(The Center Square) — The Bossier City Council is facing possible litigation after unapproved spending by city attorneys Charles Jacobs and Richard Ray on parking lots for two businesses.
The council held an executive session to discuss the issue despite public concern.
After many residents opposed the agenda executive session, the council moved forward with the session out of the public eye to discuss parking lot issues and unapproved spending.
According to the lawsuit, Bossier City attorneys Charles Jacobs and Richard Ray are accused of unapproved expenditures on parking lots.
The businesses and parties involved include Bossier Power Equipment, Scot’s Audio, and local blogger John Settle.
Settle told The Center Square he may be suing the city over a cracked slab.
“A representative of JB James came to my office for inspection this morning, took pictures, and gathered information,” Settle told The Center Square.
On March 25, it was discovered by Councilmember Brian Hammons that two new parking lots were being fixed for businesses off Benton Road without being approved by the council.
“I never saw the money come through here that we approved for that,” said Hammons.
“We did personal inspections out there concerning the condition of some of those parking lots,” said Jacobs. “Richard and myself talked to the mayor about it, and in order to basically avoid litigation we agreed after the signing of certain releases that we would go ahead and overlay or repair those parking lots.”
According to Wes Marriott with Sobo.live, the spending totaled $250,000 for the parking lots that the council did not approve.
“You’re subjecting the city to lawsuits,” said David Crockett. “What should be on the agenda today is a proposition calling for an investigation of what’s going on about the parking lots in Bossier City.”
The council entered the executive session roughly an hour into the meeting to discuss the proposed litigation, and they did not return for 45 minutes.
Council members Brian Hammons and Chris Smith chose not to attend the executive session.
“Both Councilmen Smith and Hammons have publicly advocated for increased transparency in their last three years on the council,” Marriott told The Center Square. “Their refusal to participate in the closed door session is estimate to their ideals that city business should be open to the public.”
No action was taken at the time of the meeting adjournment.
