Two members of the Shreveport City Council signaled Tuesday they’ll be, at their next meeting, ready to authorize the first sale of bonds voters approved in this year’s election after weeks of delay. Others said they’re not there quite yet. Others said nothing.
The Shreveport City Council for the last month has been in a rare lock-step state over the decision to delay authorizing the sale of general obligation bonds allowed by voters earlier this year to construct a slew of infrastructure projects around the city. The council wanted the administration to instead focus on abandoning the Shreveport police headquarters and beginning its reconstruction process, authorized by voters through a 2021 bond issue election but never begun because the cost of the plans had become too expensive.
In two weeks, the council again will be presented with an ordinance allowing the city to sell $88 million in general obligation bonds from the 2024 election. Their authorization is needed before the city can sell those bonds to banks and others, known as underwriters, so the proceeds then can be used to begin the streets, water and public facility upgrades Shreveport voters approved in April. The council, in its three regular meetings since Sept. 24, agreed unanimously to delay votes on the ordinance over the police headquarters.
The headquarters complex on Texas Avenue became a hot spot for intracity conflict around the same time. The week before the Sept. 24 meeting, council members asked Mayor Tom Arceneaux for the complex to be abandoned over its shabby state and potential health risks for officers from mold and mildew. But Arceneaux declined to issue the emergency declaration they requested, stating at the time he did not believe there was an emergency or that such a declaration would provide him any necessary powers.
The spat over the headquarters since has grown to include the plans to build a police substation on North Market Street, another project funded by 2021 bond sales. Council members recently raised issues with the deal that saw the land donated to the city for that project, arguing a clause requiring Shreveport use the property for public safety purposes for at least 25 years or risk ownership reverting to the North Shreveport Business Association Foundation — which they say they didn’t know about — makes it a non-starter.
The administration Tuesday introduced an ordinance asking the council to authorize the sale of $28.9 million in bonds approved by voters in 2021 for public safety buildings, including the headquarters complex. The council can vote to authorize both sales next week.
On Tuesday, two council members — Gary Brooks and Alan Jackson — signaled they were essentially satisfied with the administration’s efforts to date and would, at their next regular meeting, end their embargo and vote to approve the $88 million bond sale.
“This will be my last vote to postpone,” Brooks said. “I feel like the administration has done 90% or basically all of what we’ve asked them to do with the police headquarters.”
Jackson said he was glad the council seems ready to move forward. Though he said the police headquarters always should have been a priority, the council chairman suggested the city should be capable of handling both sets of projects at the same time.
“We have a lot of needs in this city, and I’m not on board with just holding up $88 million in ready-to-go projects for needs that we have for the citizens that voted for this money. So I am ready to push this forward,” he said. “I’ll be ready to move forward next time.”
Two other council members, Grayson Boucher and Tabatha Taylor, said Tuesday they were not yet fully satisfied or prepared to say whether they’d move the bond issue items forward at their next regular meeting.
“I’m kind of with Councilman Brooks here, but there are still some more answers I need, especially on the North Market Street substation,” Boucher said. “The mayor and the police chief have done an excellent job locating places and really have done more than I could have expected for them to do in such a short period of time. I’m pleased with the progress but I still have a few questions, and it’s nothing we can’t get done in two weeks.”
Taylor was less clear about her intentions for their next meeting. She has been one of the loudest voices on the council for pausing the bond sale until the issues with the police headquarters complex are settled.
“There are still some questions that have to be answered when it comes to tying taxpayers’ money to this bond that is extremely important before you begin to tie taxpayers’ money to another bond,” Taylor said. “What will occur within these next two weeks is definitely contingent on what this city administration does. And as they’ve been moving, then I would look to see that that movement continues.”
Councilman James Green and Councilwoman Ursula Bowman, both of whom have been vocal about prioritizing the headquarters before selling any 2024 bonds, did not comment on their plans for the next vote. Councilman Jim Taliaferro was absent Tuesday.