See the Dueling Memos in the Shreveport Pay Raise Saga

SHREVEPORT, LA - Memos are flying and the spin cycle is in high gear as the Shreveport City Council continues to address the pay raise saga. Back in June, Council Chairman James Green sent a memo to HR granting pay raises to several council staff members. This move was discovered and brought to light that Green acted without proper authority.

Councilman Dr. Alan Jackson released a statement about the raises and he also released memos signed by Jerry Bowman and James Flurry that appear to show they approved pay raises.

Take a Look at Those Memos:

But KEEL News has done some checking about the raises mentioned in these memos and we have found that the council did take action on these pay raises prior to these memos going to HR. In the case of the raise mentioned by Bowman, that pay raise was approved during the budget negotiations in the fall. The increase was part of the council budget approved in 2019 for 2020. Bowman apparently sent the memo to HR to let them know about the adjustment.

In the case of the Flurry pay raise memo, we have found the ordinance which was passed by the council in June of 2021 calling for a pay increase for council staffers.

Take a Look at That Ordinance:

This clearly shows the council voted on a pay increase for council staff before Flurry sent that memo to HR.

Shortly after this latest pay raise done by Chairman Green was brought to light, he apologized and rescinded the raises. But he did say previous council chairmen have also granted raises, so he was only doing what was done in the past. The Council held a special meeting to rescind the raises and vote on an independent investigation. Only 4 members showed up to that meeting and the vote was deadlocked 2-2 to call for an investigation.

Now the investigation is back on the agenda for a vote before the full council. Ursula Bowman and Gary Brooks voted against the investigation during the special meeting. We will have to see if they have changed their minds.