New Orleans Chief Administrative Officer Gilbert A. Montaño has been participating in a technically improper way as a commissioner of the obscure but vital Orleans Parish Communications District.
So has New Orleans EMS Director Dr. Meg Marino.
And John Nickens, president and CEO of University Medical Center and LCMC Health Maternal and Child Health Services.
Even Chief John Thomas, director of New Orleans public safety and homeland security, has been doing this public service without state authorization — and he chairs the district's board.
They have merely served on that important board in a manner that's inconsistent with a state law that created the board in 1982. A lot has changed since then.
For example, the statute doesn't include any of the positions the above-named citizens hold. In fact, the law says the commission must have seven members, yet it has operated with several more than that for years.
There's supposed to be someone from Charity Hospital. Charity hasn't been a functioning hospital since Hurricane Katrina. No Charity. No Charity rep.
State Rep. Jason Hughes, D-New Orleans
Same for the city's Office of Civil Defense, chief administrative officer, EMS director and public safety and homeland security director — none of which are authorized to serve under current law.
Nickens is one of the state's most important and influential health leaders in Louisiana. But LCMC is not Charity Hospital.
Near the end of the annual legislative session, which ended June 3, lawmakers unanimously approved a bill sponsored by state Rep. Jason Hughes, D-New Orleans, to address the problem — and make significant changes.
If Gov. Jeff Landry signs Hughes' bill into law, the state will change the commission's leadership structure and operations — and clarify who should work with and guide the district's executive director.
New Orleans CAO Gilbert Montaño , right
The district is the heartbeat of all kinds of emergencies in New Orleans, as are similar districts throughout the state. Nearly everyone is touched by the district's work because nearly everyone know the numbers 911. We've all heard sirens and seen ambulances, fire trucks and police vehicles rushing to one emergency or another.
Things were different when the state created the district. When I was growing up decades ago, civil defense was responsible for all nonmilitary emergencies, including fallout shelters in the event of a nuclear attack. There was even a bunker in the neutral ground between Pontchartrain and West End boulevards.
Hughes' bill keeps some appointments already in the existing law:
- The commandant of the La. Army National Guard (Jackson Barracks Unit)
- The superintendent of the New Orleans Police Department
- The superintendent of the New Orleans Fire Department
- The director of the New Orleans Health Department.
New Orleans Chief John Thomas, director of public safety and homeland security, stands with Mayor LaToya Cantrell during a 2023 Hurricane Season press conference at City Hall in New Orleans, Wednesday, May 31, 2023. (Photo by Sophia Germer, NOLA.com, The Times-Picayune)
New board seats under Hughes' bill include:
- The State Police superintendent
- The New Orleans director of the Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness
- The CEO of University Medical Center in New Orleans
- An Orleans Parish Medical Society representative
- The city's EMS director.
The existing law lets the New Orleans mayor appoint two board members "if needed to assure minority representation." The mayor loses those appointments under Hughes' bill.
The New Orleans legislative delegation and the City Council gain representation, as follows:
- Two members of New Orleans state House delegation, appointed by the House Speaker
- One member of the New Orleans state Senate delegation, appointed by the Senate president
- Two at-large members appointed by the City Council president "with the advice and consent of the council." Hughes sees them as "citizen representatives."
If Hughes' bill is signed into law by the governor, the commission would change significantly. Montaño would lose his seat. But don't cry for him. He sits on a number of boards and commissions because he is the CAO. If it's for the better, he told me, he'll gladly step aside.
When asked about the anticipated changes, Communications District Executive Director Karl Fasold said in a statement, "If [the bill is] signed, I will reach out to the existing members whose status changes and advise them, as well as contact the new members or those assigned to appoint them to fill them in. I will work with the new board, just as I’ve worked with the existing board, to carry forward the mission of OPCD."
Sometimes there's bipartisanship in the Legislature to improve how government works. Though Hughes' measure won't become law until the hurricane season is well underway, I'm confident that the new group will get up to speed quickly.
