LATOYA CAN TRELL, MAYOR CITY OF EW ORLEANS May 24, 2018 CouncilmemberJoseph I. Giarrusso New Orleans City Council 1300 Perdido Street, Room 2W80 New Orleans, Louisiana 70112 DearJoe: I am in receipt of your May 10, 2018, letter to the Sewerage and Water Board Although your letter was not addressed to the Mayor of the City of New Orleans, I feel it necessary to reply in my dual capacities as President of the and as Mayor. i also write this letter from the perspective of a former City Councilmember who worked tirelessly with many others to begin reforming the based on my experiences during the August 2017 floods and resulting aftermath. This work cannot be done in silos. It calls for us to work together to put systems in place that create innovative reforms and solutions. As a former Councilmember, I respect and appreciate your appeal for accountability and transparency for the residents of New Orleans. Your requests for more in-depth quarterly reports, as required by Louisiana Revised Statute 33:4091, are an example of your commitment to the people of New Orleans. I am encouraged by your drive and fueled by your persistence. In fact, as a Councilmember, lodged the same complaints and harbored the same frustrations over lack of information and transparency. As President of the I am learning even more about the delicate operations and aging infrastructure. I want to work hand-in-hand with the Council as well as the current leadership and board members at the to hold the to higher standards of transparency, accountability and service to the people of New Orleans. Together, we will ensure that the people of our city will have access to high- performing, professional and responsible sewerage, water and drainage systems. Through the direction of the Board of Directors and myself and at the behest of past and current Councilmembers and the public, the is completely changing the way it communicates information. It soon will be using a revamped website with public dashboards to track progress and regularly provide updates to the public. It also is working tirelessly to identify and correct billing issues and deficiencies caused by a broken billing system. In fact, it set a goal of reducing half of the backlog of billing irregularities by July 2018. The also is improving its capability to provide the type of information requested in your letter. One thing we can all agree on is there are tireless public servants at the I look forward to working hand? in-hand with the New Orleans City Council and the Board to continue to create change for the people of New Orleans. The way is in our front and we will get there. At its most recent Board meeting, the Board formed a committee to appoint an Acting Director and search for a new Executive Director in light of the impending departure of Marcie Edwards. Jade Brown-Russell has been named the Acting Director of the Sewerage and Water Board and recommendations will soon be made to the full Board in regards to a permanent General Superintendent and Finance Director. In order to continue moving forward, we must attract top talent and retain current staff support. While I admire the tenacity of 1300 PERDIDO STREET SUITE 2E04 NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA 70112 PHONE 504.658.4900 FAX 504.658.4938 the Council and firmness of the public for answers, the demands and perceived tone of the letter have discouraged Board involvement and engagement. As we hold them to high standards, we must remember that neither the Board members nor the employees are our enemies. It is incumbent upon us to work with them to benefit the people of our city. Furthermore, the scale and scope of the problems are bigger than any one agency and one set of metrics. We are laser focused on addressing the whole of the challenge through forward thinking actions as the City learns to live with water and adopts ways to harness water during rain events. Specifically, we are reviewing the existing contracts and contractors the City had in place prior to our administration to ensure work moves speedily. Additionally, we are identifying funding factors to determine the most rapid way of getting projects moving forward. We are working closely with FEMA, GOHSEP and others to unclog the funding bottlenecks we inherited for green infrastructure and other projects and are moving projects past the design phases and toward completion. We also are searching for funding to implement the urban water plan and fast track green infrastructure projects that will capture water in place and store it temporarily, instead of allowing it to run into our storm drains immediately. We are including porous paving techniques into City projects and public green spaces and are looking into ways to incentivize private property owners to do the same and to curb the careless dumping of litter that ends up clogging our catch basins. With regard to the catch basins, we are developing and implementing a more efficient system for deploying catch basin cleaning trucks to more flood-prone areas in advance of major rain storms. This will ensure that our drainage system works as effectively as possible during substantial rainfall events. Finally, the newly appointed Deputy CAO of Infrastructure is creating a seamless connection between the and DPW. New Orleans City Councilmembers, I am so grateful to be working alongside you over these next four years as we work together to reform the and make New Orleans the best version of herself that we know she can be. cc: CouncilmemberJason Rogers Williams Councilmember Helena Moreno CouncilmemberJay Banks Councilmember Kristen Palmer CouncilmemberJared Brossett Councilmember Cyndi Nguyen