Citizens For a Better Kenner

04/06/2022

DOTD response/concerns to preliminary DC bridge design

04/06/2022

CFBK is actively working with other members of the community to look into the never-ending Duncan Canal bridge project at West Esplanade by the mall. We have done extensive research on this matter, which has led us to some serious concerns. And we have questions! The city is currently in the process of setting up a meeting between some of our members and Tom Schreiner from Public Works. We hope to get some of our questions answered. In the meantime, we will be posting various documents relating to the Duncan Canal bridge project, as well as updating everyone on our findings.

03/18/2022

Thank you to the new members who joined us today for our Think Tank work group. We had such a productive meeting! Lots of good information shared and many projects are now one step closer to coming to fruition.

10/26/2021

CFBK would like to announce that we formally endorse option 4 on the Kenner City Council redistricting maps. We feel like this option incorporates the least amount of change while still accomplishing the goal of having less than 10% deviation in size across the board. Many citizens have formed important relationships with their district councul person over the years and do not want to see a change in who represents them. Therefore, for purposes of continuity with the least amount of disruption, CFBK strongly urges the council to vote for option 4.

The vote on this redistricting of council maps will be held this Friday, October 29th, at 11AM in the temporary council chambers at the Macy's building. If any citizen cannot attend this meeting and would like to contact us regarding their opinion on the matter, please feel free to get in touch. Thank you.

10/16/2021

PSA from your Citizens For a Better Kenner Board: Don't get scammed!! Here are some simple steps to follow when hiring a roofer.

Unfortunately, several contractors are going out of their way to make their out of town/out of state companies appear to be local. For instance, there is one company advertising in Kenner, with a Kenner address and phone number on their signs. But upon further investigation, the company is actually based out of North Louisiana, and when they send crews out, they come to your house with out of state license plates on their vehicles. They are multiple roofers, from all over, all using the same address and phone number. Additionally, some are showing proof of insurance, but the kind they have does not cover the workers if they get hurt on your property, or the insurance does not exist at all.

Another problem is that some contractors are advertising as "licensed and insured", when they aren't. They may just have an occupational license, which doesn't help you at all. So what can you do to protect yourself from getting scammed when hiring a roofer (or any contractor)? FOLLOW THESE STEPS:

1) Check to see if the contractor is licensed or registered with the Louisiana State Licensing Board For Contractors. This is very important! Why? Because if they aren't registered, there isn't a whole lot you can do to get help if they mess up, short of suing them-if you can find them. The law requires that for all home improvement jobs over $7500, that the contractor be licensed or registered with the LSLBC. When companies who are licensed/registered either don't complete the work, or they do a substandard job, the LSLCB will go after them and help you get your issues resolved. According to their website, "The mission and purpose of this agency is the protection of the general public from incompetent and fraudulent acts of a contractor while promoting the integrity of the construction industry." The link to verify a contractor is: https://lslbc.louisiana.gov/contractor-search/ It is very easy to use! Please be aware that when a contractor holds himself out to be "licensed", it can mean many different things. Just because a contractor holds an occupational license from the city, it doesn't give you any protection. YOU NEED TO CHECK THEM OUT WITH THE LINK ABOVE!

2) Ask to see a copy of their "Certificate of Liability Insurance". Check to make sure they have general liability insurance AND worker's comp checked off. They must have BOTH. Then examine the dates of coverage, to make sure the policy isn't expired. Additionally verify that the name of the company on the insurance certificate is written EXACTLY like the name of the company on your contract. They should be a perfect match! And finally, even if everything looks good on the certificate, actually call the insurance company and verify the information. If it all checks out-they have current liability and worker's comp, and you want to hire the company, you can then ask the insurance agent to add you as a "certificate holder". This won't cost the company anything, and if you are a certificate holder, the insurance company will notify you if the insurance gets changed or canceled for any reason.

3) Ask for references for local jobs the contractor has recently completed. Then actually go look at the work in-person, and speak to the homeowners. Make sure the contractor is the one who did the work on the house, and the customer was 100% satisfied with the job. Word of mouth is very important to a contractor's reputation.

In closing, CFBK hopes your rebuilding projects go smoothly, and you are happy with the results. With the proper due diligence on your part, you can have confidence in your decision on which company to hire. Best of luck!

Search for Louisiana Contractors

11/04/2020

CFBK Supporters, we still do not have our website back, as Federal Court cases take time, but we remain very optomistic. However, we will continue to post here, on Facebook.

At this time, we are closely monitoring the Fernandez lawsuit, where citizens were denied the right to record Kenner City Council meetings, under threat of arrest. We will post once there is an update on that case. We are also monitoring the recycling situation in Kenner, where we believe citizens are not getting the value they were promised. More to come on this!

08/07/2020

If any citizens have any questions or comments regarding today’s council meeting, please feel free to send us a private message. CFBK is currently seeking additional information on some items and will be posting our opinions on certain matters. Thank you.

05/08/2020

Update on the status of www.citizensforabetterkenner.com. As of the writing of this post, CFBK has still not received our website back. We are still in federal litigation with the person(s) who have it. Federal lawsuits take time. So unfortunately, until we post otherwise, please do not attempt to get official CFBK notices there, and do not attempt to contact us through the website.

We are hoping this litigation does not go on much longer, as we are growing more and more impatient as we anxiously await it's return. Thank you, once again, to all our fellow good government supporters who have expressed their support for us. CFBK appreciates you all!

05/08/2020

Hello Kenner Good Government Allies! This is Stacey Allesandro, one of your Board Members, and I am going to post the questions here that I posed at the May 7th council meeting. Even though I requested that council members please press for answers by the administration, none were given. I did get a roundabout, politician's answer to part of one question. Unfortunately, the rest were ignored.
These are the 3 questions I asked- questions that apparently are too difficult to be answered.

1) Will everyone be charged for recycling this month? I do not have a recycling bin. I have not had one for years. I registered with IV WASTE to get a bin, and the response I got from the IV Waste Kenner Team was someone would get back with me in a FEW WEEKS. Many residents are in this same situation. The current contract says that IV will only pick up recycling from those residents who have requested a cart AND received one. We are not able to recycle, through no fault of our own, but yet we are being charged for a service we CANNOT currently utilize.

2)What to do about my current garbage situation? For months, the administration has been telling us to just use the Ramelli cans until we receive our new IV ones. I am one of the ones who does not yet have an IV waste can. Today Ramelli got a TRO from a judge that prevents IV waste from even touching the Ramelli cans. So now I have a a full Ramelli garbage can sitting on the side of my house. Who is going to come empty it out? Those garbage bins are very deep and very disgusting. I'm certainly not going to the fish garbage out myself. Does it just sit there and rot and stink?? I have been contacted by other people in similar situations, since I first brought this up. Again, no answer from the administration on how to handle this.

3) CAO Deborah Foshee admitted at the December council meeting that it is impossible for residents to know exactly what they are being charged for garbage collection and what are they being charged for recycling on their water bills, because everything is consolidated into one charge. She said these two fees should be broken down separately on the bill. Six months later, and this has not happened yet. When is this going to happen?

And finally, I guess this is question 3.5, what is the price that we are going to be charged for garbage collection under the IV waste contract? Ramelli is currently charging us $11.28. The mayor has told us all along that the new contract won't cost us anything more. If that is TRULY the case, why can't he just say the initial price in the new contract is 11.28, and it will be adjusted for the cpi-u every July for the duration of the contract?? Why is that so hard to say??? Unless they are trying to pull a fast one. So far they have told us FIVE different prices, so maybe they are!

And lastly, a comment to address the absurd claim that the delivery the garbage cans and recycle bins are being held up due to COVID 19. This is a new one. IV waste knew they were getting this contract since February. Although It wasn't formally voted on until March, they should have had that order all worked out. If IV found out they couldn't fulfill the terms of the contract by May 1st, of which new cans was one, then they shouldn't have entered into the contract until June. CFBK implored the city not to rush into this contract, for many reasons. This whole garbage thing has turned into a fiasco, and has caused the residents to be divided and misled, and the city to be slapped with a multi-million dollar lawsuit. It's really too bad only some council members agreed with us back then. Just remember, Gregory Carroll and Tom Willmott voted against rushing into this new contract. George Branigan wisely abstained from voting. If only one more council person had said no, let's not rush this, we wouldn't be in this mess. We could have absolutely either fixed the problem with Ramelli, or entered into a different contract with another vendor, the RIGHT way! I invite your comments.

03/16/2020

This week’s Kenner City Council meeting has been canceled.