Mayor Cedric Glover to Address Dog Park, Bond Issues At Upcoming Town Hall Meeting

The proposed dog park, the 2011 bond issue and the city of Shreveport's agreement with the Justice Department to address an aging and deteriorating water and sewerage system are just a few of the topics Mayor Cedric Glover will address at a town hall meeting this week.

The mayor urges residents to join him tomorrow, July 17th, at Fertitta's Delicatessen on Fairfield Avenue at 5 p.m. for beverages, "light muffys" and plenty of questions and answers.

An ongoing debate over the best way to establish the city’s first dog park remains unresolved. The Shreveport Dog Park Alliance has sued Mayor Glover over his refusal to sign a city council-approved mandate requiring him to accept some $280,000 from the Red River Waterway Commission to build a dog park at Hamel’s Memorial Park. Mayor Glover has said that agreement is a bad deal and would commit the city to a project that would costs hundreds of thousands of additional dollars to complete.

Officials with Shreveport Public Assembly and Recreation and Mayor Glover support using existing park space to establish a dog park, saying it would be considerably less expensive and would support the vision laid out in the Shreveport-Caddo 2030 Master Plan.

The mayor also will provide an update on the progress being made toward completing projects connected to the 2011 bond proposal. In April 2011, voters approved $175-million for infrastructure and public safety improvements. The City Council last week received legislation to move forward with a second bond sale, this one totaling about $93-million.

"This is a chance to engage citizens in a dialogue that I believe will help them gain a greater insight into some issues that have received a lot of attention in recent weeks,’’ Mayor Glover says. "I want folks to be able to ask questions and receive accurate, more complete information than what might otherwise be available via traditional mediums.’’