1
00:07:15,500 --> 00:10:19,165
Hit it once. Yes, sir. Good afternoon. So

2
00:10:19,165 --> 00:10:23,245
today we are here the Metro Council budget

3
00:10:23,245 --> 00:10:28,525
hearing and today is the mayor's proposed 2023

4
00:10:28,845 --> 00:10:36,320
budget being Tuesday, November 2022. The meeting has

5
00:10:36,320 --> 00:10:40,320
been called to order and we have informational

6
00:10:40,320 --> 00:10:45,535
presentations by five different entities. And so we

7
00:10:45,535 --> 00:10:49,855
will begin with the Prison Medical Services. If

8
00:10:49,855 --> 00:10:52,815
you'll come on up, followed by the Department

9
00:10:52,815 --> 00:10:57,615
of Buildings and Grounds, Juvenile Services, the mayor's

10
00:10:57,615 --> 00:11:01,540
office, and the Mayor's Office of Community Development.

11
00:11:01,780 --> 00:11:05,940
Let me say that there will be, because

12
00:11:05,940 --> 00:11:09,460
no action will be taken, there will be

13
00:11:09,460 --> 00:11:13,065
no public comment. There was an opportunity for

14
00:11:13,065 --> 00:11:16,505
this on November 22 at the council meeting

15
00:11:16,505 --> 00:11:19,785
and then there will be another opportunity on

16
00:11:19,785 --> 00:11:25,250
December 13. So, And you can always reach

17
00:11:25,250 --> 00:11:27,810
out to your council person or to the

18
00:11:27,810 --> 00:11:31,649
department. So we'll go with Prison Medical Services.

19
00:11:31,649 --> 00:11:34,370
Thank you, Councilman Coleman. I'm going to introduce

20
00:11:34,370 --> 00:11:36,770
Flint Juneau who is actually the CEO of

21
00:11:36,770 --> 00:11:40,654
Turnkey Medical. Turnkey, which you guys probably remember,

22
00:11:40,654 --> 00:11:43,055
took over Prison Medical at the beginning of

23
00:11:43,055 --> 00:11:45,295
this year. The mayor has asked them to

24
00:11:45,295 --> 00:11:47,295
come back in January to do a full

25
00:11:47,295 --> 00:11:49,375
one year report in terms of what their

26
00:11:49,375 --> 00:11:51,680
activities have been at the prison. But just

27
00:11:51,680 --> 00:11:55,520
as a refresher, the current budget for 2023,

28
00:11:55,520 --> 00:11:59,520
the proposed budget for prison medical is $6,600,000

29
00:11:59,839 --> 00:12:02,560
approximately, just a little bit over that. The

30
00:12:02,560 --> 00:12:07,765
base contract is $6,100,000 We have about $380,000

31
00:12:07,765 --> 00:12:10,565
worth of medical supplies, which in this case

32
00:12:10,565 --> 00:12:13,205
are mainly HIV drugs. We've had an issue

33
00:12:13,205 --> 00:12:15,925
with a change in the formulary for HIV

34
00:12:15,925 --> 00:12:18,485
drugs. We're working on this with the state.

35
00:12:18,485 --> 00:12:20,085
We think we'll find a solution where we

36
00:12:20,085 --> 00:12:22,350
will be able to cut those costs, and

37
00:12:22,350 --> 00:12:26,910
about $140,000 for contractual services, which include people

38
00:12:26,910 --> 00:12:30,030
who have to go to a medical facility

39
00:12:30,270 --> 00:12:33,230
where those charges aren't covered by DOC and

40
00:12:33,230 --> 00:12:34,670
where we have to send them for x

41
00:12:34,670 --> 00:12:37,505
rays, etcetera, outside of the facility. So I'll

42
00:12:37,505 --> 00:12:42,065
introduce Flint. Turnkey is actually in 92 facilities

43
00:12:42,065 --> 00:12:46,385
and nine states. The RFP process was competitive.

44
00:12:46,385 --> 00:12:48,625
We had five different groups that examined coming

45
00:12:48,625 --> 00:12:51,505
in and Turnkey was picked through that process.

46
00:12:52,530 --> 00:13:00,530
Good afternoon. Thank you all for allowing me

47
00:13:00,530 --> 00:13:02,450
to come in and speak with you today.

48
00:13:02,770 --> 00:13:05,890
We've enjoyed a partnership with the East Baton

49
00:13:05,890 --> 00:13:09,865
Rouge Parish, as Darryl mentioned, since last January,

50
00:13:10,745 --> 00:13:13,225
we came in of course in the heart

51
00:13:13,225 --> 00:13:16,345
of the COVID epidemic. So we've had some

52
00:13:16,345 --> 00:13:20,745
challenges coming in as far as facility movement,

53
00:13:21,625 --> 00:13:26,550
you know, working through the epidemic and, but

54
00:13:26,550 --> 00:13:30,149
even through that time, we've made drastic improvements

55
00:13:30,149 --> 00:13:33,430
and major strides with what we do out

56
00:13:33,430 --> 00:13:36,105
at the prison with you all. As he

57
00:13:36,105 --> 00:13:39,305
mentioned, I'm Flint Juneau, CEO. I have been

58
00:13:39,305 --> 00:13:43,625
down here numerous times personally in in Baton

59
00:13:43,625 --> 00:13:48,425
Rouge, I I enjoy the southern hospitality. So

60
00:13:48,425 --> 00:13:52,100
I I love eating southern food and sharing

61
00:13:52,500 --> 00:13:56,740
hospitality with you all. I am gonna cover

62
00:13:56,740 --> 00:14:00,420
a few highlights. As he mentioned, we are

63
00:14:00,420 --> 00:14:02,260
willing to come back. What we would like

64
00:14:02,260 --> 00:14:06,315
to do and as you guys have asked

65
00:14:06,315 --> 00:14:08,955
us, we want to provide kind of an

66
00:14:08,955 --> 00:14:11,835
annual review as we go through our relationship

67
00:14:11,835 --> 00:14:15,435
with you. We will do that as we

68
00:14:15,435 --> 00:14:18,430
wrap up each contract year and give you

69
00:14:18,430 --> 00:14:22,029
a little bit more meat and statistics and

70
00:14:22,029 --> 00:14:27,070
kind of shifts in things throughout the year.

71
00:14:27,710 --> 00:14:30,714
But today I just came in to just

72
00:14:30,714 --> 00:14:32,795
kind of give you guys a highlight of

73
00:14:32,795 --> 00:14:35,514
where we've been and kind of an idea

74
00:14:35,514 --> 00:14:37,595
if you guys have questions, you know, that

75
00:14:37,595 --> 00:14:39,915
you want us to address as well in

76
00:14:39,915 --> 00:14:43,870
our January presentation. This might spur some ideas

77
00:14:43,870 --> 00:14:48,110
and we're always welcoming of those suggestions so

78
00:14:48,110 --> 00:14:51,149
we can cater it to a way that's

79
00:14:51,870 --> 00:14:57,615
feasible to you guys. So I'm gonna have

80
00:14:57,615 --> 00:15:00,255
a hard time reading through this. It's a

81
00:15:00,255 --> 00:15:03,375
little far out there. But we, first of

82
00:15:03,375 --> 00:15:06,095
all, I wanna just go through some achievements

83
00:15:06,335 --> 00:15:09,860
that we had over this last year beginning

84
00:15:09,860 --> 00:15:12,900
with, you know, we started a year ago

85
00:15:12,980 --> 00:15:16,740
in January 1 and it truly was a

86
00:15:16,740 --> 00:15:23,220
very compressed transition process. We actually, I believe,

87
00:15:23,805 --> 00:15:27,964
thank you. The contract was actually signed, I

88
00:15:27,964 --> 00:15:30,445
believe, less than two weeks before we even

89
00:15:30,445 --> 00:15:32,845
started services, but we did a lot of

90
00:15:32,845 --> 00:15:37,480
work upfront, meeting with the existing staff, etcetera,

91
00:15:37,800 --> 00:15:40,120
working with some of the community clinics and

92
00:15:40,120 --> 00:15:43,800
providers to get prepared for the transition. And

93
00:15:43,800 --> 00:15:46,680
of course, as you guys know, from Thanksgiving

94
00:15:47,320 --> 00:15:50,665
to New Year's Day, people are pretty stable

95
00:15:50,665 --> 00:15:53,145
with where they're at. So we had some

96
00:15:53,145 --> 00:15:55,625
recruiting challenges to work through those last couple

97
00:15:55,625 --> 00:16:03,010
weeks. Although they were challenges, we did a

98
00:16:03,010 --> 00:16:06,370
lot initially. To begin with, we increased the

99
00:16:06,370 --> 00:16:10,690
staffing out there by more than 2.4, what

100
00:16:10,690 --> 00:16:15,410
we call FTEs, full time equivalents. From the

101
00:16:15,410 --> 00:16:19,355
get go, we implemented some critical positions that

102
00:16:19,355 --> 00:16:23,835
we believe were lacking out there, one being

103
00:16:23,835 --> 00:16:28,075
an HMP nurse to make sure we had

104
00:16:28,075 --> 00:16:32,010
somebody dedicated to make sure every individual who

105
00:16:32,010 --> 00:16:35,370
became incarcerated out there had a full physical

106
00:16:35,370 --> 00:16:38,730
within the fourteen day guideline and then an

107
00:16:38,730 --> 00:16:43,050
additional physical within a year. Since we implemented

108
00:16:43,995 --> 00:16:47,675
that position, we are current on both of

109
00:16:47,675 --> 00:16:51,115
those categories, which is very important because the

110
00:16:51,115 --> 00:16:58,089
facility is accredited by NCCHC. We did inherit,

111
00:16:58,089 --> 00:17:01,769
as you guys know, or probably know through

112
00:17:01,769 --> 00:17:06,490
COVID, there's been massive inflation. No area in

113
00:17:06,490 --> 00:17:08,890
our industry has been hit harder than the

114
00:17:08,890 --> 00:17:15,184
healthcare area, especially nursing for like correctional facilities.

115
00:17:15,664 --> 00:17:19,424
Nurses in our industry, we have experienced over

116
00:17:19,424 --> 00:17:24,030
a 20% inflation in salaries. So when we

117
00:17:24,030 --> 00:17:29,789
came in, we had a vacancy rate to

118
00:17:29,789 --> 00:17:32,750
fill positions for full time staff of over

119
00:17:32,750 --> 00:17:38,945
73% of nursing staff and 100% vacancy rate

120
00:17:38,945 --> 00:17:41,984
of the CMAs. Now that's not saying that

121
00:17:41,985 --> 00:17:45,344
services weren't being provided before we came in,

122
00:17:45,664 --> 00:17:49,909
but the individuals providing those services were on

123
00:17:49,909 --> 00:17:52,710
like a contract basis or a temporary staff,

124
00:17:52,710 --> 00:17:57,669
agency staff, which provides essential services but it

125
00:17:57,669 --> 00:18:00,789
doesn't provide the continuity of care that you

126
00:18:00,789 --> 00:18:04,230
want to establish to make sure services are

127
00:18:04,230 --> 00:18:09,825
being delivered right. The nursing staff were dramatically

128
00:18:09,825 --> 00:18:13,185
underpaid out at the prison which was part

129
00:18:13,185 --> 00:18:16,145
of the contribution of why they had so

130
00:18:16,145 --> 00:18:20,225
many vacancies. We have increased the hourly rate

131
00:18:20,460 --> 00:18:23,020
for the nurses out there by over $8

132
00:18:23,020 --> 00:18:25,340
an hour from what they were being paid

133
00:18:25,340 --> 00:18:29,419
before we assumed the contract. We believe in

134
00:18:29,419 --> 00:18:32,059
spending more money on the front end because

135
00:18:32,059 --> 00:18:38,675
lower turnover obviously is more financially sound. So

136
00:18:38,675 --> 00:18:43,155
we always pay a very competitive rate in

137
00:18:43,155 --> 00:18:46,195
the healthcare industry, not just the corrections industry.

138
00:18:48,019 --> 00:18:51,700
We so as of today, we've been fully

139
00:18:51,700 --> 00:18:54,580
staffed out there. As of today, we we

140
00:18:54,580 --> 00:18:57,700
have two individuals filling two of the last

141
00:18:57,700 --> 00:19:01,215
permanent positions and we still got a couple

142
00:19:01,215 --> 00:19:04,015
temporary staff out there while we get them

143
00:19:04,015 --> 00:19:08,175
fully oriented. But within a year, we pretty

144
00:19:08,175 --> 00:19:13,200
much stabilized the entire program out there. This

145
00:19:13,200 --> 00:19:19,039
also included adding a very qualified RN administrator

146
00:19:19,360 --> 00:19:24,000
who works there Monday through Friday. I know

147
00:19:24,000 --> 00:19:26,475
in the past that that had been kind

148
00:19:26,475 --> 00:19:30,075
of hit and miss due to personal reasons

149
00:19:30,075 --> 00:19:33,035
but that is a critical component of the

150
00:19:33,035 --> 00:19:35,755
program that has helped to stabilize it as

151
00:19:35,755 --> 00:19:42,419
well. We implemented a new medical director who

152
00:19:42,659 --> 00:19:47,140
has received great reviews by not only the

153
00:19:47,140 --> 00:19:49,700
security staff out there but also by the

154
00:19:49,700 --> 00:19:55,135
inmate population out there. And we have implemented

155
00:19:55,135 --> 00:19:58,575
a full time psychiatric provider where there were,

156
00:19:58,575 --> 00:20:00,655
prior to us, there were only two part

157
00:20:00,655 --> 00:20:03,775
times who came out as their scheduled allowed.

158
00:20:06,340 --> 00:20:08,419
One main area I do wanna touch on

159
00:20:08,419 --> 00:20:11,140
is the community coordinator. That was a new

160
00:20:11,140 --> 00:20:15,460
position out here. We, as he mentioned, as

161
00:20:15,460 --> 00:20:18,020
Darryl mentioned, we work with over 90 some

162
00:20:18,705 --> 00:20:22,384
parishes and counties in the Southern United States

163
00:20:22,705 --> 00:20:26,465
and the larger facilities such as Baton Rouge,

164
00:20:26,865 --> 00:20:31,184
we are very progressive in trying to continue

165
00:20:31,184 --> 00:20:34,280
to care once inmates go back into the

166
00:20:34,280 --> 00:20:38,360
community because if they stay healthy, it's proven

167
00:20:38,360 --> 00:20:41,640
to reduce the recidivism back into the jail.

168
00:20:41,960 --> 00:20:44,840
So we have implemented that system. We're trying

169
00:20:45,000 --> 00:20:48,914
to get that program built up and I

170
00:20:48,914 --> 00:20:50,755
have a few things that we've already accomplished

171
00:20:50,755 --> 00:20:53,075
with that that I'll continue on here in

172
00:20:53,075 --> 00:20:59,635
a minute. So as I mentioned, NCCHC, our

173
00:20:59,635 --> 00:21:04,700
services now exceed those standards. Should NCCHC come

174
00:21:04,700 --> 00:21:08,380
back for a review at any given time

175
00:21:08,380 --> 00:21:11,980
when they're scheduled to, we are fully confident

176
00:21:11,980 --> 00:21:14,815
that not only we meet the standards but

177
00:21:14,815 --> 00:21:19,295
we exceed them and that is a big

178
00:21:19,295 --> 00:21:23,695
accomplishment for the parish overall. NTCH, is that

179
00:21:23,695 --> 00:21:26,415
the accreditation group? It is, yes. It stands

180
00:21:26,415 --> 00:21:29,710
for the National Commission on Correctional Healthcare. And

181
00:21:29,710 --> 00:21:31,470
did y'all fail the last time, is that

182
00:21:31,470 --> 00:21:33,310
what you're saying? And now you're on position

183
00:21:33,310 --> 00:21:35,310
to pass, I may have missed that. No,

184
00:21:35,310 --> 00:21:38,190
no, so the facility's still accredited but they

185
00:21:38,190 --> 00:21:40,270
only come in every three to four years.

186
00:21:40,270 --> 00:21:45,275
Okay. The initial accreditation was done, I believe

187
00:21:45,275 --> 00:21:50,715
two years ago, maybe. I'm sorry. But it's

188
00:21:50,715 --> 00:21:52,955
not an annual review and we haven't went

189
00:21:52,955 --> 00:21:58,010
through one since we've been there. There's also

190
00:21:58,010 --> 00:22:00,330
the electronic health record that was in place.

191
00:22:00,330 --> 00:22:04,650
We had a seamless transition because the system

192
00:22:04,650 --> 00:22:07,210
that the parish was using is the same

193
00:22:07,210 --> 00:22:14,665
system we use throughout our company. So we

194
00:22:14,665 --> 00:22:17,225
were able to make sure there was no

195
00:22:17,225 --> 00:22:19,785
lack of care or loss of care through

196
00:22:19,785 --> 00:22:24,680
that transition because the records transitioned smoothly. Some

197
00:22:24,680 --> 00:22:28,920
of the new implementations which we're very proud

198
00:22:28,920 --> 00:22:32,840
of is we have implemented an MAT program

199
00:22:32,840 --> 00:22:37,725
which is medicated or medication assisted treatment. For

200
00:22:37,725 --> 00:22:40,365
those of you who are not in the

201
00:22:40,365 --> 00:22:44,205
healthcare industry, what that means is we treat

202
00:22:44,285 --> 00:22:48,925
people with opioid and alcohol addiction while they're

203
00:22:48,925 --> 00:22:52,100
in the facility as long as they you

204
00:22:52,100 --> 00:22:54,260
know, are willing to do it and meet

205
00:22:54,260 --> 00:23:00,900
the qualifications to prevent detox, to prevent illness

206
00:23:01,300 --> 00:23:05,539
from them coming off the medication and also

207
00:23:05,620 --> 00:23:08,435
to give them a higher success of when

208
00:23:08,435 --> 00:23:13,875
they return to the community, they are not

209
00:23:13,955 --> 00:23:17,075
completely off of something and their body's not

210
00:23:17,075 --> 00:23:19,715
transitioning. As we know that the parish is,

211
00:23:20,360 --> 00:23:23,240
the parish prison is for the parish, it's

212
00:23:23,240 --> 00:23:26,120
not the state DOC system. So the amount

213
00:23:26,120 --> 00:23:29,720
of time individuals stay in the parish prison

214
00:23:29,960 --> 00:23:33,880
is much smaller. So it's better to provide

215
00:23:33,880 --> 00:23:37,825
a continuity of care for those services as

216
00:23:37,825 --> 00:23:43,105
long as they meet qualifications and are willing

217
00:23:43,105 --> 00:23:47,905
to participate. So along with that, we have

218
00:23:49,890 --> 00:23:53,490
introduced as part of our discharge planning program,

219
00:23:53,730 --> 00:23:58,210
the implementing release of medications which is done

220
00:23:58,210 --> 00:24:02,450
through our community coordinator position. Those medications have

221
00:24:02,450 --> 00:24:06,585
also been enhanced to include access to Narcan

222
00:24:07,225 --> 00:24:13,385
which is in layman terms, somebody is overdosed,

223
00:24:13,385 --> 00:24:18,330
it's an inhibitor that prevents bad outcomes. So

224
00:24:18,330 --> 00:24:22,250
we've allowed those and we provide education to

225
00:24:22,250 --> 00:24:26,250
the inmates at the prison on how to

226
00:24:26,250 --> 00:24:30,330
use Narcan, the benefits of having it around

227
00:24:30,330 --> 00:24:33,635
if you have even, obviously not for themselves

228
00:24:33,635 --> 00:24:36,515
but for family members as well. And we

229
00:24:36,515 --> 00:24:38,195
try to get them access so they can

230
00:24:38,195 --> 00:24:40,995
have access to NARCAN when they're back in

231
00:24:40,995 --> 00:24:46,610
your community as well. Grievances, inmate complaints have

232
00:24:46,610 --> 00:24:49,570
reduced by over, regarding medical has reduced by

233
00:24:49,570 --> 00:24:54,610
over 50% since we started services in January,

234
00:24:55,090 --> 00:24:59,955
which is a substantial reduction. And we also

235
00:24:59,955 --> 00:25:04,355
through the year provided numerous COVID vaccines for

236
00:25:04,355 --> 00:25:07,555
the population out there and even boosters for

237
00:25:07,555 --> 00:25:12,090
those who had been fully vaccinated. And one

238
00:25:12,090 --> 00:25:14,010
thing we are working on now is a

239
00:25:14,010 --> 00:25:17,290
new technology that's called Custody Protect, which we'll

240
00:25:17,290 --> 00:25:18,650
go over that a little bit more in

241
00:25:18,650 --> 00:25:22,010
January as that advances, which is a health

242
00:25:22,010 --> 00:25:28,825
monitoring system for those at highest risk. It

243
00:25:28,825 --> 00:25:33,544
allows, since individuals in correctional facilities are locked

244
00:25:33,544 --> 00:25:37,780
down sometimes without correctional staff around or definitely

245
00:25:37,780 --> 00:25:42,500
without medical staff around. It's a tool to

246
00:25:42,500 --> 00:25:45,700
monitor their vital signs if they're a higher

247
00:25:45,700 --> 00:25:49,700
risk category, so hopefully we can catch a

248
00:25:49,700 --> 00:25:53,955
downfall and be able to be proactive in

249
00:25:53,955 --> 00:25:57,395
addressing it. So those are some highlights that

250
00:25:57,395 --> 00:26:01,555
we will expand on in January. Some of

251
00:26:01,555 --> 00:26:04,355
the challenges we're still working through. Hey, it's

252
00:26:04,355 --> 00:26:09,370
not all roses and perfect after one year.

253
00:26:09,370 --> 00:26:12,090
We realize that. A lot of that is

254
00:26:12,090 --> 00:26:15,130
due to there is a, and it's not

255
00:26:15,130 --> 00:26:17,850
just East Baton Rouge Parish by any means.

256
00:26:17,850 --> 00:26:21,674
It's nationally, there's a correctional officer shortage. Out

257
00:26:21,674 --> 00:26:24,075
of 91 clients, I do not have one

258
00:26:24,075 --> 00:26:28,315
single client that is fully staffed correctionally. It's

259
00:26:28,315 --> 00:26:31,434
a national crisis that we're dealing with as

260
00:26:31,434 --> 00:26:34,075
well as a national crisis with nursing shortage.

261
00:26:35,150 --> 00:26:37,230
Fortunately, we've been able to get staffed up

262
00:26:37,230 --> 00:26:40,429
on the medical side. I'm hoping on the

263
00:26:40,429 --> 00:26:43,230
correction side that starts reversing. But it does

264
00:26:43,230 --> 00:26:46,429
create additional challenges, makes our, sometimes our staff

265
00:26:46,429 --> 00:26:49,070
have to work additional hours to get all

266
00:26:49,070 --> 00:26:53,605
the tests done and make sure we can

267
00:26:53,605 --> 00:26:56,005
coordinate with the other systems going on within

268
00:26:56,005 --> 00:27:01,205
the facility. There is a, I believe we're

269
00:27:01,205 --> 00:27:04,405
still working with their IT department. The EMR

270
00:27:04,405 --> 00:27:09,179
is on, from my understanding, on a older

271
00:27:09,179 --> 00:27:11,659
service system. We found a way to move

272
00:27:11,659 --> 00:27:15,979
that onto a newer system which we will

273
00:27:16,380 --> 00:27:19,755
take care of that for the parish to

274
00:27:19,755 --> 00:27:23,195
make it a little bit more secure and

275
00:27:23,195 --> 00:27:26,555
prevent any crashing of the system. So we're

276
00:27:26,555 --> 00:27:28,315
working with IT to try to get that

277
00:27:28,315 --> 00:27:34,090
done. The jail did change. JMS providers, which

278
00:27:34,090 --> 00:27:36,809
is the jail management system that does all

279
00:27:36,809 --> 00:27:41,210
the security side records. There's been a few

280
00:27:41,210 --> 00:27:43,850
hiccups we're still working through with that. The

281
00:27:43,850 --> 00:27:46,105
interface, which is how they talk to each

282
00:27:46,105 --> 00:27:51,065
other, the two systems, is not the best

283
00:27:51,065 --> 00:27:53,705
with the new JMS system, I'll just say

284
00:27:53,705 --> 00:27:56,585
that. They don't have the best interface capability.

285
00:27:57,300 --> 00:27:59,380
But we are working through it and hopefully

286
00:27:59,380 --> 00:28:04,420
we'll get those resolved. And as Darryl mentioned

287
00:28:04,660 --> 00:28:10,180
previously for me, the HIV epidemic, of course,

288
00:28:11,335 --> 00:28:15,495
Ryan White funding is federal funding that is

289
00:28:15,735 --> 00:28:20,215
allocated to combat the HIV epidemic. We're trying

290
00:28:20,215 --> 00:28:23,895
to find ways to help that relieve the

291
00:28:23,895 --> 00:28:27,820
cost for the parish financial burden for the

292
00:28:27,820 --> 00:28:32,860
inmates who are on medication for HIV. So

293
00:28:32,860 --> 00:28:34,940
those are kind of the challenges we look

294
00:28:34,940 --> 00:28:37,739
to try to overcome in this next year.

295
00:28:39,500 --> 00:28:46,235
Questions? Okay, Councilwoman? You for being I can't

296
00:28:46,235 --> 00:28:47,995
tell you how much it means that you

297
00:28:47,995 --> 00:28:49,995
were willing to come in and speak with

298
00:28:49,995 --> 00:28:52,554
us and give us this high level presentation,

299
00:28:52,635 --> 00:28:56,235
so it's certainly very, very encouraging. I just

300
00:28:56,235 --> 00:28:59,289
wanted to drill down on the so it's

301
00:28:59,289 --> 00:29:01,130
a million dollar increase in the budget this

302
00:29:01,130 --> 00:29:03,370
year. Is that and I may need Daryl

303
00:29:03,370 --> 00:29:06,010
for this. It may not be you. Is

304
00:29:06,010 --> 00:29:09,690
that related to salaries for employees? Is that

305
00:29:09,690 --> 00:29:15,845
related to medications? Part of the increase this

306
00:29:15,845 --> 00:29:18,405
year is actually the CPI increase. It's a

307
00:29:18,405 --> 00:29:23,045
5% CPI adjustment in the contract. Also the

308
00:29:23,045 --> 00:29:27,570
HIV, is 380,000 and other contract services is

309
00:29:27,570 --> 00:29:31,090
roughly, we estimate, about $140,000 Okay, got it.

310
00:29:31,090 --> 00:29:34,850
And then there's an increase from 2022 in

311
00:29:34,850 --> 00:29:37,250
that it's kind of hard to explain. In

312
00:29:37,250 --> 00:29:42,205
2022, we budgeted what we estimated the contract

313
00:29:42,205 --> 00:29:44,525
to be. So we weren't fully funded even.

314
00:29:44,525 --> 00:29:45,965
We're going to come back with a budget

315
00:29:45,965 --> 00:29:48,205
supplement to cover the end of twenty twenty

316
00:29:48,205 --> 00:29:50,765
two. Got it. Because the right amount wasn't

317
00:29:50,765 --> 00:29:53,590
actually budgeted then. Okay. And just out of

318
00:29:53,590 --> 00:29:55,990
curiosity, you mentioned Ryan White funds. I know

319
00:29:55,990 --> 00:29:57,989
we do see a lot of those funds

320
00:29:58,070 --> 00:30:00,230
flowing into the parish. Do we need to

321
00:30:00,230 --> 00:30:03,909
apply specifically for? It's very interesting to me.

322
00:30:03,909 --> 00:30:05,750
I always thought that those Ryan White funds

323
00:30:05,750 --> 00:30:09,435
actually for HIV drugs. Those funds actually go

324
00:30:09,435 --> 00:30:13,035
for housing, for medical care, etc. The drugs

325
00:30:13,035 --> 00:30:15,115
actually come from a different pot that we

326
00:30:15,115 --> 00:30:17,275
actually do not control. They're controlled by the

327
00:30:17,275 --> 00:30:20,155
state and administered through the state. And there's

328
00:30:20,155 --> 00:30:24,039
a different formulary for small cities versus large

329
00:30:24,039 --> 00:30:27,559
cities. It's very complicated. And that formulary is

330
00:30:27,559 --> 00:30:30,360
actually changed through some court orders. So we

331
00:30:30,360 --> 00:30:31,799
have some work we're trying to do to

332
00:30:31,799 --> 00:30:33,880
get through all of that. So we may

333
00:30:33,880 --> 00:30:37,635
be able to access some additional funding. We

334
00:30:37,635 --> 00:30:39,315
have an agreement with the state to cover

335
00:30:39,315 --> 00:30:42,115
three months of 2022. We're trying to get

336
00:30:42,115 --> 00:30:44,355
through the paperwork that may carry over into

337
00:30:44,355 --> 00:30:47,955
part of 2023. And then we think we

338
00:30:47,955 --> 00:30:50,500
do have the way, In theory, what should

339
00:30:50,500 --> 00:30:52,500
happen if you go into the facility and

340
00:30:52,500 --> 00:30:54,980
you're a local person and you're getting treated

341
00:30:54,980 --> 00:30:57,860
at a local clinic, those drugs should follow

342
00:30:57,860 --> 00:31:00,580
you into the prison for up to ninety

343
00:31:00,580 --> 00:31:02,500
days. So we have work to do to

344
00:31:02,500 --> 00:31:06,025
get through that process. Okay. Right. Thank you.

345
00:31:06,265 --> 00:31:09,465
And Mr. Junior, just a little quick aside.

346
00:31:09,545 --> 00:31:11,305
I was at a social event a couple

347
00:31:11,305 --> 00:31:13,145
months ago, was talking with a gentleman who

348
00:31:13,145 --> 00:31:14,505
was a nurse, had just gotten a new

349
00:31:14,505 --> 00:31:17,545
job. He was telling me about how excited

350
00:31:17,545 --> 00:31:19,385
he was and what a great place it

351
00:31:19,385 --> 00:31:21,389
was, and he was working at the prison

352
00:31:21,389 --> 00:31:23,309
for y'all and he was explaining to me

353
00:31:23,309 --> 00:31:26,589
the protocols and how impressed he was. So,

354
00:31:26,990 --> 00:31:29,070
that was from an employee at a social

355
00:31:29,070 --> 00:31:33,565
event. So, anyway, kudos to you. Wonderful. Great

356
00:31:33,565 --> 00:31:37,965
Councilman Hurst. Hey, thank you again for presenting.

357
00:31:38,045 --> 00:31:42,845
I had the the fortune to fortunate opportunity

358
00:31:42,845 --> 00:31:45,405
to visit the prison or jail. I hate

359
00:31:45,405 --> 00:31:46,685
using the word because it's not a prison,

360
00:31:46,685 --> 00:31:51,850
it's a jail. Earlier this year. And, you

361
00:31:51,850 --> 00:31:53,210
know, the one thing that I look at

362
00:31:53,210 --> 00:31:54,650
when I look at the EBR jail is

363
00:31:54,650 --> 00:31:56,890
the majority of those people have not been

364
00:31:56,890 --> 00:32:01,370
sentenced. They are either awaiting trial or they're

365
00:32:01,370 --> 00:32:04,815
waiting to get a bond or they're transitioning

366
00:32:04,815 --> 00:32:08,415
back into society from a more hardened facility.

367
00:32:09,455 --> 00:32:12,175
And so when I got there, said, hey,

368
00:32:12,175 --> 00:32:13,455
show me the medical. I've heard a lot

369
00:32:13,455 --> 00:32:15,940
about the medical. And I mean the medical

370
00:32:15,940 --> 00:32:18,419
is not as big as the council, the

371
00:32:18,419 --> 00:32:20,740
little booth right here, man. But how many

372
00:32:20,740 --> 00:32:26,179
prisoners do y'all service? Fluctuates but On average,

373
00:32:26,179 --> 00:32:28,179
how many? About 1,000. A thousand inmates. Yep.

374
00:32:29,145 --> 00:32:31,225
How many rooms do you have for medical?

375
00:32:32,265 --> 00:32:34,985
Actual exam rooms, I think there's a couple

376
00:32:34,985 --> 00:32:38,185
exam rooms, there's a main triage room and

377
00:32:38,185 --> 00:32:42,825
then several offices. Due to the, as we

378
00:32:42,825 --> 00:32:46,480
mentioned, the smaller medical unit, we we use

379
00:32:46,480 --> 00:32:50,240
multipurpose rooms, sometimes out on the actual facility.

380
00:32:50,720 --> 00:32:52,560
Okay. And tell me about your women's facility

381
00:32:52,560 --> 00:32:57,835
at the prison for medical? As far as

382
00:32:58,235 --> 00:33:00,155
Just in general? Because when I got there,

383
00:33:00,155 --> 00:33:01,434
there wasn't one. So I was hoping there

384
00:33:01,434 --> 00:33:04,875
was an Yeah. I yeah. I don't I

385
00:33:04,875 --> 00:33:07,355
don't know anything about a prison or a

386
00:33:07,355 --> 00:33:14,310
women's facility. What's that? No. There there's no

387
00:33:14,310 --> 00:33:17,669
women's health facility in the in the jail.

388
00:33:17,910 --> 00:33:20,549
So those people have to be transported out

389
00:33:20,550 --> 00:33:24,950
to women's hospital because there's no on-site resources

390
00:33:25,495 --> 00:33:27,174
to support the women in jail. So what

391
00:33:27,174 --> 00:33:29,575
I'm trying to do is because when I

392
00:33:29,575 --> 00:33:31,974
went there, I thought the facility was deplorable.

393
00:33:32,375 --> 00:33:33,815
I thought the health care part of it

394
00:33:33,815 --> 00:33:35,975
was deplorable as well. And so I've had

395
00:33:35,975 --> 00:33:38,934
several conversations of how do we put another

396
00:33:38,934 --> 00:33:42,750
facility in place. The challenge is that without

397
00:33:42,750 --> 00:33:44,590
a plan, it's even worse than what it

398
00:33:44,590 --> 00:33:46,270
is because you end up sending people to

399
00:33:46,270 --> 00:33:47,790
a facility that's worse, that you have no

400
00:33:47,790 --> 00:33:50,190
control over, or you end up sending somebody

401
00:33:50,190 --> 00:33:54,750
to a facility where their parents or family

402
00:33:54,750 --> 00:33:57,310
members are unable to access them based on

403
00:33:57,445 --> 00:34:00,805
limited transportation. So, I mean, this is where

404
00:34:00,805 --> 00:34:02,885
my heart is and I want to help

405
00:34:02,885 --> 00:34:05,285
you. So in a perfect world, what would

406
00:34:05,285 --> 00:34:09,205
your medical facility look like? In a perfect

407
00:34:09,525 --> 00:34:12,160
the facility is dated. I mean they're That's

408
00:34:12,160 --> 00:34:16,800
an understatement. Being transparent, my veterinary facility looks

409
00:34:16,800 --> 00:34:19,360
better than that and it's built in 1960s.

410
00:34:19,360 --> 00:34:24,719
Yeah, the facility's dated, either a new facility

411
00:34:24,719 --> 00:34:30,975
or a new bookingmedical unit. Most of our

412
00:34:30,975 --> 00:34:33,775
services are provided either through the intake process

413
00:34:33,775 --> 00:34:37,135
or directly through a medical unit. But we

414
00:34:37,135 --> 00:34:38,975
are limited on what we can provide there

415
00:34:38,975 --> 00:34:42,050
as you mentioned just because of the facility

416
00:34:42,050 --> 00:34:46,449
layout and when it was built, medical was

417
00:34:46,449 --> 00:34:50,290
an afterthought with the way they designed jails

418
00:34:50,290 --> 00:34:55,545
back then. So there should be numerous, the

419
00:34:55,545 --> 00:34:59,625
perfect facility would have numerous medical exam rooms.

420
00:34:59,625 --> 00:35:02,905
Are you comparing this to other sites? Yes.

421
00:35:03,224 --> 00:35:04,825
Tell me, I think it's a better way

422
00:35:04,825 --> 00:35:06,425
to put it because I believe in a

423
00:35:06,425 --> 00:35:09,460
perfect world is dreaming, right? Tell us how

424
00:35:09,460 --> 00:35:11,060
this compares to some of the other facilities

425
00:35:11,060 --> 00:35:12,740
you've been to to know where we are

426
00:35:12,740 --> 00:35:16,580
and where we need to go. So we

427
00:35:16,580 --> 00:35:19,540
work with about 90 some facilities, obviously. I've

428
00:35:19,540 --> 00:35:23,220
been to many more than that just through

429
00:35:23,220 --> 00:35:27,244
my career. Large facilities of this site should

430
00:35:27,244 --> 00:35:32,125
have an inpatient infirmary. It should have multiple

431
00:35:32,125 --> 00:35:35,964
exam rooms. Should have Quantify that. How many

432
00:35:35,964 --> 00:35:40,900
inpatient rooms? Those are overnight rooms, right? We

433
00:35:40,900 --> 00:35:44,500
can get I would want to get with

434
00:35:44,500 --> 00:35:48,660
our Chief Medical Officer on CEO. Can definitely,

435
00:35:49,164 --> 00:35:51,404
if you guys would like us to make

436
00:35:51,404 --> 00:35:54,684
some recommendations for a new design, can get

437
00:35:54,684 --> 00:35:56,845
all those rooms and that now. I just,

438
00:35:56,924 --> 00:35:58,684
I don't want to take a wild guess

439
00:35:58,684 --> 00:36:01,005
without considering. No, I just want to know

440
00:36:01,005 --> 00:36:02,285
the report that I would ask that you

441
00:36:02,285 --> 00:36:05,090
send back is what does adequate health care

442
00:36:05,090 --> 00:36:07,890
look like based on the facility to support

443
00:36:07,890 --> 00:36:11,810
the amount of the average amount of inmates

444
00:36:11,810 --> 00:36:12,850
that we have in there at a single

445
00:36:12,850 --> 00:36:14,610
at a single point in time. That's all

446
00:36:14,610 --> 00:36:15,650
I need to know. What does that look

447
00:36:15,650 --> 00:36:17,945
like for both male and female? Because it's

448
00:36:17,945 --> 00:36:21,785
not there right now for sure. Yeah. Yeah.

449
00:36:21,785 --> 00:36:24,265
Please. I'm ask you a question. Yeah. You

450
00:36:24,265 --> 00:36:26,505
asked for a report on that thing. What

451
00:36:26,505 --> 00:36:30,640
about funding? Funding? Well you can't get funded

452
00:36:30,640 --> 00:36:32,000
until you got a problem and so I

453
00:36:32,000 --> 00:36:33,760
wanna show how big the problem is so

454
00:36:33,760 --> 00:36:35,760
we can get to the funding portion. So

455
00:36:35,760 --> 00:36:37,440
you have to be able to solve something.

456
00:36:39,680 --> 00:36:47,645
Gentleman. Gentleman. Alright. So and the other part

457
00:36:47,645 --> 00:36:52,045
is what services are provided to detainees transferred

458
00:36:52,045 --> 00:36:57,920
to other facilities out of Parish? I don't

459
00:36:57,920 --> 00:37:03,520
have an answer to that. We provide health

460
00:37:03,520 --> 00:37:06,640
services to even the females. We do provide

461
00:37:06,640 --> 00:37:10,285
services to females. We don't do specialty female

462
00:37:10,285 --> 00:37:14,445
care like OBGYN, women's health services, those go

463
00:37:14,445 --> 00:37:17,725
out to outside entities and that works through

464
00:37:17,725 --> 00:37:21,085
the Department of Corrections. I think actually in

465
00:37:21,085 --> 00:37:23,805
the state of Louisiana it's mandated that that's

466
00:37:24,660 --> 00:37:29,540
scheduled and managed through the Department of Corrections

467
00:37:30,020 --> 00:37:32,260
because we do all of our scheduling for

468
00:37:32,260 --> 00:37:36,980
that through them. So ideally it would be

469
00:37:36,980 --> 00:37:40,175
great if we could bring an OBGYN on-site.

470
00:37:40,655 --> 00:37:42,895
That would be great for security as well

471
00:37:42,895 --> 00:37:45,215
because you know they don't want to transfer.

472
00:37:45,535 --> 00:37:46,975
But we also have to follow in the

473
00:37:46,975 --> 00:37:50,095
guidelines that the state has set up. Okay,

474
00:37:50,095 --> 00:37:52,420
so I appreciate that and go back to

475
00:37:52,420 --> 00:37:54,180
don't need a whole rendering of how you

476
00:37:54,180 --> 00:37:57,060
would redo the facility. Redoing a facility is

477
00:37:57,060 --> 00:37:58,340
a waste of time because it needs to

478
00:37:58,340 --> 00:38:02,180
be demolished. But just come back and tell

479
00:38:02,180 --> 00:38:04,420
me what adequate healthcare is based on the

480
00:38:04,420 --> 00:38:06,974
patients, how many rooms, how many physicians, do

481
00:38:06,974 --> 00:38:08,734
you need dental which I don't believe you

482
00:38:08,734 --> 00:38:10,734
have right now? We do. Oh you do?

483
00:38:10,734 --> 00:38:13,855
Okay. Maybe expand the dental because I believe

484
00:38:13,855 --> 00:38:16,494
there's one little cubbyhole room if I remember.

485
00:38:16,494 --> 00:38:17,775
But just tell me what a perfect world

486
00:38:17,775 --> 00:38:19,375
would that look like based on that size.

487
00:38:20,140 --> 00:38:22,380
We'd be more than happy to provide you

488
00:38:22,380 --> 00:38:24,380
that. I can't give you that. That's fine,

489
00:38:24,380 --> 00:38:30,380
don't expect that. Thank you. Okay. Okay, Councilman

490
00:38:30,380 --> 00:38:32,875
Moak. I might want to add one thing.

491
00:38:32,875 --> 00:38:35,194
There actually has been a study on the

492
00:38:35,194 --> 00:38:37,994
prison in terms of rightsizing. The big issue

493
00:38:37,994 --> 00:38:39,994
is what size of a facility do we

494
00:38:39,994 --> 00:38:42,315
need. The next step really is to have

495
00:38:42,315 --> 00:38:45,490
someone design the facility and those discussions are

496
00:38:45,490 --> 00:38:47,569
actually going on right now. Does that include

497
00:38:47,569 --> 00:38:50,130
the medical portion It would to figure out

498
00:38:50,130 --> 00:38:52,849
what we need for a new facility, what

499
00:38:52,849 --> 00:38:55,329
space we need, what the cost would be

500
00:38:55,490 --> 00:38:57,089
and then determine where it would be located

501
00:38:57,089 --> 00:38:58,615
and where the funding would come from. And

502
00:38:58,615 --> 00:39:00,295
so as you do that study, Daryl, I'm

503
00:39:00,295 --> 00:39:03,015
going add three things to it. Is find

504
00:39:03,015 --> 00:39:05,815
a space to add for mental health, find

505
00:39:05,815 --> 00:39:08,855
a space dedicated to substance abuse, and then

506
00:39:08,855 --> 00:39:11,335
find a space dedicated to rehabilitation because I've

507
00:39:11,335 --> 00:39:14,120
already spoken with BRCC and some other folks

508
00:39:14,120 --> 00:39:16,280
who would come there and put a program

509
00:39:16,280 --> 00:39:18,760
in place so when the inmates transferred out

510
00:39:18,760 --> 00:39:20,040
they wouldn't go through the street, they would

511
00:39:20,040 --> 00:39:23,400
have a sustainable education platform that would transfer

512
00:39:23,400 --> 00:39:24,760
from in the prison walls to out the

513
00:39:24,760 --> 00:39:26,635
prison walls so that they could become part

514
00:39:26,635 --> 00:39:29,194
of our workforce and not part of recidivism

515
00:39:29,194 --> 00:39:34,394
and keep recycling those same criminal activities. And

516
00:39:34,394 --> 00:39:37,275
we do Prison Medical now has a person

517
00:39:37,275 --> 00:39:39,990
who actually helps transition people out, and the

518
00:39:39,990 --> 00:39:41,670
big trick is trying to connect them with

519
00:39:41,670 --> 00:39:43,990
all of those groups on the outside. No,

520
00:39:43,990 --> 00:39:46,470
I mean inside and then Right. Yeah, like

521
00:39:46,470 --> 00:39:49,910
BRCC have a campus inside the walls where

522
00:39:49,910 --> 00:39:52,390
they can get high set degrees, earn certificates

523
00:39:52,845 --> 00:39:54,605
for short periods of time and if those

524
00:39:54,605 --> 00:39:57,484
certificates don't last, the problem is a lot

525
00:39:57,484 --> 00:39:59,085
of the things inside the prison don't go

526
00:39:59,085 --> 00:40:01,405
outside the walls. Then you give somebody $20

527
00:40:01,405 --> 00:40:02,525
and tell them go ahead and have a

528
00:40:02,525 --> 00:40:05,484
great day. And we need to make sure

529
00:40:05,484 --> 00:40:07,405
that the programs in the prison are sustainable

530
00:40:07,405 --> 00:40:09,740
outside so that they add to the workforce

531
00:40:09,740 --> 00:40:12,220
and not add to recidivism. Right. Thank you.

532
00:40:12,220 --> 00:40:20,619
Okay. Councilman Moak. So I'm just trying to

533
00:40:20,905 --> 00:40:23,305
go along, I'm trying to further the discussion.

534
00:40:23,305 --> 00:40:27,865
I agree that as far as medical facilities,

535
00:40:27,865 --> 00:40:30,345
y'all are just managing what we're providing to

536
00:40:30,345 --> 00:40:34,530
you through the contract. Correct. I mean, if

537
00:40:34,530 --> 00:40:37,730
we provide you two beds or two rooms

538
00:40:37,970 --> 00:40:40,770
to work in and two office spaces to

539
00:40:40,770 --> 00:40:42,770
work in, that's what you have, that's what

540
00:40:42,770 --> 00:40:46,130
you manage, that's what you contract out? That

541
00:40:46,130 --> 00:40:51,025
is correct. We work with what we have,

542
00:40:51,025 --> 00:40:53,505
yes. Yes, that's what it sounds like, you're

543
00:40:53,505 --> 00:40:55,105
working with what you have. Now, I agree

544
00:40:55,105 --> 00:40:57,345
with Councillor Maherst, I think the whole thing

545
00:40:57,345 --> 00:40:58,865
needs to be leveled and rebuilt and it's

546
00:40:58,865 --> 00:41:01,505
old and I would love for, since y'all

547
00:41:01,505 --> 00:41:03,810
are the medical contractors, to come back to

548
00:41:03,810 --> 00:41:05,970
us and say, here's the wing that we

549
00:41:05,970 --> 00:41:08,850
want, you know, the women's facility, this, that,

550
00:41:08,850 --> 00:41:11,170
so on and so forth. I just think

551
00:41:11,170 --> 00:41:15,490
that he's called for a report from y'all.

552
00:41:15,490 --> 00:41:17,885
I think with that report, I would like

553
00:41:17,885 --> 00:41:21,805
to see what your estimated, basically, correct me

554
00:41:21,805 --> 00:41:24,365
if I'm wrong, you're asking for what would

555
00:41:24,365 --> 00:41:25,885
it take to bring the standard of care

556
00:41:25,885 --> 00:41:27,964
up, what facilities and type and stuff that

557
00:41:27,964 --> 00:41:29,405
you would need to do that type of

558
00:41:29,405 --> 00:41:31,990
stuff. I would like the financial part on

559
00:41:31,990 --> 00:41:34,630
your recommendation on what we would also be

560
00:41:34,630 --> 00:41:39,990
looking for to do that. So we don't

561
00:41:39,990 --> 00:41:44,869
do construction consulting. Okay. So our estimate would

562
00:41:44,869 --> 00:41:48,205
be just, I mean that what we could

563
00:41:48,205 --> 00:41:50,765
do is make a recommendation of an ideal

564
00:41:50,765 --> 00:41:54,125
facility. We do provide the standard of care.

565
00:41:54,125 --> 00:41:56,125
I wanna clarify that. We do provide that

566
00:41:56,125 --> 00:41:59,405
No, agree. Like you said, it's gone down,

567
00:41:59,405 --> 00:42:03,690
it's dropped. I haven't heard, there's problems, don't

568
00:42:03,690 --> 00:42:06,010
get me wrong, but medically, I haven't heard

569
00:42:06,010 --> 00:42:07,370
the problems that we've had and so on

570
00:42:07,370 --> 00:42:10,490
and so forth, I will agree with Councilman

571
00:42:10,490 --> 00:42:13,850
Hurst that there are additional services that could

572
00:42:13,850 --> 00:42:18,075
be provided if we had more facility resources.

573
00:42:18,075 --> 00:42:21,835
Right. And it both, to me, like I

574
00:42:21,835 --> 00:42:23,355
said, all the services are great and everything,

575
00:42:23,355 --> 00:42:24,715
but it boils back down to like everything

576
00:42:24,715 --> 00:42:26,395
else and all the other departments that report

577
00:42:26,395 --> 00:42:30,240
to us is, it's about funding. And I

578
00:42:30,240 --> 00:42:32,640
think the Sheriff's Office is looking at some

579
00:42:33,120 --> 00:42:35,600
things to do for funding and I know

580
00:42:35,600 --> 00:42:36,960
we would have to look for funding and

581
00:42:36,960 --> 00:42:39,360
stuff. So that was my big thing is,

582
00:42:39,360 --> 00:42:41,760
you know, I think y'all are doing a

583
00:42:41,760 --> 00:42:45,625
great job with the facilities that we as

584
00:42:45,625 --> 00:42:49,305
a city parish have provided to y'all. They

585
00:42:49,305 --> 00:42:50,984
are not the best facilities, they are not

586
00:42:50,984 --> 00:42:53,945
whatever, but y'all are managing the facilities that

587
00:42:53,945 --> 00:42:56,585
we have provided for y'all in the contract.

588
00:42:57,260 --> 00:43:01,339
And like I said, I think the complaints

589
00:43:01,339 --> 00:43:04,220
have gone down significantly medically and so on

590
00:43:04,220 --> 00:43:05,819
and so forth. So anyway, thank you all

591
00:43:05,819 --> 00:43:07,740
very much for coming for your report. Thank

592
00:43:07,740 --> 00:43:10,300
you. I just wanna clear up that mine

593
00:43:10,300 --> 00:43:13,025
wasn't a complaint about how you're servicing. Mine

594
00:43:13,025 --> 00:43:14,865
was more about what can we do as

595
00:43:14,865 --> 00:43:16,945
a counsel to make sure that you have

596
00:43:16,945 --> 00:43:19,265
the best resources because these people aren't convicted.

597
00:43:19,905 --> 00:43:21,345
Can think about my son being held in

598
00:43:21,345 --> 00:43:23,185
there with no bond, right? I always try

599
00:43:23,185 --> 00:43:25,505
to put myself in somebody else's position of

600
00:43:25,505 --> 00:43:27,265
my child being there, what would I want?

601
00:43:27,265 --> 00:43:29,130
I want the best for him. And so

602
00:43:29,130 --> 00:43:30,089
I'm just trying to figure out what does

603
00:43:30,089 --> 00:43:31,930
that best look like. That's it. Yeah. And

604
00:43:31,930 --> 00:43:33,770
we're more than happy to work with you

605
00:43:33,770 --> 00:43:36,569
guys on recommendations and all that. I just

606
00:43:36,569 --> 00:43:37,849
want to make sure I get the right

607
00:43:37,849 --> 00:43:41,225
people in the room for it. Thank you.

608
00:43:41,225 --> 00:43:45,465
So with all of that being said, when

609
00:43:45,465 --> 00:43:48,905
we thank you, we look forward to hearing

610
00:43:48,905 --> 00:43:53,580
from you in January and even your, maybe

611
00:43:53,580 --> 00:43:57,100
your operating manual if you have one to

612
00:43:57,100 --> 00:43:59,180
kind of let us see some good stuff

613
00:43:59,180 --> 00:44:03,020
and you know, talk about the retention of

614
00:44:03,020 --> 00:44:05,820
your staff and all of those things. We

615
00:44:05,820 --> 00:44:10,975
look forward to seeing you after Santa. Very

616
00:44:10,975 --> 00:44:12,895
good. He's got a better beard than I

617
00:44:12,895 --> 00:44:15,935
He should come first. You got a mark.

618
00:44:16,815 --> 00:44:20,895
Thank you all. Council Member Coleman, do we

619
00:44:20,895 --> 00:44:22,655
have a public hearing component to this? No,

620
00:44:22,655 --> 00:44:30,490
we don't. Okay, thank you. Alright. Next, we

621
00:44:30,490 --> 00:44:38,875
have the Department of Building and Grounds. And

622
00:44:38,875 --> 00:44:42,635
while building and grounds coming forward, Councilman Go.

623
00:44:42,795 --> 00:44:48,474
Yeah, as I said earlier, December 13, that

624
00:44:48,474 --> 00:44:50,714
would be an opportunity, that's our approval meeting,

625
00:44:51,220 --> 00:44:55,060
but that'll be an opportunity for any other

626
00:44:55,060 --> 00:44:58,260
questions from the public just as November 22

627
00:44:58,260 --> 00:45:05,675
was. I think this may be your first

628
00:45:05,675 --> 00:45:08,955
time doing a presentation. Yes, ma'am. Yes. Indeed.

629
00:45:17,420 --> 00:45:20,860
Alright. Good evening. Thank you guys for inviting

630
00:45:20,860 --> 00:45:24,380
us. I'm Joe Joe Butler, director of buildings

631
00:45:24,380 --> 00:45:27,820
and grounds. Here to give you our 2023

632
00:45:27,820 --> 00:45:32,954
presentation. Alright, in our buildings grounds, we have

633
00:45:32,954 --> 00:45:36,395
a mission to provide quality service in effective

634
00:45:36,395 --> 00:45:40,315
and professional manner to ensure safety and the

635
00:45:40,315 --> 00:45:42,395
health and welfare of the city employees and

636
00:45:42,395 --> 00:45:45,450
the patrons that use our facilities on a

637
00:45:45,450 --> 00:45:49,450
daily basis. Something that we take serious. It's

638
00:45:49,770 --> 00:45:51,930
something that we discuss every morning. Our morning

639
00:45:51,930 --> 00:45:53,850
meetings. Our guys, when they go out and

640
00:45:53,850 --> 00:45:55,370
hit the ground, they know that we are

641
00:45:55,370 --> 00:45:58,090
here a service to all these facilities that

642
00:45:58,090 --> 00:46:05,275
we do manage. So, this year, 2023 for

643
00:46:05,275 --> 00:46:06,955
our budget, we have a little bit over

644
00:46:06,955 --> 00:46:10,955
$10,000,000 dedicated to building maintenance. Outside of that,

645
00:46:10,955 --> 00:46:15,970
for prison maintenance, it's, 907,000 that we have

646
00:46:15,970 --> 00:46:20,130
committed for that. And what we managed in

647
00:46:20,130 --> 00:46:22,770
that is different contractor services that we have

648
00:46:22,770 --> 00:46:29,090
from electrical, plumbing, HVAC, janitorial service, elevator maintenance,

649
00:46:29,994 --> 00:46:34,635
and pest control. Prison maintenance, we we offer

650
00:46:34,635 --> 00:46:36,715
the same services over the prison maintenance. It's

651
00:46:36,715 --> 00:46:38,075
identical to what we do with the rest

652
00:46:38,075 --> 00:46:44,420
of the facilities. Well, in our allotment this

653
00:46:44,420 --> 00:46:48,980
year for 2023, we we have a 20%

654
00:46:48,980 --> 00:46:52,900
vacancy rate. Something that we fighting across DPW

655
00:46:52,900 --> 00:46:56,260
as a whole. Find employees to come in.

656
00:46:56,500 --> 00:47:01,204
Qualified employees, but, we're pushing with reaching out

657
00:47:01,204 --> 00:47:04,964
to BRCC, different technical schools to see if

658
00:47:04,964 --> 00:47:06,645
we can get some candidates, out of school

659
00:47:06,645 --> 00:47:08,085
and get them trained up to come work

660
00:47:08,085 --> 00:47:10,325
for, city parish and some the benefits that

661
00:47:10,325 --> 00:47:14,300
we have to offer. What you don't see

662
00:47:14,300 --> 00:47:17,660
in there is architecture services. The breakdown, we

663
00:47:17,660 --> 00:47:22,300
do have three senior architects. One one junior

664
00:47:22,300 --> 00:47:25,740
architect and next year for 2023, we're looking

665
00:47:25,740 --> 00:47:28,195
to get an internal architect to come in

666
00:47:28,195 --> 00:47:34,515
as well. So, some of the services that

667
00:47:34,515 --> 00:47:38,915
architect service provide is developing scope and budgets

668
00:47:38,915 --> 00:47:41,714
for facilities. That's facilities they build from the

669
00:47:41,714 --> 00:47:44,860
ground up or facilities that require any major

670
00:47:44,860 --> 00:47:50,220
renovations. They do select design consultant. So, some

671
00:47:50,220 --> 00:47:52,300
of these projects are too big for us

672
00:47:52,300 --> 00:47:53,900
to do in house. So, what we do

673
00:47:53,900 --> 00:47:57,715
is architects will manage the project from a

674
00:47:57,715 --> 00:48:01,395
project manager standpoint and oversee any outside services

675
00:48:01,395 --> 00:48:05,075
that we receive from any architectural architectural group.

676
00:48:06,195 --> 00:48:10,450
We we also review the invoices of do

677
00:48:10,450 --> 00:48:14,289
construction management. So as soon as they as

678
00:48:14,289 --> 00:48:16,289
soon as we start breaking ground, we have

679
00:48:16,289 --> 00:48:19,490
a a gentleman that that goes out, assesses

680
00:48:19,490 --> 00:48:22,765
all the safety aspects, assesses the scope, makes

681
00:48:22,765 --> 00:48:25,165
certain that the contractor is working within this

682
00:48:25,165 --> 00:48:30,845
necessary scope that we provided for them. For

683
00:48:30,845 --> 00:48:35,590
building maintenance, our responsibilities are the overall to

684
00:48:35,910 --> 00:48:38,470
I'm sorry. To overall the the manage the

685
00:48:38,470 --> 00:48:42,470
maintenance of overall facilities, custodial operations. We also

686
00:48:42,470 --> 00:48:44,790
set up for different events that we have

687
00:48:44,790 --> 00:48:47,510
that's also on City Parish property, and it's

688
00:48:47,510 --> 00:48:53,275
put on for the City Parish employees. Prisoner

689
00:48:53,275 --> 00:48:57,435
maintenance, we manage the electrical service, plumbing, HVAC,

690
00:48:58,235 --> 00:49:01,115
kitchen and laundry equipment, and also any structural

691
00:49:01,115 --> 00:49:03,435
repairs that we have around the prison facilities.

692
00:49:07,089 --> 00:49:08,530
What you see right there in front of

693
00:49:08,530 --> 00:49:13,089
you is the work request for 2022. So

694
00:49:13,089 --> 00:49:16,290
we in total, we have 167 facilities that

695
00:49:16,290 --> 00:49:18,130
we manage. We have one hundred and forty

696
00:49:18,130 --> 00:49:21,329
forty five that we actually provide services to.

697
00:49:22,085 --> 00:49:24,325
So that's all the services that I mentioned.

698
00:49:24,325 --> 00:49:27,925
We offer those services to all those facilities.

699
00:49:29,125 --> 00:49:31,845
For work orders, we had roughly 12,000, a

700
00:49:31,845 --> 00:49:33,525
little bit over 12,000 work orders for the

701
00:49:33,525 --> 00:49:36,080
year. We we completed a little bit over

702
00:49:36,080 --> 00:49:40,000
5,800 work orders with a 65% completion rate.

703
00:49:40,640 --> 00:49:43,200
We do have a slight backlog. Some of

704
00:49:43,200 --> 00:49:45,760
that is due to material costs. Some is

705
00:49:45,760 --> 00:49:49,415
some of that is due to some of

706
00:49:49,415 --> 00:49:51,335
the some of the items that's just unavailable

707
00:49:51,335 --> 00:49:54,055
and we're working plans to change out some

708
00:49:54,055 --> 00:49:55,975
of the older assets that we do have.

709
00:49:56,055 --> 00:49:57,415
Some of these assets that we have a

710
00:49:57,415 --> 00:49:59,494
little bit over twenty years old or better

711
00:49:59,494 --> 00:50:03,015
and we're working to to to swap those

712
00:50:03,095 --> 00:50:08,960
out. Alright. What you have in front of

713
00:50:08,960 --> 00:50:10,960
you is the building ground projects that that

714
00:50:10,960 --> 00:50:15,520
we completed over 2022. '1 that you may

715
00:50:15,520 --> 00:50:18,635
notice is the front entrance, the apron as

716
00:50:18,635 --> 00:50:20,875
you come into City Hall. That was just

717
00:50:22,795 --> 00:50:26,234
repaved. We put down new concrete pavers and

718
00:50:26,234 --> 00:50:28,875
we resealed the steps. We put a water

719
00:50:28,875 --> 00:50:31,035
seal on those steps that would help anything

720
00:50:31,035 --> 00:50:33,720
down in B B 1, any leaks that

721
00:50:33,720 --> 00:50:35,400
we have coming from the frontage as we

722
00:50:35,400 --> 00:50:37,800
did have some issues with that over the

723
00:50:37,800 --> 00:50:42,680
past years. So we also assisted with the

724
00:50:42,680 --> 00:50:47,335
OCD seven floor renovations. We did this inspection

725
00:50:47,335 --> 00:50:53,015
department control installation. We we replaced several pieces

726
00:50:53,015 --> 00:50:56,375
of equipment in the prison, ovens, walk in

727
00:50:56,375 --> 00:51:01,150
coolers. We did a relamping on the paper

728
00:51:01,150 --> 00:51:03,470
clip dock on eleven. You'll see that picture

729
00:51:03,470 --> 00:51:06,910
above. And we also replaced some air handlers,

730
00:51:06,910 --> 00:51:08,670
two air handlers at the prison as well.

731
00:51:12,335 --> 00:51:15,295
Here's, some more of the equipment that I

732
00:51:15,295 --> 00:51:23,710
was, discussing that we changed out. Here so

733
00:51:23,710 --> 00:51:25,630
this is just a a view of some

734
00:51:25,630 --> 00:51:27,470
of the things that we that we took

735
00:51:27,470 --> 00:51:30,430
care of over the past year. The first

736
00:51:30,430 --> 00:51:33,550
one, the top left, SJ Jewel Newman. We

737
00:51:33,550 --> 00:51:37,550
repainted the the gym and relayed the floors.

738
00:51:38,875 --> 00:51:43,355
Chanelville Community Center. We went into total renovation

739
00:51:43,355 --> 00:51:45,995
from front to back. Put in some exam

740
00:51:45,995 --> 00:51:49,915
rooms. Redid the kitchen for him. We also

741
00:51:49,915 --> 00:51:52,635
did some hazard elimination over at Leo Butler

742
00:51:52,635 --> 00:51:54,430
Center. They had a retaining wall in the

743
00:51:54,430 --> 00:51:58,270
back that had bees and those are hazardous

744
00:51:58,270 --> 00:52:00,750
anyone that walked by. So, we replaced that

745
00:52:00,750 --> 00:52:03,710
and then over over the at the River

746
00:52:03,710 --> 00:52:06,435
Center, we had some air handling units that

747
00:52:06,435 --> 00:52:08,035
were dated, they need to be changed out,

748
00:52:08,035 --> 00:52:10,675
they were cooling part of the arena, and

749
00:52:10,675 --> 00:52:14,035
we changed those out and replaced those mid

750
00:52:14,355 --> 00:52:21,020
part of the year. So for the upcoming

751
00:52:21,020 --> 00:52:26,060
year, were awarded $10,500,000 Some of the facilities

752
00:52:26,060 --> 00:52:27,580
that will be impacted by that is going

753
00:52:27,580 --> 00:52:31,100
to be the River Center, City Hall. We're

754
00:52:31,100 --> 00:52:34,475
doing security for the First Floor upgrades. We

755
00:52:34,475 --> 00:52:36,715
got wind wind retrofit that'll be done in

756
00:52:36,715 --> 00:52:38,395
the building as well. We'll be changing out

757
00:52:38,395 --> 00:52:41,595
the windows on the building, to make those,

758
00:52:42,475 --> 00:52:45,995
missile proof. We have DHDS. They'll have some

759
00:52:45,995 --> 00:52:50,220
upgrades and public safety complex over at the

760
00:52:50,220 --> 00:52:53,900
police headquarters. We have a lot of renovations

761
00:52:53,900 --> 00:52:55,500
that will be taking place over the over

762
00:52:55,500 --> 00:52:59,340
the H 2 Building. And juvenile services will

763
00:52:59,340 --> 00:53:02,540
will be buying a modular building to extend

764
00:53:02,845 --> 00:53:06,125
extend their offices and then also upgrading and

765
00:53:06,125 --> 00:53:12,845
and putting in 25 doors and controls. For

766
00:53:12,845 --> 00:53:16,125
prison maintenance, some of the facility improvements that

767
00:53:16,125 --> 00:53:19,710
we plan on having, We're going to be

768
00:53:19,710 --> 00:53:23,790
installing some more kitchen equipment. We also have

769
00:53:23,790 --> 00:53:28,430
some 25 rooftop HVACs that we'll be replacing.

770
00:53:28,670 --> 00:53:31,150
We have some air handlers, eight air handlers

771
00:53:31,150 --> 00:53:34,545
in house that we'll be changing. And we

772
00:53:34,545 --> 00:53:37,585
also have some exterior improvements that we'll be

773
00:53:37,585 --> 00:53:41,025
doing with lighting. There's bad security lighting around

774
00:53:41,025 --> 00:53:43,185
the facility. We're working with energy to improve

775
00:53:43,185 --> 00:53:49,970
that. Some of the efforts that we're pushing

776
00:53:49,970 --> 00:53:52,770
forward in the department itself that help with

777
00:53:52,770 --> 00:53:57,010
overall efficiencies, continuous improvement efforts. So part of

778
00:53:57,010 --> 00:53:58,770
that is going to be as you see

779
00:53:58,770 --> 00:54:02,545
plan, schedule, execute, analyze and follow-up. That'll just

780
00:54:02,545 --> 00:54:04,465
help us as far as we are a

781
00:54:04,465 --> 00:54:06,545
service to all the buildings that that we

782
00:54:06,545 --> 00:54:08,865
use. I mean, that we service to. So,

783
00:54:08,865 --> 00:54:10,625
we wanna do is make certain that we

784
00:54:10,625 --> 00:54:12,785
are meeting all the needs of the facilities.

785
00:54:13,185 --> 00:54:17,290
So, by by implementing the continuous improvement efforts

786
00:54:17,290 --> 00:54:19,290
that would help us make certain that we're

787
00:54:19,290 --> 00:54:23,130
executing all the work orders and eliminating any

788
00:54:23,130 --> 00:54:26,570
dead dead hours and dead man hours is

789
00:54:26,570 --> 00:54:28,730
basically hours wasted going back having to touch

790
00:54:28,730 --> 00:54:31,085
the PC equipment twice. So if I have

791
00:54:31,085 --> 00:54:33,724
an asset that breaks down, we make certain

792
00:54:33,724 --> 00:54:35,885
that we're fixing it right the first time

793
00:54:35,885 --> 00:54:37,244
and not having to double up on the

794
00:54:37,244 --> 00:54:43,260
work. So what we'll be focusing on is

795
00:54:43,260 --> 00:54:46,300
three aspects of maintenance: corrective maintenance, preventive maintenance

796
00:54:46,300 --> 00:54:49,420
and predictive. So, we're try to eliminate the

797
00:54:49,420 --> 00:54:51,820
corrective maintenance to get away from reactive maintenance

798
00:54:51,820 --> 00:54:54,220
and go into a more proactive phase. And

799
00:54:54,220 --> 00:54:57,500
that's going be using preventive and predictive maintenance

800
00:54:57,500 --> 00:55:02,255
measures. That should help us with better workflow

801
00:55:03,535 --> 00:55:08,734
also reduction in asset breakdowns and identifying any

802
00:55:08,734 --> 00:55:10,974
equipment that we have in place right now

803
00:55:11,420 --> 00:55:13,100
that it needs to be changed out. We

804
00:55:13,100 --> 00:55:14,700
will be able to put together a three

805
00:55:14,700 --> 00:55:17,100
year I'm sorry, one year, three year, and

806
00:55:17,100 --> 00:55:19,340
five year plan so we can plan ahead,

807
00:55:19,340 --> 00:55:22,460
budget, and request the money as needed. So,

808
00:55:22,460 --> 00:55:23,980
we're not coming to you guys when we

809
00:55:23,980 --> 00:55:28,994
have a emergency and things breaking down. So

810
00:55:28,994 --> 00:55:30,595
here's an example of some of the predictive

811
00:55:30,595 --> 00:55:33,075
maintenance that we've, been using over the past

812
00:55:33,075 --> 00:55:35,395
couple of months and past four months. This

813
00:55:35,395 --> 00:55:38,275
is, electrical testing and inspection that we did

814
00:55:38,275 --> 00:55:42,500
at the, exhibition Hall. We identified some faulty

815
00:55:42,500 --> 00:55:45,780
fuses. So this this fuse that you see

816
00:55:45,780 --> 00:55:48,500
on the table here, this fuse powers up

817
00:55:48,500 --> 00:55:52,580
the exhibition hall. This fuse was delegated. If

818
00:55:52,580 --> 00:55:54,180
this fuse would have continued to be in

819
00:55:54,180 --> 00:55:56,695
service, we possibly could have could have lost

820
00:55:56,695 --> 00:55:59,095
this fuse on the load to doing an

821
00:55:59,095 --> 00:56:01,095
event. So we it had a ball concert

822
00:56:01,095 --> 00:56:03,415
or anything in the exhibition hall. We'd have

823
00:56:03,415 --> 00:56:05,415
lost power, which would have been embarrassing for

824
00:56:05,415 --> 00:56:08,135
us and as as well to the patrons

825
00:56:08,135 --> 00:56:11,110
ruining the experience. So by doing this test

826
00:56:11,110 --> 00:56:13,110
and inspection, we were able to identify it

827
00:56:13,110 --> 00:56:17,110
before we fail, change it out, and, prevent

828
00:56:17,110 --> 00:56:20,070
any, interruption in services that we may had.

829
00:56:20,550 --> 00:56:23,110
So this is this is vital to, for

830
00:56:23,110 --> 00:56:24,710
us to step, for us to step up

831
00:56:24,710 --> 00:56:28,035
our program and to help us provide adequate

832
00:56:28,035 --> 00:56:33,955
service. Here's another example of predictive maintenance. This

833
00:56:33,955 --> 00:56:36,035
is for all the rotating equipment. So we

834
00:56:36,035 --> 00:56:37,715
have a ton of rotating equipment around the

835
00:56:37,715 --> 00:56:42,850
facilities with our air handling units. And there's

836
00:56:42,850 --> 00:56:44,850
a lot of vibration, a lot of movement,

837
00:56:44,850 --> 00:56:46,450
a lot of this equipment is old, hasn't

838
00:56:46,450 --> 00:56:49,330
been touched as far as tighten down tighten

839
00:56:49,330 --> 00:56:53,250
down boats in a while because because the

840
00:56:53,250 --> 00:56:56,275
the practice of it is is is not

841
00:56:56,275 --> 00:56:58,195
where it needed to be. So what we're

842
00:56:58,195 --> 00:57:01,315
doing is we we revamp in our rotational

843
00:57:01,315 --> 00:57:04,755
PMs and we're doing the the vibration analysis.

844
00:57:04,755 --> 00:57:06,755
This will tell us any type of movement

845
00:57:06,755 --> 00:57:08,355
we may have on the shaft that you

846
00:57:08,355 --> 00:57:10,590
that you can't see with your eye and

847
00:57:10,590 --> 00:57:12,990
tell us if we have any potential failures

848
00:57:12,990 --> 00:57:18,910
in our bearings or shaft alignments. Some of

849
00:57:18,910 --> 00:57:21,230
the employee training and process improvements that we're

850
00:57:21,230 --> 00:57:25,065
going to implement is work order process flow.

851
00:57:25,305 --> 00:57:29,225
We're implementing a CMS system working with MGO.

852
00:57:29,545 --> 00:57:32,265
This process will help us be able to

853
00:57:32,265 --> 00:57:34,425
track our assets, to know exactly what work

854
00:57:34,425 --> 00:57:36,430
we've done on our assets, how much money

855
00:57:36,430 --> 00:57:38,270
we spend on our assets, so that way

856
00:57:38,270 --> 00:57:39,870
we're not pouring too much money into our

857
00:57:39,870 --> 00:57:42,750
assets. And let's say for instance, have an

858
00:57:42,750 --> 00:57:45,550
air handling unit and I spent 80% of

859
00:57:45,550 --> 00:57:47,790
the value of a new one, I know

860
00:57:47,790 --> 00:57:49,710
it's time to purchase a new air handling

861
00:57:49,710 --> 00:57:52,934
unit versus continue to put money into asset

862
00:57:52,934 --> 00:57:56,694
that's that's past its life cycle. We're improve

863
00:57:56,694 --> 00:57:59,015
our planning and scheduling. We're actually doing some

864
00:57:59,015 --> 00:58:00,775
training on planning and scheduling. We're working with,

865
00:58:00,855 --> 00:58:04,615
with Shell. Shell Geisman employee, mister Glenn. He's

866
00:58:04,615 --> 00:58:07,430
come in. He's helping us, organize and try

867
00:58:07,430 --> 00:58:10,630
to help bring City Perish employees in the

868
00:58:10,630 --> 00:58:13,190
building's grounds area up to industry standards on

869
00:58:13,190 --> 00:58:15,190
how we actually do our planning and scheduling.

870
00:58:16,230 --> 00:58:20,605
So while I'm researching with BRCC and I

871
00:58:20,605 --> 00:58:23,565
have a group of failure prevention associates, they're

872
00:58:23,565 --> 00:58:25,325
they're going to come out and help us

873
00:58:25,325 --> 00:58:28,365
with millwright precision training. That's going to help

874
00:58:28,365 --> 00:58:32,365
us with our shaft alignments, pump pump installs,

875
00:58:32,840 --> 00:58:37,160
and overall mechanical maintenance inspections. We're going to

876
00:58:37,160 --> 00:58:39,640
do some continuous improvement for our HVAC employees.

877
00:58:40,680 --> 00:58:42,920
We're going to do boiler maintenance training, five

878
00:58:42,920 --> 00:58:45,880
s training, that's six sigma six sigma practices

879
00:58:45,880 --> 00:58:51,695
that's used across industrial industry standards. Hazard eliminations,

880
00:58:51,695 --> 00:58:53,695
and then also we're going to do some

881
00:58:53,695 --> 00:58:58,015
management training to help our management staff make

882
00:58:58,015 --> 00:59:03,280
sure that we're managing our guys adequately. Alright.

883
00:59:03,280 --> 00:59:09,360
That is it. Any questions? Okay. Councilman Moak.

884
00:59:10,160 --> 00:59:15,325
You have two minutes. Thank you Mayor Pro

885
00:59:15,325 --> 00:59:18,685
Tem. Feel like I'm working directly under him

886
00:59:18,685 --> 00:59:22,925
right now. Can you go back to the

887
00:59:22,925 --> 00:59:25,325
slide that has the list of facilities and

888
00:59:25,325 --> 00:59:40,420
the man hours? Right there. Okay. Did that

889
00:59:40,420 --> 00:59:41,859
take up my time going to that slide

890
00:59:41,859 --> 00:59:51,245
or no? Community centers. Throw those out and

891
00:59:51,245 --> 00:59:52,525
I don't mean throw them out as whatever

892
00:59:52,525 --> 00:59:53,885
but I'm not going to talk about them

893
00:59:53,885 --> 00:59:55,405
on the list. Parish prison. I'm to talk

894
00:59:55,405 --> 00:59:58,765
about headquarters, police headquarters, juvenile service, juvenile court,

895
00:59:58,765 --> 01:00:07,630
EMS fire. What is EOPP Building? EOPP. I

896
01:00:07,630 --> 01:00:08,750
mean, I mean, I know I got a

897
01:00:08,750 --> 01:00:10,350
contact in Lasix and one eye but it

898
01:00:10,350 --> 01:00:18,575
does say it's on 4523 Plank Road. Emergency

899
01:00:18,575 --> 01:00:24,175
Operations Building. Emergency ATM. It's emergency what? That's

900
01:00:24,175 --> 01:00:26,895
the Emergency Response Building. That's the ATM Building.

901
01:00:26,975 --> 01:00:28,895
The the address is wrong with it. Okay.

902
01:00:28,895 --> 01:00:30,735
Think so. That's on Harding. Okay. That's the

903
01:00:30,735 --> 01:00:56,725
other address is wrong. Yeah. You what? Keep

904
01:00:56,725 --> 01:01:02,240
keep your office as social service. You had

905
01:01:02,240 --> 01:01:04,000
you had to forgive me. I'm five months

906
01:01:04,000 --> 01:01:07,360
in. He's active. Right. That's the And and

907
01:01:07,360 --> 01:01:10,160
anyone you know, feel free to assist. They

908
01:01:10,160 --> 01:01:20,325
just with this. Okay. Okay. You. Yes. City

909
01:01:20,325 --> 01:01:24,244
Court Building, City Hall, we know okay. In

910
01:01:24,244 --> 01:01:28,085
the City Hall, the City Court Building, Nineteenth

911
01:01:28,085 --> 01:01:34,660
JDC what else do we have downtown? Know

912
01:01:34,660 --> 01:01:37,460
Human Resources is right downtown and we have

913
01:01:38,660 --> 01:01:42,980
we have a planning commission over on is

914
01:01:42,980 --> 01:01:49,435
that North? Laurel. Laurel? Yeah, Laurel. What has

915
01:01:50,555 --> 01:01:53,515
anything been looked into or and and again,

916
01:01:53,595 --> 01:01:55,595
it's hard to ask these. Know you've been

917
01:01:55,595 --> 01:01:57,035
in five months and I respect that, but

918
01:01:57,035 --> 01:01:58,635
does anybody else have the answer to these?

919
01:01:58,635 --> 01:02:02,540
Has anybody been looked into the percent of

920
01:02:02,540 --> 01:02:05,660
use for each of these buildings? In other

921
01:02:05,660 --> 01:02:08,060
words, the occupancy of each of these buildings.

922
01:02:08,780 --> 01:02:11,580
And I'll give you one example. I've started

923
01:02:11,580 --> 01:02:14,415
at the Tenth Floor with some other council

924
01:02:14,415 --> 01:02:15,855
members and went floor to floor to floor

925
01:02:15,855 --> 01:02:18,495
to floor to floor, seeing what exactly this

926
01:02:18,495 --> 01:02:21,215
building is used for. And I know we've

927
01:02:21,215 --> 01:02:24,015
had a couple floors that we've got multiple

928
01:02:24,015 --> 01:02:28,210
areas of just stuff stacked up. Has there

929
01:02:28,210 --> 01:02:31,810
been any thought, any study, any last time

930
01:02:31,810 --> 01:02:35,330
it was done on consolidation of these buildings

931
01:02:35,330 --> 01:02:39,090
or resources? Yeah, that's, I'll let Darryl answer

932
01:02:39,090 --> 01:02:44,215
that. I know in City Hall, we we

933
01:02:44,215 --> 01:02:46,935
have consolidated storage space. Like right now, we

934
01:02:46,935 --> 01:02:48,935
have some vacant space that the registrar of

935
01:02:48,935 --> 01:02:52,375
voters uses for elections. We have some space.

936
01:02:52,375 --> 01:02:55,540
The Tenth Floor has the the restaurant or

937
01:02:55,540 --> 01:02:57,700
the food service area that has basically been

938
01:02:57,700 --> 01:03:01,059
shut down because of the COVID epidemic that's

939
01:03:01,059 --> 01:03:03,460
getting ready to be reopened. But we don't

940
01:03:03,460 --> 01:03:05,540
have a lot of storage space. We had

941
01:03:05,540 --> 01:03:08,994
OCD space that's actually now been fully repurposed

942
01:03:08,994 --> 01:03:12,115
and those files have basically been eradicated. So

943
01:03:12,115 --> 01:03:14,595
we're really doing everything we can to maximize

944
01:03:14,595 --> 01:03:17,235
the use of space. Well, I mean, I'll

945
01:03:17,235 --> 01:03:20,115
just be like when I first came in

946
01:03:20,115 --> 01:03:23,060
and didn't even have a desk in the

947
01:03:23,060 --> 01:03:27,140
office, I got taken to, I forget what

948
01:03:27,140 --> 01:03:28,660
floor it was, where the courtrooms were, and

949
01:03:28,660 --> 01:03:31,140
there's just desks stacked all through, and they're

950
01:03:31,140 --> 01:03:33,140
still there. And I guess what I'm looking

951
01:03:33,140 --> 01:03:34,580
at is, I'm looking at the building and

952
01:03:34,580 --> 01:03:36,260
it doesn't seem that big, it may be

953
01:03:36,260 --> 01:03:44,295
huge, Where I forget the Where sign all

954
01:03:44,295 --> 01:03:47,095
your paperwork and everything? So across from where

955
01:03:47,095 --> 01:03:50,775
the voters registration Where the voters is on

956
01:03:50,775 --> 01:03:53,230
the Ninth Floor at the parish attorney's Office

957
01:03:53,230 --> 01:03:55,870
is what you're referencing. Yeah, but then a

958
01:03:55,870 --> 01:03:58,910
couple of other locations Right. It may be

959
01:03:58,910 --> 01:04:01,790
the public defender space. They have space in

960
01:04:01,790 --> 01:04:05,230
their floor that they're struggling to make better

961
01:04:05,230 --> 01:04:07,925
use of their space that exists. Well, I

962
01:04:07,925 --> 01:04:10,245
was just thinking, it seemed like some of

963
01:04:10,245 --> 01:04:15,285
these services could be pulled here with redoing

964
01:04:15,285 --> 01:04:16,965
the resources of It just seemed like we

965
01:04:16,965 --> 01:04:18,245
had a lot of open space and that

966
01:04:18,245 --> 01:04:20,920
would save us money by releasing these older

967
01:04:20,920 --> 01:04:25,080
buildings that we're having to proactively maintain and

968
01:04:25,080 --> 01:04:28,200
take on. Don't even know what to, and

969
01:04:28,200 --> 01:04:30,040
I know it's a brand new building. I

970
01:04:30,040 --> 01:04:31,895
don't know if they just built it for

971
01:04:31,895 --> 01:04:33,734
complete size or if there was more space

972
01:04:33,734 --> 01:04:36,135
available in there that certain services could go

973
01:04:36,135 --> 01:04:39,815
to the courthouse over here. It just seems

974
01:04:39,815 --> 01:04:41,175
like I know the state a while back

975
01:04:41,175 --> 01:04:42,935
went through a big consolidation thing and they

976
01:04:42,935 --> 01:04:45,380
built buildings, but We do know again in

977
01:04:45,380 --> 01:04:47,140
our building, I'd have to say that pretty

978
01:04:47,140 --> 01:04:49,540
much if there's a vacant space, it's sitting

979
01:04:49,540 --> 01:04:52,180
there based on like in Hiller's case, there's

980
01:04:52,180 --> 01:04:53,700
some space that he needs to build out

981
01:04:53,700 --> 01:04:55,140
that we just haven't had the funding to

982
01:04:55,140 --> 01:04:57,460
do yet. I think that funding is actually

983
01:04:57,460 --> 01:05:01,085
being appropriated. Some of the other buildings we

984
01:05:01,085 --> 01:05:02,845
do have two or three buildings that we

985
01:05:02,845 --> 01:05:04,685
are on the verge of working on selling.

986
01:05:05,005 --> 01:05:07,085
The old Council on Aging building on Florida

987
01:05:07,085 --> 01:05:09,885
Boulevard, the old Detox building on Florida And

988
01:05:09,885 --> 01:05:12,444
Nineteenth, and we have a fire station building

989
01:05:12,444 --> 01:05:14,285
that is going to be sold also. Okay.

990
01:05:14,770 --> 01:05:16,370
And I get that, but like the Council

991
01:05:16,370 --> 01:05:19,490
on Aging, you're selling that building, but where

992
01:05:19,490 --> 01:05:21,410
did they go? They have a new space.

993
01:05:21,410 --> 01:05:23,330
They have a new space. They were in

994
01:05:23,330 --> 01:05:25,410
a building that belonged to City Parish that

995
01:05:25,410 --> 01:05:27,970
they are actually going to move they're fully

996
01:05:27,970 --> 01:05:30,345
vacating. I guess that's what I was kind

997
01:05:30,345 --> 01:05:32,425
of getting at is, I don't know how

998
01:05:32,425 --> 01:05:34,345
many spaces they have at this new space,

999
01:05:34,345 --> 01:05:36,345
they couldn't come down here? Oh, no, the

1000
01:05:36,345 --> 01:05:38,265
Council on Aging is huge. It's a huge

1001
01:05:38,265 --> 01:05:41,305
complex that they built their own dedicated funds.

1002
01:05:41,580 --> 01:05:44,220
But again, maximization is one of the things

1003
01:05:44,220 --> 01:05:46,540
we've really worked on, trying to consolidate things,

1004
01:05:46,540 --> 01:05:48,460
make sure we don't have things. The Public

1005
01:05:48,460 --> 01:05:50,780
Safety Complex, there's a space out there that

1006
01:05:50,780 --> 01:05:53,260
has been vacant in H2, which is next

1007
01:05:53,260 --> 01:05:57,815
to the police headquarters. We have moved the

1008
01:05:58,135 --> 01:06:00,934
Cooperative Extension Service. They vacated a building that

1009
01:06:00,934 --> 01:06:03,015
we had there in that space. Some of

1010
01:06:03,015 --> 01:06:05,414
the ARP money is set up to actually

1011
01:06:05,414 --> 01:06:08,535
redo part of H2. The registrar of voters

1012
01:06:08,535 --> 01:06:10,615
will be moving out of one location on

1013
01:06:10,615 --> 01:06:12,279
Corsey end of the building. So we have

1014
01:06:12,279 --> 01:06:14,039
a lot of plans in terms of how

1015
01:06:14,039 --> 01:06:17,240
to maximize those building spaces. It is pretty

1016
01:06:17,240 --> 01:06:19,240
critical to us. Do we have any kind

1017
01:06:19,240 --> 01:06:23,400
of reporter information on occupancy, vacancy, and stuff

1018
01:06:23,400 --> 01:06:26,760
like that as far as each building? Yes,

1019
01:06:26,865 --> 01:06:28,945
And we can also provide what we're doing

1020
01:06:28,945 --> 01:06:31,265
with those ARP funds to help people understand

1021
01:06:31,265 --> 01:06:33,585
what we're retrofitting in terms of filling out

1022
01:06:33,585 --> 01:06:38,225
vacant space. We can get that back. Alright.

1023
01:06:38,785 --> 01:06:42,480
Thank you. Councilman Hurst. I know when they

1024
01:06:42,480 --> 01:06:43,920
saw me and Moke walk in the building

1025
01:06:43,920 --> 01:06:45,600
and they they start looking at their watches.

1026
01:06:45,600 --> 01:06:48,240
I never had. But you have three minutes.

1027
01:06:48,480 --> 01:06:54,415
Gens three. So to answer one thing about

1028
01:06:54,415 --> 01:06:56,015
Aaron's, I did have the opportunity. I think

1029
01:06:56,015 --> 01:06:57,695
you should go also visit the new COA

1030
01:06:57,695 --> 01:06:59,535
Building. 1 Day about a week and a

1031
01:06:59,535 --> 01:07:02,095
half ago. And the whole bottom floor is

1032
01:07:02,095 --> 01:07:04,175
bigger than my community center on both sides

1033
01:07:04,175 --> 01:07:05,840
of the kitchen. So now they make their

1034
01:07:05,840 --> 01:07:07,920
own meals or their own meal prep, their

1035
01:07:07,920 --> 01:07:09,360
own TV dinner. They do all that stuff

1036
01:07:09,360 --> 01:07:11,200
there to cut down on cost in other

1037
01:07:11,200 --> 01:07:14,160
areas. You're using your time? I got you.

1038
01:07:14,320 --> 01:07:16,400
So when I look at this, I go

1039
01:07:16,400 --> 01:07:18,815
back to what pain points that that I

1040
01:07:18,815 --> 01:07:20,415
believe are part of the reason god put

1041
01:07:20,415 --> 01:07:21,615
me here and I'm going back to that

1042
01:07:21,615 --> 01:07:24,575
prison. I'm looking at two thousand seventy five

1043
01:07:24,575 --> 01:07:28,095
man hours, fourteen forty two work hours. I

1044
01:07:28,095 --> 01:07:29,295
want you to come back to me and

1045
01:07:29,295 --> 01:07:31,295
quantify that and tell me how much it

1046
01:07:31,295 --> 01:07:34,589
cost in terms of material and labor to

1047
01:07:34,589 --> 01:07:37,230
do whatever you did for two thousand seventy

1048
01:07:37,230 --> 01:07:39,230
five hours. And I know you're new, so

1049
01:07:39,230 --> 01:07:40,349
it may not all be you. You have

1050
01:07:40,349 --> 01:07:42,349
to do a little digging, but that's very

1051
01:07:42,349 --> 01:07:44,430
important to understand how much money we're wasting

1052
01:07:44,430 --> 01:07:54,305
every year. And then also, as a matter

1053
01:07:54,305 --> 01:07:55,745
of fact, can probably stop there because that

1054
01:07:55,745 --> 01:08:00,225
was my biggest concern is Okay. Is in

1055
01:08:00,225 --> 01:08:02,710
turn oh, the other one was 20% reduction

1056
01:08:02,710 --> 01:08:05,830
our challenging workforce. So do you know the

1057
01:08:05,830 --> 01:08:08,230
dollar per hour that you're paying those people

1058
01:08:08,790 --> 01:08:11,430
that are unable to get jobs or don't

1059
01:08:11,430 --> 01:08:13,030
wanna get jobs because of what you're paying

1060
01:08:13,030 --> 01:08:14,390
them? I'm trying to figure out what that

1061
01:08:14,390 --> 01:08:15,510
gap you know, we talk all the time

1062
01:08:15,510 --> 01:08:17,524
about trying to fill the workforce and I

1063
01:08:17,524 --> 01:08:18,564
call you and say, hey man, I might

1064
01:08:18,564 --> 01:08:21,845
have somebody. But what's the average pay for

1065
01:08:21,845 --> 01:08:23,445
those jobs that we're talking about have a

1066
01:08:23,445 --> 01:08:25,045
gap in your in your in your department?

1067
01:08:25,045 --> 01:08:27,765
The average pay is roughly around $13 an

1068
01:08:27,765 --> 01:08:31,930
hour. Okay. And what type of job would

1069
01:08:31,930 --> 01:08:34,010
they be doing for about $13 an hour?

1070
01:08:34,010 --> 01:08:39,770
It can range from general maintenance, cleanup to

1071
01:08:39,770 --> 01:08:45,654
electrical, plumbing, HVAC work, boiler maintenance. So now

1072
01:08:45,654 --> 01:08:47,495
I've met with the labor unions and because

1073
01:08:47,495 --> 01:08:49,654
I I really wanna understand what workforce challenges

1074
01:08:49,654 --> 01:08:51,814
in the community to the point where I

1075
01:08:51,814 --> 01:08:53,895
was at the carpenter's union last week all

1076
01:08:53,895 --> 01:08:58,295
day long. Work met with Louisiana Workforce Commission.

1077
01:08:58,295 --> 01:09:02,300
These people who are untrained, skilled labor that

1078
01:09:02,300 --> 01:09:05,739
are going through an apprentice program for what

1079
01:09:05,739 --> 01:09:07,659
you're paying for $13 an hour for somebody

1080
01:09:07,659 --> 01:09:10,619
who's knowledgeable, they will pay $19 an hour

1081
01:09:10,619 --> 01:09:13,260
for somebody who's not knowledgeable and learning that

1082
01:09:13,260 --> 01:09:15,825
same trade, whether it be boilermakers, they can

1083
01:09:15,825 --> 01:09:19,505
bank a little bit more boilermakers, painting electrical

1084
01:09:19,665 --> 01:09:21,104
so this is not a slap and chew.

1085
01:09:21,104 --> 01:09:23,585
This is just a public statement to say,

1086
01:09:24,385 --> 01:09:27,024
again, I've I've I've asked for a pay

1087
01:09:27,024 --> 01:09:29,510
study. I've not gotten my email back from

1088
01:09:29,510 --> 01:09:32,710
Daryl Gissel, I was listening, to approve the

1089
01:09:32,710 --> 01:09:36,870
pay study for the Department of of HR.

1090
01:09:36,870 --> 01:09:38,950
But when we talk about $13 an hour,

1091
01:09:38,950 --> 01:09:41,510
we talk about gaps. We talk about prison

1092
01:09:41,510 --> 01:09:43,835
is not fixed. We talk about challenges and

1093
01:09:43,835 --> 01:09:45,435
work orders that sit out there for four

1094
01:09:45,435 --> 01:09:50,075
years. I need the email approval piece there,

1095
01:09:50,075 --> 01:09:51,274
I guess, so that we can get that

1096
01:09:51,274 --> 01:09:53,595
study done at least to show the disparity

1097
01:09:53,595 --> 01:09:55,835
with it. Then then once we create that

1098
01:09:55,835 --> 01:09:57,595
gap, show how we can close that gap.

1099
01:09:57,595 --> 01:10:03,170
Thank you. Okay. Mister Butler, excellent presentation. Four

1100
01:10:03,170 --> 01:10:05,250
months, five months it's been? Five, a little

1101
01:10:05,250 --> 01:10:07,090
bit, yeah, the five months is some change.

1102
01:10:07,090 --> 01:10:09,250
So excellent and just keep on doing what

1103
01:10:09,250 --> 01:10:10,849
you're doing at the Butler Center here over

1104
01:10:10,849 --> 01:10:14,115
there in the District 10, okay? Keep on

1105
01:10:14,115 --> 01:10:17,715
doing what you're Yes, sir. Sir. May add

1106
01:10:17,715 --> 01:10:20,995
one thing about salaries. Looking at Joseph's numbers,

1107
01:10:20,995 --> 01:10:22,435
he's actually done a really good job in

1108
01:10:22,435 --> 01:10:24,995
terms of recruiting. And we have talked to

1109
01:10:24,995 --> 01:10:26,995
some of the labor union groups about bringing

1110
01:10:26,995 --> 01:10:28,995
in people who are retired in some cases,

1111
01:10:29,530 --> 01:10:31,210
who have great skills, who would like to

1112
01:10:31,210 --> 01:10:32,810
come to help us. One of the things

1113
01:10:32,810 --> 01:10:35,690
that you guys did through ARP funding, through

1114
01:10:35,690 --> 01:10:38,330
the funding that was provided to Joseph's organization,

1115
01:10:38,810 --> 01:10:41,050
we're really having the opportunity to get rid

1116
01:10:41,050 --> 01:10:42,864
of a lot of antiquated equipment, which is

1117
01:10:42,864 --> 01:10:44,385
not only going to cut down his maintenance

1118
01:10:44,385 --> 01:10:46,945
costs, is going to greatly reduce energy costs

1119
01:10:46,945 --> 01:10:49,425
also. So we should see some big savings

1120
01:10:49,425 --> 01:10:51,585
all across the board. River Center for instance

1121
01:10:51,585 --> 01:10:53,905
was built back in the 1970s, still has

1122
01:10:53,905 --> 01:11:12,235
the original mechanical equipment. Only want to help

1123
01:11:12,235 --> 01:11:13,755
you close that gap. Let make that clear.

1124
01:11:13,755 --> 01:11:16,395
Okay, thank you. Also I'd have to say

1125
01:11:16,395 --> 01:11:18,475
Mr. Butler you're to be commended about that

1126
01:11:18,475 --> 01:11:22,315
training and that education component. That is of

1127
01:11:22,315 --> 01:11:27,450
utmost importance, train folk then require folk to

1128
01:11:27,450 --> 01:11:30,410
work. So you're to be commended for that.

1129
01:11:32,010 --> 01:11:36,010
Okay, Mr. Gaudet, just two minutes. Thank you

1130
01:11:36,010 --> 01:11:40,315
ma'am. Yeah, Mook took your minutes. Can give

1131
01:11:40,315 --> 01:11:43,675
an update, Darryl, on the City Hall security?

1132
01:11:44,155 --> 01:11:46,715
Yes. We have actually done a study in

1133
01:11:46,715 --> 01:11:49,835
terms of what we need. The ARP funding

1134
01:11:49,835 --> 01:11:53,760
is providing money for the new doors and

1135
01:11:53,760 --> 01:11:57,199
for the scanners, etcetera. We're now working on

1136
01:11:57,199 --> 01:12:00,000
writing the protocol for the scanners to be

1137
01:12:00,000 --> 01:12:01,360
put in place. We have a couple of

1138
01:12:01,360 --> 01:12:03,040
legal things we need to do. Can we

1139
01:12:03,040 --> 01:12:04,719
have signs that say you can't bring weapons

1140
01:12:04,719 --> 01:12:06,880
in, etcetera? These are metal detectors when you

1141
01:12:06,880 --> 01:12:09,295
say scanners? Yes, yes. And so those things

1142
01:12:09,295 --> 01:12:12,495
we've actually set up the teams within the

1143
01:12:12,495 --> 01:12:15,615
building so each operating division, all the different

1144
01:12:15,615 --> 01:12:17,775
groups of sheriff's office, the assessor, etc. We

1145
01:12:17,775 --> 01:12:20,095
have teams now that we've created so that

1146
01:12:20,095 --> 01:12:22,310
we can do alerts within the building. The

1147
01:12:22,310 --> 01:12:24,550
constable has now taken over security in the

1148
01:12:24,550 --> 01:12:26,870
building. So we still have more work to

1149
01:12:26,870 --> 01:12:28,390
do there, but we're on the way to

1150
01:12:28,390 --> 01:12:29,830
getting where we think we need to be.

1151
01:12:29,830 --> 01:12:32,070
Okay, thanks. Thank you. That was an excellent

1152
01:12:32,070 --> 01:12:34,550
question, Councilman Goldaert. I could have given you

1153
01:12:34,550 --> 01:12:42,995
five minutes. Thank you. Yeah, just have one

1154
01:12:42,995 --> 01:12:44,835
question. Has that department ever looked at being

1155
01:12:44,835 --> 01:12:52,740
privatized? The grounds and maintenance? I don't think

1156
01:12:52,740 --> 01:12:54,260
we've ever looked at that. I think it's

1157
01:12:54,260 --> 01:12:55,860
part of the plan of government. I mean,

1158
01:12:55,860 --> 01:12:58,500
it's part of DPW. Well, mean, I don't

1159
01:12:58,500 --> 01:12:59,940
really need the department, but I'm talking about

1160
01:12:59,940 --> 01:13:02,340
the workforce and everything. So, you know, you

1161
01:13:02,340 --> 01:13:03,940
have a list of contractors and a boiler

1162
01:13:03,940 --> 01:13:07,505
goes out. You call a certain company and

1163
01:13:07,505 --> 01:13:09,185
they go do it. We do have a

1164
01:13:09,185 --> 01:13:11,665
lot of contractors in place. Probably knows a

1165
01:13:11,665 --> 01:13:14,225
huge number of contracts for outside services. One

1166
01:13:14,225 --> 01:13:15,824
of the things that straightened out, for some

1167
01:13:15,824 --> 01:13:19,850
reason we had a bizarre setup where if

1168
01:13:19,850 --> 01:13:22,330
we had a contractor to do mechanical equipment,

1169
01:13:22,490 --> 01:13:24,650
we would order the parts and they would

1170
01:13:24,650 --> 01:13:26,010
have to wait for us to get them

1171
01:13:26,010 --> 01:13:28,410
the parts to put the product in place.

1172
01:13:28,410 --> 01:13:30,490
That made no sense. So we're doing a

1173
01:13:30,490 --> 01:13:32,010
lot of those things to kind of clean

1174
01:13:32,010 --> 01:13:34,435
up how the maintenance is actually done. The

1175
01:13:34,435 --> 01:13:36,115
River Center now is going to be fully

1176
01:13:36,115 --> 01:13:39,315
maintained by the River Center under their contract

1177
01:13:39,315 --> 01:13:43,235
as opposed to us sharing those responsibilities. And

1178
01:13:43,235 --> 01:13:44,755
I do want to add something and this

1179
01:13:44,755 --> 01:13:48,530
is just Permission first. Yeah, hold on. And

1180
01:13:48,530 --> 01:13:52,770
that word privatized, yeah, let's let's let's be

1181
01:13:52,770 --> 01:13:55,410
mindful of that in my opinion there. Yeah,

1182
01:13:55,410 --> 01:13:57,730
these folk working like Hebrews saying, you tell

1183
01:13:57,730 --> 01:14:00,530
them privatized and okay, go on councilman Hurd.

1184
01:14:00,610 --> 01:14:03,035
So that I was One minute. Yeah. I

1185
01:14:03,035 --> 01:14:05,355
was just gonna address that one statement. And

1186
01:14:05,355 --> 01:14:06,955
I talked about this on the radio the

1187
01:14:06,955 --> 01:14:08,875
other day, and then I actually talked about

1188
01:14:08,875 --> 01:14:11,435
it with interim director Fred Ray for the

1189
01:14:11,435 --> 01:14:14,155
challenge of improvisation is that when we put

1190
01:14:14,155 --> 01:14:16,960
contracts in place, they are specified for a

1191
01:14:16,960 --> 01:14:19,600
job or whatever it may be. A lot

1192
01:14:19,600 --> 01:14:21,760
of times, we have jack of all trades

1193
01:14:21,840 --> 01:14:23,679
who may be on one job, but then

1194
01:14:23,679 --> 01:14:25,280
when that job ends, we can move them

1195
01:14:25,280 --> 01:14:27,440
over here. We don't have to constantly bid

1196
01:14:27,440 --> 01:14:29,585
it out and slow the process down to

1197
01:14:29,585 --> 01:14:31,265
solve city problems. We can move it from

1198
01:14:31,265 --> 01:14:33,585
one space to another. So when we control

1199
01:14:33,585 --> 01:14:35,345
the workforce, we have the ability to solve

1200
01:14:35,345 --> 01:14:38,305
problems a lot faster. When we privatize them,

1201
01:14:38,305 --> 01:14:39,425
we have to then go bid them out

1202
01:14:39,425 --> 01:14:42,470
for the new project because they guess what?

1203
01:14:42,470 --> 01:14:44,390
They bid based on what we told them

1204
01:14:44,550 --> 01:14:46,230
would be a part of that packet and

1205
01:14:46,230 --> 01:14:49,270
not playing A, B, C and D. They're

1206
01:14:49,270 --> 01:14:51,030
only gonna do E, F and G because

1207
01:14:51,030 --> 01:14:52,790
that's what they bid for. But we still

1208
01:14:52,790 --> 01:14:54,390
need A, B and C and D done.

1209
01:14:54,975 --> 01:14:58,014
So for that reason, I'm probably against privatization

1210
01:14:58,014 --> 01:15:00,094
and more so looking at how we, from

1211
01:15:00,094 --> 01:15:02,655
an internal standpoint, close that workforce gap. Then

1212
01:15:02,655 --> 01:15:04,094
Aaron, we can talk about that offline, but

1213
01:15:04,094 --> 01:15:08,870
I wanted to make that public. Juvenile service.

1214
01:15:08,870 --> 01:15:11,590
Thank you so very much, mister Butler. Juvenile

1215
01:15:11,590 --> 01:15:18,230
services, if you'll come on up. Oh, I

1216
01:15:18,230 --> 01:15:19,830
saw Fred move out. It's about to say,

1217
01:15:19,830 --> 01:15:28,045
Fred, you got juvenile services too? Wow. Good

1218
01:15:28,045 --> 01:15:30,685
afternoon, everyone. Thank you for the opportunity to

1219
01:15:30,685 --> 01:15:34,685
present the 2023 operating budget for juvenile services.

1220
01:15:36,910 --> 01:15:42,030
So our purpose is to provide supervision and

1221
01:15:42,030 --> 01:15:45,150
probation services as well as oversee the juvenile

1222
01:15:45,150 --> 01:15:55,965
detention center. Next slide please. Next slide, please.

1223
01:15:56,765 --> 01:15:59,885
The mission, is to help change lives and

1224
01:15:59,885 --> 01:16:03,005
build futures and restore hope to the youth

1225
01:16:03,005 --> 01:16:05,840
and to their families. Our mantra at Juvenile

1226
01:16:05,840 --> 01:16:18,675
Services is hope. Have only positive expectations. So

1227
01:16:18,675 --> 01:16:21,715
the Department of Juvenile Services basically have two

1228
01:16:21,715 --> 01:16:25,315
divisions, Probation and Family Services and the Juvenile

1229
01:16:25,315 --> 01:16:29,395
Detention Center. Well, the probation side is responsible

1230
01:16:29,720 --> 01:16:33,640
for pretrial and post disposition monitoring of our

1231
01:16:33,640 --> 01:16:37,640
youth. And with detention, we provide for the

1232
01:16:37,640 --> 01:16:40,520
care and the custody as well as the

1233
01:16:40,520 --> 01:16:43,880
services for those detained youth, which include medical,

1234
01:16:44,275 --> 01:16:48,835
mental health screenings, educational, faith based programming, and

1235
01:16:48,835 --> 01:16:52,515
educational services where our partner is the East

1236
01:16:52,515 --> 01:16:57,489
Baton Rouge Parish School System. As it relates

1237
01:16:57,489 --> 01:17:01,650
to family services, FANS, also known as family

1238
01:17:01,650 --> 01:17:06,449
in needs of services, that particular department welcomed

1239
01:17:06,449 --> 01:17:08,850
the individual families from off of the street.

1240
01:17:08,955 --> 01:17:10,235
They do not have to be a part

1241
01:17:10,235 --> 01:17:11,915
of the system. And if they have a

1242
01:17:11,915 --> 01:17:14,315
need, they come into our facility and we

1243
01:17:14,315 --> 01:17:16,955
partner them or refer them to the necessary

1244
01:17:16,955 --> 01:17:20,315
community service providers in an effort to keep

1245
01:17:20,315 --> 01:17:24,970
them out of delinquency and the juvenile detention

1246
01:17:24,970 --> 01:17:35,610
center. The organizational structure shows the position allotments

1247
01:17:35,610 --> 01:17:39,935
for our respective divisions. More than half of

1248
01:17:39,935 --> 01:17:43,614
the positions are concentrated in the juvenile detention

1249
01:17:43,614 --> 01:17:47,775
facility with 51 positions and on probation and

1250
01:17:47,775 --> 01:17:55,320
family services side, there are 33 positions. We

1251
01:17:55,320 --> 01:17:58,200
have two grants that we work with, families

1252
01:17:58,200 --> 01:18:00,680
in needs of services, our FENS grant, and

1253
01:18:00,680 --> 01:18:02,840
this is outside of the City Parish General

1254
01:18:02,840 --> 01:18:06,614
Fund. They provide, services in order that we

1255
01:18:06,614 --> 01:18:11,255
may cover two positions, specifically counselor positions. For

1256
01:18:11,255 --> 01:18:15,014
the Title IV E grant, we have five

1257
01:18:15,014 --> 01:18:17,974
positions, that are covered. I don't have my

1258
01:18:17,974 --> 01:18:20,500
glasses, I'm sorry. We have five positions that

1259
01:18:20,500 --> 01:18:22,980
are covered and this is specifically for our

1260
01:18:22,980 --> 01:18:27,620
commission law enforcement officer positions, the probation post

1261
01:18:27,620 --> 01:18:34,815
officers. So this shows the total budget inclusive

1262
01:18:34,815 --> 01:18:38,414
of sources as well as operations. I want

1263
01:18:38,414 --> 01:18:41,614
to focus on operations. Go to the next

1264
01:18:41,614 --> 01:18:46,094
slide, please. So when we look at 2022

1265
01:18:46,094 --> 01:18:53,980
versus 2023, we saw a 9.12% increase, which

1266
01:18:53,980 --> 01:18:58,220
equated to approximately half a million dollars that

1267
01:18:58,220 --> 01:19:01,580
had been allocated in the proposed 2023 budget.

1268
01:19:02,885 --> 01:19:05,525
Later in the slides, we'll explain or I'll

1269
01:19:05,525 --> 01:19:08,405
explain the need for the positions that we've

1270
01:19:08,405 --> 01:19:20,840
requested. So with our professional service contracts, all

1271
01:19:20,840 --> 01:19:24,680
of these contracts are renewal contracts, which means

1272
01:19:24,680 --> 01:19:27,960
that these providers, for me, have provided a

1273
01:19:27,960 --> 01:19:31,925
proven track record in which they help to

1274
01:19:31,925 --> 01:19:34,805
respond to not only the Department of Juvenile

1275
01:19:34,805 --> 01:19:38,325
Services need, but also to the court orders

1276
01:19:38,325 --> 01:19:41,925
by the juvenile judges from juvenile court. And

1277
01:19:41,925 --> 01:19:44,880
so we have three main providers, which is

1278
01:19:44,880 --> 01:19:48,559
Convenient Care that does business as total occupational

1279
01:19:48,880 --> 01:19:52,400
medical. We have Doctor. Brandon Romano that provides

1280
01:19:52,400 --> 01:19:56,239
four psychological and other evaluations. And we have

1281
01:19:56,239 --> 01:20:00,664
New Decisions that's responsible for social, therapeutics and

1282
01:20:00,664 --> 01:20:05,144
recreational services as well as those medical evaluations

1283
01:20:05,145 --> 01:20:14,180
and on-site medical care. So for the department

1284
01:20:14,180 --> 01:20:18,900
positions request and rationale, I have requested the

1285
01:20:18,900 --> 01:20:23,780
addition of an Assistant Executive Director, three positions

1286
01:20:23,780 --> 01:20:28,735
for Juvenile Probation Officers post two, and for

1287
01:20:28,735 --> 01:20:34,335
data coordinator. By adding these particular positions, it

1288
01:20:34,335 --> 01:20:38,574
will allow our department to operate more effectively

1289
01:20:38,655 --> 01:20:43,239
and efficiently. The creation of the Post two

1290
01:20:43,719 --> 01:20:47,960
allows for recruitment and promotion of retention of

1291
01:20:47,960 --> 01:20:52,199
staff, but it also improves the ratio of

1292
01:20:52,199 --> 01:20:55,845
commission law enforcement officers that's available to help

1293
01:20:55,845 --> 01:20:59,764
improve safety and security of our entire complex.

1294
01:21:01,445 --> 01:21:05,125
Also, the last rationale is with the data

1295
01:21:05,125 --> 01:21:07,205
coordinator, I feel that we will be in

1296
01:21:07,205 --> 01:21:10,130
a better position to respond to data requests

1297
01:21:10,130 --> 01:21:13,889
from three primary organizations that we are responsible

1298
01:21:13,889 --> 01:21:17,170
to provide that data to. That's Louisiana Commission

1299
01:21:17,170 --> 01:21:21,489
for Law Enforcement, the Juvenile Detention Alternative Initiative,

1300
01:21:21,809 --> 01:21:26,205
and the Louisiana Juvenile Detention Association for the

1301
01:21:26,205 --> 01:21:28,525
State of Louisiana in which I serve as

1302
01:21:28,525 --> 01:21:38,100
Vice President. Now over the last year and

1303
01:21:38,100 --> 01:21:41,380
a half, we certainly saw a change in

1304
01:21:41,380 --> 01:21:46,020
the landscape for juvenile services. And in doing

1305
01:21:46,020 --> 01:21:48,635
so, we attribute a lot of that to

1306
01:21:48,635 --> 01:21:51,675
raise the age law as we examine the

1307
01:21:51,675 --> 01:21:58,555
associated data. If I may, I want to

1308
01:21:58,555 --> 01:22:02,250
read from the Louisiana Children's Code Article eight

1309
01:22:02,250 --> 01:22:06,170
zero four, for the definition of child. Child

1310
01:22:06,170 --> 01:22:10,250
means any person under the age of 21,

1311
01:22:10,650 --> 01:22:14,810
including an emancipated minor, who commits a delinquent

1312
01:22:14,810 --> 01:22:20,035
act before attaining 17 years of age. So,

1313
01:22:20,435 --> 01:22:24,035
as a result of these changes, the detention

1314
01:22:24,035 --> 01:22:26,755
center now has to house people that are

1315
01:22:26,755 --> 01:22:30,435
aged 17 to 20 years old, including those

1316
01:22:30,435 --> 01:22:33,800
youth who have been indicted or billed for

1317
01:22:33,800 --> 01:22:40,760
prosecution in adult courts. Doctor Wade, I'm sorry.

1318
01:22:40,760 --> 01:22:43,239
Point of personal privilege, if that's okay. I'm

1319
01:22:43,239 --> 01:22:44,920
so glad that you're talking about this because

1320
01:22:44,920 --> 01:22:46,280
I know that this is a pain point.

1321
01:22:46,705 --> 01:22:48,705
But can you tell us while we're speaking

1322
01:22:48,705 --> 01:22:49,824
on this, you may have been getting to

1323
01:22:49,824 --> 01:22:51,985
it, so I apologize, the youngest age of

1324
01:22:51,985 --> 01:22:54,625
a person in the juvenile detention facilities? The

1325
01:22:54,625 --> 01:22:56,385
youngest age of a person is 10 years

1326
01:22:56,385 --> 01:22:59,265
of age. So 10 to 20? Yes, ma'am.

1327
01:22:59,265 --> 01:23:03,489
Thank you so much. Phase one of raise

1328
01:23:03,489 --> 01:23:06,770
the age only address those youth who committed

1329
01:23:06,770 --> 01:23:11,650
minor offenses. Phase two now addresses anyone who

1330
01:23:11,650 --> 01:23:16,775
commit any offense which includes fourteen-two violent crimes

1331
01:23:16,775 --> 01:23:18,855
which is inclusive of first and second degree

1332
01:23:18,855 --> 01:23:23,494
murder, aggravated rape, and offenses of that nature.

1333
01:23:25,815 --> 01:23:29,655
So the changes to the population created new

1334
01:23:29,655 --> 01:23:34,889
pressures, which you'll see that the allocated ARPA

1335
01:23:34,889 --> 01:23:37,770
funding from the mayor's office is certainly helping

1336
01:23:37,770 --> 01:23:40,409
us to address those challenges. So we are

1337
01:23:40,409 --> 01:23:47,864
thankful for that. This particular slide shows a

1338
01:23:47,864 --> 01:23:51,705
consistent decline in the admissions of juvenile detention

1339
01:23:51,705 --> 01:23:55,705
over a thirteen year period from 02/2007 to

1340
01:23:55,705 --> 01:24:00,610
2020. Raise the age is kind of what

1341
01:24:00,610 --> 01:24:04,210
I considered as an unfunded mandate. And so

1342
01:24:04,210 --> 01:24:07,730
although those individuals came to juvenile services, there

1343
01:24:07,730 --> 01:24:11,785
was no funding attached to it. I would

1344
01:24:11,785 --> 01:24:15,385
like for you to pay particular attention, 02/2007,

1345
01:24:15,385 --> 01:24:18,505
the admissions population was a little bit over

1346
01:24:18,505 --> 01:24:23,065
a thousand. Over that thirteen year period, it

1347
01:24:23,065 --> 01:24:28,449
declined to three ninety three. The next slide.

1348
01:24:30,370 --> 01:24:33,890
But we then started to experience an admissions

1349
01:24:33,890 --> 01:24:38,290
influx in 2021. And if you are reminded,

1350
01:24:38,370 --> 01:24:41,665
in much of 2020, during the pandemic, we

1351
01:24:41,665 --> 01:24:43,905
were pretty much under a global stay at

1352
01:24:43,905 --> 01:24:46,945
home order. And so we did not experience

1353
01:24:46,945 --> 01:24:51,105
the influx until 2021 when we started to

1354
01:24:51,105 --> 01:24:54,890
return to some states of normalcy. And so

1355
01:24:55,050 --> 01:24:58,730
in 2021, we would see the increase of

1356
01:24:58,730 --> 01:25:03,210
admissions go up to four sixty nine. In

1357
01:25:03,210 --> 01:25:06,250
this particular year, as of today, at one

1358
01:25:06,250 --> 01:25:08,330
p. M. When I ran this data, we

1359
01:25:08,330 --> 01:25:12,204
have admitted four sixty youth to the juvenile

1360
01:25:12,204 --> 01:25:15,885
detention center. Now the average or the range

1361
01:25:15,885 --> 01:25:18,684
over the last five months have been anywhere

1362
01:25:18,684 --> 01:25:23,820
from 32 to 48 admissions averaging about 40

1363
01:25:23,820 --> 01:25:27,500
admissions per month. So we are on track

1364
01:25:27,820 --> 01:25:31,340
according to the data to meet or exceed

1365
01:25:31,500 --> 01:25:41,974
500 by the end of the year. So

1366
01:25:41,974 --> 01:25:44,455
what are the areas of impact and actions

1367
01:25:44,455 --> 01:25:46,614
as it relates to the challenges with juvenile

1368
01:25:46,614 --> 01:25:49,490
services? I see it as two fold staffing

1369
01:25:49,490 --> 01:25:53,650
and infrastructure. When we look at staffing from

1370
01:25:53,650 --> 01:25:57,650
the City Parish general fund, we have been

1371
01:25:57,650 --> 01:26:01,650
able to address a special recruitment rate increase.

1372
01:26:03,105 --> 01:26:05,825
Let me use for an example, in April

1373
01:26:05,825 --> 01:26:10,305
of this year, detention officers made $11 and

1374
01:26:10,305 --> 01:26:14,625
some change. Right now, their entrance rate is

1375
01:26:14,625 --> 01:26:18,510
nearly $17 an hour. And so I want

1376
01:26:18,510 --> 01:26:22,190
to thank finance and the mayor's office for

1377
01:26:22,190 --> 01:26:27,629
hearing and immediately addressing those needs. Another example

1378
01:26:27,869 --> 01:26:31,965
I like to share. For more than two

1379
01:26:31,965 --> 01:26:37,405
years, we received requisitions, some literally that had

1380
01:26:37,565 --> 01:26:41,085
one name or zero names on those requisitions.

1381
01:26:41,485 --> 01:26:44,125
And so we attributed that to an influx

1382
01:26:44,125 --> 01:26:46,860
of prime in area and this not being

1383
01:26:46,860 --> 01:26:50,780
a very attractive institution in which people desire

1384
01:26:50,780 --> 01:26:54,860
to work. So we are at a point,

1385
01:26:54,940 --> 01:26:57,500
the last requisition I looked at for detention

1386
01:26:57,500 --> 01:27:02,235
officers had 22 names on it. It had

1387
01:27:02,235 --> 01:27:06,395
22 names. And so that is a significant

1388
01:27:06,475 --> 01:27:09,755
improvement and it certainly speaks to the special

1389
01:27:09,755 --> 01:27:12,955
recruitment rate that has been implemented across the

1390
01:27:12,955 --> 01:27:21,170
board for juvenile services. I want to add,

1391
01:27:21,170 --> 01:27:25,570
you know, the question may eventually be if

1392
01:27:26,050 --> 01:27:29,250
the rate has went up to nearly $17

1393
01:27:29,250 --> 01:27:32,289
an hour, why are there still staffing issues?

1394
01:27:32,625 --> 01:27:35,505
I want to remind everyone that in order

1395
01:27:35,505 --> 01:27:38,705
to work in juvenile detention, you go through

1396
01:27:38,705 --> 01:27:42,465
a series of qualifications, including a state background

1397
01:27:42,465 --> 01:27:46,385
check, a CANS, which is a child abuse

1398
01:27:46,385 --> 01:27:49,570
and neglect system, a matrix, which is a

1399
01:27:49,570 --> 01:27:53,890
psychological evaluation, and a drug examination. And so

1400
01:27:53,890 --> 01:27:57,490
failure to meet any of those standards eliminate

1401
01:27:57,490 --> 01:28:00,370
them from the requisition. So although we started

1402
01:28:00,370 --> 01:28:03,485
at 22 names on the requisition, when you

1403
01:28:03,485 --> 01:28:06,125
go through that process, it dwindles it down

1404
01:28:06,125 --> 01:28:09,724
to maybe three or maybe four that make

1405
01:28:09,724 --> 01:28:18,970
it through the entire process. The one thing

1406
01:28:18,970 --> 01:28:21,610
we identified at the beginning of this year

1407
01:28:21,610 --> 01:28:24,090
is that there is always a need for

1408
01:28:24,090 --> 01:28:27,450
additional training, but especially in light of the

1409
01:28:27,450 --> 01:28:30,665
changed landscape within juvenile services. And so we

1410
01:28:30,665 --> 01:28:32,825
are happy to say that that is in

1411
01:28:32,825 --> 01:28:37,145
progress. They are receiving, those additional trainings that

1412
01:28:37,145 --> 01:28:40,185
are specific to juvenile detention and we are

1413
01:28:40,185 --> 01:28:43,465
in partnership with the Baton Rouge Police Department

1414
01:28:43,465 --> 01:28:48,309
to offer defensive tactics and other professional development

1415
01:28:48,309 --> 01:28:57,725
for our staff. Next slide. The second area

1416
01:28:57,725 --> 01:29:01,405
of impact and actions associated deals with the

1417
01:29:01,405 --> 01:29:05,325
infrastructure for juvenile services. We've often heard on

1418
01:29:05,325 --> 01:29:07,405
the media that it is a building built

1419
01:29:07,405 --> 01:29:11,965
in 1952. However, we are certainly working with

1420
01:29:11,965 --> 01:29:15,380
what we have, But specifically through the funding,

1421
01:29:15,380 --> 01:29:20,020
again from the administration, the allocated ARP money

1422
01:29:20,020 --> 01:29:24,580
of $2,000,000 will help us to update and

1423
01:29:24,580 --> 01:29:28,340
renovate needed areas within the juvenile detention center.

1424
01:29:28,955 --> 01:29:32,475
I did not go into much detail simply

1425
01:29:32,475 --> 01:29:34,875
because of the nature of the facility, but

1426
01:29:34,875 --> 01:29:37,995
in general it will help to provide security

1427
01:29:37,995 --> 01:29:42,475
doors, surveillance control and additional trainings, things of

1428
01:29:42,475 --> 01:29:51,250
that nature. So we started this year, early

1429
01:29:51,250 --> 01:29:55,810
February or March, working with DPW to do

1430
01:29:55,810 --> 01:30:03,305
an assessment, working with other state subject matter

1431
01:30:03,305 --> 01:30:07,945
expertise for prisons and for juvenile detention centers

1432
01:30:07,945 --> 01:30:10,345
to come walk our buildings. Not only did

1433
01:30:10,345 --> 01:30:12,425
we invite them in to come walk our

1434
01:30:12,425 --> 01:30:16,470
buildings this summer between July and August, my

1435
01:30:16,470 --> 01:30:21,030
staff, my leadership and administration, we visited approximately

1436
01:30:21,030 --> 01:30:24,470
five or six out of state juvenile detention

1437
01:30:24,470 --> 01:30:27,350
centers. And the purpose of that was to

1438
01:30:27,350 --> 01:30:32,145
understand best practices outside of a state with

1439
01:30:32,145 --> 01:30:35,105
a raise the age law. For example, we

1440
01:30:35,105 --> 01:30:39,184
visited the Harris County Juvenile Detention Center. It

1441
01:30:39,184 --> 01:30:42,784
was quite intriguing because their detention center is

1442
01:30:42,784 --> 01:30:45,890
located in City Hall and it takes up

1443
01:30:45,890 --> 01:30:48,930
about five or six floors. They have recreation

1444
01:30:48,930 --> 01:30:51,090
on the roof so that was a bit

1445
01:30:51,090 --> 01:30:55,810
surprising for us. We also visited the Harris

1446
01:30:55,810 --> 01:31:00,015
County in Marietta, the Regional Youth Center and

1447
01:31:00,015 --> 01:31:03,695
we studied their systems, we studied their practices

1448
01:31:03,695 --> 01:31:06,655
and we studied their policies and through these

1449
01:31:06,655 --> 01:31:09,935
visits and the DPW walk throughs and the

1450
01:31:09,935 --> 01:31:13,215
experts within the state of Louisiana, I believe

1451
01:31:13,215 --> 01:31:15,349
that we are on track to address the

1452
01:31:15,349 --> 01:31:17,909
needs that we have within the detention center.

1453
01:31:23,510 --> 01:31:31,955
That concludes the presentation. Councilwoman Bianca. Thank you

1454
01:31:31,955 --> 01:31:34,594
so much, Doctor. Wade. This has been a

1455
01:31:34,594 --> 01:31:36,355
passion of mine to see what you guys

1456
01:31:36,355 --> 01:31:37,955
have been doing since I started on the

1457
01:31:37,955 --> 01:31:40,114
council. And I'm so happy that you talked

1458
01:31:40,114 --> 01:31:42,370
about the raise the age law and how

1459
01:31:42,370 --> 01:31:44,850
that law did not come with additional funding

1460
01:31:44,930 --> 01:31:49,090
to change your facility. Also, think I've been

1461
01:31:49,090 --> 01:31:51,010
out there multiple times and I think it's

1462
01:31:51,010 --> 01:31:53,090
important for everyone to know how antiquated your

1463
01:31:53,090 --> 01:31:55,810
building is. And if you go into modern

1464
01:31:55,810 --> 01:31:59,205
facilities, you would have open space where guards

1465
01:31:59,205 --> 01:32:01,605
could see everything that's happening. However, in your

1466
01:32:01,605 --> 01:32:04,645
facility, there are blind spots all over it

1467
01:32:04,645 --> 01:32:07,925
where people can hide or do bad acts

1468
01:32:07,925 --> 01:32:09,685
or whatever they may be up to, and

1469
01:32:09,685 --> 01:32:11,925
it puts the guards in a particular position

1470
01:32:11,925 --> 01:32:14,090
that is unsafe for them as well as

1471
01:32:14,090 --> 01:32:16,489
the people that are in the facility. So

1472
01:32:17,449 --> 01:32:19,449
can you can you tell us a little

1473
01:32:19,449 --> 01:32:22,809
bit about if that $2,000,000 is gonna help

1474
01:32:22,809 --> 01:32:26,765
with some of those issues and and what

1475
01:32:26,765 --> 01:32:29,725
it is looking moving forward through 2023. What

1476
01:32:29,725 --> 01:32:31,085
do we need to be looking for to

1477
01:32:31,085 --> 01:32:33,005
make sure that we're moving forward and getting

1478
01:32:33,005 --> 01:32:36,845
you those funds? Because so certainly the ARP

1479
01:32:36,845 --> 01:32:41,900
funding of $2,000,000 will greatly help with juvenile

1480
01:32:41,900 --> 01:32:45,580
detention, as we specifically look out and look

1481
01:32:45,580 --> 01:32:48,140
at changing doors, with a heightened level of

1482
01:32:48,140 --> 01:32:52,700
security, the locking mechanisms, their surveillance, video, things

1483
01:32:52,700 --> 01:32:54,540
of that nature. Those things that we are

1484
01:32:54,540 --> 01:32:59,175
able to renovate in antiquated building. And so

1485
01:32:59,175 --> 01:33:04,055
we will start there. Additionally, not just with

1486
01:33:04,055 --> 01:33:06,455
the facility, but I believe that there was

1487
01:33:06,455 --> 01:33:09,390
a great need for additional training with a

1488
01:33:09,390 --> 01:33:12,670
new population coming into the juvenile detention center

1489
01:33:12,670 --> 01:33:16,190
that officers were not familiar with. And so

1490
01:33:16,190 --> 01:33:20,910
we have seen a drastic improvement. For example,

1491
01:33:20,910 --> 01:33:23,165
it has been more than a year since

1492
01:33:23,165 --> 01:33:26,205
there has been an escape from that particular

1493
01:33:26,205 --> 01:33:29,165
facility. And within the four years that I've

1494
01:33:29,165 --> 01:33:32,525
been there, there have been two escapes. In

1495
01:33:32,525 --> 01:33:37,160
comparison to any other facility, that's a decent

1496
01:33:37,320 --> 01:33:40,120
number. And so I attribute that to the

1497
01:33:40,120 --> 01:33:43,000
officers and to my team members who are

1498
01:33:43,000 --> 01:33:46,600
dedicated, diligent and very determined to do their

1499
01:33:46,600 --> 01:33:50,485
jobs. So one more question. With regard to

1500
01:33:50,485 --> 01:33:52,885
visiting some of these newer facilities and some

1501
01:33:52,885 --> 01:33:54,805
of the educational programs that you guys have

1502
01:33:54,805 --> 01:33:57,685
put in place, are y'all fighting? Can you

1503
01:33:57,685 --> 01:34:01,605
show the recidivism rates with some of your

1504
01:34:01,605 --> 01:34:05,469
residents? Is that declining within moving on, growing

1505
01:34:05,469 --> 01:34:07,390
up? How does that work? How do we

1506
01:34:07,390 --> 01:34:10,430
compare? So at one point we saw the

1507
01:34:10,430 --> 01:34:14,350
recidivism rate declining. Just through observation over the

1508
01:34:14,350 --> 01:34:18,245
last few months, we see the same individuals

1509
01:34:18,245 --> 01:34:22,965
returning. And so we've not yet run the

1510
01:34:22,965 --> 01:34:26,245
statistics for recidivism, but it's certainly something that

1511
01:34:26,245 --> 01:34:28,005
we're watching and we'll be doing at end

1512
01:34:28,005 --> 01:34:33,500
of year. Thank you so much. I just

1513
01:34:33,500 --> 01:34:35,820
want to say God bless you. I have

1514
01:34:35,820 --> 01:34:39,500
spent my career in schools and most recently

1515
01:34:39,500 --> 01:34:41,020
working in a school that had everything from

1516
01:34:41,020 --> 01:34:43,420
six weeks old to 18 years old. And

1517
01:34:43,420 --> 01:34:46,325
I know what we went through just to

1518
01:34:46,325 --> 01:34:49,365
make things developmentally appropriate and to keep children

1519
01:34:49,365 --> 01:34:52,885
of certain age distances apart from each other.

1520
01:34:52,965 --> 01:34:55,685
And just in very controlled school setting, was

1521
01:34:55,685 --> 01:34:58,590
difficult, so I cannot even imagine what it

1522
01:34:58,590 --> 01:35:00,590
has been like for you. So thank you

1523
01:35:00,590 --> 01:35:06,750
for all your efforts. Thank you. Hey Doctor.

1524
01:35:06,750 --> 01:35:08,110
Wade, have you come up with a job

1525
01:35:08,110 --> 01:35:10,750
description for the addition of the Assistant Director?

1526
01:35:11,865 --> 01:35:15,305
Yes, have. And, Mr. Gaudet, I don't have

1527
01:35:15,305 --> 01:35:17,225
that with me, but, I would be happy

1528
01:35:17,225 --> 01:35:19,625
to forward it to What I would like

1529
01:35:19,625 --> 01:35:22,665
to say is through the visitation of juvenile

1530
01:35:22,665 --> 01:35:25,880
detention centers out of state, but specifically in

1531
01:35:25,880 --> 01:35:29,400
state. We have 13 juvenile detention centers with

1532
01:35:29,400 --> 01:35:31,960
about three maybe on the style of the

1533
01:35:31,960 --> 01:35:35,639
East Bainbridge Parish. Most detention centers are operated

1534
01:35:36,195 --> 01:35:39,954
separately than from the services side. And so

1535
01:35:39,954 --> 01:35:42,675
certainly I believe that the addition of the

1536
01:35:42,675 --> 01:35:46,114
Assistant Executive Director allows for more leadership at

1537
01:35:46,114 --> 01:35:51,739
the helm to effectively and efficiently address the

1538
01:35:51,739 --> 01:35:55,340
needs of the entire building as opposed to

1539
01:35:55,340 --> 01:35:59,340
focusing solely on juvenile detention which in the

1540
01:35:59,340 --> 01:36:01,420
last year it has been a huge focus.

1541
01:36:04,245 --> 01:36:07,685
Thank you. Thank you. And I'm sorry, was

1542
01:36:07,685 --> 01:36:10,485
pulling up the budget. Meals caught my attention.

1543
01:36:10,485 --> 01:36:12,565
It's a I I don't know if it's

1544
01:36:12,565 --> 01:36:15,045
a revenue source for you. There's a 50

1545
01:36:15,045 --> 01:36:18,165
in the 2023 budget for juvenile detention meals.

1546
01:36:18,829 --> 01:36:20,670
Help me out with that. So at one

1547
01:36:20,670 --> 01:36:25,309
point, we were receiving funds from the Department

1548
01:36:25,309 --> 01:36:28,590
of Health and Nutrition for those funds to

1549
01:36:28,590 --> 01:36:31,469
supplement. It came with a lot of restrictions

1550
01:36:31,469 --> 01:36:35,695
and stipulations, And so it has dwindled down

1551
01:36:35,695 --> 01:36:37,775
and we are looking to move away from

1552
01:36:37,775 --> 01:36:40,335
it as we do have the funds available

1553
01:36:40,335 --> 01:36:43,295
through our City Parish General Fund account. Y'all

1554
01:36:43,295 --> 01:36:45,840
are cooking on-site. You have a full operational

1555
01:36:45,840 --> 01:36:47,679
kitchen out there. We have a full operational

1556
01:36:47,679 --> 01:36:51,760
kitchen and we have five staff that operate

1557
01:36:51,760 --> 01:36:54,719
the kitchen and the laundry services for detention.

1558
01:36:54,719 --> 01:37:01,395
Okay, thank you. Thank you. Anyone else? Okay.

1559
01:37:01,395 --> 01:37:04,995
I might make one statement about the facility.

1560
01:37:05,075 --> 01:37:07,315
The study that's been done on the prison

1561
01:37:07,315 --> 01:37:10,435
actually has also been done on juvenile services

1562
01:37:10,595 --> 01:37:13,800
and the correctional facility there. So that study

1563
01:37:13,800 --> 01:37:15,639
is done to help right size that doctor

1564
01:37:15,639 --> 01:37:17,560
Wade has worked along with the warden, with

1565
01:37:17,560 --> 01:37:20,360
the consultants, and the next phase really is

1566
01:37:20,360 --> 01:37:22,440
to figure out what it takes to build

1567
01:37:22,440 --> 01:37:25,079
that facility, what the spatial needs are, etcetera.

1568
01:37:25,080 --> 01:37:26,679
So that'll be coming back to the council

1569
01:37:26,679 --> 01:37:33,355
at some point for approval. Councilwoman Banks. I

1570
01:37:33,355 --> 01:37:36,235
I guess I I came in on my

1571
01:37:36,635 --> 01:37:39,035
one of my pet on departments that I

1572
01:37:39,035 --> 01:37:42,659
really appreciate working with you as the director.

1573
01:37:43,700 --> 01:37:45,780
One of the things, I guess again from

1574
01:37:45,780 --> 01:37:49,220
the perspective of being an East Baton Rouge

1575
01:37:49,220 --> 01:37:55,005
Parish school employee and working with, now I

1576
01:37:55,005 --> 01:37:56,765
don't even know if it exists, but when

1577
01:37:56,765 --> 01:37:59,725
I worked with the Office of Adjudicated Youth,

1578
01:38:01,005 --> 01:38:04,205
in which I was responsible for transitioning students

1579
01:38:04,205 --> 01:38:08,205
from juvenile services back into the school system,

1580
01:38:08,760 --> 01:38:11,719
and one of the things that was during

1581
01:38:11,719 --> 01:38:18,599
that time was never put into practice was

1582
01:38:18,599 --> 01:38:22,760
an actual MOU between East Baton Rouge Parish

1583
01:38:22,760 --> 01:38:25,455
School System and the Office of Juvenile Services

1584
01:38:25,455 --> 01:38:30,014
and I was wondering can you elaborate on

1585
01:38:30,014 --> 01:38:33,374
that because with that also it was necessary

1586
01:38:33,455 --> 01:38:36,334
to have the proper staff on both sides

1587
01:38:36,574 --> 01:38:41,430
because students were and I I would be

1588
01:38:41,430 --> 01:38:43,910
remiss if I didn't say that, you know,

1589
01:38:43,910 --> 01:38:45,990
I I'm not sure about this this current

1590
01:38:45,990 --> 01:38:49,670
superintendent but we children actually got Carnegie units

1591
01:38:49,670 --> 01:38:52,885
when they left under your helm where before

1592
01:38:53,285 --> 01:38:54,885
time just went by and a lot of

1593
01:38:54,885 --> 01:38:58,645
the frustration that led to not only recidivism

1594
01:38:58,645 --> 01:39:03,045
but also students dropping out is that when

1595
01:39:03,045 --> 01:39:06,325
they were in detention and they were doing

1596
01:39:06,325 --> 01:39:08,860
the work under the East Bandwidth Parish School

1597
01:39:08,860 --> 01:39:11,820
staff and when they left there were no

1598
01:39:11,820 --> 01:39:15,579
grades, no attendance, no anything. And I know

1599
01:39:15,579 --> 01:39:19,500
that getting that back into full a lot

1600
01:39:19,500 --> 01:39:21,099
of time, a lot of that had been

1601
01:39:21,099 --> 01:39:23,885
delayed with the change in a lot with

1602
01:39:23,885 --> 01:39:26,364
the larger employee and all the other things

1603
01:39:26,364 --> 01:39:28,605
that happened. So I'm going back to find

1604
01:39:28,605 --> 01:39:32,525
out if the MOU had been established and

1605
01:39:32,525 --> 01:39:37,680
what positions possibly on both sides are gonna

1606
01:39:37,680 --> 01:39:41,200
be needed or implemented or suggested for both

1607
01:39:41,200 --> 01:39:43,360
sides and if that is included in your

1608
01:39:43,360 --> 01:39:47,920
current budget? So that's not included in the

1609
01:39:47,920 --> 01:39:51,405
current budget, Councilwoman, but I will say that

1610
01:39:51,405 --> 01:39:54,125
when I started at the helm of juvenile

1611
01:39:54,125 --> 01:39:57,165
services, I went in to do review and

1612
01:39:57,165 --> 01:40:01,165
assessments to see what existed and what needed

1613
01:40:01,165 --> 01:40:05,090
to be maybe modified. I found upon my

1614
01:40:05,090 --> 01:40:08,929
entrance that no students were receiving Carnegie credit

1615
01:40:08,929 --> 01:40:12,770
units, and so it troubled me that these

1616
01:40:12,770 --> 01:40:17,055
young people would attend school between 07:45 a.

1617
01:40:17,055 --> 01:40:20,495
M. And 02:45 p. M. For busy work.

1618
01:40:20,495 --> 01:40:23,855
And so I met with the administration, the

1619
01:40:23,855 --> 01:40:27,855
superintendent, the director of alternative schools for EBR,

1620
01:40:27,935 --> 01:40:32,079
and we quickly put a system in place

1621
01:40:32,320 --> 01:40:34,559
where for the first time in the history

1622
01:40:34,559 --> 01:40:39,440
of juvenile detention, that students receive Carnegie credit

1623
01:40:39,440 --> 01:40:42,800
units. And so it did a few things.

1624
01:40:42,880 --> 01:40:46,055
It incentivized them to want to do the

1625
01:40:46,055 --> 01:40:51,655
work. Also, it prepared them for better reentry

1626
01:40:51,655 --> 01:40:56,470
into society without having an education gap. I

1627
01:40:56,470 --> 01:41:01,990
am thankful for the leadership of EBR, specifically

1628
01:41:01,990 --> 01:41:07,030
Mr. Larry James, the Executive Alternative Director, who

1629
01:41:07,030 --> 01:41:09,905
has worked side by side with me to

1630
01:41:09,905 --> 01:41:12,225
address any needs that I brought to his

1631
01:41:12,225 --> 01:41:15,985
attention. We have a current draft of a

1632
01:41:15,985 --> 01:41:19,025
memorandum of understanding for East Baton Rouge Parish

1633
01:41:19,025 --> 01:41:22,545
School System and juvenile detention that is in

1634
01:41:22,545 --> 01:41:25,750
draft form that we will meet on and

1635
01:41:25,750 --> 01:41:29,990
have conversations on both sides. What are the

1636
01:41:29,990 --> 01:41:33,350
expectations for juvenile services? And then what are

1637
01:41:33,350 --> 01:41:36,150
the expectations for East Baton Rouge Parish School

1638
01:41:36,150 --> 01:41:38,704
System? I would be remiss not to say

1639
01:41:38,704 --> 01:41:42,065
that I believe that our partnership over the

1640
01:41:42,065 --> 01:41:46,065
last three years have seen great improvement, and

1641
01:41:46,065 --> 01:41:48,784
so we hope to continue on a positive

1642
01:41:48,784 --> 01:41:53,280
trajectory. As we go into 2023. We will

1643
01:41:53,280 --> 01:41:58,560
continue those conversations and ultimately between legal services

1644
01:41:58,560 --> 01:42:01,040
for the city and legal services for East

1645
01:42:01,040 --> 01:42:04,560
Baton Rouge Parish enforce a memorandum of understanding.

1646
01:42:04,560 --> 01:42:07,895
Okay. Who which staff of the parish attorney

1647
01:42:07,895 --> 01:42:11,175
works closest with you in juvenile services? So

1648
01:42:11,175 --> 01:42:15,175
that has been attorney, well, attorney Joe Scott,

1649
01:42:15,175 --> 01:42:18,534
Elena Branserou, Don Gilliat, and so I worked

1650
01:42:18,534 --> 01:42:21,430
with multiple ones. But within this year I

1651
01:42:21,430 --> 01:42:24,310
worked a little bit more closely with Attorney

1652
01:42:24,310 --> 01:42:27,590
Joe Scott who's actually here today. Okay, because

1653
01:42:27,590 --> 01:42:30,550
I do know chances are you have to

1654
01:42:30,550 --> 01:42:34,605
go through the General Counsel but also just

1655
01:42:34,605 --> 01:42:39,165
wanting to make sure there was also under

1656
01:42:39,165 --> 01:42:44,205
your staff a Director of Education. At the

1657
01:42:44,205 --> 01:42:46,445
time this was Mr. Newman before he retired.

1658
01:42:47,100 --> 01:42:49,739
So yes, Mr. Newman was the superintendent. The

1659
01:42:49,739 --> 01:42:51,900
superintendent. And so we don't have a superintendent,

1660
01:42:51,900 --> 01:42:55,100
we changed the name to senior shift supervisor

1661
01:42:55,100 --> 01:42:59,100
to stay with best practices. There is no

1662
01:42:59,100 --> 01:43:01,340
detention center that I'm aware of that has

1663
01:43:01,340 --> 01:43:05,475
a detention manager and a superintendent because the

1664
01:43:05,475 --> 01:43:07,955
functions are too similar. And so we changed

1665
01:43:07,955 --> 01:43:10,835
that position to senior shift supervisor. Now we

1666
01:43:10,835 --> 01:43:13,955
have a detention counselor who is a licensed

1667
01:43:13,955 --> 01:43:16,835
professional counselor that will be starting within a

1668
01:43:16,835 --> 01:43:19,850
week. That particular position is charged with the

1669
01:43:19,850 --> 01:43:23,610
coordination of educational activities within the JDC. So

1670
01:43:23,610 --> 01:43:26,650
are they doing academic and mental health or

1671
01:43:26,650 --> 01:43:30,969
just academic? They are doing academics. Way the

1672
01:43:30,969 --> 01:43:34,895
structure is right now, through our partnership with

1673
01:43:34,895 --> 01:43:37,534
East Baton Rouge Parish school system, we have

1674
01:43:37,534 --> 01:43:41,054
on-site five days a week, seven forty five

1675
01:43:41,054 --> 01:43:44,094
a. M. To 02:45 p. M. Certified teachers

1676
01:43:44,094 --> 01:43:47,695
and so the detainees attend class on a

1677
01:43:47,695 --> 01:43:52,070
regular basis. On that particular staff, all East

1678
01:43:52,070 --> 01:43:58,710
Bay Village Parish School System, we have an

1679
01:43:58,710 --> 01:44:02,550
assistant director of EBR Readiness who is on-site

1680
01:44:02,550 --> 01:44:04,614
every day And then we have the teachers

1681
01:44:04,614 --> 01:44:07,094
for the various subjects as well as the

1682
01:44:07,094 --> 01:44:11,094
paras that are needed. Our detention counselor, we

1683
01:44:11,094 --> 01:44:14,534
certainly don't want to intrude on their expertise.

1684
01:44:14,695 --> 01:44:17,574
So our position from the detention counselor is

1685
01:44:17,574 --> 01:44:21,350
to ensure the coordination of educational services. So

1686
01:44:21,350 --> 01:44:25,110
that's a new budget position? It is not.

1687
01:44:25,110 --> 01:44:27,190
Okay, just a name change and a position

1688
01:44:27,190 --> 01:44:29,430
change. Yes ma'am. Once you all get the

1689
01:44:29,430 --> 01:44:32,895
MOU in order, it would be great if

1690
01:44:32,895 --> 01:44:37,854
you would meet with Ms. Brazier so that

1691
01:44:37,935 --> 01:44:41,534
each school counselor has that person's contact so

1692
01:44:41,534 --> 01:44:44,494
that when children transition they will make sure

1693
01:44:44,494 --> 01:44:47,449
those records follow them because that, you know,

1694
01:44:47,449 --> 01:44:49,449
all of that is really the pipeline that

1695
01:44:49,449 --> 01:44:50,890
is leading to a lot of our youth

1696
01:44:50,890 --> 01:44:53,290
violence. You know, we don't have to go

1697
01:44:53,290 --> 01:44:56,810
through that and I do recognize, you know,

1698
01:44:56,810 --> 01:45:00,409
this administrator totally embracing you, Doctor. Larry James,

1699
01:45:00,409 --> 01:45:03,085
having you in professional development as well as

1700
01:45:03,085 --> 01:45:05,885
our fun stuff. So, you know, just thank

1701
01:45:05,885 --> 01:45:08,045
you. We do have to work together and

1702
01:45:08,045 --> 01:45:10,364
that's something I believe since I've been here

1703
01:45:10,525 --> 01:45:12,685
and I do see it working very well

1704
01:45:12,685 --> 01:45:16,860
between Juvenile services and the Spanish Fair School

1705
01:45:16,860 --> 01:45:19,500
System. Thank you. Also, I wanted to share,

1706
01:45:19,500 --> 01:45:22,460
we do have what I call a hope

1707
01:45:22,460 --> 01:45:26,540
series, a leadership series. Again, hope have only

1708
01:45:26,540 --> 01:45:29,260
positive expectations. So we bring in what I

1709
01:45:29,260 --> 01:45:33,434
call realistic speakers for the youth. And recently,

1710
01:45:33,435 --> 01:45:35,515
we had Mr. Bobby Ginn, who is the

1711
01:45:35,515 --> 01:45:40,315
general manager for Winfield. We've had Superintendent Sito

1712
01:45:40,315 --> 01:45:44,130
Narcisse. We've had Baton Rouge Police Department, Chief

1713
01:45:44,130 --> 01:45:49,409
Murphy Paul, Deputy Chief Myron Daniels. We've had

1714
01:45:49,409 --> 01:45:52,690
Ms. Vernadine Mabry, workforce and development. It is

1715
01:45:52,690 --> 01:45:55,489
our goal to be intentional in pairing them

1716
01:45:55,489 --> 01:45:58,205
with the resources so that they can successfully

1717
01:45:58,205 --> 01:46:03,565
reenter into society. All right, thank you so

1718
01:46:03,565 --> 01:46:06,285
very much for all that good information. And

1719
01:46:06,285 --> 01:46:09,885
just keep in mind some individualized academic education

1720
01:46:09,885 --> 01:46:13,300
plans for these children to see where they

1721
01:46:13,300 --> 01:46:17,940
are and where they can go. Absolutely. Yes.

1722
01:46:17,940 --> 01:46:20,180
Thank you so very much. If I could

1723
01:46:20,180 --> 01:46:22,340
just have three seconds just to tell you

1724
01:46:22,340 --> 01:46:25,380
that the city of Birmingham did launch a

1725
01:46:25,380 --> 01:46:29,375
conflict resolution curriculum and so you know once

1726
01:46:29,375 --> 01:46:31,295
that MOU that might be something we can

1727
01:46:31,295 --> 01:46:34,575
also work on as a preventive methods for

1728
01:46:34,575 --> 01:46:37,935
those to avoid recidivism and it'll help us

1729
01:46:37,935 --> 01:46:39,775
in the school system so much better as

1730
01:46:39,775 --> 01:46:42,929
well. Absolutely. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

1731
01:46:43,090 --> 01:46:45,489
At this time we'll have the mayor's office.

1732
01:46:48,210 --> 01:46:50,450
Thank you very much. This should be the

1733
01:46:50,450 --> 01:46:54,050
briefest presentation of the night. My throat says

1734
01:46:54,050 --> 01:46:58,215
yes. Our budgets, I think I have a

1735
01:46:58,215 --> 01:47:02,215
little clicker, the mayor's office budget basically has

1736
01:47:02,215 --> 01:47:07,255
three different divisions, administrative division, grant division, and

1737
01:47:07,255 --> 01:47:14,369
special programs. The actual administrative part of our

1738
01:47:14,369 --> 01:47:17,969
office, the budget there, excuse me, has actually

1739
01:47:17,969 --> 01:47:20,290
gone down just a little bit from last

1740
01:47:20,290 --> 01:47:23,955
year, and that decrease actually includes a 5%

1741
01:47:23,955 --> 01:47:27,315
pay raise that everybody got. And part of

1742
01:47:27,315 --> 01:47:30,275
that decrease is removing two of the positions

1743
01:47:30,275 --> 01:47:32,594
out of our office into a special grants

1744
01:47:32,594 --> 01:47:34,675
division, which we'll talk about in just a

1745
01:47:34,675 --> 01:47:40,000
minute. But our total budget is roughly $2,500,000

1746
01:47:40,000 --> 01:47:43,600
for the administration part, 15 employees, one of

1747
01:47:43,600 --> 01:47:46,080
those is actually the mayor, and one of

1748
01:47:46,080 --> 01:47:48,160
those positions is made up of two part

1749
01:47:48,160 --> 01:47:50,775
time people who serve as receptionists in our

1750
01:47:50,775 --> 01:47:55,815
office. Grants has been a big challenge in

1751
01:47:55,815 --> 01:47:58,054
my mind in City Parish. We have tried

1752
01:47:58,455 --> 01:48:01,255
two different things to get to where I

1753
01:48:01,255 --> 01:48:04,330
think we should be. We've had a federal

1754
01:48:04,330 --> 01:48:08,330
grants coordinator which we needed to expand. We

1755
01:48:08,330 --> 01:48:11,450
brought in a contract worker who was housed

1756
01:48:11,450 --> 01:48:14,489
in the police department and that person was

1757
01:48:14,489 --> 01:48:16,890
willing to do grant work for other departments.

1758
01:48:17,825 --> 01:48:20,145
What we discovered was that our departments really

1759
01:48:20,145 --> 01:48:24,545
don't have the capability to handle grants. We're

1760
01:48:24,545 --> 01:48:27,345
trying to build that capacity. So this new

1761
01:48:27,345 --> 01:48:31,505
division, we've taken two people, from our team

1762
01:48:31,680 --> 01:48:34,720
and one person from OCD to create a

1763
01:48:34,720 --> 01:48:38,240
special grants office. And the main person in

1764
01:48:38,240 --> 01:48:40,080
that office, their key job will be to

1765
01:48:40,080 --> 01:48:43,520
go out and basically market grants to different

1766
01:48:43,520 --> 01:48:47,495
departments. There are grants all across the board,

1767
01:48:47,495 --> 01:48:50,935
the fire department, police department, etcetera. So they

1768
01:48:50,935 --> 01:48:53,335
will go out and encourage the departments to

1769
01:48:53,335 --> 01:48:55,255
take grants that they find that they think

1770
01:48:55,255 --> 01:48:57,670
are a good match. The National League of

1771
01:48:57,670 --> 01:49:00,550
Cities, which we belong to, is a community.

1772
01:49:01,510 --> 01:49:03,989
We have a special grants program that we

1773
01:49:03,989 --> 01:49:06,790
have, contracted for there where they will actually

1774
01:49:06,790 --> 01:49:10,615
write grants for us for $6,000 So as

1775
01:49:10,615 --> 01:49:12,455
opposed to having a grants division that is

1776
01:49:12,455 --> 01:49:14,535
stuck writing grants, we want to make certain

1777
01:49:14,535 --> 01:49:16,695
that our grants division is out trying to

1778
01:49:16,695 --> 01:49:19,415
get our departments to take those grants. And

1779
01:49:19,415 --> 01:49:21,735
then two people to help administer the grants

1780
01:49:21,735 --> 01:49:23,415
to make sure the departments can get through

1781
01:49:23,415 --> 01:49:25,719
the process. One of the things we're working

1782
01:49:25,719 --> 01:49:28,119
through also, we had a consultant who came

1783
01:49:28,119 --> 01:49:33,880
in who's examined everything from the grant startup

1784
01:49:33,880 --> 01:49:37,400
process, grants review, how it rolls through finance.

1785
01:49:37,400 --> 01:49:38,920
We're trying to make certain that we can

1786
01:49:38,920 --> 01:49:41,935
streamline that process to make it easier for

1787
01:49:41,935 --> 01:49:44,575
everybody along the way. I think everyone here

1788
01:49:44,575 --> 01:49:46,655
has seen that we struggle with grants. It

1789
01:49:46,655 --> 01:49:48,255
takes a long time to get through that

1790
01:49:48,255 --> 01:49:51,135
process. It's very cumbersome if you've ever tried

1791
01:49:51,135 --> 01:49:52,735
to work with one of those grants per

1792
01:49:52,735 --> 01:49:55,080
se. We love the money, but again, the

1793
01:49:55,080 --> 01:49:59,480
bureaucratic process is very difficult. The other part

1794
01:49:59,480 --> 01:50:02,680
of our budget within the mayor's office is

1795
01:50:02,680 --> 01:50:07,975
special programs. Those include community sponsored programs. Those

1796
01:50:07,975 --> 01:50:10,775
are things such as the Kiwanis Christmas Parade,

1797
01:50:10,775 --> 01:50:14,375
which we help fund, White Light Night, which

1798
01:50:14,375 --> 01:50:18,535
is a Dan ten Merchants Program. Different community

1799
01:50:18,535 --> 01:50:22,489
events are funded through this category. Economic development

1800
01:50:22,489 --> 01:50:29,690
programs, our actual, our lobbying functions are categorized

1801
01:50:29,690 --> 01:50:34,345
in that. We do have a Corsten Nichols

1802
01:50:34,345 --> 01:50:36,265
that does lobbying for us on the state

1803
01:50:36,265 --> 01:50:38,745
level, and we have Crossroads that does lobbying

1804
01:50:38,745 --> 01:50:41,145
work for us on the federal level. And

1805
01:50:41,145 --> 01:50:45,465
then under economic development programs, we have things

1806
01:50:45,465 --> 01:50:48,105
such as Oceans Medical, which we gave a

1807
01:50:48,105 --> 01:50:51,660
stipend, a ten year commitment to help incentivize

1808
01:50:51,660 --> 01:50:55,179
them to come to Baton Rouge. That's where

1809
01:50:55,660 --> 01:50:58,700
these funds come from. The summer youth program,

1810
01:50:58,700 --> 01:51:02,585
there's $200,000 in that category. There's also another

1811
01:51:02,585 --> 01:51:07,225
$250,000 of ARP money for 2023 that will

1812
01:51:07,225 --> 01:51:14,190
help augment that program. Educational support initiatives used

1813
01:51:14,190 --> 01:51:16,830
to be Cradle to K. That funding is

1814
01:51:16,830 --> 01:51:19,469
now used for special education programs that we

1815
01:51:19,469 --> 01:51:22,270
can help fund through the mayor's office. Neighborhood

1816
01:51:22,270 --> 01:51:25,389
revitalization is a new category in our office.

1817
01:51:25,630 --> 01:51:28,270
I think we explained that in budget meetings.

1818
01:51:29,344 --> 01:51:32,225
We have a process that's been proven successful

1819
01:51:32,225 --> 01:51:36,224
in Monroe and in New Orleans to expedite

1820
01:51:36,785 --> 01:51:39,505
the blight remediation process and get some of

1821
01:51:39,505 --> 01:51:43,120
those properties back in the marketplace. What that

1822
01:51:43,120 --> 01:51:44,480
does is it will give us a way

1823
01:51:44,480 --> 01:51:47,120
to clear titles on the most distressed properties,

1824
01:51:47,120 --> 01:51:48,640
the ones that we just can't quite move

1825
01:51:48,640 --> 01:51:51,200
through the process. There's a way we can

1826
01:51:51,200 --> 01:51:52,880
take it through the court system and then

1827
01:51:52,880 --> 01:51:54,784
clean the title up and get it in

1828
01:51:54,784 --> 01:51:57,585
commerce very quickly. These funds will actually help

1829
01:51:57,585 --> 01:52:02,784
us basically start almost a revolving fund where

1830
01:52:02,784 --> 01:52:04,784
the funds will come in, the properties will

1831
01:52:04,784 --> 01:52:06,385
be sold and the money will go back

1832
01:52:06,530 --> 01:52:09,570
to continue the program. The Baton Rouge Film

1833
01:52:09,570 --> 01:52:12,610
Commission is actually funded through this category also.

1834
01:52:12,850 --> 01:52:15,410
There's a small increase in that this year.

1835
01:52:15,810 --> 01:52:19,010
I think in 2020 or 2019 when we

1836
01:52:19,010 --> 01:52:21,295
had to reduce budgets, we took a little

1837
01:52:21,295 --> 01:52:22,975
bit of money away from that group and

1838
01:52:22,975 --> 01:52:25,535
we're now giving it back. And I'm proud

1839
01:52:25,535 --> 01:52:27,935
to say that the Baton Rouge Film Commission

1840
01:52:27,935 --> 01:52:31,455
is doing extremely well. This year alone in

1841
01:52:31,455 --> 01:52:35,295
2020, there's $81,000,000 of production that's been done

1842
01:52:35,295 --> 01:52:38,730
in Baton Rouge. The largest project was a

1843
01:52:38,730 --> 01:52:40,810
Disney production that's getting ready to have its

1844
01:52:40,810 --> 01:52:45,929
main screening. It was a $56,000,000 production. So

1845
01:52:47,050 --> 01:52:49,210
that summarizes where we are in terms of

1846
01:52:49,210 --> 01:52:51,475
our funding and where our money goes. Be

1847
01:52:51,475 --> 01:53:02,195
glad to answer any questions. Do. Okay. Councilwoman

1848
01:53:02,195 --> 01:53:06,679
Banks. In each of these categories, is it

1849
01:53:06,679 --> 01:53:13,880
possible based on a 2022 budget to break

1850
01:53:13,880 --> 01:53:16,280
down these initiatives, the ones that were current

1851
01:53:16,280 --> 01:53:21,245
based on districts? We could come back and

1852
01:53:21,245 --> 01:53:23,645
do that. Okay. I don't know about, I

1853
01:53:23,645 --> 01:53:28,205
don't know if And some of them, like

1854
01:53:28,205 --> 01:53:34,000
I was looking at I'm surprised the community

1855
01:53:34,000 --> 01:53:37,600
sponsored program, it looks like that amount, I'm

1856
01:53:37,600 --> 01:53:40,240
surprised it's only 65 because a lot of

1857
01:53:40,240 --> 01:53:44,320
programs have been sponsored through But as it

1858
01:53:44,320 --> 01:53:48,974
relates to that neighborhood revitalization, I probably did

1859
01:53:48,974 --> 01:53:53,695
miss that meeting last Tuesday. Is there a

1860
01:53:53,695 --> 01:53:57,250
department head for that? Marley Pittman who actually

1861
01:53:57,250 --> 01:53:59,810
housed in OCD. Marley who is here. Marley

1862
01:53:59,810 --> 01:54:01,330
might want to come up and give a

1863
01:54:01,330 --> 01:54:04,290
little information. Is actually going to oversee that

1864
01:54:04,290 --> 01:54:07,810
program and it's a program that Marley researched

1865
01:54:07,810 --> 01:54:11,010
and discovered and has convinced everybody that we

1866
01:54:11,010 --> 01:54:13,725
need to do a pilot program. If you

1867
01:54:13,725 --> 01:54:18,285
have time to briefly tell me who qualifies,

1868
01:54:18,285 --> 01:54:23,165
is it something that is from the top

1869
01:54:23,165 --> 01:54:27,090
down or can, is it for non profits,

1870
01:54:27,090 --> 01:54:29,489
is it for profits, how do you determine

1871
01:54:29,890 --> 01:54:34,210
programs, all that good stuff? Yes ma'am. So

1872
01:54:34,290 --> 01:54:36,130
our piece of the project is really about

1873
01:54:36,130 --> 01:54:39,170
identifying the most distressed properties that have had

1874
01:54:39,525 --> 01:54:42,645
title issues for years, if not decades. And

1875
01:54:42,645 --> 01:54:44,085
so this is a process that the city

1876
01:54:44,085 --> 01:54:46,325
can use. The ARP funding that y'all already

1877
01:54:46,325 --> 01:54:49,765
dedicated for blight work, once that property is

1878
01:54:49,765 --> 01:54:51,940
cleared of blight, to take it through a

1879
01:54:51,940 --> 01:54:55,460
court process, to then put it into the

1880
01:54:55,460 --> 01:54:57,780
land bank, so that we're then able to

1881
01:54:57,780 --> 01:55:00,739
sell that to non profits, local developers, and

1882
01:55:00,739 --> 01:55:02,900
have some community control over that property now

1883
01:55:02,900 --> 01:55:05,375
that it has cleared title. I know that

1884
01:55:05,375 --> 01:55:08,175
there we we wanna make sure that it

1885
01:55:08,175 --> 01:55:09,775
is quickly moved out of the land bank

1886
01:55:09,775 --> 01:55:13,215
and into community hands, but with cleared title,

1887
01:55:13,215 --> 01:55:14,735
they'll actually be able to get the financing

1888
01:55:14,735 --> 01:55:16,175
that they need to then do something with

1889
01:55:16,175 --> 01:55:17,695
it, so that property will be a lot

1890
01:55:17,695 --> 01:55:20,230
more useful to our local developers and to

1891
01:55:20,230 --> 01:55:21,830
our local nonprofits, and so there will be

1892
01:55:21,830 --> 01:55:24,710
a lot more interest in it. Because my

1893
01:55:24,710 --> 01:55:28,630
concern is when you said land bank. I

1894
01:55:28,630 --> 01:55:29,990
know. I'm not the man of the land

1895
01:55:29,990 --> 01:55:32,070
bank at all. No. Know. And so are

1896
01:55:32,070 --> 01:55:33,910
we still talking about the Bill Baton Rouge

1897
01:55:33,910 --> 01:55:36,285
land bank? Yes, ma'am. But what's key to

1898
01:55:36,285 --> 01:55:38,525
know is that the the reason the land

1899
01:55:38,525 --> 01:55:40,845
bank really isn't able to to live up

1900
01:55:40,845 --> 01:55:44,285
to some of those hopes that we have

1901
01:55:44,285 --> 01:55:47,245
for our community is that the enabling legislation

1902
01:55:47,245 --> 01:55:48,925
for how they were gonna clear its title,

1903
01:55:49,110 --> 01:55:51,590
it fell. And you know this, and but

1904
01:55:51,590 --> 01:55:54,469
we will actually be handling handing them titled

1905
01:55:54,790 --> 01:55:57,830
cleared title property from the Okay. So they

1906
01:55:57,830 --> 01:55:59,270
won't so we won't have to work with

1907
01:55:59,270 --> 01:56:00,790
some of those other existing issues. And then

1908
01:56:00,790 --> 01:56:02,550
they'll be able to use their equitable resale

1909
01:56:02,550 --> 01:56:05,275
model to get that back into people's hands.

1910
01:56:05,275 --> 01:56:06,474
Because our our goal is not to have

1911
01:56:06,474 --> 01:56:09,034
the auction determine these things. Sure. The other

1912
01:56:09,034 --> 01:56:11,835
thing is I'm concerned about big business with

1913
01:56:11,835 --> 01:56:14,474
big money eating up the little fish and

1914
01:56:14,474 --> 01:56:17,840
the little developers. Yes, ma'am. I'm thinking about

1915
01:56:17,840 --> 01:56:20,960
a particular piece of land that has been

1916
01:56:20,960 --> 01:56:25,440
difficult, it has been targeted by some very

1917
01:56:25,440 --> 01:56:28,320
wealthy people and I could see them using

1918
01:56:28,320 --> 01:56:34,055
this mechanism to clear title, but then there

1919
01:56:34,055 --> 01:56:38,135
are other less fortunate developers that would like

1920
01:56:38,135 --> 01:56:42,055
to have that same opportunity. And a lot

1921
01:56:42,055 --> 01:56:46,639
of these things happen absent the of the

1922
01:56:46,639 --> 01:56:50,159
council members. And so I like the idea

1923
01:56:50,159 --> 01:56:54,639
that when, for instance, ABC, when Okay. I've

1924
01:56:54,639 --> 01:56:58,000
gotten it where and and also planning where

1925
01:56:58,000 --> 01:57:00,555
they let us know what's coming down because

1926
01:57:00,555 --> 01:57:03,675
they're each one of our areas have may

1927
01:57:03,675 --> 01:57:05,915
have a focus that we're working on. And

1928
01:57:05,915 --> 01:57:08,315
and you can help to determine Right. So

1929
01:57:08,315 --> 01:57:10,315
if someone out the blue comes up with

1930
01:57:10,315 --> 01:57:12,555
their own little deal and we aren't aware,

1931
01:57:12,555 --> 01:57:16,030
that's taking resources from like, I work very

1932
01:57:16,030 --> 01:57:19,390
closely with CPEX in Scotlandville. And so if

1933
01:57:19,390 --> 01:57:22,430
I'm working with CPEX and Southern University and

1934
01:57:22,430 --> 01:57:25,390
we're going around trying to make sure that

1935
01:57:25,470 --> 01:57:28,830
the quality of life for people living, working,

1936
01:57:29,195 --> 01:57:33,035
whatever around Southern University and then somebody comes

1937
01:57:33,035 --> 01:57:35,435
and they go through this and it just

1938
01:57:35,435 --> 01:57:38,875
mess up the whole ecosystem. So I'm interested

1939
01:57:38,875 --> 01:57:41,435
in making sure, wanna know how we could

1940
01:57:41,435 --> 01:57:44,640
mitigate that, will that, And just, you know,

1941
01:57:44,640 --> 01:57:47,520
a little bit more focus on I don't

1942
01:57:47,520 --> 01:57:49,680
wanna I I don't like working six years

1943
01:57:49,680 --> 01:57:51,440
to get get us to a point and

1944
01:57:51,440 --> 01:57:53,840
then someone just come in and do their

1945
01:57:53,840 --> 01:57:56,560
thing. I mean, I think that clearly outlines

1946
01:57:56,560 --> 01:57:59,365
why we need to use the capabilities of

1947
01:57:59,365 --> 01:58:00,885
a land bank. Because we could just take

1948
01:58:00,885 --> 01:58:03,205
it to auction and then just whom Houston

1949
01:58:03,205 --> 01:58:05,445
Developers could kinda come in, use a tax

1950
01:58:05,445 --> 01:58:06,965
write off or something like talking about the

1951
01:58:06,965 --> 01:58:11,260
the service prior to that. Yes ma'am, so

1952
01:58:11,260 --> 01:58:13,020
once it's in a land bank, then the

1953
01:58:13,020 --> 01:58:15,500
land bank can adopt those community plans, can

1954
01:58:15,500 --> 01:58:17,900
work with council members to find ways to

1955
01:58:17,900 --> 01:58:20,139
sell and use that property that meets the

1956
01:58:20,139 --> 01:58:21,900
best needs of the districts, which really our

1957
01:58:21,900 --> 01:58:24,585
council members know. And I'm talking about before

1958
01:58:24,585 --> 01:58:25,945
we even get to that. So how do

1959
01:58:25,945 --> 01:58:27,945
you identify the One of my biggest points,

1960
01:58:28,105 --> 01:58:29,864
problems with land bank is that we just

1961
01:58:29,864 --> 01:58:33,704
land bank. And for me to when I've

1962
01:58:33,704 --> 01:58:36,585
got and talked to other programs that did

1963
01:58:36,585 --> 01:58:39,220
redevelopment, You don't just choose a piece of

1964
01:58:39,220 --> 01:58:43,140
land. Yeah. Used targeting, didn't And we're clear,

1965
01:58:43,140 --> 01:58:47,540
you have to have a specific plan. Yes,

1966
01:58:47,540 --> 01:58:49,220
ma'am. And as a matter of fact, anybody

1967
01:58:49,220 --> 01:58:51,060
comes You're talking my language. I You have

1968
01:58:51,060 --> 01:58:52,975
to have a plan before it even gets

1969
01:58:52,975 --> 01:58:56,175
to a land bank to qualify for all

1970
01:58:56,175 --> 01:58:59,535
these other things. Yeah. Because how often I

1971
01:58:59,535 --> 01:59:02,335
mean, these land bank, it stays forever, you

1972
01:59:02,335 --> 01:59:04,960
know? So I'm talking about where we get

1973
01:59:05,040 --> 01:59:07,440
where someone is coming to meet, they're like,

1974
01:59:07,440 --> 01:59:09,680
we're I'm trying to let's just say Scholumbert

1975
01:59:09,680 --> 01:59:12,080
Avenue. I'm trying to do the Scholumbert Avenue

1976
01:59:12,080 --> 01:59:15,920
thing and this particular property is in the

1977
01:59:15,920 --> 01:59:18,160
land bank Mhmm. And they're able to show

1978
01:59:18,160 --> 01:59:24,455
you substantial abilities and a plan, that should

1979
01:59:24,455 --> 01:59:27,415
cut before you just people just sit in

1980
01:59:27,415 --> 01:59:29,335
there. Yes, ma'am. And so I have several

1981
01:59:29,335 --> 01:59:32,440
properties like that that are in blend in

1982
01:59:32,440 --> 01:59:34,280
the land bank Mhmm. As being they don't

1983
01:59:34,280 --> 01:59:35,560
have to their title, so you can't keep

1984
01:59:35,560 --> 01:59:37,720
them with them. I don't want whatever the

1985
01:59:37,720 --> 01:59:40,520
existing land bank to you start working on

1986
01:59:40,520 --> 01:59:42,760
those property when I got some people waiting

1987
01:59:42,760 --> 01:59:44,760
with money in their pockets to do something

1988
01:59:44,760 --> 01:59:47,565
else. Ma'am. How do we avoid that? So

1989
01:59:47,565 --> 01:59:48,844
the best way to avoid that is to

1990
01:59:49,005 --> 01:59:50,125
I think it's what you said, is to

1991
01:59:50,125 --> 01:59:52,125
pick the properties in the beginning for this

1992
01:59:52,125 --> 01:59:55,005
process that are we know there's a community

1993
01:59:55,005 --> 01:59:57,405
plan for, we know that there's a community

1994
01:59:57,405 --> 01:59:59,245
partner that's ready and willing to do stuff.

1995
01:59:59,245 --> 02:00:01,170
Because I think I know that I have

1996
02:00:01,170 --> 02:00:03,330
residents that reach out to me, local developers

1997
02:00:03,330 --> 02:00:04,530
that reach out to me, same that do

1998
02:00:04,530 --> 02:00:06,850
to you. There is enough people in this

1999
02:00:06,850 --> 02:00:08,850
community who have things that they wanna achieve.

2000
02:00:08,850 --> 02:00:09,890
So we just need to work with them

2001
02:00:09,890 --> 02:00:11,330
to pick the we this is a pilot,

2002
02:00:11,330 --> 02:00:12,850
so just a little 25. It's a good

2003
02:00:13,135 --> 02:00:16,095
Pilot. So we're gonna pick those properties using

2004
02:00:16,095 --> 02:00:19,135
data, using our community partners. We'll take it

2005
02:00:19,135 --> 02:00:21,055
through this process. We'll we'll work out the

2006
02:00:21,055 --> 02:00:22,895
kinks on the small level, and then we'll

2007
02:00:22,895 --> 02:00:24,735
get to, you know, a place where once

2008
02:00:24,735 --> 02:00:25,855
it gets to the land bank, and then

2009
02:00:25,855 --> 02:00:27,510
we immediately sell it back out and we're

2010
02:00:27,510 --> 02:00:28,630
able to do what we need to do

2011
02:00:28,630 --> 02:00:31,189
as as a community with that land. Okay.

2012
02:00:31,670 --> 02:00:34,230
And then eventually get to where mister Gissel

2013
02:00:34,230 --> 02:00:35,989
said that if we're able to if this

2014
02:00:35,989 --> 02:00:37,989
works and then we're able to invest in

2015
02:00:37,989 --> 02:00:38,949
this in a real way, then we have

2016
02:00:38,949 --> 02:00:40,949
a revolving fund where we're constantly doing this.

2017
02:00:41,365 --> 02:00:43,205
Mhmm. And it might only take a year

2018
02:00:43,205 --> 02:00:44,885
for somebody to bring to you a good

2019
02:00:44,885 --> 02:00:47,525
idea, but this clear title has been abandoned

2020
02:00:47,525 --> 02:00:49,845
for ten years or more, fire, all that

2021
02:00:49,845 --> 02:00:51,685
kind of stuff. We'll be able to take

2022
02:00:51,685 --> 02:00:55,239
it through this process, land bank sold within

2023
02:00:55,239 --> 02:00:56,679
a year, year and a half, as opposed

2024
02:00:56,679 --> 02:01:00,360
to a ten year auction, prescriptive period adjudication

2025
02:01:00,360 --> 02:01:10,175
process. Yes, ma'am? Yes, ma'am? Okay. In the

2026
02:01:10,175 --> 02:01:16,014
right area. Mhmm. But I've gone from ten

2027
02:01:16,014 --> 02:01:19,695
years of promising and believing god for Scotlandville

2028
02:01:19,695 --> 02:01:21,934
area to have a full service grocery store.

2029
02:01:22,320 --> 02:01:26,719
To the possibility of having a one and

2030
02:01:26,719 --> 02:01:30,480
a half grocery store. But in the special

2031
02:01:30,480 --> 02:01:35,360
projects, how do we fit that into economic

2032
02:01:35,360 --> 02:01:39,665
development program? You know, we've done Healthy BR.

2033
02:01:39,665 --> 02:01:42,385
I've approved Healthy BR with the promise that

2034
02:01:42,385 --> 02:01:43,665
it's going to get a grocery store in

2035
02:01:43,665 --> 02:01:48,305
Scotlandville. And then once it's approved, I've heard

2036
02:01:48,305 --> 02:01:51,180
from grocery stores from the top of Bank

2037
02:01:51,180 --> 02:01:55,500
1 in downtown to Plank Road to everywhere

2038
02:01:55,500 --> 02:01:57,739
else and so of course I feel like

2039
02:01:57,739 --> 02:02:00,699
I've been I've I've been duped. Then I've

2040
02:02:00,860 --> 02:02:04,780
there's been it we've we've in the past

2041
02:02:04,780 --> 02:02:10,614
approved money for strategic retail strategies. I'm thinking

2042
02:02:10,614 --> 02:02:13,574
we are working again on Scotlandville because nobody

2043
02:02:13,574 --> 02:02:16,375
was talking about a grocery store other than

2044
02:02:16,375 --> 02:02:21,179
Scotlandville for ten years. No other it has

2045
02:02:21,179 --> 02:02:23,500
the largest food bank. It's where all the

2046
02:02:23,500 --> 02:02:26,460
interest was. But like every good plan, once

2047
02:02:26,460 --> 02:02:28,460
you start, then everybody sees it as a

2048
02:02:28,460 --> 02:02:32,075
good plan for their communities. And, you know,

2049
02:02:32,075 --> 02:02:34,235
I've heard the excuse of, well, if I

2050
02:02:34,235 --> 02:02:36,715
make it just for your community, your other

2051
02:02:36,715 --> 02:02:38,875
colleagues are going to get upset, and all

2052
02:02:38,875 --> 02:02:41,595
kind of foolishness like that. How do I

2053
02:02:41,595 --> 02:02:44,955
get to the place where there is a

2054
02:02:44,955 --> 02:02:49,620
sincere focus on a grocery store in this

2055
02:02:49,620 --> 02:02:53,219
budget, in the Scholumbier community, not that we

2056
02:02:53,219 --> 02:02:57,300
cut shortcuts, because I'm confident that we wouldn't

2057
02:02:57,300 --> 02:03:00,405
check the box that are necessary, but that

2058
02:03:00,405 --> 02:03:02,324
we go through the real plan because we

2059
02:03:02,324 --> 02:03:04,565
don't want a project that's gonna Right. And

2060
02:03:04,565 --> 02:03:08,564
that no other funds are there's a dedicated

2061
02:03:09,364 --> 02:03:12,085
funding stream just like we did with Costco

2062
02:03:13,540 --> 02:03:17,860
under Melvin Kip Holden. Like, what does it

2063
02:03:17,860 --> 02:03:20,580
take for that? We still have, and Linda

2064
02:03:20,580 --> 02:03:23,540
could correct me, we still have $750,000 that

2065
02:03:23,540 --> 02:03:25,540
was allocated for a grocery store and I

2066
02:03:25,540 --> 02:03:27,220
think the big issue has been trying to

2067
02:03:27,220 --> 02:03:31,275
find, right now it's set up for disinvested

2068
02:03:31,275 --> 02:03:34,155
community for a food desert. But that's the

2069
02:03:34,155 --> 02:03:38,475
problem. When we deal with downtown, we didn't

2070
02:03:38,475 --> 02:03:40,395
deal with city of Baton Rouge, we dealt

2071
02:03:40,395 --> 02:03:43,110
with downtown. When we dealt with Plank Row,

2072
02:03:43,110 --> 02:03:44,870
we dealt with Plank Row. When we dealt

2073
02:03:44,870 --> 02:03:46,790
with Arden Wood, we say Arden Wood. But

2074
02:03:46,790 --> 02:03:49,430
when it talks about a grocery store in

2075
02:03:49,430 --> 02:03:53,830
Scotlandville that had that had four grocery stores

2076
02:03:54,085 --> 02:03:59,044
and because of federal, state, and local disinvestment,

2077
02:03:59,045 --> 02:04:02,485
we lost those arteries. So at what point

2078
02:04:02,485 --> 02:04:06,244
is there gonna be the retail reciprocity owed

2079
02:04:06,244 --> 02:04:08,405
to the people in the community in and

2080
02:04:08,405 --> 02:04:11,830
around Scotlandville where this city says we are

2081
02:04:11,830 --> 02:04:16,150
focusing on a grocery store in the community

2082
02:04:16,150 --> 02:04:21,030
of Scotlandville. I can say as a realtor

2083
02:04:21,030 --> 02:04:23,270
from the outside, I've worked on grocery store

2084
02:04:23,270 --> 02:04:26,195
projects in other communities and the tough thing

2085
02:04:26,195 --> 02:04:29,395
there is trying to incentivize someone to come

2086
02:04:29,395 --> 02:04:31,074
in which those funds are actually there for.

2087
02:04:31,074 --> 02:04:37,155
And it has never happened, that's my I'm

2088
02:04:37,155 --> 02:04:39,315
asking Darrell to defer to me on this

2089
02:04:39,315 --> 02:04:42,490
because I think that it's something that I

2090
02:04:42,490 --> 02:04:45,930
could probably speak to a little bit more

2091
02:04:45,930 --> 02:04:51,530
in-depth as it relates to the whole grocery

2092
02:04:51,530 --> 02:04:55,445
store closing that gap. I think you will

2093
02:04:55,445 --> 02:04:57,845
recall and maybe some of your colleagues, but

2094
02:04:57,845 --> 02:05:02,085
you certainly have the longevity here. When I

2095
02:05:02,085 --> 02:05:07,765
first came in office, we started an initiative

2096
02:05:09,530 --> 02:05:12,730
with the Fresh food initiative. Yeah, but we

2097
02:05:12,730 --> 02:05:18,570
started an initiative with Together Baton Rouge that

2098
02:05:18,570 --> 02:05:22,489
asked us to use some of our resources

2099
02:05:23,045 --> 02:05:28,405
to help uplift and stand up a grocery

2100
02:05:28,405 --> 02:05:31,685
store in disinvested communities. The name of the

2101
02:05:31,685 --> 02:05:34,804
company, not really a company but nonprofit, was

2102
02:05:34,804 --> 02:05:41,200
Hope. We all came into agreement, counsel as

2103
02:05:41,200 --> 02:05:44,240
well as the administration on that would be

2104
02:05:44,240 --> 02:05:47,680
a good path forward. I will be very

2105
02:05:47,680 --> 02:05:50,480
candid with you and say that we did

2106
02:05:50,480 --> 02:05:53,205
not see the results that we thought we

2107
02:05:53,205 --> 02:05:54,885
were going to see. Now, I'm not going

2108
02:05:54,885 --> 02:05:59,285
to cast a negative light on hope. I

2109
02:05:59,285 --> 02:06:04,325
think that perhaps they it was a little

2110
02:06:04,325 --> 02:06:06,770
bit more challenging for them than than they

2111
02:06:06,770 --> 02:06:12,370
anticipated. Fast forward, as Daryl said, we still

2112
02:06:12,370 --> 02:06:17,090
have that money and that commitment. For example,

2113
02:06:17,250 --> 02:06:20,135
I want to say it was either the

2114
02:06:20,135 --> 02:06:23,175
North Baton Rouge Economic Development District or the

2115
02:06:23,175 --> 02:06:26,535
Blue Ribbon Commission. One of those groups asked

2116
02:06:26,535 --> 02:06:31,415
us to help support a study for retail.

2117
02:06:32,090 --> 02:06:33,929
And I think that I don't know which

2118
02:06:33,929 --> 02:06:35,849
group that was but it was one of

2119
02:06:35,849 --> 02:06:38,090
the groups in the North Baton Rouge area

2120
02:06:38,090 --> 02:06:40,570
that coincides with some of the work that's

2121
02:06:40,570 --> 02:06:42,889
being done in Scotlandville. Do you recall which

2122
02:06:42,889 --> 02:06:45,335
group that was? No, I know it wasn't

2123
02:06:45,335 --> 02:06:47,015
in NBR now because we know that we

2124
02:06:47,015 --> 02:06:48,775
don't need any more studies. We know that

2125
02:06:48,775 --> 02:06:51,255
together Baton Rouge for six years, I already

2126
02:06:51,255 --> 02:06:54,055
did a study on it. It was one

2127
02:06:54,055 --> 02:06:55,735
of Probably NBR now because they came in

2128
02:06:55,735 --> 02:06:57,975
late. Okay, it was one of those groups.

2129
02:06:57,975 --> 02:07:02,670
But with that being said, the commitment to

2130
02:07:02,670 --> 02:07:06,669
having closing that grocery gap, it still exists.

2131
02:07:07,469 --> 02:07:10,989
Is there a specific plan now that we

2132
02:07:10,989 --> 02:07:13,230
have all rallied around, whether it's been the

2133
02:07:13,230 --> 02:07:16,474
council or the administration? There's not a specific

2134
02:07:16,474 --> 02:07:19,275
plan at this moment, but we still have

2135
02:07:19,275 --> 02:07:22,315
the dollars. We still have the resources to

2136
02:07:22,315 --> 02:07:24,635
make that happen. And I don't think there's

2137
02:07:24,635 --> 02:07:27,195
anybody, whether it's a council member, certainly not

2138
02:07:27,195 --> 02:07:31,199
my administration, that does not want to see

2139
02:07:31,360 --> 02:07:36,400
a grocery store happen in the Scotlandville area.

2140
02:07:36,400 --> 02:07:38,960
You mentioned a few minutes ago being specific.

2141
02:07:39,360 --> 02:07:41,760
I have no problem with Scotlandville because I

2142
02:07:41,760 --> 02:07:44,240
believe that it is certainly part of the

2143
02:07:44,240 --> 02:07:47,495
fabric of North Baton Rouge. And when you

2144
02:07:47,495 --> 02:07:51,335
put a grocery store in Scotlandville, you certainly

2145
02:07:51,335 --> 02:07:54,455
help empower North Baton Rouge. So I don't

2146
02:07:54,455 --> 02:07:57,575
have a problem with that. And the administration

2147
02:07:57,575 --> 02:08:02,520
is certainly open to any plans that perhaps

2148
02:08:02,520 --> 02:08:06,199
we can incentivize. As you well know, Councilwoman,

2149
02:08:06,199 --> 02:08:09,159
there were nothing at one point, and I

2150
02:08:09,159 --> 02:08:11,000
think we all had a meeting about this,

2151
02:08:11,000 --> 02:08:14,165
a public meeting at the library where we

2152
02:08:14,165 --> 02:08:17,925
were talking about the different the potential of

2153
02:08:17,925 --> 02:08:21,445
having grocery stores in the Scotlandville area because

2154
02:08:21,445 --> 02:08:23,364
there had been a lot of discussion around

2155
02:08:23,364 --> 02:08:26,405
it. You remember that meeting? I'm not remember.

2156
02:08:26,405 --> 02:08:28,900
Is Scotlandville Library? No we had it right

2157
02:08:28,900 --> 02:08:31,619
next I probably wasn't there. Okay well some

2158
02:08:31,619 --> 02:08:35,059
of the members of the Schollerville community who've

2159
02:08:35,059 --> 02:08:36,739
been working on that and I think some

2160
02:08:36,739 --> 02:08:38,099
of them have been working with you on

2161
02:08:38,099 --> 02:08:41,875
that were at that meeting. Nevertheless, I would

2162
02:08:41,875 --> 02:08:52,680
certainly welcome any tangible strategic partnership that speaks

2163
02:08:52,680 --> 02:08:57,240
directly to let's get a grocery store in

2164
02:08:57,240 --> 02:09:04,440
Scotlandville with Plan ABC. I do believe that

2165
02:09:04,440 --> 02:09:07,335
there are some other initiatives, as you may

2166
02:09:07,335 --> 02:09:11,335
well know from some of the state legislators,

2167
02:09:11,735 --> 02:09:15,735
that are trying to certainly bring a grocery

2168
02:09:15,735 --> 02:09:19,960
store to that area as well. Listen, we

2169
02:09:19,960 --> 02:09:24,840
have room for more than one grocery store

2170
02:09:24,920 --> 02:09:28,840
when it comes to disinvested communities. So the

2171
02:09:28,840 --> 02:09:32,905
money is here. We are certainly willing and

2172
02:09:32,905 --> 02:09:35,065
ready to move forward with a plan of

2173
02:09:35,065 --> 02:09:39,705
action. So I think, you know, I hear

2174
02:09:39,705 --> 02:09:41,625
what you're saying and I've heard those things

2175
02:09:41,625 --> 02:09:45,780
before as it relates to you saying you

2176
02:09:45,780 --> 02:09:49,620
care about Schollinville and you support, but then

2177
02:09:49,620 --> 02:09:51,139
when we get down to the nuts of

2178
02:09:51,139 --> 02:09:53,940
Nabalta and we bring a plan and we

2179
02:09:53,940 --> 02:09:55,905
think we're ready to go, then you renege

2180
02:09:55,905 --> 02:09:58,145
on those plans. Well I disagree with you.

2181
02:09:58,145 --> 02:10:01,184
You continue and then I'll rebut. Yes, and

2182
02:10:01,184 --> 02:10:03,744
then so the thing about it is one

2183
02:10:03,744 --> 02:10:05,425
of the reasons why we've come up with

2184
02:10:05,425 --> 02:10:09,559
so many plans is because when there have,

2185
02:10:09,559 --> 02:10:12,599
when the goal, when you set a goal

2186
02:10:12,599 --> 02:10:15,800
such as in 2016 and you don't move

2187
02:10:15,800 --> 02:10:19,400
forward, it gives an opportunity for more people

2188
02:10:19,400 --> 02:10:22,360
to just come up with ideas because it's

2189
02:10:22,360 --> 02:10:27,625
difficult to have someone setting a precedent and

2190
02:10:27,625 --> 02:10:31,545
a leadership and stating specifically this is the

2191
02:10:31,545 --> 02:10:34,664
direction we're going. That takes leadership. And so

2192
02:10:34,664 --> 02:10:38,220
that's why we get all these people who

2193
02:10:38,220 --> 02:10:41,420
have not been vested in Schuylenville Twenty And

2194
02:10:41,420 --> 02:10:43,900
Thirty Years, go out of office forty years,

2195
02:10:43,900 --> 02:10:47,980
come back, and they have the assets and

2196
02:10:47,980 --> 02:10:50,765
they are able to get the money at

2197
02:10:50,765 --> 02:10:54,205
the federal level or the state level, you

2198
02:10:54,205 --> 02:10:55,965
know, all out the door. And if we're

2199
02:10:55,965 --> 02:11:02,844
discombobulated with no one standing and saying, this

2200
02:11:03,245 --> 02:11:05,900
is where we are and this is the

2201
02:11:05,900 --> 02:11:09,099
direction we're going. So, it has put me,

2202
02:11:09,179 --> 02:11:13,820
someone who has been fighting since 2012, to

2203
02:11:13,820 --> 02:11:16,699
get these projects off the road to be

2204
02:11:16,699 --> 02:11:20,335
in some several areas of conflict. You know,

2205
02:11:20,335 --> 02:11:23,295
when you met mention North Baton Rouge Economic

2206
02:11:23,295 --> 02:11:25,614
Development District, they weren't even the North Baton

2207
02:11:25,614 --> 02:11:29,454
Rouge Economic Development District when we started getting

2208
02:11:29,935 --> 02:11:32,810
these plans together. They had no funding. They

2209
02:11:32,810 --> 02:11:36,010
didn't even cover at that time. They didn't

2210
02:11:36,010 --> 02:11:38,250
they were not even part of our district.

2211
02:11:38,250 --> 02:11:41,929
Our district didn't even cover their boundaries. So,

2212
02:11:41,930 --> 02:11:45,255
my problem is, you know, just like we're

2213
02:11:45,255 --> 02:11:47,335
heroes for hope, we came up with a

2214
02:11:47,335 --> 02:11:49,735
plan. We we we did every the the

2215
02:11:49,735 --> 02:11:52,695
dots. You know, those developers based on your

2216
02:11:52,695 --> 02:11:54,935
word, based on you bringing that to the

2217
02:11:54,935 --> 02:11:58,614
council, based on you approving those things, and

2218
02:11:58,614 --> 02:12:01,199
now we gotta go to council we gotta

2219
02:12:01,199 --> 02:12:03,119
get the the federal people that gave us

2220
02:12:03,119 --> 02:12:05,440
the money, we done everything, and now you're

2221
02:12:05,440 --> 02:12:09,360
making the developers go ask congressman Graves and

2222
02:12:09,360 --> 02:12:12,960
congressman Carter, and they think it's laughable. And

2223
02:12:12,960 --> 02:12:16,785
so I am dis disgusted that, you know,

2224
02:12:17,025 --> 02:12:19,345
that it's lip service that we could If

2225
02:12:19,345 --> 02:12:21,825
you would come with a plan, that you're

2226
02:12:21,825 --> 02:12:23,665
gonna support it and that you don't have

2227
02:12:23,665 --> 02:12:26,065
a problem with it because in the reality

2228
02:12:26,065 --> 02:12:28,510
of it, we don't see it. And that

2229
02:12:28,510 --> 02:12:31,630
is the disgust and there's no, no, no,

2230
02:12:31,630 --> 02:12:34,990
there is no working together. You know, that's

2231
02:12:34,990 --> 02:12:37,630
me stuck out trying to help developers who

2232
02:12:37,630 --> 02:12:40,670
put all their funding on the retail side

2233
02:12:40,670 --> 02:12:43,744
based on an approval and you don't give

2234
02:12:43,744 --> 02:12:45,505
a damn about the fact that they losing

2235
02:12:45,505 --> 02:12:48,704
money every day. And that's a that's a

2236
02:12:48,704 --> 02:12:52,224
problem for me. And you have the asset.

2237
02:12:52,224 --> 02:12:54,864
You have the federal. You have the ability

2238
02:12:54,945 --> 02:12:57,185
to go to treasure. We've I've asked for

2239
02:12:57,185 --> 02:13:00,070
that. We've asked you to to show to

2240
02:13:00,070 --> 02:13:03,429
all the documentation. I've talked to finance to

2241
02:13:03,429 --> 02:13:06,710
explain what where they're different. We've done everything

2242
02:13:06,710 --> 02:13:08,469
we could do. So, for you to say

2243
02:13:08,469 --> 02:13:11,074
that if we follow that same path to

2244
02:13:11,074 --> 02:13:14,355
get a grocery store, it is is not

2245
02:13:14,355 --> 02:13:17,715
is not really something that I could put

2246
02:13:17,715 --> 02:13:20,355
my dollars on or that I could go

2247
02:13:20,355 --> 02:13:22,755
back to the people and say, the mayor

2248
02:13:22,755 --> 02:13:24,675
said, I can I no longer have that

2249
02:13:24,675 --> 02:13:27,739
kind of support or belief that you would

2250
02:13:27,739 --> 02:13:30,780
do it because you reneged on this other

2251
02:13:30,780 --> 02:13:37,500
deal? So, Councilwoman, it's unfortunate that you feel

2252
02:13:37,500 --> 02:13:43,815
that yeah, it's unfortunate that you listen, I'm

2253
02:13:43,815 --> 02:13:46,295
not gonna I'm not going, you know, I

2254
02:13:46,295 --> 02:13:49,175
could I think you have confused the truth.

2255
02:13:49,175 --> 02:13:51,255
How about we say that? And I'm not

2256
02:13:51,255 --> 02:13:53,575
gonna get into that debate. I've told you

2257
02:13:53,575 --> 02:13:55,175
time and time again, if you want to

2258
02:13:55,175 --> 02:13:57,650
talk to me about that in a civil

2259
02:13:57,650 --> 02:14:00,130
manner, you have come to my We have

2260
02:14:00,130 --> 02:14:02,130
emailed you. But you have you seen the

2261
02:14:02,130 --> 02:14:05,090
emails you Listen, listen. I'm not going to

2262
02:14:05,090 --> 02:14:07,810
debate that with you right now. I'm not

2263
02:14:07,810 --> 02:14:09,489
going to debate it with you right now.

2264
02:14:09,489 --> 02:14:11,969
If you want to have a civil conversation

2265
02:14:11,969 --> 02:14:14,955
with I have had those conversations with you

2266
02:14:15,195 --> 02:14:17,515
and you dismissed them. I have I have.

2267
02:14:17,515 --> 02:14:18,955
I've gone I've gone to every Are you

2268
02:14:18,955 --> 02:14:21,035
gonna let me talk? I listen to you.

2269
02:14:21,035 --> 02:14:24,475
But you're not Madam Leader, Councilwoman, I listen

2270
02:14:24,475 --> 02:14:26,800
to you. I am telling the truth. Mary,

2271
02:14:26,800 --> 02:14:28,719
you're I am telling the truth. Councilor. And

2272
02:14:28,719 --> 02:14:29,840
I'm not going to let you try to

2273
02:14:29,840 --> 02:14:31,520
discredit me. Well, miss. I'm not going to

2274
02:14:31,520 --> 02:14:33,440
get up here and debate with you. I'm

2275
02:14:33,440 --> 02:14:35,520
not going know the problem is you. You

2276
02:14:35,680 --> 02:14:39,120
worry about yourself. That's the problem. You're delusional

2277
02:14:39,120 --> 02:14:41,135
about some of this stuff you're talking about.

2278
02:14:41,135 --> 02:14:43,375
And call the developers, they'll tell you about

2279
02:14:43,375 --> 02:14:45,135
the money that they're The developers tell me

2280
02:14:45,135 --> 02:14:48,015
one thing and they have another conversation with

2281
02:14:48,015 --> 02:14:50,655
But let me just say this, do you

2282
02:14:50,655 --> 02:14:52,335
want to allow me a time to speak

2283
02:14:52,335 --> 02:14:53,615
or you don't? If you're not going tell

2284
02:14:53,615 --> 02:14:55,170
the truth. I'm to tell the truth. I'm

2285
02:14:55,170 --> 02:14:58,770
gonna tell the truth. All right let's see,

2286
02:14:58,770 --> 02:15:03,330
I think this one is. All right. Councilwoman,

2287
02:15:03,330 --> 02:15:06,930
the truth is when you brought that program

2288
02:15:06,930 --> 02:15:11,305
to me, I readily embraced it. I am

2289
02:15:11,305 --> 02:15:15,465
still very dedicated to the project, whether you

2290
02:15:15,465 --> 02:15:18,264
believe it or not. The proof is the

2291
02:15:18,265 --> 02:15:22,425
pudding, and we are getting to that point.

2292
02:15:22,585 --> 02:15:25,230
But the issue is, I'm going to do

2293
02:15:25,230 --> 02:15:30,349
everything decently, in order, cross every T, dot

2294
02:15:30,349 --> 02:15:33,469
every I. So I do not put you,

2295
02:15:34,030 --> 02:15:38,375
the developers, this administration, at any liability. Now

2296
02:15:38,375 --> 02:15:39,975
I'm not going if you wanna have an

2297
02:15:39,975 --> 02:15:41,735
extended conversation with me If we ask you

2298
02:15:41,735 --> 02:15:43,575
to go to U. Treasury, how that's not

2299
02:15:43,575 --> 02:15:46,215
in If if if you wanna have an

2300
02:15:46,215 --> 02:15:50,870
extended conversation with me about this in addition

2301
02:15:50,870 --> 02:15:53,430
to what we've all the information we've already

2302
02:15:53,430 --> 02:15:56,470
shared then you can do that but I'm

2303
02:15:56,470 --> 02:15:57,590
not going to do it at the budget

2304
02:15:57,590 --> 02:16:01,350
hearing. Okay thank you very much thank you.

2305
02:16:01,595 --> 02:16:04,075
Alright, at this time we're gonna ask that

2306
02:16:04,075 --> 02:16:10,315
the Office of Community Development come on down

2307
02:16:11,835 --> 02:16:14,395
and I just hope no children were watching.

2308
02:16:14,395 --> 02:16:16,700
Come on, come on baby. Children need to

2309
02:16:16,700 --> 02:16:19,500
know about debates. That's why our kids can't

2310
02:16:19,500 --> 02:16:23,260
function. They don't have a void. Thank you.

2311
02:16:33,295 --> 02:16:36,895
Good evening, council members. We'll be going through,

2312
02:16:37,135 --> 02:16:39,215
of course, the mayor's office of community development

2313
02:16:39,215 --> 02:16:41,936
budget today. The two documents that you have,

2314
02:16:41,936 --> 02:16:43,375
one is a presentation that is on the

2315
02:16:43,375 --> 02:16:46,010
screen. The other is the detailed budget as

2316
02:16:46,010 --> 02:16:47,930
well that breaks down some of the costs.

2317
02:16:48,490 --> 02:16:51,770
For the office of community development, of course,

2318
02:16:51,770 --> 02:16:54,889
we're currently staffed at four full time staffers

2319
02:16:54,889 --> 02:16:59,545
and nine contracted employees, which includes, of course,

2320
02:16:59,545 --> 02:17:01,943
our community revitalization director that you spoke with

2321
02:17:01,943 --> 02:17:04,504
earlier. It's important to note as we go

2322
02:17:04,504 --> 02:17:06,984
through the budget for the Office of Community

2323
02:17:06,984 --> 02:17:11,460
Development, it is comprised of entitlement funds as

2324
02:17:11,460 --> 02:17:14,980
well as general fund budget as well, which

2325
02:17:14,980 --> 02:17:17,540
we'll go through on the next slide. In

2326
02:17:17,540 --> 02:17:20,580
the first quarter of twenty twenty two, we

2327
02:17:20,580 --> 02:17:23,460
also went paperless in OCD. If you spent

2328
02:17:23,460 --> 02:17:25,300
any time on the Seventh Floor, you'd know

2329
02:17:25,300 --> 02:17:28,705
that we had rooms filled with boxes of

2330
02:17:28,705 --> 02:17:32,065
files that dated back into the early 2000s,

2331
02:17:32,065 --> 02:17:35,584
'20 '10. Our team has now gone paperless

2332
02:17:35,584 --> 02:17:37,985
in doing that. We also held a boot

2333
02:17:37,985 --> 02:17:40,750
camp for our new employees and hosted an

2334
02:17:40,750 --> 02:17:45,070
affordable housing developer workshop all within City Parish.

2335
02:17:45,070 --> 02:17:46,670
In the past, you've seen many of these

2336
02:17:46,670 --> 02:17:49,709
instances done through contractors or third parties, but

2337
02:17:49,709 --> 02:17:52,726
our department has taken on that task. If

2338
02:17:52,726 --> 02:17:54,325
you look behind me, you'll see a row

2339
02:17:54,325 --> 02:17:56,405
of folks. I'm really elated that they've taken

2340
02:17:56,405 --> 02:17:59,445
their time while off to join us today

2341
02:17:59,525 --> 02:18:01,844
to see and understand the proceedings of the

2342
02:18:01,844 --> 02:18:04,405
Office of Community Development, and these contractors and

2343
02:18:04,405 --> 02:18:07,205
employees are committed to the process of improving

2344
02:18:07,205 --> 02:18:09,850
our department and making sure that we are

2345
02:18:10,250 --> 02:18:12,969
putting out our federal funds in a timely

2346
02:18:12,969 --> 02:18:16,490
fashion and a compliant fashion as well. In

2347
02:18:16,490 --> 02:18:19,129
that, we've also had an annual stakeholder meeting

2348
02:18:19,129 --> 02:18:21,976
for community input for our action plan and

2349
02:18:21,976 --> 02:18:25,334
we've hosted a statewide lead hazard reduction grantee

2350
02:18:25,334 --> 02:18:27,655
meeting and many of our members have also

2351
02:18:27,655 --> 02:18:31,575
attended several community development association conferences to increase

2352
02:18:31,575 --> 02:18:34,455
professional development to be able to vet projects

2353
02:18:34,455 --> 02:18:38,641
within our community. Our major programs are funded

2354
02:18:38,641 --> 02:18:41,681
by those four entitlements, which you'll see on

2355
02:18:41,681 --> 02:18:45,841
the next slide, which is CDBG, Community Development

2356
02:18:45,841 --> 02:18:51,735
Block Grants, HOME, HOPWA, housing opportunities for persons

2357
02:18:51,735 --> 02:18:57,175
with AIDS and ESG. Within these grants, you'll

2358
02:18:57,175 --> 02:19:00,216
see under here that we've listed how these

2359
02:19:00,216 --> 02:19:02,775
funds are eligible to be used, whether it's

2360
02:19:02,775 --> 02:19:08,910
home buying activities, homeowner rehab, public facilities, public

2361
02:19:08,910 --> 02:19:12,190
services, and then with our home dollars, construction

2362
02:19:12,190 --> 02:19:16,351
and rehab for sidewalks, utility connections, soft costs,

2363
02:19:16,990 --> 02:19:20,885
also converting properties from commercial to residential, homeowner

2364
02:19:20,885 --> 02:19:25,285
rehab, and tenant based rental assistance. Speaking to

2365
02:19:25,285 --> 02:19:26,965
some of the programs that we've had within

2366
02:19:26,965 --> 02:19:29,764
these budgets, we've done many projects in the

2367
02:19:29,764 --> 02:19:32,245
North Baton Rouge area because these funds are

2368
02:19:32,245 --> 02:19:35,500
focused towards low to moderate income households. For

2369
02:19:35,500 --> 02:19:38,061
example, we've had Elm Grove Capstone Project, which

2370
02:19:38,061 --> 02:19:41,580
put $1,400,000 of home dollars in the Scotlandville

2371
02:19:41,580 --> 02:19:45,740
area. YWCA Providence Place, dollars seven and fifty

2372
02:19:45,740 --> 02:19:49,020
six thousand home project for domestic violence victims

2373
02:19:49,020 --> 02:19:52,755
with the YWCA. Central Road Rehab, which is

2374
02:19:52,755 --> 02:19:55,795
also in the Scotlandville area, 600 ks. And

2375
02:19:55,795 --> 02:19:58,915
then UREC Foster Oaks, dollars one point seven

2376
02:19:58,915 --> 02:20:01,795
million has been put in within those areas.

2377
02:20:02,435 --> 02:20:04,790
In the last three to four years, we've

2378
02:20:04,790 --> 02:20:09,431
put out approximately $10,000,000 in active housing projects

2379
02:20:09,431 --> 02:20:13,030
for low to moderate income home buyer rental

2380
02:20:13,030 --> 02:20:16,471
properties with developers within our community. And if

2381
02:20:16,471 --> 02:20:19,385
you include the C and I grant, Choice

2382
02:20:19,385 --> 02:20:21,865
Neighborhood grant that came from HUD that awarded

2383
02:20:21,865 --> 02:20:26,585
$30,000,000 to our parish, we also included $1,500,000

2384
02:20:26,585 --> 02:20:28,745
in an add on allocation to that as

2385
02:20:28,745 --> 02:20:31,545
well in entitlement funding to support land acquisition

2386
02:20:32,240 --> 02:20:34,641
and rehab that was needed to support that

2387
02:20:34,641 --> 02:20:38,320
project. If you go to the next slide.

2388
02:20:39,920 --> 02:20:42,641
The Office of Community Development within the last

2389
02:20:42,641 --> 02:20:45,760
few years has also received a large amount

2390
02:20:45,760 --> 02:20:49,275
of non entitlement funding as well. What you're

2391
02:20:49,275 --> 02:20:52,155
looking at on this slide particular is our

2392
02:20:52,155 --> 02:20:56,555
funding sources for general fund as well as

2393
02:20:56,555 --> 02:21:00,875
our entitlement programs. As you'll see, 2023 has

2394
02:21:00,875 --> 02:21:03,551
dates in that column. The reason why is

2395
02:21:03,551 --> 02:21:05,790
because we do not receive our entitlements for

2396
02:21:05,790 --> 02:21:09,631
that year until September. So the funding that

2397
02:21:09,631 --> 02:21:12,591
you'll see for fiscal year 2022 will actually

2398
02:21:12,591 --> 02:21:16,735
be spent in 2023. Some of these dollars

2399
02:21:16,735 --> 02:21:19,295
also carry over from year to year when

2400
02:21:19,295 --> 02:21:21,535
you look at the budget within the budget

2401
02:21:21,535 --> 02:21:24,095
book, so you'll see that there's increased funding

2402
02:21:24,095 --> 02:21:26,975
year over year based upon carryover from those

2403
02:21:26,975 --> 02:21:32,530
entitlement funds. For 2022 entitlement funds, again, that

2404
02:21:32,530 --> 02:21:36,450
are spent in 2023, you're looking at $3,200,000

2405
02:21:36,450 --> 02:21:40,450
in CDBG funding, dollars 2,000,000 in HOPWA funding,

2406
02:21:41,195 --> 02:21:46,155
1.5 in home funding and 273,000 in ESG.

2407
02:21:46,475 --> 02:21:48,955
Those entitlement funds is where most of our

2408
02:21:48,955 --> 02:21:54,155
dollars for our staffing, contracts and administration of

2409
02:21:54,155 --> 02:21:56,870
various grant programs and activities take place year

2410
02:21:56,870 --> 02:22:01,270
over year. There's a reduction from 2022 into

2411
02:22:01,270 --> 02:22:04,470
2023 for the general fund budget. There was

2412
02:22:04,470 --> 02:22:07,925
a special allocation of $400,000 that you all,

2413
02:22:07,925 --> 02:22:10,245
along with Mayor Broome, awarded to the Office

2414
02:22:10,245 --> 02:22:13,765
of Community Development to improve processes for our

2415
02:22:13,765 --> 02:22:16,885
home rehabilitation program, which is why you saw

2416
02:22:16,885 --> 02:22:19,925
there was a special infusion in 2022 that's

2417
02:22:19,925 --> 02:22:22,221
not a part of the normal allocation, and

2418
02:22:22,221 --> 02:22:26,860
traditionally the department receives 392,000 but you had

2419
02:22:26,860 --> 02:22:29,500
Daryl reference that there was one staff position

2420
02:22:29,500 --> 02:22:32,860
and some funding that moved from OCD to

2421
02:22:32,860 --> 02:22:35,785
the mayor's office for the grant administrator. That

2422
02:22:35,785 --> 02:22:38,665
grant administrator will also be able to support

2423
02:22:38,665 --> 02:22:41,625
grants that are available through HUD for community

2424
02:22:41,625 --> 02:22:44,104
development departments as well and this person is

2425
02:22:44,104 --> 02:22:47,785
particularly specialized in finding new funding sources for

2426
02:22:47,785 --> 02:22:51,145
gap programs that may exist within the department.

2427
02:22:52,880 --> 02:22:56,960
Next slide. Now we're gonna talk about non

2428
02:22:56,960 --> 02:23:00,160
entitlement funding which we've received several projects for

2429
02:23:00,160 --> 02:23:03,280
within the last year. You have emergency rental

2430
02:23:03,280 --> 02:23:07,155
assistance with the Treasury, lead based paint hazard

2431
02:23:07,155 --> 02:23:10,676
reduction, the American Rescue Plan dollars that went

2432
02:23:10,676 --> 02:23:16,436
specifically for home within, the Treasury program, CARES

2433
02:23:16,436 --> 02:23:19,716
Act, Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act,

2434
02:23:20,351 --> 02:23:25,710
weatherization assistance, declared disaster recovery funds and even

2435
02:23:25,710 --> 02:23:29,391
more recently CDBG disaster recovery funds which are

2436
02:23:29,391 --> 02:23:32,030
tied to a specific disaster and they must

2437
02:23:32,030 --> 02:23:34,910
be used to meet unmet needs caused by

2438
02:23:34,910 --> 02:23:38,565
that named disaster. You can look at the

2439
02:23:38,565 --> 02:23:40,726
budget breakdown of that on the next slide.

2440
02:23:41,525 --> 02:23:43,925
Rental assistance particularly I want to take some

2441
02:23:43,925 --> 02:23:45,605
time to talk about because that's a significant

2442
02:23:45,605 --> 02:23:48,485
number when you look at $80000000.80.6 to be

2443
02:23:48,485 --> 02:23:50,970
exact. On the next slide, you'll see the

2444
02:23:50,970 --> 02:23:55,130
breakdown of funding for that program. 59,000,000 of

2445
02:23:55,130 --> 02:24:00,250
that 80,000,000 is allocated to direct assistance for

2446
02:24:00,250 --> 02:24:02,890
residents, meaning those are dollars that are going

2447
02:24:02,890 --> 02:24:05,225
in the hands of tenants to make sure

2448
02:24:05,225 --> 02:24:07,945
that they are not evicted from their homes.

2449
02:24:08,585 --> 02:24:11,385
Another portion of those dollars went to the

2450
02:24:11,385 --> 02:24:14,985
eviction diversion program, which is supported by organizations

2451
02:24:15,145 --> 02:24:18,024
like Southeast Legal Services who just celebrated eleven

2452
02:24:18,024 --> 02:24:20,290
years of being in operation today that have

2453
02:24:20,290 --> 02:24:24,370
served over two forty nine families, six zero

2454
02:24:24,370 --> 02:24:27,170
nine individuals that we have prevented from being

2455
02:24:27,170 --> 02:24:31,811
homeless through the work of that program. The

2456
02:24:31,811 --> 02:24:34,265
last slide, of course, does give that information

2457
02:24:34,265 --> 02:24:37,465
particularly for the districts for the rental assistance

2458
02:24:37,625 --> 02:24:39,064
and I know that there may be particular

2459
02:24:39,064 --> 02:24:42,265
questions about many of the programs within CDBG

2460
02:24:42,265 --> 02:24:45,145
or HOME for your districts and the Department

2461
02:24:45,145 --> 02:24:47,944
of Community Development will start to host quarterly

2462
02:24:47,944 --> 02:24:51,609
meetings to give general information to the council

2463
02:24:51,609 --> 02:24:54,329
members about the projects that are happening, hold

2464
02:24:54,329 --> 02:24:57,290
ups on particular projects because just like many

2465
02:24:57,290 --> 02:24:59,930
other dollars that we see through City Parish,

2466
02:24:59,930 --> 02:25:03,195
when you have federally regulated dollars, There's compliance

2467
02:25:03,195 --> 02:25:06,476
restraints that we have to fall within, environmental

2468
02:25:06,476 --> 02:25:09,275
reviews. So these projects can span anywhere from

2469
02:25:09,275 --> 02:25:12,235
one to five or six years. That may

2470
02:25:12,235 --> 02:25:14,490
seem like a long time just hearing that

2471
02:25:14,490 --> 02:25:16,250
but there are so many phases that we

2472
02:25:16,250 --> 02:25:17,690
have to go through within that. We want

2473
02:25:17,690 --> 02:25:20,170
to make sure that we're having more conversations

2474
02:25:20,170 --> 02:25:22,090
with you all as council members to be

2475
02:25:22,090 --> 02:25:25,050
able to articulate to your residents that may

2476
02:25:25,050 --> 02:25:27,770
be contacting you about them. I'll now take

2477
02:25:27,770 --> 02:25:34,936
any questions. All by myself. First of all,

2478
02:25:34,936 --> 02:25:36,855
Courtney, you did a great job. Thank you.

2479
02:25:36,855 --> 02:25:39,735
Can you go back to slide number one?

2480
02:25:44,375 --> 02:25:50,319
Slide number two. So, entitlement funds, it was

2481
02:25:50,319 --> 02:25:54,479
my understanding that those are like extra funds

2482
02:25:54,960 --> 02:26:00,375
that are pulled from other areas, I don't

2483
02:26:00,375 --> 02:26:02,935
know if it's federal or state, but and

2484
02:26:02,935 --> 02:26:05,975
then it that's how it's not like a

2485
02:26:05,975 --> 02:26:08,774
reoccurring something you could count on, it's like

2486
02:26:08,774 --> 02:26:13,570
lame yap. So explain that to me as

2487
02:26:13,570 --> 02:26:16,051
it relates to this and is this part

2488
02:26:16,051 --> 02:26:20,690
of the proposal for 2023 because they're gonna

2489
02:26:20,851 --> 02:26:23,650
these are the entitled the city has received

2490
02:26:23,650 --> 02:26:29,886
notification of entitlement funds under these programs coming

2491
02:26:29,886 --> 02:26:32,365
in 2023? It's a little bit of both.

2492
02:26:32,365 --> 02:26:34,766
There's some some fact in that so I

2493
02:26:34,766 --> 02:26:37,325
wanna bring some articulation to it and align

2494
02:26:37,325 --> 02:26:39,565
it, the facts there. So first off, the

2495
02:26:39,565 --> 02:26:43,360
city and parish does receive annual allocations. You

2496
02:26:43,360 --> 02:26:45,200
are right, we cannot count on those until

2497
02:26:45,200 --> 02:26:47,520
we get an award letter that comes in

2498
02:26:47,520 --> 02:26:49,840
saying that we will receive them. And then

2499
02:26:49,840 --> 02:26:51,760
part two, we have to submit an action

2500
02:26:51,760 --> 02:26:53,760
plan for those dollars, which also has to

2501
02:26:53,760 --> 02:26:55,760
be approved. So there may be times that

2502
02:26:55,760 --> 02:26:58,795
you'll receive a notification and dollars may be

2503
02:26:58,795 --> 02:27:01,195
withdrawn if you're not spending them down enough.

2504
02:27:01,274 --> 02:27:05,274
These dollars are all contingent. Contingent upon criteria

2505
02:27:05,274 --> 02:27:09,194
of the program, contingent upon criteria of the

2506
02:27:09,194 --> 02:27:11,995
city parish and their prior spending from previous

2507
02:27:11,995 --> 02:27:15,940
years. For example, OCD is still managing dollars

2508
02:27:15,940 --> 02:27:20,101
as far back as 2015. We have disaster

2509
02:27:20,101 --> 02:27:22,820
dollars as far back as Gustaf and Ida

2510
02:27:22,820 --> 02:27:25,300
that are still obligated and tied up into

2511
02:27:25,300 --> 02:27:29,575
programs, however they are still on our books

2512
02:27:29,575 --> 02:27:32,136
and we're still carrying them. What you see

2513
02:27:32,136 --> 02:27:33,575
here, and if you go to the next

2514
02:27:33,575 --> 02:27:36,695
slide for fiscal year twenty twenty two that

2515
02:27:36,695 --> 02:27:41,096
says projected, these dollars were not awarded to

2516
02:27:41,096 --> 02:27:44,870
the OCD until September of twenty twenty two.

2517
02:27:45,430 --> 02:27:47,510
Our fiscal year is almost over at that

2518
02:27:47,510 --> 02:27:50,149
point. So what you're seeing here that says

2519
02:27:50,149 --> 02:27:53,029
fiscal year twenty twenty two, the spending of

2520
02:27:53,029 --> 02:27:55,909
that will happen in 2023 up to five

2521
02:27:55,909 --> 02:28:00,705
years after that. When you see 09/2023 in

2522
02:28:00,705 --> 02:28:03,186
all of those areas in September of twenty

2523
02:28:03,186 --> 02:28:05,425
twenty three, we'll be able to speak about

2524
02:28:05,425 --> 02:28:09,266
2024 spending with 2023 dollars, if that makes

2525
02:28:09,266 --> 02:28:11,186
sense. So what you hear me talking about

2526
02:28:11,186 --> 02:28:15,449
now is general fund from 2023 but program

2527
02:28:15,449 --> 02:28:19,370
year dollars from 2022. But they are the

2528
02:28:19,449 --> 02:28:21,770
are the lanyard. Some of it is and

2529
02:28:21,770 --> 02:28:23,289
some of it isn't but you all roll

2530
02:28:23,289 --> 02:28:25,050
it all in together if it had not

2531
02:28:25,050 --> 02:28:27,050
been used. So you look at every year

2532
02:28:27,050 --> 02:28:29,266
that's there. This shows the amount that we

2533
02:28:29,266 --> 02:28:32,065
were given. Yeah. And we award them every

2534
02:28:32,065 --> 02:28:34,546
year. However, if they're not used in a

2535
02:28:34,546 --> 02:28:36,785
timely fashion, there may be land yet to

2536
02:28:36,785 --> 02:28:39,105
roll over, yes, but that the rollover is

2537
02:28:39,105 --> 02:28:41,186
not reflected in what you're looking at right

2538
02:28:41,186 --> 02:28:43,840
now. Okay. Only what is awarded on paper,

2539
02:28:43,840 --> 02:28:46,160
on books every year. Okay, so that was

2540
02:28:46,160 --> 02:28:49,439
I received a notice that there was some

2541
02:28:49,439 --> 02:28:52,399
entitlement money EBR just got like two or

2542
02:28:52,399 --> 02:28:54,720
three weeks ago like 1,300,000.0, 3 point 1

2543
02:28:54,720 --> 02:28:56,604
million. So that is from the state, that

2544
02:28:56,604 --> 02:28:58,925
is state OCD, yes ma'am. So how much

2545
02:28:58,925 --> 02:29:01,965
was that? It depends on the particular program

2546
02:29:01,965 --> 02:29:03,485
but I will go, if you go to

2547
02:29:03,485 --> 02:29:05,965
the next slide, two slides back, actually one

2548
02:29:05,965 --> 02:29:09,910
more. So if you look here, two to

2549
02:29:09,910 --> 02:29:12,471
three weeks is not reflected within this, but

2550
02:29:12,471 --> 02:29:16,311
you're probably speaking about approximately one point three

2551
02:29:16,311 --> 02:29:19,190
to 1.8 that came from the state specifically

2552
02:29:19,190 --> 02:29:21,591
for infrastructure. Yeah. And I don't know if

2553
02:29:21,591 --> 02:29:24,205
you have that email up but. So when

2554
02:29:24,205 --> 02:29:27,725
it's entitlement, what I I was told that

2555
02:29:29,485 --> 02:29:33,725
when it's entitlement entitlement, it isn't it is

2556
02:29:33,725 --> 02:29:39,460
not earmarked for a particular purpose. Once it

2557
02:29:39,460 --> 02:29:42,980
becomes, once it's entitled, that it may have

2558
02:29:42,980 --> 02:29:48,500
gone out initially under, you know, a specific

2559
02:29:48,500 --> 02:29:51,380
whatever, but once it be kept, once that

2560
02:29:51,380 --> 02:29:54,295
money is left over and that pot of

2561
02:29:54,295 --> 02:29:57,095
money is given to You're probably speaking from

2562
02:29:57,095 --> 02:30:01,335
state language, and and most respectfully, our state

2563
02:30:01,335 --> 02:30:04,295
legislators are very familiar with how money goes

2564
02:30:04,295 --> 02:30:06,760
from congress to the state. When it goes

2565
02:30:06,760 --> 02:30:09,640
to the municipality, we have three layers of

2566
02:30:09,640 --> 02:30:12,840
compliance that we have to follow. Local compliance

2567
02:30:12,840 --> 02:30:16,200
for city parish, HUD compliance from the federal

2568
02:30:16,200 --> 02:30:19,415
level, and we cannot operate as a city

2569
02:30:19,415 --> 02:30:23,175
parish local jurisdiction like a state jurisdiction can.

2570
02:30:23,575 --> 02:30:25,335
Sometimes the state will give us money if

2571
02:30:25,335 --> 02:30:28,215
they have something left over. Before an entitlement,

2572
02:30:28,295 --> 02:30:31,095
we are given these dollars specific under these

2573
02:30:31,095 --> 02:30:34,000
categories and there's project uses for for each

2574
02:30:34,000 --> 02:30:35,359
category that we have to have. So the

2575
02:30:35,359 --> 02:30:38,319
only reason I was asking that is how

2576
02:30:38,319 --> 02:30:42,239
do we as council members, since it's not

2577
02:30:42,239 --> 02:30:43,920
count in, you know, like a lot of

2578
02:30:43,920 --> 02:30:46,175
times you come with your projects you don't

2579
02:30:46,175 --> 02:30:48,735
have enough money. But once we get entitlement

2580
02:30:48,735 --> 02:30:57,056
fund, how do we become a consideration for

2581
02:30:57,056 --> 02:30:59,375
this Absolutely. Every year. I got that notice,

2582
02:30:59,375 --> 02:31:01,580
I already have a plan. So how how

2583
02:31:01,580 --> 02:31:03,660
does that work? So number one, we have

2584
02:31:03,660 --> 02:31:05,340
to look at what the compliance rules are

2585
02:31:05,340 --> 02:31:07,980
for the dollars. It's great to have a

2586
02:31:07,980 --> 02:31:10,221
plan of an idea, but then you have

2587
02:31:10,221 --> 02:31:11,500
to figure out how we can put it

2588
02:31:11,500 --> 02:31:15,420
into a compliant program that will be approved

2589
02:31:15,420 --> 02:31:17,846
by HUD. I have to be very honest

2590
02:31:17,846 --> 02:31:20,405
to say over the last five years, when

2591
02:31:20,565 --> 02:31:22,485
and you're you're familiar because of the timeline

2592
02:31:22,485 --> 02:31:24,645
that you've been here, OCD in in the

2593
02:31:24,645 --> 02:31:26,966
city of Baton Rouge did not have favorable

2594
02:31:26,966 --> 02:31:30,120
consideration with HUD. Over the last five years,

2595
02:31:30,120 --> 02:31:32,600
we've worked very hard to become very compliant

2596
02:31:32,600 --> 02:31:34,920
in our projects. We've had to get red

2597
02:31:34,920 --> 02:31:37,400
tape. We've had to go back to HUD

2598
02:31:37,400 --> 02:31:39,960
and other national departments to make sure that

2599
02:31:39,960 --> 02:31:42,785
we're doing it correctly. Because when many other

2600
02:31:42,785 --> 02:31:47,585
jurisdictions may get a breeze over, city parishes

2601
02:31:47,585 --> 02:31:49,585
look through like a fine tooth comb. Yeah.

2602
02:31:49,665 --> 02:31:51,425
And that's not a problem, it's just that

2603
02:31:51,425 --> 02:31:54,421
is it our responsibility as counsel, you know,

2604
02:31:54,421 --> 02:31:55,940
so I might have a plan and yeah,

2605
02:31:55,940 --> 02:31:58,740
may or may not fit. Yes ma'am. But,

2606
02:31:58,740 --> 02:32:00,660
and hopefully I guess that's now that we

2607
02:32:00,660 --> 02:32:04,020
have an in house OCD, we need to

2608
02:32:04,020 --> 02:32:06,500
know who is the contact person who is

2609
02:32:06,500 --> 02:32:08,695
not as what I found in housing. He

2610
02:32:08,695 --> 02:32:10,775
wrote to tell me why all of a

2611
02:32:10,775 --> 02:32:13,655
sudden I don't qualify or I'm not, but

2612
02:32:13,655 --> 02:32:15,495
how do you make it work? And it

2613
02:32:15,495 --> 02:32:18,375
shouldn't take nine months, ten months. It does

2614
02:32:18,375 --> 02:32:20,936
unfortunately. We have projects that have taken over

2615
02:32:20,936 --> 02:32:23,011
two years to even get approved. Wasn't about

2616
02:32:23,011 --> 02:32:24,851
to say that. Yes ma'am. To work the

2617
02:32:24,851 --> 02:32:28,851
plan out. Yes. To present. And so it's

2618
02:32:28,851 --> 02:32:31,971
like I'm glad we got an in house

2619
02:32:31,971 --> 02:32:34,130
staff again. I think that's gonna be helpful.

2620
02:32:34,130 --> 02:32:35,730
But we really gonna need to know what

2621
02:32:35,730 --> 02:32:38,725
each person does. Sure. And know I like

2622
02:32:38,725 --> 02:32:41,285
the idea of having an in house grant

2623
02:32:41,685 --> 02:32:45,765
department because I've recommended and grants and they

2624
02:32:45,765 --> 02:32:48,165
get approved but it never comes back to

2625
02:32:48,165 --> 02:32:50,165
my district. Yes ma'am. But you know so

2626
02:32:50,165 --> 02:32:51,900
how do we, I don't know if that's

2627
02:32:51,900 --> 02:32:54,860
gonna be a case management project. I can

2628
02:32:54,860 --> 02:32:56,780
give you some information. I'm looking for more

2629
02:32:56,780 --> 02:32:59,580
inclusion. I'm not like, you know, a lot

2630
02:32:59,580 --> 02:33:01,980
of I'm not like every other council member

2631
02:33:01,980 --> 02:33:04,460
that might just wanna wait. I really am,

2632
02:33:05,095 --> 02:33:06,774
you know, if the mayor is right, I'm

2633
02:33:06,774 --> 02:33:08,135
in a hurry to get things done in

2634
02:33:08,135 --> 02:33:10,455
my history. Yes, ma'am. Am in a hurry.

2635
02:33:10,534 --> 02:33:13,015
Patience is a virtue for the Office of

2636
02:33:13,015 --> 02:33:17,494
Community Development because one, every incremental year for

2637
02:33:17,494 --> 02:33:19,255
every entitlement year, we have to put in

2638
02:33:19,255 --> 02:33:21,350
an action plan. That's it. You all approve

2639
02:33:21,350 --> 02:33:24,069
that action plan every year. Every three to

2640
02:33:24,069 --> 02:33:25,670
five years, we have to do a consolidated

2641
02:33:25,670 --> 02:33:27,590
plan. Right. You all have to approve that

2642
02:33:27,590 --> 02:33:30,390
plan every year. I will share another non

2643
02:33:30,390 --> 02:33:32,950
popular thing is meeting after meeting after meeting.

2644
02:33:33,109 --> 02:33:35,109
OCD has to do that on paper. None

2645
02:33:35,109 --> 02:33:36,505
of those are problems for me. I've been

2646
02:33:36,505 --> 02:33:38,745
through all of that. Yes ma'am. I'm just

2647
02:33:38,745 --> 02:33:41,545
saying that before we get to the action

2648
02:33:41,545 --> 02:33:44,185
plan, coming to each council member and asking

2649
02:33:44,185 --> 02:33:47,465
them for project. We legally can't do that.

2650
02:33:47,465 --> 02:33:49,470
Here's what we'd have to do. We have

2651
02:33:49,470 --> 02:33:51,310
to open up an action plan or a

2652
02:33:51,310 --> 02:33:54,590
consolidation plan. We can talk to you about

2653
02:33:54,590 --> 02:33:58,270
concepts, ideas and put together projects that may

2654
02:33:58,270 --> 02:34:00,990
have a general cost, but that project then,

2655
02:34:00,990 --> 02:34:03,070
after the action plan, has to be submitted

2656
02:34:03,070 --> 02:34:06,085
in an RFP period. If the project has

2657
02:34:06,085 --> 02:34:09,045
gone through an RFP, for example, Housing for

2658
02:34:09,045 --> 02:34:11,524
Heroes, the reason why Housing for Heroes was

2659
02:34:11,524 --> 02:34:13,925
able to be allocated or suggested for a

2660
02:34:13,925 --> 02:34:16,484
home or CDBG project, and that's still on

2661
02:34:16,484 --> 02:34:20,181
the table, is because they presented a proposal

2662
02:34:20,261 --> 02:34:23,141
in prior funding rounds for the action plan,

2663
02:34:23,221 --> 02:34:24,900
so we're able to go back to that

2664
02:34:24,900 --> 02:34:27,221
project at any given time. Sure, but Holly

2665
02:34:27,221 --> 02:34:30,980
for Heroes was approved, not presented, under ARPA

2666
02:34:30,980 --> 02:34:34,835
because it fit the ARPA mandates. Yes, ma'am.

2667
02:34:34,835 --> 02:34:36,675
And so and one of the things that

2668
02:34:36,675 --> 02:34:39,795
the expansion of the ARPA program in April

2669
02:34:39,795 --> 02:34:44,516
was because so many municipalities found the stringently

2670
02:34:44,516 --> 02:34:48,090
of using home and CDC that they actually

2671
02:34:48,090 --> 02:34:51,689
wrote guidelines to say, no, do not. You

2672
02:34:51,689 --> 02:34:55,130
all are limiting the process of ARPA. ARPA

2673
02:34:55,130 --> 02:34:57,369
is not for you to keep doing what

2674
02:34:57,369 --> 02:35:01,369
you're doing here. It's to leverage the plan

2675
02:35:01,505 --> 02:35:04,145
so that more people, and you are able

2676
02:35:04,145 --> 02:35:07,024
to do more work, not that slow process

2677
02:35:07,024 --> 02:35:10,705
that home is CDBG. And there's been a

2678
02:35:10,705 --> 02:35:16,250
huge misinterpretation that from this municipality, based on

2679
02:35:16,250 --> 02:35:18,411
what I heard when I talked to finance,

2680
02:35:18,650 --> 02:35:21,530
they were under the impression that you have

2681
02:35:21,530 --> 02:35:25,690
to be go by home guidelines, CD guidelines,

2682
02:35:25,851 --> 02:35:28,410
HUD guidelines. That is not what it said.

2683
02:35:28,410 --> 02:35:32,154
It said if it will If meets those

2684
02:35:32,154 --> 02:35:36,715
qualifications, it automatically meets OPERA. OPERA. It did

2685
02:35:36,715 --> 02:35:39,435
not mean you gotta go through those plans

2686
02:35:39,595 --> 02:35:42,395
to get OPERA. And that So, when we

2687
02:35:42,395 --> 02:35:43,755
get to that and even her, and I

2688
02:35:43,755 --> 02:35:45,770
see why we've had a problem, because we

2689
02:35:45,770 --> 02:35:48,890
are misinterpreting their plans so often. So there

2690
02:35:48,890 --> 02:35:51,050
is something that they offer called technical assistance?

2691
02:35:51,050 --> 02:35:52,650
And that's what I've been asking about for

2692
02:35:52,650 --> 02:35:54,810
nine months. Sure, so I'm gonna speak back

2693
02:35:54,810 --> 02:35:57,050
specifically to And the reason I'm so smart

2694
02:35:57,050 --> 02:35:59,130
in knowing that we're not doing right is

2695
02:35:59,130 --> 02:36:01,734
because I have a relationship with her. I

2696
02:36:01,734 --> 02:36:04,135
have a relationship with Oprah. And the reason

2697
02:36:04,135 --> 02:36:06,694
why I have been disgusted and debusted with

2698
02:36:06,694 --> 02:36:10,614
the mayor is because she's on NLSC exactly

2699
02:36:10,614 --> 02:36:12,970
the board and she won't ask them because

2700
02:36:12,970 --> 02:36:15,210
she's a mayor and she won't ask treasury

2701
02:36:15,210 --> 02:36:17,609
because she won't act wouldn't act and we've

2702
02:36:17,609 --> 02:36:19,609
been doing this nine months and those guys

2703
02:36:19,609 --> 02:36:22,649
lost money and they constantly lose money and

2704
02:36:22,649 --> 02:36:24,649
she just keep passing us on to different

2705
02:36:24,649 --> 02:36:27,136
one of her staff. Dontay just get here.

2706
02:36:27,215 --> 02:36:29,055
What's the other girl name? I'm gonna go

2707
02:36:29,055 --> 02:36:32,255
to respectfully, Councilwoman, I'll share that we can

2708
02:36:32,255 --> 02:36:34,175
go to the patients is the virtue piece

2709
02:36:34,175 --> 02:36:35,375
of this to be able to go through

2710
02:36:35,375 --> 02:36:38,655
because we for example, the YWCA Providence project

2711
02:36:38,655 --> 02:36:40,655
and I'm gonna go back to OCD Because

2712
02:36:40,655 --> 02:36:43,189
they never received AQRA funding that was approved

2713
02:36:43,189 --> 02:36:45,510
by the Right. We're speaking through OCD. So

2714
02:36:45,510 --> 02:36:47,670
I'm going back to that I apologize. Speaking

2715
02:36:47,670 --> 02:36:49,670
back to the OCD lens, you need me?

2716
02:36:49,670 --> 02:36:52,870
Okay. Back to the OCD lens, you do

2717
02:36:52,870 --> 02:36:55,350
have to go through the RFP process. Once

2718
02:36:55,350 --> 02:36:58,575
the RFP process is done, you then also

2719
02:36:58,734 --> 02:37:02,015
have to submit your projects through HUD to

2720
02:37:02,015 --> 02:37:03,694
be approved, which is that one to two

2721
02:37:03,694 --> 02:37:05,935
year project. All is understood per year. Yes

2722
02:37:05,935 --> 02:37:09,295
ma'am. When interjected that housing for heroes I

2723
02:37:09,295 --> 02:37:11,100
just answered your question. That's what got me

2724
02:37:11,100 --> 02:37:13,100
fired up. I answered your question. I wanna

2725
02:37:13,100 --> 02:37:14,460
go on record for that fact. I did

2726
02:37:14,460 --> 02:37:18,060
answer your question. Any more questions? Any questions,

2727
02:37:18,060 --> 02:37:22,060
councilman? Mayor, I hope you don't think you're

2728
02:37:22,060 --> 02:37:24,140
security I mean, you don't think I'm about

2729
02:37:24,140 --> 02:37:27,465
to like No, ma'am. Just wanted to be

2730
02:37:27,465 --> 02:37:31,545
clear. The next slide. Next slide. Yes, I'm

2731
02:37:31,545 --> 02:37:35,145
representing my people. I'm an elected official representing

2732
02:37:35,145 --> 02:37:37,785
the people. I'm just as a married and

2733
02:37:37,785 --> 02:37:39,865
I'm not being negative. Time. And I'm not

2734
02:37:39,865 --> 02:37:56,295
being yeah, Thank you. Please. Could you walk

2735
02:37:56,295 --> 02:37:58,615
me through this slide? I don't fully understand

2736
02:37:58,615 --> 02:38:01,976
it. This is specific to emergency rental assistance

2737
02:38:02,455 --> 02:38:05,255
by district. So the 80,000,000 on the previous

2738
02:38:05,255 --> 02:38:12,689
slide that was non entitlement funding, that slide

2739
02:38:12,689 --> 02:38:16,050
represents 41,000,000 of that that has been paid

2740
02:38:16,050 --> 02:38:18,210
out to date since we received those dollars

2741
02:38:18,210 --> 02:38:21,649
by districts specific only to emergency rental funds

2742
02:38:21,649 --> 02:38:25,705
from the treasury. What's the unclassified? So unclassified

2743
02:38:25,705 --> 02:38:29,865
is a bucket of projects that are not

2744
02:38:29,945 --> 02:38:34,105
labeled by address by district solely because our

2745
02:38:34,105 --> 02:38:36,186
system, and this is an internal system glitch,

2746
02:38:36,186 --> 02:38:38,425
is not sourcing it by district based upon

2747
02:38:38,425 --> 02:38:40,880
the address. These have to go back in

2748
02:38:40,880 --> 02:38:44,240
hand process to see which district those are

2749
02:38:44,240 --> 02:38:46,960
versus the computer generating them. So I wanted

2750
02:38:46,960 --> 02:38:48,400
to show the total so that's why that

2751
02:38:48,400 --> 02:38:50,960
shows there, but it's literally that these 10,000

2752
02:38:50,960 --> 02:38:53,200
are actually broken up into 12, it just

2753
02:38:53,200 --> 02:38:56,215
has to be manually processed. So District 3

2754
02:38:56,215 --> 02:38:59,814
being the district that I'm privileged to represent?

2755
02:38:59,814 --> 02:39:02,855
Yes, sir. Three fifty mean three fifty residents

2756
02:39:03,495 --> 02:39:07,015
received emergency rental assistance who were placed in

2757
02:39:07,015 --> 02:39:09,760
District 3? That is correct. That their landlord

2758
02:39:09,760 --> 02:39:12,160
and their address that they are in currently,

2759
02:39:12,399 --> 02:39:15,359
that they receive rental assistance for is within

2760
02:39:15,359 --> 02:39:17,680
District 3. That is correct. And it very

2761
02:39:17,680 --> 02:39:20,000
well may be possible that of that 10,000,

2762
02:39:20,000 --> 02:39:21,760
there may be some District 3 as well.

2763
02:39:21,760 --> 02:39:24,315
Just have to manually place them. Okay. That

2764
02:39:24,315 --> 02:39:27,436
seems like a task. So I couldn't have

2765
02:39:27,436 --> 02:39:29,996
it today, but yes. So do you have

2766
02:39:30,315 --> 02:39:34,476
funding breakdown? Gardere is obviously the area that

2767
02:39:34,476 --> 02:39:36,315
I'm most interested in. Sure. Do you have

2768
02:39:36,315 --> 02:39:39,351
a funding breakdown within the zones within East

2769
02:39:39,351 --> 02:39:41,830
Baton Rouge Parish? Not just for ERAP, but

2770
02:39:41,830 --> 02:39:44,230
for what all funding? You you named about

2771
02:39:44,230 --> 02:39:47,750
1,700,000.0 within Scottsville. Yes, You have similar data.

2772
02:39:47,750 --> 02:39:49,270
I I'd be interested in receiving it for

2773
02:39:49,270 --> 02:39:51,511
District 3. Absolutely. I do not have it

2774
02:39:51,511 --> 02:39:53,835
today. I apologize. But I can follow-up to

2775
02:39:53,835 --> 02:39:55,595
get that to you. And we are planning

2776
02:39:55,595 --> 02:39:58,314
our first scheduled meetings for each of you

2777
02:39:58,314 --> 02:40:01,515
in January. So we will have more information

2778
02:40:01,515 --> 02:40:03,114
about your district, what's The actual plan is

2779
02:40:03,755 --> 02:40:06,715
Yes, yes sir. Thank you. Thank you ma'am.

2780
02:40:08,479 --> 02:40:12,000
Thank you all. Thank you. Thank you, mister

2781
02:40:12,000 --> 02:40:16,640
Toots. And you all have a good good

2782
02:40:16,640 --> 02:40:17,040
evening.