that cut our grass and make our city look beautiful. So, I think that, you know, all of the public service sector deserves more. And I just ask that as you continue as a board to look at different ways and avenues to support my pay wages. I ask that in two weeks. Chief, I ask that you be here to support the other public service workers, the fire department. I ask that you be here because we're here for you. Because we are one. Baton Rouge. We are one and we should fight just as much zeal as for the police officers, our heroes, as for all of our public sector. Thank you. All right. Are there any opponents wishing to speak on this item? And if there's anybody on the eighth floor that's an opponent that wants to come speak, come on down.

Good evening. My name is Champagne Roundtree. I would love to think that the Baton Rouge Police Department would be worthy of the raise. Unfortunately, I'm on the receiving end of their services. I have called IIA 47 times. Not one IA officer has returned any of my phone calls. Not once wanted to take one single complaint on any of the officers not doing their job. I have officers on film pulling in responding to 1823 South Shu Forest Boulevard. Pulling to 1807 South Shu Forest so that their GPS would register in the car. went to Sonic, fed their face, and left, never responding to the call. I call when I have guns pulled in the Dollar Tree on my managers for stopping shoplifterss. Y'all send me one officer an hour and 45 minutes later. I've spoken with Chief Leuff about this on numerous occasions. I've spoken with the mayor about this on numerous occasions. I've spoken with the chief once about this, and he has not returned my other nine phone calls after saying he would handle the problem. We say we want fair pay across the board, but we've got workers in the city making $10.30 an hour. How can you expect them to work and live here? The average citizen in order to rent an apartment here needs $15 an hour if the apartment complex is willing to let you only pay two times the rental income. And that's living in the hood, not in a good neighborhood. We treat the constables as though they're not officers all the time. But yet you ask them to do exactly what an officer does. Let the officers be short. You ask them constiples to step in because they've had the same training. All I'm saying is that if we're going to continue to say that we want to give the police a pay raise, then perhaps they

shouldn't tell the citizens. Also, if you don't like our response times, hire us for private detail. It's only $50 an hour. And that's what we've been told at Sherwood Forest numerous times. My shopping center has had people walk out of Harbor Freight with $2,000 worth of drills in a basket knowing that the police would take two hours to get there. But then you come to us citizens that are paying all these tax dollars and you ask us to give them a pay raise. I ask them to do their job first, then we'll talk about a pay raise. It's based on merit. All right. Hey everybody, my name is Marian Bumwis. Um, I just want us to put our imagination caps on real quick. So, let's just say one day we wake up one Sunday morning, sky blue outside, um, you know, the birds are chirping, everything like that, right? And, you know, you have plans with your kids to go get some crawfish and you call your child's name and they don't answer for sure, probably because they were on that game all night, so they're probably exhausted. Okay. So, you walk in their room and there they lie in a pool of blood, lifeless, because a bullet went through their wall and struck them while they slept. In that moment, the world freezes and you hear this voice say, "You can change what happens after this. Here are your two options. Um, you can get BRPD to respond immediately and catch the people who did this or you can go back and prevent this from ever happening. What would be your decision? I would think that I would want to go back and make sure this does not happen. Right? And so I say this because when we

think about police officers, they are typically responders. Okay. Um they respond to crime occasionally. They can be able to help prevent crime shortterm, but they're not the long-term um goal to to prevent crime. Okay. But right now, they are getting $98 million according to the last time I checked to the budget. $98 million um from the general fund that is over $300 um million. Okay. $98 million. But when we look at the things that can actually prevent crime, such as youth programs, um, economic stability, when we look at the budget, I think it says safe, hopeful, healthy, is at zero dollars, unless I looked at a different one, right? Um, youth programs 0. I guess we're expecting grants to fund these programs and that's not a given. So what we're saying is BRPD $98 million. They're already getting it. We're actually here to say they should get more. Meanwhile, the things that can actually prevent crime from happening, the budget is very low, right? So I am absolutely against them getting more funds because if we go back and we put ourselves in that situation, we will want our child to still be here. We want them to be here. So, we will want to invest in the thing that's going to actually prevent them from not being here. This is not just a hypothetical. These are the the situations that many citizens face here in the city of Baton Rouge. They wake up, they go about their day, and they get a call that their child will no longer be returning home due to crime. Crime that can actually be prevented if we actually invested in the thing that would prevent the crime. Thank you. Thank you.

Good evening. My name is Joy Foster. I'm a former Baton City Police Department. I was employed there for about 11, maybe 10 and a half years and previously employed with the city since like 2007. Um I resigned um last year, maybe 2025, August of 2025. So I heard a lot of people come to the podium and mention the trauma and they kind of talked about different things regarding the trauma. But um when you talk about trauma, you think about, you know, the trauma that they deal with, how do they process that trauma that they do deal with like where does that cuz I mean unhealed trauma turns turns into a traumatic situation. So if that trauma isn't healed or processed properly, then it turns traumatic. So, um, they did mention heroes and the pay and I mean I can go a whole lot of different places with this story and go into different complaints that I filed myself within the police department since I left which was my reason for leaving and um was just handled misproperly. So, you don't determine a person's worth by um a dollar amount. So, their value is I mean they've been the money has been pretty much practically causing them to be performers, but they have no character. they lack the character for the role cuz I highly doubt that God will fail to protect though I'm sorry fail to um sustain those who are called to protect and serve. So if they're the lowest paid agency or if they're lacking anything then I mean the question is to dig to the deeper part of the root of the situation than to deal with it at the surface level because it has to be deeper than that. Or if you deal with it at this level you'll be back here in a few months dealing with the same issue again because they going to want something else. But if you dig to the root of it and see why why maybe they're the lowest paid or maybe why some of the complaints are not being handled properly or what's the actual problem, then you're gonna keep having the same um revolving situation. So it's big it's bigger than just the money. It's deeper than just the a financial situ it's deeper than that. And if you continue to deal with it at the surface level and never dig to the root of it, you'll just have a reoccurring problem.

Thank you. Anyone else wishing to speak on this item? See, now we'll go to council. Counciloman Coleman. Oh, sorry. Oh, I'm sorry, mayor. You had some staff that wanted to speak. I apologize.

Good evening, council. I I guess it's about 40ome years ago. I went into a building that sits across sitting that uh vacant lot where DPW Park and there was a a chief by the name of Pat Banano and um we put in applications to be police officers and we were going through this process and one of the things that Chief Banano would do but he would bring you in at the end of that process and he would tell you personally if you were going to be hired. And I remember sitting in his desk and it just it' be just the two of you in the room and he said, "Um, you've been hired with the Baton Rouge Police Department." Let me tell you where that started. That was a fulfilled day for me. I can honestly stand here and tell you that I knew my whole life what I wanted to be. I never wavered. In fourth grade, I wrote a theme paper for it. My fourth grade teacher, her name was Melba Herson. We had to write a theme paper on what it is you want to be when you grow up. And the title of that was, "When I grow up, I want to be a motorcycle policeman who was in charge of all the police." Never wavered. And if you were here when I was chief of police, I was a police chief that rode a motorcycle, too. I live my dream. The men and women that you see in this room are not here by accident. Nor do I think you sit where you sit by accident. Or anyone in here that do what you do, I don't think it's an accident. I think when God holds us in his mighty hand, he

puts stuff in us, we need to do what it is we become. It's no accidents. We choose to do this. It's a dangerous job. It's a thankless job. But we love what we do. What we asking today, what I'm asking you is that you pay these people what they worth. Pay them so they don't have to work like we had to work. Pay them so they don't go home and your wife look at you and say, "We don't have water today." Pay them so they can have two cars to get their children where they need to go. pay them so we can have quality criminal justice professionals that serve this community each and every day. To the officers, if this council grace you with this opportunity, I beg of you, meet the challenge. There will be accountability and we will hold your feet to the fire. Thank you. Thank you, Chief Mayor. Good evening, council. Uh, my birthday is January 5th. I share a birthday with a young man, a young football player I coach named Warrick Dunn. January 5th of uh, 1993. I knew his mother, Betty Smothers, who was a Baton Rouge police woman. And, uh, that night I went to bed. Uh, it was the fourth, went to bed, birthday being on the 5th, and about two in the morning, this is

before we had cell phones, the phone rang and it was Miss Betty, Officer Betty, who called and was singing happy birthday with a friend of hers, Dorothy, uh, Miss Dorothy Wilson. And I said, "What are y'all doing? I was work at work all day. Y'all woke me up, you know, at 2 in the morning." And we had a good laugh because War and I shared the same birthday. And Betty had won a cake and we could go the next day to enjoy our cake together. Two days later, January 7th, 1993, the phone rang at about the exact same time. I said, "Hello." And it was Dorothy Wilson. I said, "What are y'all doing? Y'all are This is insane waking me up like this." She said, "Betty's dead." I said, "Say, what? Betty's dead." I mean, I couldn't believe it. War had four little brothers and sisters. No dad at all. That's every time these folks hit the road. That's what they up against. And let me say this, Betty did not get murdered while on duty. Betty got murdered. Murdered working extra duty to put groceries on the table for them babies. Why is this so important to me? It was my she Betty was my wife's best friend. Make no mistake about it. We're doing a lot of talking about payraises for Baton Rouge police officers and it's critically important that they get it. But this vote has little to do well it has a lot to do with them getting compensated. But this is a vote for the citizens of Baton Rouge and the climate we're working in. Whatever you vote tonight is for the citizens of Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Because it's that important and our citizens need this protection. It is my honor to serve amongst all of you. Thank you.

Thank you, Mayor. Council members, you should have received 805 comments on item 51, 8003 in support and two in opposition. Councilwoman Coleman.

I say good evening to all. Yeah. And when I was growing up and asked what I wanted to be, it was to always be truthful. As truthful as you can be. And when it came to the point where I veered from that, then I had folk in my household cuz I grew up with a mama and a daddy that dealt with me and six brothers and a sister and cousins. Yeah. We Yeah. All of that. And so I sit here today to talk about the backbone of Baton Rouge. Fair pay for everybody. Everybody. Now I want to be clear going out of this gate, coming out this gate, I want to be clear that I am supporting the pay raise for our police. But make no mistake about that. Our officers should be taken care of as I am with them and stand behind them. But just as I stand behind them, I'm also standing behind the rest of the team that keeps this city moving. Safety isn't just about sirens and badges. A city is only as safe as it as its infrastructure is strong. It is just as important for our streets to be safe from crime as it is for them to be safe from potholes tearing up our vehicles and failing drainage. It matters that your mail is delivered from here in this city parish in that

mail room. It matters that the city bills are paid on time that's in finance. It matters that our legislative assistance that every last one of us have up here, and I don't know about them, but I do. I couldn't do without mine back here. Jeff, it matters that warrants are delivered, evictions are done, protection is given in the city court by the constables. The whole team matters and we are in this together. Jen Rocka, you remember Collaborative Coleman, ain't that right? I'm talking about the TP, the DPW cruise out in the heat, the finance department, the mail room, our legislative assistant in every nook crook and cranny here in city parish government. These are the workers of this town and I'm really done seeing them being treated as the help. We went to the mayor's office and we demanded a commitment, not a maybe and not a will see. See, if you don't want no truth, you can leave now cuz I'm Coleman. We got that commitment. The reality check to anyone standing in the way. I encourage you to really think about what you're saying. Are you saying that the

people fixing your streets, processing your paychecks don't deserve a livable wage? Because when you snap back against better pay for all, that's exactly what they are hearing. Thank you.

The time to do better is right now. Right now. The pay raise is officially set to be introduced at the council meeting tonight. Well, to be voted on tonight. And this is the week that we can put more money where our mouth is and we're just talking about it anymore. We we're being about it. And then and then in the words of Yeah. How sizzle. Everybody get you some. Everybody get you some. So, it's time to stop talking about appreciation and start putting it in the paycheck. Mayor Edwards, we're depending on you to adhere to that attachment to item three.

Councilwoman, you want extra time?

Yeah, you know it. So, we are depending on you, mayor, to adhere to the attachment to item three. And just to let the public know what item three is is specifically outlining everybody else that ought to be included in this in a pay raise. Everybody. Everybody. And so, mayor, you heard me, right?

I heard you.

Okay. And I mean that. And so, we are expecting the constables and everybody in the city to get what they so richly deserve. The same thing for the commission constables, that 15% raise, and the others, the 3.5. Isn't that right, somebody from the mayor's office? Isn't that right? All right. Okay. Speaking to the mic. All right. And so with all of that being said, I make the motion that this be passed tonight for the police officers.

We have a motion by Councilwoman Coleman, second by Councilwoman Harris. Councilman Hudson. Thank you. I want to first thank all the great people that came out tonight. Um it's always encouraging when we see citizens come out uh for such an important topic like this and I think everyone agrees how important public safety is. So that's exciting to see that we've got this much involvement. Um before I get started on why I support this item, I want to first back up and and talk a little bit about how we got here, right? The process that we had to go through to get to this point. uh where just a little while ago we were facing a $40 billion deficit. Uh we had a lot of really difficult and and tough choices to make at city parish. Uh but we solved by solved that by doing the uncomfortable work of budgeting carefully and conservatively. Uh and then after that we took on the very difficult uh task of doing some insurance reforms. It's those very insurance reforms uh that have produced about $15 million a year in savings and that make this item possible here tonight. Um it's bec it's possible because the council and this administration were willing to make tough decisions and be fiscally disciplined, careful fiscal discipline. Uh so now we have an urgent need to address police pay. Uh if we don't stay competitive, we're going to continue to lose officers. If we lose officers, that's more strains on the ones that we've got. Uh but it's also a strain on uh on our retirement system and possible implications for that. Uh so it's vitally important that we do this here tonight. Uh I hear the cry for a pay raise for everyone. The police uh the the pay study that we did reflects that. The pay study that we did also reflects needed changes to benefits though. It also reflects possible changes to uh pension uh reform plans. Uh and so those are all things that we

need to look at. Those are all things that have to be carefully evaluated. I too remember that that big C word that we talked about collaboration. Uh I think the collaboration comes on not just increased pay for everybody but on benefits reform and on pension reform. Uh, and I hope that this council will continue that that method of careful fiscal discipline to make sure that not only can we increase pay, but we can keep the city parish fisk sound for the next 20, 50 years. Thank you,

Councilwoman Harris. Okay, there it is. Good evening everyone. Um, I want to first say that I applaud everyone who's here tonight for being here because everyone that are sitting in their seats have a vested interest in what we're doing here tonight. We as a council have been back and forth with some things and someone said to us before we got started this afternoon at 4:00 said, "You know, you guys have a lot on your shoulders and we really do." Um, we go back and forth a lot of times. We don't always agree. We do fight. But today, myself along with other colleagues, I made the decision to support the Baton Rouge Police Department pay raise because they support District 7. And not only do they support district 7, they support women and children who are affected by dovest by domestic violence daily. You can call on them and they will show up. They will stand with you. They will support you. They will be there for you. And I can truly say that because I have experienced it time and time again over the years. what Baton Rouge Police Department does for the city of Baton Rouge, for victims and families of domestic violence, and so many others. To the council office, Council Williams and her staff, you work very hard daily. You support. You show up. And sometimes you show up at the last minute, called

at the last minute, but you show up with all your heart, with everything you have, everything you offer. You show up. To our employees of the city of Baton Rouge, Fred, your department, Joseph Butler, your department, Reginald Brunfield, your department. Angie, your department, the parish attorney's office, the mail room. You guys show up every day and give it your all. And we thank you for it. You're not forgotten. May 13th, we will stand with you. We will hold hold each other accountable. Mayor, Dr. Slaughter, Mason, Jeff Leuff, we will hold your feet to the fire. What we're doing tonight, we will do on the 13th. This house is packed tonight. We want you to pack it on May 13th because we want you here standing up for the constable office, standing up for the workers of the city of Baton Rouge and everyone else who is so deserving of a pay raise. and I will hold my colleagues accountable as well to join us in supporting this item to make certain that your legislative assistance and everyone else that works in your office is deserving of a raise. I know we have a lot on our on our plate. I know we have a lot on the table, but they deserve raises. So, I need you to leave here tonight thinking about what I'm asking you to do is consider supporting this item on May 13 and join us in doing so so our employees of the city of Baton Rouge in East Baton Rouge Paris can receive a raise and make certain that we take care of them.

So, I want everyone to know here today that you matter. We see you. We stand with you and you're not alone in this. Again, we don't always agree, but at some point we have to gather come together and set our own personal agendas aside to get done what needs to be done for the city of Baton Rouge. Thank you, Councilman Kenny. So, in the words of Councilwoman Coleman, um, watch yourself. Um, it might be good.

I just want to say out the gate. Um, what I've learned in my year and a half in politics, two things could be true. Um, tonight my decision is not nothing personal um, against Baton Rouge Police Department. Um, Chief Morris, me, you have had direct conversations. Mayor Edwards would have had direct conversations. Uh counselor will have direct conversations. Um but couple week a week or two ago uh we had our press conference where we talk about fair wages for all including the police department. I don't know why in this climate when you start saying inclusivity people think you're getting taken out. No. Um we want to make sure everybody in this parish is taken care of. Um when we're thinking about tonight's payraises, right? Um BRP, I'm going to let you know now. Um I have no strife against you all. You all do an amazing job in my district. even though my district share you all um Baker Police Department, the sheriff's office. Um but tonight we want I really want to make sure we get the message across that every single person who works in this parish is important. Um when we have the press conference to kick off and Mayor Edwards um you know this is a very bold proposal. Um you did a great job putting this together. Um it this probably be one of the most biggest achievements you'll probably have your time as mayor and I look and I support that and I respect that. But as I the couple weeks after that, I have so many people that reached out to me for people in the mail department, DPW, legislative assistants who support all 12 of us here on this dis and said, "What about us?" I'm a youngest of four kids. If I was the youngest child and I'm the only one to get everything in my family and the older siblings who's been here longer than me doesn't get anything, I'll feel some type of way. Mayor, we have had conversations with you um some of the members of the council and you gave your commitment. You did that. But just like all the popping circumstances here today for BRPD two weeks, my council members, we need to have the same pop of circumstance.

Ashley said there was 800 plus comments for today's item. We need to have 801 in two weeks. If we get to this council meeting in two weeks and it's not the same enthusiasm, the same energy, radio interviews, newspaper interviews, everything of that nature for these city parish workers, we are filling these people at these parish. And to all the city parish workers, you are important just like anybody else in this room. And you are essential police department. You are essential to public safety. But there's so many different layers of public safety in addition to you all that we must address to solve the on the crime in this parish. Police is not the end all be all of public safety. We have youth programs and organizations. We have nonprofits who work in lock step with each and every law enforcement department. To conipible Williams, um don't let anybody ever dim your voice. Don't let anybody ever tell you you're too loud. Don't let anybody ever tell you the words that you say may be too rough because you're a leadership of that department. And you deserve to be a leader of that department cuz the people of this parish elected you just like everybody else on this council to be a leader in this department. And I know people call me and say, "Oh, she being too racial. She being too loud." Uh, you know, how you advocate your voice is your voice. And I would be remiss to tell you up here to ever step back in your voice. Because of your voice, we have an item introduced to vote on for every single person in this parish, including your department. Um, to Mayor Edwards, I would say in advance, congratulations tonight. But I want to tell you congratulations again in two weeks because even though you gave your commitment, we still have seven votes we have to get on this dis. And we have to have make sure we have seven votes on this dis to ensure every

person in this parish know they're looking and heard. to my colleagues. Uh you all tonight is going to vote in this item and we want to make sure we send a signal out to the police department everybody else is supporting and look they're going to leave tonight happy called a wise significant other and say you know what we about to go to roof cruise tonight right but it's somebody in this city Paris hall who's making $10 a gas for a full gas tank so I ask you all tonight take the same enthusiasm energy that you have to ensure we taking taking care of our brpd and making sure two weeks from now, every person work in this city parish halls, our legislative assistants, our mail room workers in DPW who are essential cuz just like people call 911, they call 311.

And so we have to make sure they are feeling essential just like anybody else who serve our parish. So thank you. Thank you to the council office. Congrats in advance, Chief Morris and Mayor Edwards if this item pass, but we still have more work to do in two weeks. Thank you, Councilman Hurst. Um, first of all, let me say BRPD deserves more. Uh, we we did a pay study and one of the main departments that we did it for was BRPD. It was really almost the driving force of it. So, I don't think anyone on this council, including myself and people that have spoken out for fair, livable wages across city parish, thinks that BRPD doesn't deserve a a livable wage. Competing with police pay, we will never win. I want to make that very clear. We pay 58 today, somebody pays 59 tomorrow, somebody pays 60 the next day. and um we won't have a number to compete because we we're running a a challenge right now fiscally u with other department. So even though we're giving the raise, we're still struggling in several areas. For me, it's about competitive and livable wage. So anything above 52,000 is fine for me. So 58 I'm I'm okay with it as long as we have the budget to afford it. That's all what I've always said. But if I have to sacrifice 58 to go to 52 and make sure that everybody else gets what they deserve, then I'm not going to take a selfish approach. I heard Deputy Douglas come up here and talk about heroes, talk about sacrifices, talk about calling. When I look at school teachers who deserve more, when I look at BRPD, who deserves more? When I look up here at my council

colleagues who deserve more, we get paid $12,000 a year for 60 hours of work and no good deed ever goes unpunished. So no matter how good you are, you get the headlines for what they want to write versus what actually happened. So when you talk about sacrifice, losing sleep at night, serving the community, you're looking at 12 other heroes up here because we take it on our back to make sure that people like BRP can have the things that they need. So we understand the calling versus pay, how it impacts your family, your reputation, how the infighting amongst agencies, even amongst the colleagues up here, how that affects you. So when you talk to us, you're preaching to the choir. We have colleagues in smaller municipalities making $125,000 to do what we do. It's a part-time job, but nobody sees that. They see us as full-time. Recruiting levels are down across the country in both public safety officers and armed forces. I sent the chief and everybody else a picture when I was in Houston a few weeks ago. The back of the card say HPD hires in Houston. Nobody spending that kind of money to put decals on cards in a large city like Houston if recruiting was not an issue. People don't leave here and go to Houston because of pay. They leave here because Houston in their eyes is a better quality of life in a much larger city with much more things to do. Or they may have a spouse who's an engineer and it's a better life for both of them collectively. There's not enough agencies that surround uh Baton Rouge that can steal out law enforcement. As good as Gonzalez is per capita, they don't have enough spaces. As good as um y'all may say Zach or other police forces are, they don't per capita. They don't have enough spaces to still amount of officers to do what y'all are saying is being done to wreck our our law enforcement. People are just not choosing law enforcement. Period. They're just not. It's it's a national crisis.

I do want to thank and I agree with Chief Leuff that PRPD shouldn't have to go home to their water shut off, but I also agree that other employees shouldn't have to come home with their water shut off either. And I believe somebody who's making $30,000 would have a less chance of having their water cut off with fiscal management versus somebody who's making $10.30 an hour. I don't think either one of them are right, by the way. Uh again, my speech is not against BRPD. Never has been, never will be. If you saw when I had the mayor in here a few years ago, I literally had to go to war to get the pay study done to make sure that we can find out what you all deserved as a as a law enforcement. So, I'm I'm the first one to say congratulations, but not congratulations by yourself. Congratulations for everybody else. And that's where we're going. I told the mayor and everybody else I would support BRPD at 65,000 if we had the money to pay them. So it's never about what they're paying you. It's about how that takes from the ability to pay everyone else. Um we've asked for the administration to match the pay scales that the pay study said needed to be done and the mayor has agreed to do that and place an item on the agenda. So, I'm okay with 58,000,000% because we have enough money to pay everybody else down.

Councilman, you want to take extra time?

I do. He has done his part, but he does not have a single vote on his council. So, he can want the sky to turn purple tomorrow and he can put something on the agenda to get it done. But unless we have seven votes, you know, it it's it's a dream. It's not a goal, right? The goal would be to get to the seven votes on the council. So here's my concern. My concern is that BRP, we've done this before. I just want to be sometimes political strategy. What we asked was that this item be deferred so that they could be voted on at the same time. Not to crap on BRPD, but because deferring two weeks would not change when BRPD got their raise. It would still follow the line. That was cleave done that came up as I give credit where credit's due is that in two weeks that we defer this item, the BRPD could still get their raise on May 16th, which is when they were promised. So if they vote on the 13th, not only would their morale go up, but everybody's morale in City Parish would go up simultaneously. So that was our discussion not to hurt BRP because we supported you. Our concern was that your vote would pass and the others wouldn't. We've seen it happen too many times on this council. So taking them collectively would ensure that you got what you deserve, but also that everybody else did as well. And so um what happens is if it wins today, politics takes over tomorrow. And believe me, they'll make up a thousand excuses of why they can't vote for it. I've seen it happen too many times. And they'll go on the news and convince you that what they're feeling is from the heart and drop a fake tear or do something like that because they made a commitment not to do it. They'll bring up things like um 401k which has no bearing on any current employee because the study also said which I helped drive that but also helped drive the pay study to go to 401k as well as

the fireman and it said that it would take 10 to 15 years to get any return on investment from a 401k change I mean from a pension change to a 401k and by law nobody who's currently employed can be pushed to a 401k or removed off their pension man. So talking about reform doesn't affect the employees that are trying to eat today and pay their light bill tomorrow. So don't let that get in the way of saying, "Hey, we can't make this decision for that particular reason." So what I'm going to do, because I want to support this tonight, I really do. I really do. And I'm going to tell you how I can get there tonight is by show of hands from my colleague, even though it's not a vote for next week. If you show me seven hands that'll support the raises for everybody else next week, you'll get my vote tonight. If not, you'll ask me to defer it to the next meeting and then we all vote together. So, I don't care if it's a show of hands, a head nod, but as long as my folks can give me a yay that based on the current information they have today that they be willing to do it, I would definitely support it. So, by show hands, I I'll show my hand.

Point of order. Can the council administrator advise whether or not that would be an open meetings violation? Um, you cannot um take a vote on an item that is not before you tonight. Um, however, however, Councilman Hurst has the floor. He is allowed to ask um his colleagues questions through the chair. So, I'm not asking for a vote. I'm asking by a show of hands who would support it. That's not a vote for yes. I I I I I was one, two, three, four. This is what I'm talking about, y'all.

This is what I'm talking about. Point of point of order. No, I You did just call for a vote. You called for a spectacle in front of the crowd to people to raise their hand to show whether a yes or no. Now, you can walk out of this room and say, "These people did not." That's my You can have that back. I don't care. This is Councilman Hurst time. So, so for me, I want to do a substitute motion to defer it because I do want to support y'all. Not against y'all. I told this a couple thousand times. I'm just for everybody

at the same time. So the substitute motion is uh to defer it for two weeks so that as we approve one, we can approve them all and we can still meet your deadline that the mayor's committed to May 16th so that everybody gets what they deserve simultaneously. Thank y'all so much. So we have a substitute motion by Councilman Hurst to defer for to the May 13th meeting, right? May 13th. Is that second? Second by Councilman Dunn Jr. All right, we're going to Is anybody else Anybody else want to comment Councilman Dunn Jr.? Go ahead.

Yep. Go ahead. I got a different question to ask on something else.

Thank you. Several of my colleagues and myself stood in this council chambers held a press conference and talked about the need for competitive livable wage for all city parish employees. You know, the chief has been out there advocating for his rank and file and his team. Constable Williams has been out there advocating for her crew and both of them have done a great job of doing that. But many of these other departments have not had anybody out there advocating for them. So we had to stand in the gap as representatives of of the unseen and the unheard. As Councilman Hurst has mentioned, the pay study which was conducted in 2023 2024 recommended a livable competitive wage for everybody. the reforms that was done, the adjustments that was done from a physical standpoint, uh, made the money available to give everybody a pay wage pay raise. At that time, we felt and thought the information we had, it would give BRPD a $52,000 starting salary and not the recommended $58,000 starting salary to leave money to give everybody else a pay raise. Well, after having those conversations, having the press conference, meeting with colleagues, meeting with the mayor's office, meeting with finance, there was some other dollars that was came available to where it's enough money available for BRPD to have the $58,000 starting salary and give everybody a livable competitive wage. So our position was if the money is available, why not do them all at the same time? I made the recommendation to the mayor, defer your item, add the other employees, and make sure everybody is voted on at the same time.

Thank you. Now, it may be a goal. It may be a mission. It may be the mayor's and administration desire to do this in two weeks, but as has been said before, it takes seven votes to get something done here. And I hope my colleagues prove me wrong, but I don't think it's seven votes for the rest of the city parish employees. I think it's only seven votes for BRPD. And that's the problem that I have with supporting this item today. So, as I stood in this chamber advocating for the unseen, the unheard, the other city parish employees to get a raise, I'mma stand with them today. Not that I'm against BRPD getting a raise, but I'm against everybody else not getting a raise. The money is there. The money is available. You can defer this item and you can put everybody on the agenda at the same time. I'm not one who believe that we going to take care of some and take care of others later. later will never come. As I shared with the administration, that's the sharecropper's promise. Keep working the land. Keep doing something. You're gonna own it one day and one day never comes. You always work the land. Again, I hope my colleagues prove me wrong. I hope the mayor have seven votes like he say got seven votes to get everybody a pay raise in two weeks, but I seriously doubt it. So, it's for that reason I will not be voting in support of this item today. All right, we have Council Mo, you had something?

Yep. Sorry, I'm turning on. Go ahead.

I hope uh we're all done with the blame thing and where predictions on where everything's going to go. And based on those predictions and everything, you everybody's counting votes for the next uh item for the item that was introduced. I just want to state this for the public. uh before it, you know, says that I skirted my issue or I didn't do something or or whatever else. But I'm letting the council know. I'm letting the public know I've had a trip out of the country scheduled months ago and I will be gone the 9th through the 18th. So when I don't show up on the 15th, I want it publicly known that I did not skip the meeting so that I could not vote. And I will leave it up to my colleagues that if you would like to make an amendment to that introduction, just like we did with the other one when colleagues were not going to be here and be heard at the next council meeting, I will be more than happy to show up and vote yes or no on whatever I decide based on the information that I get. But I just wanted to make sure. Now, if my colleagues would like to make the motion to go hear that introduction reheard, please do. But I'm stating my opinion for my reason for the public right now on why I will not be here on the 15th because everybody is counting votes tonight already.

You took some of my time, so just bring me a coffee mug back. Now,

Councilman Go, thank you. There's been some statements made tonight about commitments that have been made. I I just need some clarification because initially it was stated that a commitment was made that an item would be placed on the agenda. uh that is somehow tied to the item we're discussing tonight and that item comes up in a few weeks. It was just stated that there was a commitment that there would be seven votes for that item in a few weeks. I need clarification if that type of a commitment was made before members of this council. I the clarity can come from the member who made the statement or the clarity can come from the administration. But I am deeply concerned if commitments were made in meetings that there would be produced votes on this council for an item that's on this agenda with zero supporting documentation.

Councilman, I I know Councilman Dunn had said, you know, use the mayor's office as uh you know, guaranteeing seven votes. I did not do that. Uh it is. But I can tell you that we put this item on the agenda. I think that you know when we'll be voting in two weeks, it's critically important to our parish that that pass. And my job and I think the big deal as far as having to decide on that tonight. So many people don't know the details of that proposal. I think everyone on the council needs to to hear what are the details, how there's a how and there's a why. Everybody knows a why. The why is it's the right thing to do two weeks from now. Okay. But I think people to have a clear vote on it need to know how. And that's where Miss Angie Seavoy will come in and sit down and clear it up. But by no means I've said we have seven. I just hope and pray we have at least seven. It should be 12 in two weeks. Like it should be 12 tonight.

Thank you for that clarification, Mayor. Um, the item that's on introduction because I was also asked to show a hand tonight. The item that's on for introduction has nothing in terms of financial documentation to support it. In my email, when this item was introduced to our finance director to ask for that supporting documentation, the response was that it would be forthcoming. And that's that's fine. I want to give them time to amass the the level of information that they want to do. But I have had no discernment time on that particular item. So I I reject the notion to be asked to show a hand of of what's to come in three weeks when not a member of the public has had an opportunity to review that item. So thank you for the clarification to what was very concerning comments that were made tonight and I appreciate that. Thank you. Okay, before we move forward to voting, I do feel like there's some clarity that needs to be made. Two weeks has been stated a bunch. Uh it's actually 3 weeks from now, the next meeting. So if you show up in two weeks, you're too early. And it's also the 13th, not the 15th. Council Mos, so you show up on 15th, you're too late. So 3 weeks, May the 13th. So I just want anybody who's listening to know that's when the next meeting will be. If I misspoke about two weeks or the 15th and I I said I was out of town the 9th through the 15th.

No, I know. No, no. I got you. But you said 15th. A lot of people said two weeks. It's three weeks May 13th. I just want everybody to be aware, but I do want to clarify that I am scheduled to not be here again. I leave it to my colleagues if you wish to move it.

Thank you, Councilman. Okay, we have a um substitute motion by Councilman Hurst, second by Councilman Dunn Jr. to defer this item until the for three weeks till the May 13th meeting. Accurate. All right. We're going to vote on a substitute motion first, which is a deferral. We're going to vote on the machines. Is everybody's machines up? Anybody having an issue pulling their machine up? Okay, this is on the substitute motion to defer to May 13th. Machines are open on the substitute motion to defer to May 13th. Motion fails.

Okay. Now we're going to vote on the original motion. Do we need a roll call on the substitute first? Yep. Councilman Goay. This is a roll call. Roll call vote for the substitute motion. Councilman Goay. My vote was nay. Make sure. Councilman Moch. Nay. Councilman Adams? No. Councilman Dun Jr. Yes. Councilman Hurst, yes. Councilwoman Rocka, no. Councilman Null, no. Councilman Hudson, no. Councilwoman Amarosa, no. Councilwoman Coleman, no. Councilman Kenny, yes. Councilwoman Harris, no. Thank you.

Okay. Now, we're going to vote on the original motion by Councilwoman Coleman, second by Councilwoman Harris, uh, to approve the item. We're going to vote on the machines. Machines are open on the motion to approve.

You want me to change your vote, Councilman Kenny? Yeah. Okay. Do you want to put that up there because I just got pictures of all that? You want to rerun it? We going to rerun it. We had a technical difficulty. All right. Machines are open on the motion to approve.

There you go. Motion carries. If the media would take a picture of that one, use that. I'm going to do a roll call. Councilman Go. Yes. Councilman Moch, yes. Councilwoman Adams, yes. Councilman Dun, Jr., you can say no vote. No vote. No vote. Councilman Hurst, no vote. Councilwoman Rocka, yes. Councilman Null, yes. Councilman Hudson, yes. Councilwoman Amarosa, yes. Councilwoman Coleman, yes. Councilman Kenny, Councilwoman Harris, yes. Thank you.

Okay. Okay. Items 52 and 53. Uh recommendation by the department is to defer uh both of these to the May 13th meeting. 52. Amend the 2026 pay plan for classified unclassified non-classified contract fire and police employees city of Baton Rouge Parish of East Baton Rouge so as to add a new classification director of contracts and to lead one special assistant parish attorney position by parish attorney and human resources director. and 53 amend 2026 aotment of positions for city of Baton Rouge and parish of East Baton Rouge so as to change the aotment of parish attorney administration to add one director of contracts and delete one special assistant parish attorney by the parish attorney and human resources director. Anyone here wishing to speak on this item? Seeing none, we'll go to councel. There a motion to defer to the May 13th. Motion by Councilwoman Adams. Second by the chair. Is there any opposition? Motion carries. Item 54, amend the 2026 pay plan for the classified, unclassified, non-classified, contract fire and police employees of the city of Baton Rouge Parish of East Baton Rouge so as to make the following changes effective May 30th, 2026 and appropriate 1,919,270 for set purpose. Amend the classified and unclassified appendix one item 23 to adjust the critical retention hiring pays for emergency medical services classifications. Add eight new EMS classifications. Delete six existing EMS classifications. Add eight new paygrades and increase the pay grades for 21 existing EMS classifications by the mayor president, human resources director, finance director, and an EMS administrator. Anyone here wishing to speak on this item? Chris,

thank you all for having me here tonight and introducing this item and putting it up for vote. But I want to take you back a little bit because sometimes you have to go back before you can move forward. In 1981, following the tragic passing of Drew McInness, Mayor Pat Green and his council body recognized that East Baton Rouge needed a better EMS system. And out of that tragic loss, East Baton Rouge GMS was born nearly 40 years ago. This mayor and council made a commitment to the citizens of this parish. Tonight, Mayor Edwards is making that same commitment to the citizens and the men and women of EMS through this pay plan. And I want to thank him for that tonight. and you have the opportunity to do the same thing, to make that same commitment to the men and women of East Baton Rouge GMS. This department has earned the National Paramedic Service of the Year award twice. Our medical director, Dr. Godby, was named medical director of the year by the National Registry of Emergency Medical Technicians in 2022. We also hold Cass accreditation which is the gold standard by which EMS industries is judged. Our partners at the Baton Rouge Police Department hold a Kalia advanced accreditation. The Baton Rouge Fire Department holds a class run service rating and the mayor's office of homeland security and emergency preparedness holds a EMAP accreditation. What does that mean? It means that this public safety team serving this city in Paris does not just meet the standard we set it. Last year, we responded in EMS over 72,000 calls for service. Our communication officers handled more than 295,000 calls in the 911 center. We supported more than 230 community events. Our training division provided hundreds of hours of training, not only for our personnel, but for our partner agencies and members of this public. We did all of that while operating less than 80%

employment capacity, and we still answered the calls. Behind every one of those numbers is a person who chose this career. A medic who picked up an extra shift because there was a hole in the schedule. A communications officer who stayed past their shift because the call center was understaffed and needed the help. The people have been doing more for less for years, not because they had to, but because that's who they are. But sustaining that level of service is becoming increasingly difficult, and the demands of this job have grown. Our compensation structure has not kept pace. When over 60% of your staff are topped out of the pay scale with no realistic hope of a raise, those seasoned employees have less reason to stay and less reason to mentor the next generation. That is just that is not a staffing problem. That is a compensation problem. This plan was not built was built on four things. Recruiting, retention, secession planning, and morale. It's establishes a competitive entry- level pay so that we can attract qualified candidates and it restores meaningful step progression so experienced employees have a reason to stay and grow and it supports the next generation of EMS leaders and it sends a message to every person in his department that their service matters to this city. This plan will not impact the city parish general fund not one dollar. East Baton Rouge GMS is a special fund department and this plan is funded entirely through our dedicated EMS funds. Our staff have worked extremely uh short staff for years, not for months, for years. They leave their families behind during disasters and on holidays. They miss birthdays, anniversaries, school events because that's what this profession requires. They respond on the worst moments in people's lives and they do it over and over again and they do it

professionally with compassion skills that this community should be proud of. I could stand here all night and tell you the stories about the sacrifices that these men and women make. But what I'm asking tonight is simple. That this council make the commitment to the men and women who have committed so much to this parish. Tonight, I respectfully ask for your support for our department. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Landers. Uh, mayor, do you want to speak on this? Chief,

just a few brief words. Again, when we came in in January of last year, then director uh Denola came to us about some corrections he wanted to see in payment and we started looking at those and it's been a continuous dance to get to where we are today. U in talking with Director Landry, this is something that EMS has been working toward for years, for years. Every day these folks go out and they save lives. The things that they're doing, putting automated CPR machines in every fire truck and every fire station in the parish and some of the new advances that they're talking about going into uh things that's going to be life savings for those people who are facing trauma or those people who facing violent acts. So again, I stand here to say that God puts us where he wants us to be. These folks have the ability to save lives and we ask that you stand with us in support of that and pass this for them as well. Thank you.

Thanks, Chief Mayor.

Well, we start off with an award-winning organization, one of the best in the United States of America, and they every time they work and they go out on a call, they're usually running up on one of us having our worst day ever. uh here again in building the fabric of the city of Baton Rouge and uh doing what we're doing uh critical critical piece of what we do. Uh the pay raise is more than deserved and it's long long overdue. So I respectfully asked our council uh like we did on the last item to please uh pass this and take care of our uh true heroes in our community. Thank you. Thank you, mayor. Anybody else wishing to speak on this item?

Good evening. My name is Walter Beachch. I'm with EMS Reform. We're a nonprofit and uh we support the EMTs out here. Um we just recently got uh acquainted with EMS PAC, which is out of New York. And we we have about 20,000 EMTs now since we're national. I'm against this because the reason is it's not even up to standard. It's not they deserve more. So what you're doing is shorting them. We're going to be back here in 10 more years. So look at it. If they're self-funded, they need more money. And that's just a fact. The other thing is if you read the cover letter, you see the reasons why there's competition that needs to be brought in. And this is private companies coming in to help where they fall short until we get back on our feet. I work on an ambulance. I'll be on an ambulance tomorrow. I was on an ambulance yesterday. We deal with these same features. We know we're short-handed and it is busy. Okay. So, I I'm 23 years old and I've been, you know, this is what I look like. You know, EMS is not fun. But this right here is not a pay raise. It's not even close to it. You you're shortening them by at least two three dollars and that's just to bring them up to where they need to be. Next next year, two years from now, it's going to go up again. The demand is going to drive it. So if you don't bring in any kind of competition, they're going to be short-handed. They're going to be shorted by finances. their rates will be based on just a small funding. So, I I encourage competition for these guys and that will bring a lot of money into them and they can do their job because they do make money. They're going to self-fund them,

but why not really self-fund them to the point where they are going to be paid where they need to be paid. So, I want to thank y'all for the time. Thank you. Anyone else wishing to speak on this item? Council members, you should have received 111 comments in support of item 54. We'll go to council. Councilman Mo. Motion to approve. Motion by Counciloman Mo. Second by Councilwoman Coleman. Councilman Go. We've closed the public hearing already.

I was I thought you were waiting. You said proposition. I was in opposition. So, you didn't make that announcement. No, we didn't have that on this one because we didn't have any anybody turned in any comments in opposition. Well, typically you open the floor if someone has public hearing to the public hearing. We had a public hearing. I opened it and closed it like just a few seconds ago. Mhm. Okay. But I was walking up. Okay. Well, look, you can go ahead.

Thank you so much. So I would like to speak about this. There's no doubt that we need EMS. Um we do have to ask ourselves why do we need them? Often times these things are preventable. A lot of times they're preventable, right? We think about they come out from violence calls or something in regards to um mental health um issues, right? And I hear time and time again that they need to get a pay raise or these people need to get a pay raise, but we're not thinking about the actual residents of the city of Baton Rouge, right? These people already get funds. They they get checks. And I understand times are hard, okay? They're hard for a lot of people, but we do have to keep in mind that residents and they the care of the residents should be priority, right? Um I was in a meeting a few weeks ago where they called a bunch of um nonprofit organizations and community leaders together and you know they wanted us to put our resources together. They wanted us to put our our time and all of our knowledge together and one of the things that said you know spoken by Amy Mitchell that if you're here for a grant this is not the place for you. Essentially, they can exploit the skills, the talent, and the labor of the nonprofit organizations, the ones that actually have the boots to the ground doing the work. It's okay for them to work for free. It's okay for them to do what they do for free. But we can advocate for people who are already getting a paycheck, that signed up to do the job that it is that they're doing, right? So these things that these people are doing, the ones that are have the nonprofits that have the boots to the ground, they are the ones that are preventing, they're have helping reduce violence, right? And that's not just what I feel. That's according to data and statistics. When we look at the things that actually prevent and reduce um violence, that would be economic

stability, that would be housing, that would be youth programs, but yet we do not want to pay the people that are doing this work. And I think that is severely problematic. So if we do want to actually see EMS maybe called out less so you don't have to be 23 years old and look like you're 67. I think maybe we should actually start to invest in the people that are actually preventing violence. And that would be our nonprofit organizations. That would be our people that are actually going out. They're putting their lives on the line without a paycheck at all and are expected to do so without a paycheck. Thank you. Thank you, Councilman Go.

Thank you. Um, can our finance director, Miss Civil Way, come up on this item? I will not I will not ask that question. Thank you, ma'am. The item before is 1.9 million. Uh, is that for this current fiscal year? And then 3.5, am I correct? 3.5 is 1.9. Yes. is for 2026 and then the annual cost 3.2 is the annual cost that would be in 2027. And how much of that comes from the general fund? None of it comes from the general fund. This is actually they're self-funded. They do not receive any support from the general fund.

How will we generate the dollars for this increase, please? So, their transport fees have been um steadily increasing. We have not included them in the budget, but we will moving forward. And actually this budget supplement actually appropriates those overcolctions until we saw something that was sustainable and felt comfortable including it as part of their reoccurring revenues. And so that's what we're proposing to utilize this and and so the past over collections have fallen into their fund balance. Thank you for that clarification on no impact in the general fund. Thank you. Correct.

Chris, I think my thunder man come up here to the mic right quick. So, uh, I want to add a little bit to that. Um, so can you just speak at a very high level of what the millillage collects independently because I have a second part that I want to add to Rowdy to tell people about where the designation of funds are coming from to support the raise. Our millillage is 3.13 mills and it has been the same millillage that was established and put together for us in 1984 and it yields about what per year if Angie would have to correct me on that. Um, if I'm not mistaken, I think it's around 19 million. Is that correct, Angie?

Okay. Yeah. D the White is a millage guy. He loves them. So, uh, so my next question for you is, can you explain to the public how you guys have done some creative stuff as a government agency in terms of using private health insurance because they need to know that as well that you do generate funds. Well, we uh a few years ago we came to council and we adjusted our rates uh to be competitive, which is what is in the open market for whether we build for ALS1, ALS2, BLS rates. So that has increased u the amount of revenue that we brought in. And even with that alone, we uh still build pretty much a lot cheaper than most ambulance services alone. Our collection rate has went up significantly over that. We also do some uh the all of the private billing. And then the other thing that a lot of people need to understand that this organization offers for the parish is that if you are East Baton Rouge Parish resident, we do we write off several million dollars a year because we do not go after co-pays. We do not go after um any uh of the things that you would possibly have. We bill your insurance. We collect what we can, but we don't aggressively or go anything after that. So, as a taxpaying funded entity, we give back to the community just as much as we take in from billing andor the ordinance.

Andrew, do you know exactly how much the I knew the numbers. I can't remember the uh private pay. It's somewhere around 12- 15 million. You know the number, Chris? Our our what we bring in from our billing? Yeah. Last year we brought in over $30 million from billing revenue. I wanted people to hear that it was a massive number that y'all are revenue generating. We budgeted we we had budgeted 17 million in revenue and we brought in over 30.

Yeah, I knew it was somewhere around 15 to 20. So, I want the people at home to know that they came up with creative ways to take to make less of an impact on taxpayers and for those departments that are being creative and doing those things um to to grow the department without impacting um the the people at home. Number one, I say thank you, but number two, you are beyond deserving. And so whenever that 10 years comes up, I I hope I'm not here, but um you'll get that support if it happens in a couple years as well. What you're doing right now is what's needed, but it also does not impact the people at home. So again, thank you. That's all I want to get to. Uh God bless. Thank you, sir.

We have a motion by Councilman Mo, second by Counciloman Coleman. Is there any opposition? Motion carries. Item 55. Amend the 2026 aotment of positions for the city of Baton Rouge Parish of East Baton Rouge. So as to change the a lotment of emergency medical services effective May 30th, 2026. Add 12 new EMS positions and delete 10 existing EMS positions by Mayor President, human resources director, finance director, and EMS administrator. Anyone here wishing to speak on this item? Gone once. Are we sure? All right. Seeing none, public hearings closed. Motion by Councilwoman Coleman, second by Councilman Hurst. Is there any opposition? Motion carries. Item 56, a resolution ordering and calling special election to be held in Brownsville Fire Protection District number three on Saturday, December 12th, 2026 for the purpose of authorizing the renewal of the levy and collection of five mills abl tax for a period of 10 years protection purposes of the district providing notice that public hearing regarding the adoption of this resolution by Metropolitan Council acting as governing authority of the district shall be held on Wednesday, April 22nd, 2026 at 4 p.m. and provided for other matters in connection therewith by Brownsfield Fire Protection District. Anyone here wishing to speak on this item? Seeing none, we'll go to council. We have a motion. Motion by Councilman Kenny, second by Councilwoman Coleman. Is there any opposition? Motion carries. 57. A resolution authorizing the city of Baton Rouge, state of Louisiana to make application to the state bond commission for consent and authority to issue not exceeding $3.5 million public improvement sales tax revenue refunding bonds for the purpose of providing

sufficient funds to to current refund the outstanding principal amount of public improvement sales tax revenue bonds not exceeding 31,500,000 public improvement sales tax revenue refunding bonds for the purpose of providing sufficient funds to current refund the outstanding principal amount of its public improvement sales tax refunding bonds. Public improvement sales tax revenue bonds pay the cost and issuance thereof authorizing execution and delivery of bond purchase agreement and providing other connect in connection and providing for other in connection therewith by bond council. Anyone here wishing to speak on this item? See no go to councel. We have a motion motion by councilwoman Coleman. Second by Councilwoman Adams. Is there any opposition? Motion carries. 58. Authorizing mayor president to amend that certain contract for professional legal services with beverage and diamond PC for legal representation of the city parish concerning claims under the Clean Water Act to increase the allowable compensation by an additional 425,000 for a total amount not to exceed 1,775,000 by the Parish Attorney and Department of Environmental Services. Anyone here wishing to speak on this item? Seeing none, we'll go to council. We have a motion. Motion by Councilwoman Adams, second by Councilwoman Rocka. Is there any opposition? Motion carries. 59. Authorizing settlement of the pre-litigation claim of Crystal Lee for damages resulting from an auto accident caused by a Baton Rouge police officer in amount of $10,379.51 by the parish attorney. Anyone here wishing to speak on this item? Seeing no go to councel.

I'd like to make a motion that we defer this to May 27th. Mo motion by Councilwoman Adam, second by Councilwoman Rocka to defer to the May 27th council meeting. Is there any opposition? Motion carries. 50. No. 60. Authorizing settlement of pre-litigation claim of Trayana Hamilton for damages resulting from auto accident caused by a bad police officer in amount of 35,000 by the parish attorney. Anyone here wishing to speak on this item? Seeing no go to council. Councilwoman Adams.

I'd like to make a motion that we um defer this to uh May 27th. Please. Motion by Councilwoman Adams, second by Councilwoman Rocket to defer to the May 27th meeting. Councilman Hurst, I'd like to make a motion that we put some accountability metrics in place for damages happening from any department, not just the RPD, cuz we have a regular history of That's That's not your I I know, but I just wanted to say on the mic. Thank you.

Okay. Motion by Councilwoman Adams, second by Councilwoman Rocket to defer to the May 27th meeting. Any opposition? Motion carries. Item 61 authorizes settlement of the matter of Chakita Morgan vers Joseph Butler at all in the amount of 85,000 plus court costs in the amount of $12753 for a total amount of $858$85,12753 by the parish attorney. Anyone here wishing to speak on this item? Seeing none, we'll go to councel. Councilwoman Adams.

I'd like to make a motion that we defer this to May 27th. Motion by Councilwoman Adam, second by Councilwoman Rocket to defer to the May 27th meeting. Is there any opposition? Motion carries. Item 62, an ordinance of the city of Baton Rouge Parish of East Baton Rouge creating Bayou Fountain Economic Development District with the city of Baton Rouge, Louisiana property described as exhibit A shown in exhibit B defining the boundaries of the property from which new area sales and use taxes and hotel occupancy taxes may be levied by the district and used to fund all or a portion of the cost of economic development projects as described herein. All in accordance with the authorized and authorized by chapter 27, title 33 of Louisiana Revised Statutes 1950, designating the governing authority of the district, acknowledging their authority to levy sales and use taxes and hotel occupancy taxes within the district and providing for other matters in connection with the foregoing by Councilwoman Jennifer Aka. Anyone here wishing to speak on this item? Council members, you should have received one email comment in opposition to item 62.

See now we'll go to councel. I'd like to make amendment. Can I do that? Sure, please. Well, make a motion with an amendment.

I'd like to make a motion to approve with the amendment. And I'm sorry, bear with me. There's a lot of words on this amendment. Um number one on page two last whereas replace with intends to pledge and dedicate the full sales tax increment tiff as determined below with intends to pledge and dedicate the sales and tax increment pledge tax increment as determined below. Number two, on pages four and five, delete the entirety of section six and insert in lie thereof section six. The governing authority of the city parish hereby pledges to the district the t consisting of the city parishes 2% annual sales taxes and use taxes collected within the district that exceed the annual baseline less the fees and costs of the city parish pledge tax increment according to the following schedule. for the year ending December 31st, 2026, 100% of the pledge tax increment commencing January 1st, 2027 and ending December 31st, 2031, the governing authority of the city parish hereby pledges to the district's 75% of the pledge tax increment. C. Commencing January 1st, 2032 and ending December 31st, 2041, the governing authority of the city parish hereby pledges to the district 50% of the pledged tax increment. D. Commencing January 1st, 2041 and ending December 31st, 201, the governing authority of the city parish hereby pledges to the district 25% of the pledged tax increment. Motion to approve as amended by Councilwoman Rocka, second by

Councilwoman Adams, Councilman Hurst.

And so you going to get my vote on this, by the way. This is not against anything that y'all are doing cuz I support EDS in its entirety. Uh my concern for the colleagues that support EDS and the ones that supported the one that I brought up on Plank Road, I want to say thank you. For the ones that didn't, it's not one side of the aisle, it's both sides of the aisle. It's always the south side of Florida Boulevard where we get no fights. It's south side of Florida Boulevard where we see bright lights, clean streets, where we arguing about can we go to one day a week trash because there's no black piles out there. But anytime we respectfully try to do something in North Baton Rouge and service minority based communities, we get fullon discussions. We get house full of people. We get infighting amongst colleagues. We get I tell everybody instead of getting out of slavery sometimes is trying to figure out who could be the best slave. And so I'm tired of seeing it happening. And so I do plan on reintroducing the Plank Road ED with the requested changes by the council members here because I don't just care about one side of town. I care about all sides of town. And instead of avoiding meetings so that you can say that you don't know what's going on, have the discussion to make sure that you're educated, informed, and can make the desired impact that we need because BRPD will never have what they need. You can put a thousand officers on the street, but until you change North Baton Rouge, nothing matters. You can put a thousand officers on the street, but if you don't have community investment, the EMS is still going to be out there picking up bodies. So I asked if the same enthusiasm like we talked about with um with the others that my colleagues have the same enth it wasn't all of them the ones that were there I want to say you thank you and I still remember you and I appreciate it but have the same enthusiasm when those items come up and so Courtney

I'm ask you Courtney Courtney Courtney I'm ask that you resubmit the plank row ed and I'm going ask that my colleagues provide the same support with clarity and if you don't know come talk to me because every change that I was asked to make has been done every that that doesn't need to be an anchor because there's no baseline it's an addition it is it's it's germanine to me um because additional one penny over 20 years so thank you so much Brandon for letting me speak and for supporting it when it came up and I ask my colleagues to do the same God bless council woman

yes I want to make it be known that I have both sides of Florida Street. And so when I make a decision is what what's good, what's best for those 37, 38, 39, whatever it is, constituents that I serve. And an anchor is of utmost. It's just like in your house. You can't support nothing if you ain't got what you need, the amount of money that you need to run it. And so this is not apples and apples, but this is apples and oranges. And I support this,

Councilman Mo. As one that worked with your attorney, let me rephrase that. As Councilwoman Coleman just said, to keep it gerine to the topic, let's discuss apples for apples, oranges for apples, or whatever you want to call it. It gives you the opportunity to call your fellow colleagues out. It gives you opportunity publicly to state how everyone's against you and run that narrative just straight into the ground. It is two different things. And for your information, I worked with you and your attorney on doing that and TV Germaine to the topic. That is why I think this is different because it has a viable anchor in the whole thing. So, I understand you get the opportunity to speak and and drag us all through the mud and everything and say how we don't care, but I want the public to know that if you look at both of these EDDDs and one that you don't get 11 other people screaming or yelling about it or anything else is because there's definitive differences between this one and the other one. Thank you,

Councilman Hurst. Mo, I was your biggest fan on that, man. I don't that wasn't you by the way. So that was my colleague

and I and now look what I said was that there's a difference in what ED purposes are for and as it relates to this edge of the topic it's about building new as it relates to the other one it's about revitalization. So there's no land mass to build and there's already economic drivers but no resource to support those economic drivers then that's just another need and purpose for it. And so this particular one is about building. The other one is about revitalization. Both of them are impactful and purposeful, which is why we voted for LSU, which is why we voted for Southern. Southern had no driver, but we sat here and voted for it the exact same way. I don't care if it came from the state or not. We told our constituents that we supported it and it was identical in North Baton Rouge, but when it came to doing the exact same thing on Plank Road, you were not one. You were a big champion. I appreciate I told you that a thousand times. I'm just saying that when we have these things that come in our town, we can do everything we want to do at their facility and other facilities, but we still are staying on the map for crime and everything else until we make the the the effort and the decision to fix areas of town that are disinvested, lighted, uh, and forgotten about. Those are the low education, high crime areas. And so we can make every part of town better, but the ones that we leave out are the reasons why we have so many challenges in our city and why we're fighting for cops to stay on the force today. So I support them. I support this and I'm asking my colleagues to support me. So if somebody didn't second it, I will. But I God bless y'all and and well wishes on your endeavor.

Councilwoman Rocka.

Hi everyone. And I want to thank every one of my colleagues for your support in this matter, for coming out and visiting the facility. Um, but I'd be remiss if I did not thank Amanda Spain, who is an attorney on this matter, our parish attorney's office, um, their contracts division team that were remarkable. Um, Angie's finance team, Tiffany Delipos, who's somewhere on a team somewhere. There she is back there. Um, if you look at these two binders that are sitting in front of me, that contains every piece of paperwork, every minute, every hour that was um, put into an email or correspondence back and forth between the team trying to make sure that what we were doing not only was great and benefited district 12, but it benefited the benefited the city as a whole. Um, we put lots of hours in, we had several meetings. The strategic planning behind this EDDD has been absolutely remarkable. The amendment that you heard me talk about earlier was new and innovative and not like any other ED that's happened in this parish before. Um the the amendment that you see doesn't take the two the full 2%. It only takes it until um the end of December where they have their ramp up period where they're bonding out to build and develop this facility. But as the revenue in this area grows and as this facility grows, they give back the revenue to the city by decreasing what they're taking by 75% then 0.5% and 0.25%. Growing the revenue in district 12 in the city and giving back with their with their development and their growth that they're promoting. And I just want to tell you here they sit before us today. They've already had a huge economic impact in this area and they have people that have supported them. All several businesses, but some took the time to

tell us today um an owner from the Chick-fil-A uh Burbank area Corey team sent an email praising them on what they've done so far, the people that they've brought to District 12, the services that they've given, and how they have had really good patrons in that area when they host events. Um, another mom's our mom's restaurant. Absolutely delicious. If you're in district 12, you got to stop by and go to our mom's. Um, they also wrote a letter in support. Um, on tournament days, we experienced noticeable increase in volume as families and visitors come into the area and spend locally. This is an incredible economic driver for this area. I thank you all so very much for your thoughtful input, for coming to meetings, having conversations, open dialogue about how this will make our city better. Um, our team is here. I know that we've heard a lot of words tonight and they just didn't want to take you up any more of our valuable time, but I have to say thank you to Greg Stringfellow. Thank you, Clyde. I'll leave your last name out. They can use their imagination. He doesn't want any more spotlight than he needs. Um, but, you know, most of us know him from throwing a football. But anyway, thank you all so very, very much um for being here. I really appreciate it. I look forward to continuing being your partner. Um, I also have to I would be remiss without saying they've had discussions on what their board looks like. Um, that is been an incredible compilation of people that have very interesting backgrounds. Um, there are attorneys, there are former athletes, there are business owners from the area, there's a guy that's ve wellversed in finance. Um, and these don't just come from my district. Some of these folks live in Rowdy Good Day's district. Um, some of them work in district 12, but they live in other parts of the parish, uh, Councilman Coleman's district. So, we have a very unique makeup, a excellent board to come. I hope they all accept those positions, and I look forward to us all moving forward together. Thank you all so very, very

much. Thank you, Councilwoman. Uh, we have a motion by Councilwoman Rocka, second by Councilwoman Adams. Is there any opposition?

Motion carries. is approved with the amendments. Item 63, amending ordinance 19579 of the city of Baton Rouge and Parish of East Baton Rouge by adding chapter 28 smoke vape shops to title 9 licensing and regulation trades and occupations so as to provide for a termination of the non-conforming status of the business under certain circumstances, advertising restrictions and window visibility and signage restrictions by Councilwoman Amarosa, Councilwoman Coleman, Councilman Goday, and Councilwoman Harris. Anyone here wishing to speak on this item? Seeing none, we'll go to councel. We have a motion. Motion by councilman go. Second by councilwoman Amarosa. Is there any opposition? Motion carries. Item 64, amending title one, municipal and parish organization, chapter 3, personnel part four, employees retirement system of the code of ordinances so as to include Baton Rouge Regional Airport Authority as a new employer to the city parish employees retirement system by interim retirement administrator. Anyone here wishing to speak on this item? Seeing none, we'll go to council. We have a motion. Motion by Councilman Mo, second by Councilwoman Amarosa. Is there any opposition? Motion carries. 65. Authorize mayor president to execute a contract with Lamar advertising Louisiana LLC doing business as Lamar companies for for pollution prevention billboards and amount not to exceed $61,815 by environmental services director. Anyone here wishing to speak on this item? Seeing none, we'll go to councel. Anybody? Somebody in the mayor's office speak on this. Is Adam here? There he is. Adam, can you give us an overview of of what this is and where the funding is coming from?

Sure. This is um the requirements of both our uh sewer consent decree and then the the storm water management plan is that we do public outreach, public education billboards to uh educate people on hey what don't pour grease down the drain. Uh don't put flushable wipes are not flushable. Don't don't blow grass and leaves into the storm drain. That that type of thing. So that that's what this is. We've got a handful of billboards spread out throughout the parish. Uh some of them are electronic, some of them are static. So that that's what this is for. Um this particular uh funding source is our uh our general fund item under the the storm water budget. Okay. Thank you. Anybody else? Do we have a motion? Motion by Councilwoman Amarosa. Second by Councilwoman Harris. There any opposition? Motion carries. Item 66. Authorize the Mayor President Andor Brasco to execute a three-year service contract for inspection and maintenance with Crime LLC associated with the ground storage tanks and an amount not to exceed $100,000 annually for a total of $300,000 by environmental services director. Anyone here wishing to speak on this item? See? No. Go to councel. Have a motion. Motion by Councilwoman Adams. Second. Second by Councilwoman Harris. Is there any opposition? Motion carries. 67. Authorize the mayor president to execute a contract with American Facility Services, Inc. for janitorial services. That sounded weird. Janitorial Services at the 19th Judicial Courthouse in a month.

$278,498 by building and grounds director. Anyone here wishing to speak on this item? Seeing none, we'll go to council. Have a motion. Motion by councilwoman Adams. Second by councilwoman Coleman. Is there any opposition? Motion carries. 68. authorizing the mayor president on behalf of the city of Baton Rouge and parish of East Baton Rouge to enter into a lease agreement with Village LLC for a lease of space of for the Louisiana Department of Health sanitation inspection at 2751 Wooddale Boulevard for a term of 5 years at a rate of $5,700 per month by director of building and grounds. Anyone here wishing to speak on this item? Seeing none, we'll go to council. We have a motion. Motion by Councilman Don Jr. second by Councilwoman Adams. Is there any opposition? Motion carries. Item 69, authorizing mayor president to execute an an assignment and assumption agreement with the Baton Rouge Regional Airport Authority and to sign all documents in connection therewith by the aviation director. Anyone here wishing to speak on this item? See none. Go to councel. We have a motion. Motion by councilman Don Jr. second by council Kenny. Is there any opposition? Motion carries. Item 70. There's been a request to defer this item for three weeks. Authorizing Mayor President to execute a cooperative endeavor agreement with the Baton Rouge Regional Airport Authority for the supply of municipal services by the city of Baton Rouge and Parish of East Baton Rouge to the Baton Rouge Regional Airport Authority and to sign all documents in connection therewith by the aviation director. Anyone here wishing to speak on this item? Seeing none, go to council. Motion by Councilman Dunn Jr. Second by the chair. Is there any opposition? Motion carries to defer for three weeks. 71. authorizing mayor president to execute an intergovernmental agreement with the Baton Rouge Regional Airport Authority for benefits administration and participation in the insurance benefits plan of the city of Baton Rouge Parish of East Baton Rouge to sign all documents in connection therewith by the aviation director. Anyone here wishing to speak on this item?

Seeing no go to councel. We have a motion. Motion by Councilman Dunn Jr. second by Councilman Kenny. Is there any opposition? Motion carries. Item 72, approving the responses provided to the annual Louisiana compliance questionnaire for the year 2025 as required by the legislative auditor of the state of Louisiana by the finance director. Anyone here wishing to speak on this item? Seeing none, go to councel. We have a motion. Motion by Councilwoman Harris, second by Councilwoman Coleman. Is there any opposition? Motion carries. Item 73 authorizing the mayor president to execute supplemental agreement number four for professional engineering services with ACOM technical services inc for design study full NEPA services road mapping and final design services for the move corridor enhancement college drive Perkins Road to I 10 project and an amount not to exceed 3,700,823.75 bringing the total contract amount not to exceed 7,98,335.77 by transportation drainage director. Anyone here wishing to speak on this item? Seeing none, go to council. We have a motion. Motion by Councilwoman Adams. Second by Councilman Kenny. Is there any opposition? Motion carries. Item 74. Authorize the finance director to refund an erroneous remittance sales tax to Baton Rouge Clinic AMC in the amount of 336,43727 for remitting sales tax on non-T taxable prescription drug purchases for the audit period of July 1st, 2021 through November 30th, 2022 with cost of such refund to be charged against sales tax revenues by the finance director. Anyone here wishing to speak on this item? Seeing none, we'll go to council. We have a motion. Motion by Councilman Hudson, second by Councilwoman Adams. There any opposition? Motion carries. 75. A resolution authorizing the

execution and delivery of the 15th amendment to intergovernmental contract and local services agreement among city of Baton Rouge Parish of East Baton Rouge and greater Baton Rouge airport district related to refinance refinancing certain prior indebtedness of the greater Baton Rouge airport district to the city of Baton Rouge and providing for other matters related there too by greater Baton Rouge airport District. Anyone here wishing to speak on this item? Seeing no go to councel. We have a motion. Motion by Councilman Dunn Jr. second by Councilwoman Harris. Is there any opposition? Motion carries. 76. Rescending and directing clerk court to cancel notice to attend recorded on July 14th, 2025 and decision order recorded on December 1st, 2025 in the matter of city of Baton Rouge vers Henry L. Thurman Jr. 284579th Avenue. Reason for recision is the property is currently being renovated by the owner by Council McKenna. Anyone here wishing to speak on this item? Seeing no go to councel. Motion by councilman Kenny, second by councilwoman Harris. Is there any opposition? Motion carries. 77. Rescending directing clerk court to cancel a notice to attend recorded on May 21st, 2025 and decision and order recorded on February 18th, 2026 in matter of city of Baton Rouge vers Willie Hawkins and Ellen C. Hawkins 2842 Clover Street. Reason for recision property is being repaired to meet code by council McKenna. Anyone here wishing to speak on this item? Seeing none, go to councel. Motion by councilman Kenny, second by councilwoman Harris. Any opposition? Motion carries. 78. Authorizing mayor president on behalf of the city of Baton Rouge and Parish of East Baton Rouge to approve city parish of Eastbound Rouge Parish CB CPEBR to prepare and submit a pre-application to the statewide flood control program for assistance in the implementation of a project for the purpose of reducing existing flood damages by transportation drainage director. Anyone here wishing to speak on this item?

Seeing none, we'll go to council. We have a motion. Motion by Councilwoman Coleman. Second by Councilman McKenna. Is there any opposition? Motion carries. Adjudicated properties. We're going to take 79 through 102 together. 79 lot 3 subdivision Richard DJ Track Metro Council District 9 Hudson High Bidder Beach and Property Investments LLC $300. 80 lot 6 and 7 square 52 subdivision bank metro council district 2 Kenny high bidder tel for williams $100 81 lot 4 square 52 subdivision bank metro council district 2 kenny high bidder tel for williams $8,000 82 lot 26 subdivision McKinley Heights metro council district 10 kman moto own 83 lot 25 subdivision McKinley Heights metro council district com 10 kleman moto own 84 lot 9 square3 subdivision Division Swart, Metro Council District 10, Coleman, Moto Home. 85, lot 14, square 28, subdivision, South Baton Rouge, Metro Council District 10, Coleman, Moto. 86, lot 14, 15, 16, square 13, subdivision, Fortune, Council, Metro Council District 5, Herz, Moto own. 87, lot 19, square 26, subdivision Fortune, Metro Council District 5, Herz, Moto own. 88, lot C, square 8, subdivision, Progress Park, Metro Council District 10, Coleman, Moto own. 89 lot A subdivision Dawson Commons Metro Council District 12 Rocka High bidder Charles Grim $10,000 90 lot section 2 and 3 T5S R1E subdivision JR Tucker Property Metro Council District 1 no high bidder Nikia White $10,100 91 lot 60 subdivision Richmond Park metro council district 10 Coleman high bidder Kenyan Andrews 3500 92 lot 37 subdivision Ision Highland Gardens Edition, Metro Council District 7, Harris, High Bidder Leonard Williams,

$100. 93, lot 32, Subdivision Park Edition, Metro Council District 7, Harris, High Bidder, GL FAV Enterprises LLC, $100. 94, lot 5A and 6A, Square 2, Subdivision, Richmond Park, Metro Council District, 10 Coleman, high bidder, Ardana Winbush, $100. 95 lot 8 910 square 25 subdivision Fortune Metro Council District 5 Hurst high bidder Charles War $10,000 96 lot 27 subdivision Southern View Metro Council District 10 Coleman high bidder Kia Smith $6,000 97 lot 10 and 11 square 12 subdivision Baton Rouge Terrace Metro Council District 7 Harris high bidder Joseph Jean-Pierre Jr. $100 98 lot nine subdivision hillside farms north metro council district 1 null high bidder Nikia white $30,000 99 lot 2 square 5 subdivision Scott metro council district 10 Coleman high bidder one property solutions $100 100 lot 29 square 39 subdivision south Baton Rouge metro council district 10 Coleman high bidder Clyde Forbes $100 101 lot parcel ID1267876 Six, subdivision lush, metro council district 1, n high bidder, Joseph Jean Pierre Jr., $100. 102, lot three, subdivision Scotland edition, Metro Council District 2, Kenny High Bidder, Connor Properties and Investments LLC, $200. Anyone here wishing to speak on item 79 through 102? Seeing none, we'll go to council. We have a motion. Motion by Councilman Hudson. Second by Councilwoman Adams. Any opposition?

Motion carries. All right. Go to your separate street sheet for uh administrative matters.

I don't know. I just said a lot of streets. Got to read. All right. Administrative matters. A authorizing the mayor president to execute amendment number one to the agreement with Luster Group LLC for demolition and abatement services package A18 to increase the contract amount by $6,29859 for a total contract amount not to exceed $85,53359 by development director. I need a motion to weigh the rules for the items to be introduced. Motion by Councilwoman Rocka, second by Councilwoman Coleman. We're going to have a public hearing on the motion to wave the rules. Anybody wish to speak on the motion to w the rules? Seeing no, we'll go to council. Any objection on the motion to wave the rules?

Objection. God bless you.

We have an we have an objection item cannot be introduced. Administrative matter emergency item B. Acceptance of low bid annual contract for interstate mowing litter trash litter and trash collection facility maintenance specialist LLC $492,66659 by maintenance director. Reason this item is being requested as administrative matter department of maintenance is requesting the addition of this item to metro council agenda as administrative matter to secure a vendor contract for mowing litter and trash removal services without further delay. Any postponement and commencing new services will result in overgrown conditions, increased maintenance costs, and potential safety hazards along the interstate. The interstate, that isn't our responsibility, right? Okay. Motion. Need a motion to wave the rules. Motion by Councilwoman Rocka. Do we have a second? Second by Councilwoman Harris. We're going to need a public hearing on a motion to wave the rules. Anyone wishing to speak on the motion to wave the rules? Seeing none, we need a vote on the MOO. Any objection on the motion to wave the rules?

Rich, my boy, but objection. I appreciate it, man. God bless. Objection item cannot be introduced or heard. All right. Appointments 103, Hospital Service District number one, Board of Commissioners, Lane Regional Medical Center, consideration of reappointing or replacing replacing Nikishha Cleveland. Current ballot is Nikesha Cleveland requesting reappoint. Anyone here wishing to speak on this item? Seeing none, go to councel. Motion to reappoint Nikisha Cleveland by the chair. Do we have a second? Anybody second? Second a motion. Anybody? Anybody?

Second by Councilman Hudson. Is there any opposition? Motion carries. Item 104, Hospital Service District number one, Board of Commissioners, Lane Regional Medical Center, consideration of replacing Dr. Reagan Elkins, who is not seeking reo reappointment. There is nobody on the current ballot. We do need a recommendation. One of the doctors uh from staff. So, I'm going to recommend uh deferring this item. Anyone here wishing to speak on this item? Seeing none, make a motion to defer to May 13th meeting. Second by Councilman Goday. Is there any opposition? Motion carries. 105 Industrial Development Board consideration of reappointing or replacing Dan Budro. The six-year term current ballot is Dan Dan Budro requesting reappointment. Anyone here wishing to speak on this item? See no go to council. We have a motion motion by Councilman Hurst. We have a second. Second by the chair to reappoint Dan Budro. Any opposition? Motion carries. 106. There's been a request to defer this to the May 27th meeting. Industrial Development Board consideration of reappointing or replacing Thomas Love Jr. Appointment must be submitted by the Louisiana Attorney General Contractors. We've not received that yet, which is the reason for the defer request for deferral. Anyone here wishing to speak on this item? Seeing none, we'll go to council. Have a motion to defer to the May 27th meeting. Motion by Councilman Hudson, second by the chair. Any opposition? Motion carries. 107 Industrial Development Board Consideration of Reappointing or replacing Jamie Ellander. This is a six-year term. Current ballot is Jamie Ellander requesting reappoint. Anyone here wishing to speak on this item? Seeing none, we go to councel. We have a motion. Motion by Councilman Hurst. Second by Councilwoman Amarosa. Is there any opposition? Motion carries.

Change orders. We can take 108 through 115 together. 108. Baton Rouge Police Department Training Facility Contractor Prodigy Group LLC. Change order amount credit $259,280.70 109 Chakaw Drive and Chuck Chakaw Drive Area ADA transition project contract to the Luster Group LLC change order amount credit of $27,759 110 Douglas Avenue ADA Transition Project contract to the Luster Group LLC change order amount $16,67420 11 Lancaster Avenue Sidewalks Project Contractor Alonzo LLC change order amount 5 thou credit of $5,330.88 88 112 Baton Rouge Bus Rabbit Tra Bus Rapid Transit Project Nicholson Drive Florida Boulevard Plank Road contractor Hard Rock Construction LLC change order amount 3,847,897.15 113 Pard Parkway sideway project contractor Alonzo LLC change auto amount credit of $9,79822 114 14 George O'Neal sidewalks Paduca and Kennesaw Drive contractor Aubber Construction LLC change order amount 4,455.75 115 Laurel Lafayette ADA transition project contractor the Luster Group change order amount credit of $12,58.58. Anyone here wishing to speak on items 108 through 115? Council members, you should have received one email comment in opposition to item 112.

You know, we'll go to council. Councilman Hurst. Fred, you know my question. Come on. Yes, sir. You don't have to tell me that it's a lot of money. I don't disagree with that when you're talking about $3 million. But when you were talking about a roadway like Plank Road, 3.8 million. Says $4 billion. I'm okay. I just want the public to know

if they're asking about a $4 million change order. far and I have any pro and I expected that. That's why I'm here to answer that question. Number one, when you took over the the control of plank road uh and also 22nd Street uh which was the state highway and we took it over from the process of for the move BR program um bus rapid transit. We had people to look at the roadway. We knew there were going to be issues. They put estimates in about what was to be expected of what needed to be done from a roadbased problem. And people who used plank road before we did the work, all they did was complain about the condition of the roadway. Well, when we got into the depth looking at the actual roadway itself, digging out, we found there was not very much concrete base that needed to be there. uh we spent but in fact that since we going to own this roadway I felt like because of the type of transition and the projects that we're going to go with and the projects in that area we needed to go ahead and move forward and fix it and fix it right. I mean because I don't want to spend the money we have and then all of a sudden two two years from now the road starts falling apart. So it is it is a lot of money. I actually went out to the site multiple times when they looked at the roadway. In fact, a couple times I saw where they had actual wood planks, like plank road. So, I mean, there were areas in there that needed to be addressed. I did not want to to uh not correct it as it needed to be. I have our engineering group that was out there also who recommended that. So at this point, yes, it's a lot of money, but it's something in my opinion is well spent because it is for the road base itself. And without a good road base,

you you're not going to have a good road. I appreciate it, Fred. Thanks so much.

Yes, sir. We have a motion by Councilman Hurst to approve items 108 through 115. Do we have a second? Second by council McKenna. Is there any opposition? Motion carries. Final acceptance is 116 through 121. Chuck Drive Area ADA Transition Project Contract of the Luster Group LLC. Final cost 336,57.86. Douglas Avenue ADA Transition Project Contract of the Luster Group LLC. Final cost $378,932.92. Lancaster Avenue Sidewalks Project Contractor Alonzo LLC. Final cost $178,8612. Pard Parkway sidewalks project contractor Allonzo LLC. Final cost $13,335.38. George O'Neal sidewalks Paduca to Kennesaw. Contractor Aubber Construction LLC final cost $262,193.75. Laurel Lafayette ADA transition project contract to the Luster Group LLC. Final cost $361,4842. Anyone here wishing to speak on items 116 through 121? Seeing none, go to councel. We have a motion. Motion by Councilwoman Harris. Second by the chair. Any opposition? Motion carries. Acceptance of low bids. We're going to take items 122 and 123 together. 22 annual parish rod parishwide cured in place pipe rehabilitation low bid BL services LLC 1,582,750 123 annual parish parishwide concrete pavement restoration luster group LLC $479,387.50 Anyone here wishing to speak on these items? Seeing no go to council. We have a

motion. Motion by Councilwoman Coleman, second by Council McKenna. Is there any opposition? Motion carries. We got a request to reconsider item 47 by Councilwoman Harris. Do we have a second by Councilman Coleman? Any opposition to reconsidering item 47? 30 days. We're We're asking for 30 days on item 47. Is there a motion by Councilwoman Hack with that?

Oh, yeah. Yeah. Anyone wishing to speak on item 47? Seeing none, go to council. Councilwoman Harris. Motion to approve 30-day deferral. Second by Councilwoman Amarosa. Any opposition? Motion carries. Councilwoman Amarosa. Motion to adjourn. Means adjourn. Thank you all for your continued service. God bless.