Bureau of Governmental Research

Monitoring and reporting on local government issues: in 2022, bgr reported on many complex issues in local governance. With it's on the ballot reports, it provided voters with information on a november 8th charter amendment that requires city council confirmation of department heads appointed by the mayor. In the spring, bgr reported on several tax propositions, including a new sales tax in st. tammany parish to support the district attorney's criminal division; a new millage in orleans parish to fund early childhood education programs; and a new property tax in jefferson parish for increasing salaries for the sheriff's office employees. Bgr also issued a report calling for local governments across the state to continue the pandemic-era policy of livestreaming and archiving recordings of their (cont'd on sch. O) meetings which would serve to increase public transparency and accountability. In its "keys to the jail" report, bgr analyzes the governance structure of the new orleans jail and ways in which the current system has led to deficiencies in jail governance, the state of the jail, and other chronic problems it faces. With this in mind, bgr outlines a variety of recommendations that will improve the jail's performance and yield long-term benefits for the jail's administration and its detainees. Bgr also continued its reporting on pandemic-era federal relief funds with "managing the windfall", a report that tracked the use of these funds and provided suggestions on how to be more transparent about its use of these funds in the future. In 2022, bgr Research staff monitored more than 70 state and local government agencies throughout the new orleans area, including the new orleans city council and its committees. Bgr also tracked the Louisiana legislature and any bills that were of particular importance to the local community.after Research is completed, bgr pursues proper implementation of their recommendations, sometimes over the course of many years. This is done through a series of follow-up publications and outreach to citizens groups, the media, decision-makers, and other key stakeholders in relevant policy areas. In terms of effectiveness, bgr has had successful positions on ballot results 81% of the time since 2014. Another measure of bgr's impact is its presence in the media and level of engagement with their content. In 2022, the news media cited bgr reports 65 times. For its work, bgr has received many awards and recognitions in 2022 including the Governmental Research association's (gra) certificate of merit for distinguished Research and the certificate of merit for outstanding policy achievement. Bgr's work serves citizens across many localities including jefferson, orleans, and st. tammany parishes. Based on 2020 u.s. census data, the potential reach of bgr's monitoring and reporting is approximately 1,083,348 people.

Excellence in government awards: since 1994, this biennial ceremony recognizes employees in public service for their outstanding performance and creative problem solving and private citizens for their extraordinary contributions to local government. In 2022, bgr awarded 10 exceptional individuals and teams from orleans, jefferson, st. tammany, and st. charles parishes for their remarkable efforts and results in local government. The ceremony includes four award categories: the merit award is given to public employees that have shown outstanding performance; the innovation award recognizes employees whose ingenuity and innovation have helped solve pressing issues in their constituencies; the lifetime achievement award recognizes sustained performance over a career in (cont'd on sch. O) public service; and the citizenship award is given to a private citizen who has worked to improve the quality and performance of government.the 2022 ceremony recognized the customer service manager for the orleans sewerage and water board for her brilliant stewardship during hurricane ida and the covid-19 pandemic; a team from the st. charles parish emergency operations center for their consistent and resilient responses to emergency situations in their area; a team from the st. charles parish assessor's office for their rapid process to reassess damaged property after hurricane ida, assisting the affected taxpayers while maintaining the schedule for tax collection in 2021; the chief operations officer for new orleans public schools for her rapid, pivotal work to maintain meal services for students and increase access to covid-19 testing during the pandemic; the st. tammany chief financial officer for her dedicated work and public service throughout the years and a private citizen for her efforts against a tax proposition that would lower funds to orleans' library system. The 2022 event returned to a normal in-person modality and was also recorded and posted on the main bgr website to increase its visibility. Bgr staff garnered a robust field of nominees by actively promoting the competition on social media and promoted the winners on social media to highlight the work of dedicated public servants who exemplify bgr's values in their work. The excellence in government program incentivizes public sector achievement and civic engagement, which aligns with bgr's mission and benefits the community at large.

Breakfast briefings: bgr's breakfast briefings are public forums where experts and decision-makers are invited to share their thoughts on major public policy issues in the area. These events keep citizens informed and motivate civic engagement and an informed public policy dialogue, all of which are key components of bgr's mission and essential ingredients for effective government. In 2022, bgr hosted 4 of these events, three of which were a part of bgr's series on public safety and law enforcement. The first of these events included lamar gardere, executive director of the data center, and jeff asher, co-founder of ah datalytics, where they shared their insights on crime and some of its root causes in the orleans area. The discussion of crime and public safety continued in bgr's second (cont'd on sch. O) breakfast briefing, which hosted the following policy experts: dr. jeffrey a. butts, director of the Research and evaluation center at the city university of new york; karen evans, executive director of the new orleans children & youth planning board; james logan, past president of 100 black men of metro new orleans and charles west, bgr board member and former director of the city of new orleans office of criminal justice coordination. With a return to in-person breakfast briefings, the third event of the year focused specifically on law enforcement and featured shaun d. ferguson, new orleans superintendent of police; joseph p lopinto iii, jefferson parish sheriff; and jim letten, former u.s. attorney for the eastern district of Louisiana, as moderator. With the bgr series on public safety complete, the final breakfast briefing of the year centered on preparation for future storms in jefferson parish and hosted key administrators of the parish including joe valiente, director of emergency management; mark drewes, director of public works, and valerie brolin, deputy chief operating officer for jefferson parish. The breakfast briefing events bring key policy issues to citizens and allows them to engage with policy leaders and decision-makers. Access to each of these events is increased by video recording the presentations and posting them online. The media coverage further magnifies awareness of the policy issues discussed and of bgr's work.