Big BC Council rancor erupts over small deal

In the recent past, the Bossier City Council has had tussles over spending hundreds of thousands of dollars frivolously, even millions and tens of millions unwisely, and knockdowns, drag-outs over majorities using every trick to subjugate minority councilor (even if extremely publicly popular) interests.  But now all that over $55,000 to manage a tricky situation?

This week, the Council dropped the guillotine on the Bossier Arts Council. Previously, it cued up BAC eviction from the old city hall that had served as its headquarters – rent and city utilities free – for 45 years for failure to follow state law regarding audits. It was in default three years running, despite a city warning months ago and fulfilling basically the same request for the federal government without controversy.

Presaging the weirdness to come, the 5-2 vote had joining the sole nay vote, of Democrat Councilor Debra Ross, from the first reading the ordinance’s instigator, Republican Councilor Brian Hammons. Then shortly thereafter came Ross’ ordinance to create a new city position, salaried at $55,000 annually, that effectively would oversee the arts, or what the BAC should do.

Hammons objected, saying it poured good money after bad – the $50,000 in grant money plus $80,000 in freebies – although moments later city officials tried to argue it “saved” money because it would allow arts programming, coordinating with the BAC, instead of leaving an empty building that would have demands put on it anyway, such as school plays, while not having to “donate” the freebies. That math is fuzzy, as not giving away something for free isn’t a savings unless there was a reasonable expectation the structure could be rented instead of being still used and utilities use this would continue, but the item passed with only Hammons’ dissent.

But not before tempers flared between long-time allies Hammons and Republican Councilor Chris Smith, with the latter accusing the former of trying to take over the meeting and Hammons taking umbrage when Smith declared him unprepared and insulted him by lecturing him on the subject.

While Hammons tends to a bombastic and take-no-prisoners style when he sniffs a poor policy option, Smith rarely gets excitable, adding another dimension against type to the exchange. And as they sifted through the remaining business, a couple of other snipes were exchanged.

No doubt Hammons’ style can grate at times, but he wasn’t wrong in noting it was extra money to be spent. And the Council wasn’t wrong to yank the present freebies because the agency had demonstrated itself institutionally incapable of fulfilling responsibilities, but it did create the optics that the Council was indifferent to the arts. Countering that, the additional money definitely would keep things going, as the agency’s timeline for getting in the reports seemed to stretch months from now, so it wouldn’t seem ready to have restored a cooperative endeavor agreement for building use any time soon.

At the expense, of course, of extra money. This represents the wage of the Council for knowing what to do but not having the fortitude to do it in the most cost-effective way. If it wanted to send a message by showing the stick rather than using it and then tending to the injuries, it should have set up a series of checkpoints with deadlines to meet, telling the agency it would drop the hammer if it missed one and hoping as time went on it would get things together.

This option may not have avoided the rancor that broke out, which in retrospect could have erupted under other future circumstances, but a different approach might have saved taxpayer dollars.