Moreno Wants More Power Over SWBNO. She Already Has It.
By Jeff Thomas | Publisher, Black Source Media | Owner, WBOK 1230 AM & 107.1 FM
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TL;DR — Read This Before You Scroll Past
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Why SWBNO Control Is About to Change
New Orleans is about to get more control over SWBNO. Louisiana lawmakers just passed House Bill 1243. It would hand the City Council real authority over the water utility’s budget, rates, and oversight — power that has sat in Baton Rouge for decades.
The House passed it 89-8. The Senate passed it 36-0. It now sits on Governor Jeff Landry’s desk, and he’s expected to sign it.
That should be good news. But this week, while that bill waited on a signature, Mayor Helena Moreno gave New Orleans a preview of what “more local control” might look like. It’s worth a closer look.
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📋 Key Points
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What Is Moreno Actually Upset About?
On Decatur Street, SWBNO is replacing a 115-year-old water main. The work has torn up several blocks of the French Quarter for months. This week, two restaurants on that stretch closed for good. Cafe Sbisa and LUFU NOLA both pointed to the construction.
Mayor Moreno responded fast. She called the project’s execution a mistake. SWBNO should have done the work in small pieces, she said, not all at once. The agency “failed” to properly plan it, in her words — and her administration is now looking at ways to help affected businesses.
SWBNO pushed back in a statement. The agency said the project’s scope and timeline were set before its current leadership came on board, under deadlines tied to FEMA infrastructure funding.
Moreno Isn’t Watching From Outside
Here’s what got left out of the headlines. Moreno isn’t an outside critic of SWBNO. By city charter, she serves as president of the SWBNO board.
That’s not a ceremonial title. The board sets policy, approves budgets, and oversees the agency’s direction. Moreno has sat at the head of that table since her inauguration in January.
So when the mayor says SWBNO “failed” to plan a project properly, she’s describing an agency she already has formal authority over. The real question isn’t just what SWBNO got wrong. It’s also what oversight from her own board caught — or didn’t — before two restaurants went out of business.
Her Infrastructure Chief Used to Run This
There’s a second connection that matters even more.
Steve Nelson now serves as Moreno’s deputy chief administrative officer for infrastructure. Before that, he ran major operations at SWBNO itself. He became Deputy General Superintendent of Engineering in January 2023, then General Superintendent in January 2024. In that role, he oversaw more than 400 employees across four divisions, including Engineering and transmission water main replacement.
The Decatur Street project is a transmission water main replacement. Its scope and timeline were set during the same window when Nelson led that exact division.
Now, asked about the ongoing French Quarter disruption, Nelson told Axios the city isn’t involved in the construction. That’s technically true today. But the planning that created this mess happened on his watch at SWBNO, just months before he moved to City Hall.
What HB1243 Changes — and What It Doesn’t
HB1243 would give the City Council direct authority over SWBNO’s budget, rates, contracts, and internal policies. For decades, that power sat with a state legislature that meets once a year. Local control, in theory, means faster decisions and clearer accountability.
But power only creates accountability if New Orleans is honest about who already holds it. BSM made a similar point this week about institutions that perform outrage instead of owning their role. SWBNO is the same story, with different names attached.
Moreno already chairs the SWBNO board. Her infrastructure chief just left SWBNO’s top operational job. Adding City Council authority on top of that doesn’t create new accountability — not unless City Hall also accounts for the decisions it already made, or helped make, as SWBNO’s own leadership.
The Bottom Line
New Orleans residents deserve a water system that works. Two more shuttered restaurants on Decatur Street show how high the stakes are.
HB1243 could help. That depends on whether New Orleans uses its new authority to build real coordination between SWBNO and City Hall — instead of using it to score points against an agency City Hall already helps run.
For homeowners across this city, the stakes go beyond one street. Rising insurance costs are already squeezing Black homeowners in New Orleans, and a utility system stuck in blame-shifting won’t make that easier.
So here’s the standard. Don’t just ask what SWBNO did wrong on Decatur Street. Ask who at City Hall already had a hand in how that project was planned — and whether more power changes anything if nobody admits that.
About the Author
Jeff Thomas is the Publisher of Black Source Media and Owner of WBOK 1230 AM & 107.1 FM, New Orleans’ premier Black talk radio station. He writes on politics, power, and the civic life of Black New Orleans and Louisiana. His opinions are his own — and he stands behind every word.
Sources
- Fox 8 WVUE — “Mayor Helena Moreno criticizes SWBNO after Decatur Street construction leads to restaurant closures,” June 11, 2026. fox8live.com
- NOLA.com — “Mayor Helena Moreno blames S&WB for delays on French Quarter construction project,” June 2026. nola.com
- NOLA.com — “Chefs who won Michelin recognition lose their French Quarter restaurant over road work,” June 2026. nola.com
- WGNO — “Sewerage and Water Board of New Orleans names new general superintendent,” December 2023. wgno.com
- WWL-TV — “‘A new tone’: Moreno unveils 100-day roadmap and cabinet picks ahead of inauguration.” wwltv.com
- Axios New Orleans — “French Quarter construction drags into festival season,” February 2026. axios.com
- Fox 8 WVUE / NOLA.com — HB1243 passage and Senate vote coverage, 2026.
- Black Source Media — Essence Wants $12 Million From New Orleans — Ask This First
- Black Source Media — Louisiana’s Insurance Crisis Is Destroying Black Wealth
Publisher — Black Source Media
Jeff Thomas
Publisher • Opinion Columnist • New Orleans
Jeff Thomas is the publisher of Black Source Media and one of New Orleans’ most direct voices on civic affairs, economic justice, and Louisiana politics. He writes from the intersection of experience and accountability — as a licensed general contractor,a tech company founder and executive with over 30 years experience, and a businessman who has worked across the city’s civic, media, and construction ecosystems for decades.
His Sunday column covers Louisiana legislative politics, insurance discrimination, housing policy, and the forces shaping Black community life in New Orleans and across the state. Thomas writes in the tradition of Black journalists who hold power accountable without apology — building arguments from data, delivering verdicts from evidence, and speaking to Black New Orleans with the directness the moment demands.
He is also the principal of EA Inspection Services, LLC, a government inspection services company. Black Source Media is his platform for the civic conversation New Orleans has needed and too rarely had.
Selected Articles by Jeff Thomas
Black Neighborhoods Pay the Highest Insurance Rates in Louisiana. Here’s What They Don’t Want You to Know.
They Didn’t Yell the N-Word. They Went to Law School, Bided Their Time, and Rewrote the Constitution Instead.
Vappie vs. Morrell: Why Does Justice Look Different in New Orleans?
The State Has the Money. New Orleans East Just Needs Them to Use It.
The Failure of Mitch Landrieu