New Orleans City Council votes in favor of defunding Department of Public Works

NEW ORLEANS (WGNO) — Today at a City Council meeting the New Orleans City Council voted unanimously to defund certain departments because of inefficiency.

In the Broadmoor neighborhood on the corner of Jena and Gayoso Streets where Richard Snow lives, he says the streets are horrible and they’ve been that way for far too long. His street has looked like a sandpit for about two years.

“When you’re driving one never knows what’s going to happen and then one has to make numerous detours. Can’t even ride a bike,” he said.

Snow went on to say, “The whole thing is just absurd because they start projects, they don’t seem to have any plan, they don’t ever complete them, they abandon them once they start.”

The City Council shares the same displeasure and disgust that Richard does for the street conditions. Today they voted unanimously in favor to withhold funding to a few City Departments including the Department of Public Works which is in charge of the streets and street repair.

Councilmember-At-Large JP Morrell said, “We were elected to promote accountability and transparency.”

The City’s CAO Gilbert Montano said, “We have spent the last two years asking them to do less with more, now we are asking them again to do less with more and that’s problematic.”

The Council will now review budgets and come up with a plan they say that will be transparent to the people.

“I think the defunding is an incentive. Obviously taking money away is not going to pay for the projects, but the money is. there anyways,” Snow said.

And the people just want smooth streets.

“They have. to put some sort of logic behind what they are doing,” Snow said.