Budget passed

Some minor tweaks and amendments mostly arising from grant funding added into various departmental ledgers. The details were all "live-blogged" here.

Then Jackie Clarkson announced, for the billionth time, that this was her last budget.  Next, she curtseyed for the adoring crowd and stepped off the dais into a splendid carriage pulled by 18 magnificent white horses and rode off.  Nobody knows how the horses got in and out of council chambers like that but we're pretty sure they didn't take the elevator.

Update:  Some commentary from councilmembers regarding the Downtown Development District via Maldonado's live coverage here.  

Downtown Development District budget is up now. Palmer: "Is the administration working with them to make sure we get proper services in the District C side of the Downtown Development District?" Kopplin says the administration has been working to ensure that the 100 blocks going into the French Quarter are cleaned as well as the rest of the DDD. Palmer: "We've met with them on a few different occasions. I know people, business owners, are taking personal responsibility for cleaning the 100 block of Bourbon, the 100 block of Royal." Kopplin said the administration has "engaged with them" on "clean, safe and beautiful" priorities throughout the DDD coverage area.

And here.

Clarkson: "This has generally been a problem of the DDD. If they do one side of Canal Street, they generally don't do the other. Specifically, they don't do the French Quarter side." 

But just this morning I noticed this 30 foot tall creepy fleur-de-lis wielding Santa tower on Basin Street installed complements of DDD.



It's clearly on the "French Quarter side" What more do you want?