ISSUES REMAINING FOR THE CITY OF ALEXANDRIA IN 2012

"The city of Alexandria enters 2012 with many of the same issues hanging overhead that city officials hoped would be resolved during the past calendar year." (See: "Will city of Alexandria resolve hotel ownership, Cleco fees in 2012?").

THE DOWNTOWN HOTELS INITIATIVE

"The downtown hotels initiative remains unresolved, as the city remains a landlord at the Alexander Fulton Hotel, and the Hotel Bentley is still closed." id.

"Harry Silver, the new president of the Alexandria City Council, said his priorities are in line with some of the top priorities that Roy and the administration have -- SPARC, utilities and the hotels." id.

"The city severed ties with Hospitality Initiatives Partnership, the company working on uniting the Alexandria Fulton Hotel and Hotel Bentley under one ownership and management, in July and now is moving forward with a plan to sell the Fulton Hotel to Noble Hospitality Inc., which replaced HIP as the hotel's manager" and "Noble has three months to provide proof it has secured financing to purchase the hotel". id.

Meanwhile, the City keeps throwing money down the money pit known as the Alexander Fulton Hotel, including its bankruptcy litigation and payment of security interests, totally disregards a TIF plan, that will cost us no money, for the Hotel Bentley and perhaps the Fulton, we still don't know any details on the City's expenditures on the Fulton, what we are going to do in December of this year once we become the actual owner of the land upon which the Fulton sits, and no word on the secretive dealings with Bob Dean, the owner of the Hotel Bentley.

CLECO

"Nearly two years after the settlement of the city's fraud lawsuit against Cleco Corp., questions and uncertainty still abound." id. "When will city officials act on a proposed $3.75 million settlement offer to Energy Management Services, which first brought the alleged fraud to the city?" id. "The City Council has delayed voting on a settlement until all ancillary litigation is finished." id.

Actually, on the same day that the City Council was set to vote on the EMS settlement, the federal judge ordered that the payment be halted pending the outcome of the contingent attorney fee lawsuits against the City. ("E.M.S. IS IN NO WAY AT FAULT"). Despite City Attorney Chuck Johnson and Mayor Jacques Roy's show and tell demonstration of the lock box in which our Cleco money was kept, the federal judge rules that there was no money in that box. ("CHUCK'S LOCK BOX").

"How much, if anything, will the city owe attorneys, including Bridgett Brown, who were hired to work on the case?" id. "U.S. District Judge Dee D. Drell heard the attorneys' cases in August and still has the case under advisement as both sides await a ruling." id.

The much awaited ruling by Judge Drell on these cases we hope will answer the questions about Mayor Roy's possible perjury ("IN MY OPINION, MAYOR ROY MAY HAVE COMMITTED PERJURY TODAY IN FEDERAL COURT") and his treating the Cleco fraud case as his own. ("BRIDGETT BROWN'S FACTS AGAINST THE CITY OF ALEXANDRIA AND MAYOR JACQUES ROY ", and "FINDINGS OF FACT IN THE CLECO ATTORNEY FEES CASES VERSUS THE CITY OF ALEXANDRIA").

We still have gotten no rebates yet, we still have not noticed any promised savings on our electricity bills, and our current power supply agreement with Cleco is up in 2015.

(CRAPS) SPARC and PARKS

"Some progress was made, while other attempts at progress were blocked, on the city's Special Planned Activity Redevelopment Corridors initiative, known as SPARC." id. "Roy's attempts to move more SPARC projects in 2012 could be aided by a change in leadership on the City Council." id.



Several parks across the city were upgraded, while new ones were constructed in the Martin Park and Horseshoe Gardens/Deerfield/Quail Ridge neighborhoods" and new "apartments were built at the site of the old Hodges Stockbarn, but an attempt to bring a strip mall to the area was blocked by the City Council". id.

There have been complaints of unequal treatment of the parks, especially in grass cutting, and the new and updated parks seem to have been a bribe to get the Black Council members to support the mayor's SPARC programs. At a recent City Council meeting, there wasn't an objection to a strip mall and the objections were to the mayor's plans, which were rejected, to building even more apartments upon the Hodges site. ("MAYOR ROY LIED TO US ABOUT THE STOCKYARD PROPERTY COMMERCIAL DEVELOPMENT", "THE STORY OF THE NON-DISCLOSED STOCKYARD COMMERCIAL RFPs", "MORE ON THE STOCKYARD TODAY IN THE TOWN TALK" and "ALEXANDRIA CITY COUNCIL MEETS YESTERDAY: JACQUES IS SHOT DOWN").

There are still no jobs or businesses attributable to CRAPS (SPARC spelled backwards) and no explanation as to what happened to the Shaw Group which was intended to initially run the CRAPS programs. ("MONROE'S BEAUTIFICATION PROJECTS DENIED FUNDING" and "WHAT HAPPENED TO THE SHAW GROUP'S PARTICIPATION WITH CRAPS?").

BE SURE TO CHECK JACQUES' PERSONAL WEBSITE

"Alexandria Mayor Jacques Roy declined to answer questions about specific upcoming projects for 2012, referring instead to his website, www.jacquesroyformayor.com." id.

I see something wrong with having to go to Mayor Roy's personal website, which is primarily to boost his political agenda, for official City business.

NO ANIMOSITY

"Roy said he disagreed with any characterization that "animosity" existed between the council and administration, and he looks forward to working with council members in 2012." id.

"I am reluctant to, and will practice restraint, regarding comment in predictive fashion," Roy said." id.

Well this must be Jacques' plan for the future, because in the past it is a bald faced lie. One needs to look no further than the video at "THE RANTS OF JACQUES ROY" to see this.

THE CITY COUNCIL ELECTIONS

Roosevelt Johnson and Ed Larvadain, III, who have been the two toughest critics of Roy over the past several years, both are up for re-election, as is Chuck Fowler. id. "Johnson has served two terms as an at-large councilman, Larvadain is finishing his first term representing District 1, and Fowler has served District 5 since 1992." id.

Also coming up this year is the District 3 seat, vacated by Jonathan Goins earlier this month and currently filled by Jerry W. Jones Jr. id.  Both Jones and Von Jennings have announced they will seek the seat in which Mayor Roy broke a 3-3 council tie over the two candidates and appointed Jones to the council. id. ("WHO IS COUNCILMAN JERRY JONES?"and "JACQUES PULLS OFF AN OBVIOUS BUT WELL ORCHESTRATED MOVE").

All eyes will be upon Jones to see if he is truly his own man or if he will simply bee a lap dog to Mayor Roy. ("JACQUES & JERRY PAY HOMAGE TO HARRY SILVER").

OTHER REMAINING ISSUES FOR THE CITY

PAY RAISES: Despite having a $17 million surplus, there is no indication that Mayor Roy will recommend any pay raises for the rank and file City employees.

LEGAL BUDGET: Despite City Attorney Chuck Johnson and Mayor Roy's voodoo math ("ALLOCATING THE CITY'S ATTORNEY FEES"), our Legal budget was well overspent last year. When the Council refused to pass a major budget amendment, Chuck fired our City prosecutors, who were the only attorneys bringing in money to the City. Most of our legal fees were paid to the highest priced law firms in town, many of whom give contributions to the mayor.

TEMPORARY APPOINTMENTS: Despite the mayor's appointment of three (3) of his, then, staff members to the Alexandria Housing Authority (A.H.A.) over a year ago, they have not been replaced after their six (6) month terms have expired. Additionally, Mayor Roy has not named a City Finance director in over a year and the acting one was supposed to last only six (6) months.

A FULL TIME MAYOR: Despite the City Charter requiring that our mayor be full time, Mayor Roy holds down the jobs of a private attorney, a chef, and a restaurant concept designer.

AUDIT: The year before last we received an audit grade of "D" and last year we got a "C". This year, we have been written up for nine (9) audit findings. Some of these are repeat findings from previous year, such as no lease for the past three (3) years on the Johnny Downs Sports Complex.

POLICE: Mayor Roy hired newly appointed chief, Loren Lampert, without any hearings as we did before, paid him $15 thousand a year more than any other chief in history, and did so on his own initiative. Mayor Roy plans to put that increase into this year's budget. While Chief Lampert has and will initiate many of the suggestions of the Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP), he has not implemented many of Mayor Roy's pet Canadian's "SafeAlex" plans. ("DEC. 13, 2011 REPORT FROM ALEXANDRIA POLICE CHIEF LOREN LAMPERT").

LEVEES AND DRAINAGE: Since we have experienced our almost City wide flooding following the aftermath a Hurricane Gustave in 2008, the City has undertaken almost none of the drainage solutions recommended by engineer Frank Willis in February, 2009 ("DRAINAGE IN MONROE" and "YOU DON'T HAVE TO LIVE IN A MAPPED FLOOD PLAIN TO FLOOD"and the posts linked thereunder).  I have also heard of no sand boil repairs as of yet and Jacques lost this year his levee lawsuit against the federal government. ("AS I EXPECTED, ALEXANDRIA DID NOT ACCOMPLISH ANYTHING FROM ITS LEVEE LAWSUIT" and "JACQUES TRIES TO SPIN HIS LEVEE LAWSUIT TO HIS ADVANTAGE").

CHANNEL 4: The City Council still has not implemented its rules and procedure for Channel 4 yet. Council Vice President, Mitzi Gibson, has drafter some for the Council to consider in 2012. ("THE DECEMBER 14, 2011 JACQUES ROY TV SHOW AND THE CHANNEL 4 REGULATIONS"). But I see no regulations in them prohibiting the mayor from self aggrandised political statement regarding the mayor on personal views and calling names of and personal criticisms of citizens and Council members should be prohibited, and that the mayor's briefings should not allow questions from the press and news media when they are not allowed by the citizens. Further addresses by the mayor's staff, like with Joe Page, should be expressly prohibited.