Drama in New Orleans: the city council vs. the mayor [new orleans]

CityBusiness reports:

The New Orleans City Council will hold a special meeting and executive session Monday with the hope of reaching a consensus on how to move forward following Mayor C. Ray Nagin’s vow to discontinue funding the full contract of sanitation services in the French Quarter.

In doing so, they are relying on an opinion letter written by Herman, Herman, Katz & Cotlar, which the Times-Picayune described as follows:

"The Home Rule Charter clearly provides that the (budget) ordinance is a law which the mayor is required to follow, like all other ordinances, " the opinion said. Further, it said, the council can seek a court order to "compel the mayor to distribute and spend funds as required" under the ordinance.

The mayor, in turn, has called any potential suit a "waste of time", relying on an opinion by the City Attorney's Office.

Posted by MBC at January 29, 2009 10:06 PM