The New Orleans City Council begins overhauling the Sewerage and Water Board this week, with Councilmember Aimee McCarron calling the current governance a “systematic failure.”
Why it matters: It’s a once-in-a-century restructuring of who governs one of the city’s most important agencies.
The big picture: A new state law went into effect Saturday that gives the City Council authority to regulate the utility’s operations, budget and policies for the first time in history.
- Councilmembers are expected to pass a handful of ordinances Thursday that would begin implementing those changes.
- The goal, officials say, is to add clear accountability so the utility gets better at its core duties: Providing clean drinking water and pumping water out of the city.
- “We can no longer complain that ‘this is not our circus, not our monkeys,'” Council President JP Morrell said. “At this point, we own the circus.”
Zoom in: Residents should expect to see improved emergency communications, greater transparency, and clearer accountability when there’s a problem…