New Orleans Sewerage & Water Board to consider removing City ...

Under pressure to keep politics from bogging down the latest attempt to raise water and sewer rates, the New Orleans Sewerage & Water Board's executive committee voted this week to reform its governance structure, in part by removing the three council members from the 13-member board. The committee also endorsed adding another mayoral appointee to the board, slashing members' nine-year terms to six, and capping consecutive terms at two. The full board could take it up the proposal as early as next Wednesday.

Governance of the 113-year-old agency has become a hotly-debated issue as the board scrambles to sell the proposed rate hikes to a skeptical public. Advocates have couched the changes as a way to build trust in a board that has been historically mired in patronage and political maneuvering.

"I have seen city council members attend our meeting and vote for rate increases, then go to the city council and do just the opposite," said committee member Flo Schornstein, who formally proposed the changes.

Committee chairman Ray Manning added: "Removing them from here means ... there is less, in quote, politics at this level of that process."

Officials have argued the rate increases are desperately needed to repair the city's ancient, ailing networks of water and drainage pipes. Under the latest proposal, rates would jump 10 percent every year for eight years. If approved, the average monthly residential water and sewer bills would climb from $52.50 to $86.36 in 2016.

Schornstein's proposal didn't cut as deeply as some watchdog groups would have liked. The Bureau for Governmental Research, a nonprofit group called in to advise the board on the rate hikes, wanted the all elected officials removed from the board, including the mayor. Landrieu agreed that nine members were enough, but proposed cutting an at-large citizen appointee rather than himself.

Landrieu spokesman Ryan Berni said Thursday the mayor plans to unveil his own proposal next week to change the makeup of the water board.

The board's membership has ebbed and flowed since its inception, but the one constant has been the mayor as president. From 17 members in 1899, the board ballooned to 21 in 1902 before settling at 13 in 1936.

Executive Director Janet Howard couldn't immediately be reached Thursday for comment.

Board members Beverly Wright and Loyce Wright, who aren't voting members of the executive committee, said Wednesday they were worried that reducing S&WB membership would leave some sections of the city poorly represented. So the committee split the difference.

Under the proposal that passed, the board would consist of the mayor, two representatives from the Board of Liquidation-City Debt, and eight mayoral appointments -- one for each of the five council districts and three at-large representatives.

Far from a sure thing, implementation of the committee's recommendations could take more than a year, S&WB Executive Director Marcia St. Martin said. A product of state law, the board needs the Legislature to approve any changes to its composition. On top of that, the city charter also spells out the board's composition, and would have to be changed if council members are dropped.

The Legislature doesn't meet until April. The earliest election to implement a charter change would be October 2013, St. Martin said.

Source: http://www.nola.com/politics/index.ssf/2012/11/new_orleans_sewerage_water_boa_2.html

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