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Residents press council over 149‑item local services agreement with Bossier Parish
Summary
Public commenters criticized a council ordinance authorizing a 149‑item local services agreement with Bossier Parish as too broad, raising questions about transparency, funding and potential eminent‑domain authority for city attorneys; council members described the list as a nonbinding 'wish list' that requires future funding votes.
Bossier City residents used public comment Friday to challenge an ordinance that would authorize the mayor to enter an amended local services agreement with Bossier Parish that lists roughly 149 cooperative projects.
Alice Boyer told the council the single agenda item obscured the number and scope of projects and accused the council of excluding some residents from speaking at past meetings. Ruth Pope Johnston and other members of the public said the listing effectively bundles many possible future projects without clear funding plans and flagged language that appears to authorize city attorneys to negotiate and execute "any and all" documents, which the commenters said could include land acquisition and therefore raise eminent‑domain concerns.
Council staff responded repeatedly that the list functions as a wish list to identify potential joint cooperation points — such as joint funding, memoranda of understanding or cooperative endeavor agreements — and that any actual project would require council appropriation and, where necessary, public process. A staff member said projects on the list may or may not come to fruition and that the city would still require future council votes to allocate funds.
"It's basically a wish list of certain projects that allows a gateway for joint cooperative endeavor agreements," a staff member said while explaining the purpose of the list. Council members reiterated that the ordinance does not obligate the city to fund the listed items immediately and that future actions would be subject to budget votes and mayoral veto rules.
The council adopted the ordinance on final reading after discussion. Members of the public continued to press for clearer public notice about the contents of such omnibus agenda items and for limits on blanket authority to execute documents without additional council involvement.
