Home Rule Charter Reforms

New Orleans needs structural changes to restore balance between City Hall and the City Council. Neal is proposing targeted amendments to the Home Rule Charter New Orleans’ local constitution to strengthen the City Council’s oversight role while preserving essential partnerships with City Hall.

These reforms draw analytical lessons from comprehensive governance reviews in cities like Detroit, which identified key principles for rebalancing municipal power after crisis-era dysfunction. Following Detroit’s financial crisis and emergency management era (2013-2014), the Detroit Charter Commission undertook a full review to modernize structure, strengthen checks and balances, and restore democratic accountability.

Key reform principles include:

Clarifying legislative oversight powers for the City Council, particularly over procurement, budgeting, and departmental performance
Codifying transparency and citizen participation mandates, including access to public records and engagement processes
Defining limitations on mayoral emergency powers and enhancing Council’s role in key executive decisions
Strengthening independent offices (Inspector General, Ombudsman) to enforce internal accountability

The governance principle is simple: Propose targeted Charter Amendments that strengthen legislative oversight (City Council) and restore balance in a governance system where one branch (City Hall) has been afforded too much autonomy and authority.

This is the first step toward creating a more balanced power dynamic between City Hall and the City Council.