City Council Votes to Override Mayor’s Budget Veto
Mayor Urges New Budget While Legal Process Plays Out
Alexandria, La. (May 4, 2021) — Mayor Jeffrey Hall hopes to create a dual path of resolving the legal dispute over the 2021-2022 city budget while continuing to pursue creation of a balanced budget for the city following the Alexandria City Council’s vote to overturn his veto.
“I am very disappointed in tonight’s decision of the City Council,” Hall said. “While we must take action to resolve the legal issues regarding violations of the city’s Home Rule Charter, we can’t lose sight of what we need to do to serve the needs of our residents. It is essential that we immediately begin working together to ensure we have a balanced budget that provides the much-needed pay increases for our police officers and all city employees, provides insurance relief for all city workers and funds the vital projects needed to improve Alexandria that we all agree are needed.”
Voting in favor of overturning the veto were Council President Jim Villard and council members Reddex Washington, Gerber Porter, Cynthia Perry and Catherine Davidson. Councilmen Chuck Fowler and Lee Rubin opposed. Five votes, representing a 2/3 majority of the council, were needed to override the veto.
“We will proceed as needed from a legal standpoint to ensure our actions comply with the requirements of the Charter and other statutory budget requirements. It’s my responsibility as Mayor to ensure we uphold – not undermine – the foundation of our community,” Hall said. “At the same time, residents have made it clear they want us to work together to address these critical priorities. That is what I said I would do when I ran for mayor, and it is what I will continue to work to accomplish. We have important work to be done – we must ensure we have an adequate supply of safe drinking water during emergencies, that we are doing everything we can to improve drainage and protect resident’s homes and that we are addressing infrastructure and other needed projects. The needs of our residents has been and remains my top priority.”
Contact:
Jim Smilie
Communications
318.449.5038 (Work)
318.730.1683 (Cell)
jim.smilie@cityofalex.com
