Mayor Broome goes one-on-one about mishandling of stormwater utility fee

BATON ROUGE, La. (WAFB) - WAFB’s Greg Meriwether talked with East Baton Rouge Parish Mayor-President Sharon Weston Broome surrounding the mishandling of the stormwater utility fee and what went wrong and how she plans on getting the public’s trust back.

In a statement on Tuesday, Oct. 18, Mayor Broome claims she was among those confused and misinformed and has asked the proposal to be scrapped altogether.

Today, a series of events have unfolded regarding the City-Parish effort to address compliance issues related to stormwater management. This issue at hand is more complex than a tweet or sound bite.
The truth of the matter is, this is a decades old issue that my administration has sought to resolve. However, we can’t do this alone. The compliance and legal components are addressed in consultation with the Parish Attorney’s office.
My administration has been under their advisement on how to negotiate settlements with the federal government, including the recommendation to enter into a non-disclosure agreement.
As the parish's chief legal counsel, we rely on the information they provide regarding the details of the NDA and its parties.
Unfortunately, an assessment of that information and that which has come to light today, has led me to the conclusion that I was misinformed regarding the federal involvement related to the NDA.
I want the citizens of Baton Rouge to know that my first option is never to place undue financial burden on them or to be less than transparent.
To that end, I am asking that this matter be removed from the council agenda until we obtain the full facts and that the metropolitan council join me in seeking answers from the parish attorney’s office and staff of the Office of the Mayor-President.
I want to ensure you I have always, and will remain committed to be, honest, open and transparent with the public on any matter relating to City-Parish government.

The statement was released after Rep. Garrett Graves refuted previous claims from officials that there was a non-disclosure agreement in place between the city and the federal government, nor was there a required timeline for the proposed stormwater utility fee.

The Louisiana representative says he spoke with officials from both the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Justice, who confirmed neither was true.

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