Mayor’s Vision is that Shreveport will be a thriving city where every citizen is afforded a safe environment, economic opportunity, education and training and a great quality of life.
The Mission is that Shreveport City Government strives to build a thriving city through community collaboration and citizen participation, to create sustainable growth (seventy-eight) that allows Shreveport to increase its global competitiveness, and to maintain a stimulating environment for residents and visitors.
Mayor Tyler is very hands on, often in her office for 10+ hours/day. During the recent Red River floods she was out all hours of the day and night making contact with department heads and others (National Guard) to ensure the needs of the city were being met.
Shreveport’s “reserve fund” for a 250K residence should be a minimum of 7% of the annual budget or around $17 million dollars. The current reserve is far less, around 5.2 million. It turns out that after audits and reviews the reserve stands at $2.7 million. This amount is ONE disaster away from wiping out the reserve.
The Water and Sewer Department has been fined and under a Federal Mandate to improve the infrastructure for a period of time now – that is why there has been an increase in our water/sewer bills to cover the necessary upgrades. The DOWAS is on schedule with this work but there is still much more to do.
When Mayor Tyler took office, a large portion of funds from the 2011 Bond Issue were sitting in the bank and many of the projects planned were shelved. Many of these projects have been started or are now scheduled to begin.
Your questions and their answers:
- What do you think the mayor expects to be her most controversial act as mayor?
The biggest challenge in store for the city is the infrastructure and how to find the revenue to make the necessary improvements and repairs. For instance Shreveport does not bill residents for Garbage pickup – Bossier residents pay $24 per month – that kind of charge in Shreveport would generate 2 million in revenue for the city. - What current programs for small business growth are there in the City?
Approximately 80% of the sales and ad valoram tax collected in Shreveport comes from small business. The Mayor is committed to doing what is necessary to make Shreveport an attractive city for new business and helping the existing small businesses to thrive and grow. Mayor Tyler routinely meets with business owners who need the city’s help. The mayor believes that the current city council has a cooperative nature. There are disagreements between members and between the council and the city government but there is an overall spirit of cooperation that has been missing in years past. - How does the Mayor feel about the biomedical research foundation and how WK is rail- roading them?
She has basically made it clear to both they should knock it off – Mayor Tyler feels that any Public infighting that happens between the Biomed/LSU Medical School and one of our largest businesses in town is not a benefit to anyone and can only make us a less attractive city for business growth. There are two other Louisiana cities who would LOVE to have a Medical School – Baton Rouge being one of them – they are no doubt look- ing closely at what is going on to see if they can scoop up our medical school.
Lastly, Brian said everyone should know that the Mayor and He are both very linear thinkers and are open to suggestions, she wants to know how best to help our city grown and stay accountable to its citizens.
To see the full 2015-2018 City of Shreveport Strategic Plan visit: http://www.shreveportla.gov/DocumentCenter/View/5154