Residents, advocacy groups oppose changes to levee nominating committee in House bill before Senate transportation panel

Members of Citizens for 1 Greater New Orleans, engineers and other residents told the Senate Transportation Committee on June 4 they oppose a House bill that would alter the nominating process for members of the Southeast Louisiana Flood Protection Authority East and West.

Ruth E. Frierson, founder of Citizens for 1 Greater New Orleans, urged the committee to preserve the post‑Katrina, nonpolitical nominating structure that she said led to more technical, expert boards. "Why would we wanna dismantle the post Katrina reforms voters overwhelmingly passed and that have protected New Orleans for nearly 20 years?" Frierson asked. She described the earlier reforms as the basis for a more expert, single‑focus flood protection regime and said returning to a more political system would be dangerous for public safety.

Blair Duchene, chair of Citizens for 1 Greater New Orleans, told the committee the East authority has seen rapid turnover and governance disruption since the governor appointed a new board president in late 2024. Duchene said multiple board members and senior staff resigned, leaving the board with only five of nine members at one point and impairing the authority's ability to take two‑thirds votes required for infrastructure decisions and tax measures. "This series of events has occurred in just 6 months, and it can be directly linked to the reintroduction of political influence on flood protection," Duchene said.

Supporters of the revised bill, including the sponsor and organizations that had participated in negotiations, said the current substitute version retains an independent nominating committee and adds clarifications, such as making the Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority the custodian of nominating-committee records and authorizing the attorney general's office to provide counsel to the committee. Steven Brigopio, president of the Public Affairs Research Council of Louisiana, said the bill had been improved substantially from its original form and urged continued stakeholder engagement.

Craig Dooley, a licensed professional engineer, told the committee the governance dispute has direct public‑safety and economic implications. "How is this bill making the public safe?" he asked, urging lawmakers to consider the potential budget and infrastructure impacts if governance problems delay projects.

Representative Bro (bill sponsor) told the committee the June substitute reflects negotiations with stakeholders and limited the bill to nominating‑committee changes; he said the chairmanship and some board appointment questions remain subject to separate legislation passed last year. The committee adopted amendments including: technical fixes, a requirement that the nominating committee submit nominees for expected vacancies no later than 30 days before the regular session, permission for some members to serve a third term after 06/01/2025, and an effective‑upon‑governor signature provision.

A motion to report the bill with amendments was made and, after no recorded objections, the committee reported the measure to the Senate calendar with amendments.

Ending: The debate reflects continuing, unresolved tensions over how to balance technical expertise and political accountability in levee governance more than 20 years after Hurricane Katrina; the bill moves forward with amendments and will face additional review in the Senate and possibly further adjustments.