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Plaquemines Port council approves 2026 budget amendment, adds IT director position
Summary
The council amended the 2026 manpower and operating budget to add line items including a $165,940 appropriation and a proposed director of information technology position; the amendment passed unanimously and staff explained the IT role and vendor-to-in-house transition.
Commissioner Newsome presented Ordinance 6D to amend the 2026 manpower structure and operating expenditure budget and said the item inserts numerical values that were missing at the prior meeting, including an appropriation of $165,940. With the charted changes to salaries and benefits, the council voted the item passed 7–0.
During public comment, Mr. Henry asked, "could you inform the public just exactly what the director of information technology do?" Miss Bell and other staff explained the position is intended to be an in-house representative to manage cybersecurity, technology support, GIS data, GTFS feeds and to coordinate and eventually reduce reliance on outside vendors. Miss Bell said the port currently uses outside contractors for the duties and the new position will centralize daily management on site.
The ordinance included specific line-item insertions for salaries and wages, retirement and group insurance; staff said the numbers were not available at the prior meeting and had been added after fiscal reviewed them. Following discussion, the council opened the machines for voting and the item passed seven to zero.
