As you know if you’ve read this blog before, I strongly
advocated for the Mayor and the Council to provide more information to the
people of Kenner so they could be informed about Mayor Yenni’s plan. Since
Mayor Yenni didn’t need a public vote, as is required in many cities including
Lake Charles, I thought that the people of Kenner deserved more input into this
plan, including deciding whether they wanted to incur this much debt for the
next 20 years.
But, that part is over now.
The Council voted 6 – 1 in favor of Mayor Yenni’s plan with
1st District Councilman Gregory Carroll stating that, while some of
his constituents supported the plan, many more were concerned about the amount
of debt that would be handed down to their children and grandchildren.
According to Mayor Yenni, the City will be able to sell the
bonds in June and get the money shortly thereafter.
So, now that there’s a lull in the process, this is the
perfect time to ask once again for the Mayor and the Council to poll the people
of Kenner. If he desired and wanted public support for his plan, Mayor Yenni
could send out a full-color mail piece, describe the proposed projects and
their costs, and ask the public if they wanted these projects or not. Maybe,
just maybe, the people might have different or better ideas for their money.
Perhaps now, we can put aside the “concepts” and show the
citizens of Kenner what Mayor Yenni is actually proposing for his $65 Million
bond deal (including the refinancing of about $14 Million in debt that would have expired in 2018). Perhaps we can set aside the Photoshopped pictures and get to
reality.
That is, if Mayor Yenni actually cared about what the people
of Kenner wanted.
As 4th District Councilwoman Maria DeFranchesch
has said on multiple occasions, “These projects aren’t written in stone.“Why not get public input? Why not hold more town hall meetings? By most estimates, about 120 – 150 people attended the 2 town hall meetings Mayor Yenni held after the Council voted on the Resolutions to move forward with the bond debt (which the Mayor had already done in advance of the vote anyway).
120 – 150 people means there are still 66,000 other Kenner
residents that still know little about this plan (except those “lucky” enough to find Mayor Yenni's "concept" video while flipping through the
channels on Cox Cable and landing on KTV).
In addition to seeking more input themselves, the Council
should also take steps to ensure that whatever projects are put before them are
completely open and transparent and that the bid process is completely
inclusive to ensure that the people of Kenner are getting the most bang for
their debt-laden buck. No member of Mayor Yenni’s Economic Development
Committee should be allowed to bid or profit from their participation in this
plan. I know that’s wishful thinking on my part but, I can dream about an open
and transparent Kenner Government.
If the projects “aren’t written in stone” now really is the
perfect time to get more public input, hold more town hall meetings, and really
poll the people of Kenner to find out what they want.
After all, it’s their money, right?