(C) Verite News New Orleans This story was originally published by Verite News New Orleans and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . City Council nixes Nyx; city to be added as party to River District agreement [1] ['Katie Jane Fernelius', 'More Katie Jane Fernelius', 'Verite News', '.Wp-Block-Co-Authors-Plus-Coauthors.Is-Layout-Flow', 'Class', 'Wp-Block-Co-Authors-Plus', 'Display Inline', '.Wp-Block-Co-Authors-Plus-Avatar', 'Where Img', 'Height Auto Max-Width'] Date: 2024-05-17 The New Orleans City Council voted Thursday (May 16) to remove the Krewe of Nyx from the list of permitted Carnival season parades, leaving a vacancy on the Wednesday night before Mardi Gras. The council did not immediately say whether they would fill that evening slot and route with another parade. Councilmember JP Morrell, who authored the ordinance, said that the move came as part of a broader effort to reform and improve Mardi Gras. “Mardi Gras is a taxpayer-subsidized event,” Morrell said on the dais. “On average, the city spends approximately $1.5 million per day on police, fire, EMS, permitting and sanitation, among other things.” Once among the season’s largest and most well-attended parades, the Krewe of Nyx has over the past few years bled members. The problems for the krewe began in 2020, as nationwide protests erupted over the murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin. In May 2020, days after Floyd’s death, Nyx founder and captain Julie Lea, a former New Orleans Police Department officer, took to social media with a post that was widely criticized as dismissive of the Black Lives Matter movement. The following year, Lea was accused in a lawsuit of mishandling Nyx funds. A wave of krewe resignations followed, and Nyx dwindled from more than 3,000 members to just a few hundred. Attendance at the parade in the years since the controversies has been notably sparse, but the krewe has kept its slot, and the city has continued to mobilize police officers and other public employees to provide security, barricades and cleanup. “We have the right to ask whether it’s worth the cost,” Morrell said. “Are the krewes generating enough interest and turning out enough spectators to justify the resources being spent to subsidize a party?” Despite garnering headlines in advance of the meeting, Nyx had just two advocates at the meeting: a lawyer representing the krewe and one member of the krewe. “We’re a diverse group of women from all walks of life, trying to rebuild what we once had several years ago,” Nyx member Sharon Perschall, said in her public comment. “Please let us prove to you that we deserve to be here.” Pleading with the council to allow Nyx to keep its slot, Nyx’s attorney, Dean Sunseri, announced that Lea had agreed to step down. But the council was apparently unmoved, voting unanimously to revoke the krewe’s permit. River District agreement finalized The Council voted to enter into an agreement governing the $1 billion River District development. The 35-year agreement essentially gives the council the authority to levy and collect sales and hotel taxes in the new neighborhood, and bolsters how much sales tax revenue would be earmarked for affordable housing there. The vote follows a months-long dispute between the council and River District officials and developers, who had removed the council from a 35-year operating agreement on the project late last year. Following criticism from some council members over a lack of transparency on the project, River District developers said they hoped to bring the city back into the agreement. The council voted 6-1 to join the deal, with Councilmember Oliver Thomas the sole dissenting vote. Thomas did not offer an explanation for his vote. Housekeeping The council also passed several new rules pertaining to the Clerk of Council’s Office. The changes come on the heels of the council’s recent termination of longtime Clerk of Council Lora Johnson, whose bronze placard still adorns the desk of the Clerk’s seat. One of those changes was a vote to allow Assistant Clerk of Council Aisha Collier to run the meeting in Johnson’s absence. The City Council has not yet announced who will be the next clerk. Another change approved by councilmembers will allow electronic submissions to the clerk and clarify the processes for referrals of communications and withdrawals of land use matters. According to records obtained by Verite News, Johnson was terminated earlier this month after a hearing over allegations of sexual harassment and other office misconduct. Councilmembers and council staffers declined to elaborate on the details of the allegations, which were redacted from Johnson’s letter of termination. Johnson did not respond to requests for comment. In other personnel news, the council also appointed a new chief of staff. The current Chief of Staff, Paul Harang, is moving out of New Orleans after four years of working for the council. In his stead, the Council appointed Harang’s deputy chief of staff, Justyn Smith, to the position. Ceasefire protesters try new tactic More than 100 protesters rallied outside City Hall Thursday morning before flooding into the meeting to once again call on the Council to pass a resolution supporting a ceasefire in Gaza. The protest was organized by Louisiana 4 Palestine, a coalition representing the Masjid Omar mosque, Jewish Voices for Peace New Orleans and other groups. At the rally, Louisiana 4 Palestine organizer Hakm Murad handed out the bright yellow comment cards that are a staple of the regular meetings. “We’ll walk you through which agenda items to comment on,” he said. “And please be sure to say that you are not a paid actor. They always ask us if we are.” The protests have become a regular fixture at City Council meetings this year, and, in recent weeks, attendance have swelled in number after several campus protests nationwide called for a ceasefire in Gaza and divestment from Israeli companies and arms manufacturers. Just weeks ago in New Orleans, students and community members established an encampment on Tulane University’s campus, but within days, the university administration called on state and local police to raid the encampment and arrest protesters. Thursday’s protest was the largest one in the City Council chamber thus far. As the protesters filed into the meeting, they formed a long queue that snaked along the back of the room towards the comment cards desk. The Amano Pix-95, a machine that stamps an exact time on each comment card, screeched with the submission of each new card. The protesters used a new tactic this week: Instead using the passage of the consent agenda to offer public comment, as they have done in the past, participants distributed their comments thorughout the entire council agenda, so that their comments would come in regular cycles throughout the meeting. Protesters at the meeting had two central demands: for the City Council to pass a ceasefire resolution, and for the City Council to condemn the administration of Tulane and support the students. “Tulane University should be ashamed of itself for endanering its students and community members in this way,” said Amelie Daigle of the National Lawyers Guild. “152 cities have signed a ceasefire resolution, New Orleans must do the same,” said another protester. Councilmembers followed their usual tactic of not engaging with the protesters’ demands. Related Republish This Story Republish our articles for free, online or in print, under a Creative Commons license. 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