Political analyst Dr. Jeff Sadow talks about Tuesday's Bossier City Council session and the brewing power struggle between new Mayor Tommy Chandler and the established members of the assembly.

At his first council meeting, the just-sworn-in mayor was stonewalled by the city council who refused to consider two major appointments to his administration.

Veteran Bossier Councilman David Montgomery led the effort to block Chandler's appointments. He asked for and won support for a 30 day delay in naming Charles Jacobs as city attorney.

In the Chandler effort to name Shane Cheatham as Chief Administrative Officer, a motion was made, but the motion got no 2nd, so it died. There was no vote. This appointment is expect to come up again at the next meeting.

Here's what Sadow had to say about the situation:

"There is clearly a power struggle going on," Sadow begins. "The new mayor, Chandler, has just taken office. But he is not from the in-crowd in the city that still has a few members of that clique left on the city council...and they're just not happy with him being mayor."

And Sadow says that Chandler's troubles in dealing with the Old-guard may just be beginning. "It would appear that there's a veto proof majority and they can pretty much pass anything they want."

And what should Chandler do to counter seemingly organized opposition? "He's a fulltime official. He has the apparatus of the city's executive branch at his disposal and compared to a council made up of part-timers, that's quite a bit of weight to throw around. But over time (Chandler) is going to learn more and more about the ways he can exert pressure and get outcomes more to his liking."

 

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