(The Center Square) − A substitute version of Rep. Stephanie Hilferty’s Sewerage and Water Board bill would remove New Orleans-area universities from the board’s long-standing nominating process, confirming what appeared to be foreshadowed after a recent meeting with Gov. Jeff Landry’s staff.
On Thursday of last week, Moreno met with Landry’s staff to discuss House Bill 573. The proposal overhauls the Sewerage and Waterboard of New Orleans. Following the meeting, Moreno told The Center Square that the she supported the legislation.
“We had a great meeting talking about sewage and waterboard legislation, it will help the city get more control of the board and have it be more transparent,” Moreno told The Center Square. “The board had some questions about the bill, and they went up there and answered their questions. I think we’re in a good place.”
The university-backed selection committee has been embedded in state law for years. Now, committee amendments show that Hilferty will indeed move forward with a substitute bill that strips that structure from law.
The Sewerage and Water Board Selection Committee includes presidents or designees from Dillard, Loyola, Tulane, Xavier, Delgado, the University of New Orleans and Southern University at New Orleans, along with leaders from the New Orleans Chamber, the New Orleans Regional Black Chamber and the Urban League of Greater New Orleans. That committee reviews applicants and forwards three names to the mayor for each citizen vacancy on the board.
The substitute bill removes that process. In its place, it says the board’s composition may be set in the city’s home rule charter and allows the City Council, by ordinance, to prescribe rules governing the appointment, terms and service of board members. The digest accompanying the substitute explicitly states that present law creating the selection committee is removed.
The rewrite goes beyond the university issue.
It would also shift more direct authority to the City Council over the Sewerage and Water Board, including power to regulate and require approval of rates; fees and charges; annual operating budgets; capital budgets and improvement plans; board policies related to billing, finance, operations and governance; contracts entered into by the board; and the election of the executive director and the hiring of board employees.
The substitute would also change the board’s internal leadership structure. Instead of the mayor serving ex-officio as president of the board, the board itself would elect a president from its membership.
Moreno has been publicly advocating for a broader shift in authority for weeks. In a March interview with Fox 8, she said the goal was to make the board “more functional” and create “an accountability standard,” adding that giving the council more authority over board “is what that bill does.”
The proposed substitute marks a major shift from the governance model put in place more than a decade ago, when lawmakers moved away from direct City Council membership on the board and toward a nominating system designed to add independence and act as a check on mayoral control.
