City Council President J.P. Morrell will introduce a motion at the council’s July 23 meeting which, if approved, will eliminate councilmembers’ staff from the list of authorized drivers of the City Council’s take-home vehicles and require that each operator have a valid driver’s license. This action comes after complaints from members of the public including city council candidate Belden Batiste who says he circulated photos of a city council staffer repeatedly driving a take-home vehicle and brought into question the validity of that person’s driver’s license.
The City Council Vehicle Policy, commonly known as Rule 55, is part of the council’s overall rules and regulations. As currently stated, each councilmember is assigned a take-home vehicle for their full-time use which is considered a privilege that can be terminated, suspended or modified. Several years ago, a councilmember lost that privilege after a drunk driving conviction and was forced to repay the city for the vehicle’s damage.
Councilmembers are also assigned a “driver” – a commissioned law enforcement officer or a POST-certified security executive – available to accompany them to meetings outside and inside City Hall. As part of the original policy, authorized members of the councilmember’s staff were permitted to operate the vehicles – if they had a valid driver’s license and drove “in a safe and prudent manner and in accordance with law.”
In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, additional vehicles were donated to the City Council, some of which were driven by staff to assist constituents who were returning to visit their damaged homes and/or rebuild. Yet times and intent have changed. Because each officer is on call for their assigned councilmember during business hours, it is expected that any need a councilmember might have can be handled by their security personnel.
In a written statement, Morrell spokesperson Monet Brignac stated that “this rule change is to clarify what has always been the understood policy. Due to liability issues, only the Councilmembers who are assigned vehicles and their associated security personnel are authorized to drive these vehicles.”
Brignac went on to say that members of the public expressed concern that this unwritten policy was not being followed. “After consulting with central staff, it was determined the best solution was to codify what was already understood to be the policy,” Brignac concluded.
