The Sewerage and Water Board of New Orleans (S&WB) is now under city control.
A law went into effect Saturday [August 1], giving the New Orleans City Council oversight of S&WB projects, budgets and contract approval.
Mayor Helena Moreno has thrown her support behind the measure, saying other parishes have control of their sewerage and water boards.
“ I think that some are thinking that on August 1, that switch will be flipped, and all of the Sewage and Water Board problems will be gone,” she said at an unrelated press conference on July 28. “That's not what's going to happen. But what I can promise is that, finally, there will be one entity — the city, the New Orleans City Council — that can hold this agency accountable.
She also highlighted how the city council takes the brunt of public blame for the state-run board’s failings, despite the city having no direct control prior to Saturday’s change, and her plans to be “pretty much clearing the whole board” once in charge.
Previously, the state oversaw the board, though city officials — including Moreno — and citizens held seats.
The city council started working on reforming the board before it officially went under their control.
At a joint Climate Change and Sustainability, and Public Works, Sanitation, and the Environment committee meeting on Thursday, July 30, council members advanced several ordinances; including one that restructures the board, one that requires the board to submit its yearly budget to the council and one that requires the board to put together a yearly emergency preparedness plan.
The joint committee also advanced several motions, including one that looked at whether the board needed both a general superintendent and an executive director.
The full city council will vote on those ordinances and motions once the board is under council control. Any changes to the composition of the board has to go before voters.
During an unplanned discussion, Executive Director Randy Hayman vigorously defended his prior experience, including overseeing similar utility operations in Philadelphia and Washington, D.C.
But Council President J.P. Morrell said those past successes didn’t make up for the board’s recent failures.
“When our homes are flooding, when pump power stations are flipping, when equipment is not being used properly, it does not give us solace that you did a really good job in two other cities,” he said.
Morrell also acknowledged that Hayman inherited a lot of issues from previous directors, and that the council wasn’t trying to speculate on the future of Hayman’s employment.
“When I look at compensation and ordinances like this, it's not about you, it's about what is in the best interest of the Sewage & Water Board as an organization,” Morrell told Hayman.
This follows years of scandals, infrastructure failures and customer complaints at the utility.
Most recently, during a rainstorm on July 11, one drainage pumping station went offline for 45 minutes due to what the board called “human error.” Another pump at an unmanned plant shut itself off, and an employee had to come in to restart it by hand. This led to flooded roadways around the city.
At a committee meeting on July 22, city council members noted that board officials didn’t seem to have many ideas of how to address those issues beyond adding more staff per pumping station.
“When we're trying to assure the public in what seems to be a rain event per week that things are gonna be different, we have to not just know what the problem is, we need to know what is the definitive answer,” Morrell told Hayman at the meeting.
Five days later, the board posted a detailed account of Hayman’s resume and accomplishments on its official website in a press release titled, “Executive Director Hayman Brings Nationally Recognized Leadership in Water, Environmental Law and Public Infrastructure.”
Amid that, on June 28, several businesses along Decatur Street in New Orleans filed an injunction against the board, saying construction to replace 100-year-old pipes had decreased foot traffic and negatively affected their businesses — including causing three businesses to close.
The city quickly made a relief fund available for affected businesses. According to a July 28 press release, more than $97,000 was disbursed to 26 businesses approved for the Business Stabilization Fund.
On July 10, Gov. Jeff Landry asked state legislators to request a legislative audit into the Decatur Street project.
“Accountability is coming!” he said in a post on social media.
It is not clear if state legislators requested the audit, nor if they can still request the audit now that the board is no longer under state control.
On July 17, S&WB officials and the Decatur Street businesses reached an agreement to remove construction barricades unless active work is being done, to give at least 72 hours’ notice before starting construction and to not suspend water connections for the affected businesses.
