City Files 2 Lawsuits Against City Council President

Alexandria, La. (May 18, 2022) – City of Alexandria officials have filed two lawsuits against City Council President Catherine Davidson. The suits were filed this week to stop Ms. Davidson from continually and currently violating the City’s Home Rule Charter and to stop her harassment and wrongful conduct against City employees.

“Unfortunately, we have had to resort to litigation once again to protect the City’s charter from violations from Councilwoman Davidson and to protect our employees from her divisive, demoralizing, bullying and wrongful conduct,” said Alexandria Mayor Jeffrey Hall.

City officials have asked the 9th Judicial Court to declare the investigation of Mayor Hall improper and to permanently stop the investigation of Mayor Hall’s executive actions/decisions because neither Ms. Davidson nor the Alexandria City Council met the Charter requirements to investigate the executive actions or decisions of Mayor Hall or his staff.

Attorneys representing the City note Davidson is politicizing and weaponizing the issue of crime in the City for her own political gain. The suit claims that instead of objectively looking at the facts, Ms. Davidson has another, improper agenda: to divide the APD and further her political career.

“The Alexandria Police Department has provided information as requested, has met with Catherine Davidson, and attempted to answer her questions,” Hall said. “She has repeatedly rejected the facts and berated employees for no real purpose. APD employees have important work to do rather than being subjected to ludicrous and untrue allegations by Ms. Davidson.”

Recently, members of the Alexandria Police Department hosted a meeting with the media to provide information about staffing, crime trends, recruiting, and the confidentiality policy of the department. “The information is available on our APD web site,” said Chief Ronney Howard. “We are proud of the work we have accomplished at APD, and we want residents to know about that work. The men and women of APD work every hour of every day to protect and serve our citizens.”

This is the second time the City has had to resort to litigation to stop City Council actions that violate the City charter. In 2021, the Council passed an unbalanced budget in violation of the charter and state law, and the Council was required to correct its violation.