31st January Government Town Hall

Note: A full town hall recording can be found at the bottom of the page.

Speaker of the Legislature Joanna Poole hosted the first town hall of the 9th Congress at Rockford Hills City Plaza on January 31, 2024 at 7pm EST. Stella Day of Weazel News recorded the meeting.

Updates from the legislature, executive branch, and government departments were discussed throughout the town hall. Departments in attendance were LEOs (MCD, LSPD, BCSO, SASP, SAPD), DOJ, PW, and SAMS.

Town Hall Updates:

Executive Branch: Governor Key in attendance without Lieutenant Governor McCoy present. The Governor looked forward to what they will do going forward this term. The Lieutenant Governor is overseeing the process of filling three (3) pardon committee slots in hopes to get the committee back up and running. The only requirement is being BAR certified.

Legislative Branch: Joanna Poole and Emilie Paxton were in attendance. The Speaker advises people to attend the upcoming State Rep meeting to know about specific bills that are being worked on. Yellow posters can be found in City Hall with QR codes to the legislative process. H.R. 310 and H.R. 313 were recently passed. Two security bills have been postponed and will be reintroduced at a later date.

Judiciary Branch: Chief Justice Kylian Clarkson had no updates.

LSPD: The LSPD has recently brought on a bunch of new cadets and are continuing to review PD applications.

MCD: If you need to contact a detective, you can come by the station and place a 311 call or through their website.

SASP: Troopers will be hosting a Trooper Car Wash on February 3rd with funds going to the Community Outreach Program.

BCSO: Sheriffs are pushing for the Sandy Shores community to build the largest US flag in order to promote tourism in the area.

SAMS: Not in attendance.

SAFR: No updates.

DHS: Not in attendance.

DoCL: As of January, there are 375 active businesses and 298 active premises. There were 35 new businesses licences in January with a large backlog of premise licenses. They appreciate the patience. The largest request in 2023 was for restaurant applications. Since opening, they have been overwhelmed and are taking a pause. When they reopen, the plan will be to open the restaurant applications on a monthly basis for 24 hour periods. There will be a limit of 5 to 6 apps taken per month, causing the process to be more competitive. DoCL will also be starting their 2024 audits with separated teams to process audits and complaints accordingly. Inforgraphics will be going out soon as well as information on upcoming DoCL-specific Town Hall meetings.

SAFA: No updates.

SAMS: Not in attendance.

PDO: Not in attendance.

PW: Public Works is going through a fleet overhaul. Otherwise, business is as usual at the moment.

DOJ: Department of Justice apps are still open on the government website. They have offered to help people with learning law and studying for the BAR exam

Watch the video below for more information.