'Fruit of the poisonous tree': Councilmember wants to repeal Stormwater Utility District after NDA mess
BATON ROUGE - An East Baton Rouge councilmember says she wants the Metro Council to repeal the Stormwater Utility District, effectively killing the mayor's stormwater plan, at its next meeting.
The council is already expected to vote down the proposal for a new stormwater fee in wake of miscommunication surrounding non-disclosure agreements at the Mayor Sharon Weston Broome's office. The chaos ultimately caused the mayor to ask that her proposal be removed from the Oct. 26 council agenda and led to the resignation of one of her most trusted aides.
Though the measure is effectively dead already, Councilwoman Laurie Adams wants to go a step further. She's asking for the council to vote on repealing the Stormwater Utility District, which would erase the already approved groundwork for the proposal and make it even more difficult to bring it to a vote in the future.
"This item was pass[ed] by the Council after receiving misleading public statements from the administration and parish attorney. In my mind, the Stormwater Utility District is fruit of the poisonous tree," Adams said in a statement Monday. "We need to repeal the district and open up transparent conversations with the residents of East Baton Rouge Parish regarding non-compliance with the Clean Water Act, maintenance of our stormwater sewer system, and the efficient use of our financial resources."
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The stormwater fee proposal is still scheduled for public discussion at the Oct. 26 council meeting.