NEW ORLEANS (WGNO) — Controversy surrounding the ‘Smart Cities’ initiative is quickly escalating. The project focused on boosting broadband connectivity across the city, but it was killed by the city council who had concerns about privacy and contract rigging.
“It was because of a lack of information, because of secrecy around this project and because of a lack of transparency, that at the end of the day is really a plague within some departments within city hall,” said New Orleans City Council President, Helena Moreno.
Thursday’s hearing came after the council subpoenaed the mayor’s administration for documents about the project. The city missed its deadline to turn those documents over. Now, the council wants to hold the mayor’s chief of staff in contempt.
“The contempt motions have been filed and they are co-authored by all seven members of the New Orleans City Council,” said JP Morell, Councilman At-Large.
James Garner, a private attorney hired by the city, said in court that turning over the documents now would hinder the Orleans Inspector General’s investigation into ‘Smart Cities’.
The council disagrees.
“I’ve talked to the I.G. many times. If he had any type of issue, he would of reached out to me directly,” said Moreno.
The council also pushed back on the city hiring Garner as its attorney.
“They’re using tax payer dollars, to hire outside council — not cheap council — to try to defy any effort to drag all the information they’re desperately trying to hide into the light,” said Morrell.
In court, Garner argued that it’s the city’s legal right to seek council.
The city also released this statement regarding the ‘Smart Cities’ controversy:
“The New Orleans City Council requested the New Orleans Inspector General (NOIG) to investigate all things related to the development of the Smart Cities project. Shortly thereafter, the Inspector General made a personal appearance at City Hall and requested computers, public and personal cell phones, and countless documents. These actions were a tacit confirmation that the NOIG heard the Council’s request and initiated an investigation.
Although the manner in which the NOIG collected documents from administration employees deviated from precedented protocol and lacked professional courtesy, the administration fully cooperated, as always, and will continue to do so.
By law, the inquiry must be independent and non-political. However, the City Council has overstepped its ethical bounds by orchestrating an inquiry that is duplicative, superfluous, and firmly rooted in politics.
Throughout the NOIG’s investigation, our office has, without protest or resistance, fully cooperated with his requests while continuing to serve the people of New Orleans. The fact that the City Council subpoena seeks the same information that the NOIG has requested – pursuant to the council’s direction – is impermissibly broad, burdensome, disproportional, excessive and is clearly an abuse of power and an unnecessary overreach.
From the minute that Council President Helena Moreno and Council Vice President J.P. Morrell led the City Council to approve subpoenas to the Office of the Mayor for the first time in over 30 years, we knew that the worst and most destructive type of politics were at play. The dedicated public servants in the Office of the Mayor only had one goal in pursuing the Smart Cities project, which was to provide relief to our disadvantaged communities by closing the digital divide that has plagued our most vulnerable. In short, Smart Cities was just, necessary, and most importantly, completely above board and legal. We welcome the NOIG’s findings which will confirm this.
We believe that instead of shadowing the NOIG’s supposedly independent inquiry, the City Council should be more concerned with working with the Office of the Mayor to focus on closing the widening technology gap for the city’s most vulnerable residents.”
The judge granted the city a temporary restraining order that prevents the council from obtaining the documents.
The next hearing will be on Wednesday, June 8, at 9:30 a.m.
