Mayor Arceneaux on 50 Cent partnership, new city leadership, and downtown safety

SHREVEPORT, La. (KTAL/KMSS)—Exciting new things are happening in Shreveport after the City Council approved an ordinance establishing a 30-year lease agreement, making Stageworks a sports and entertainment venue operated by G-Unit Film & Television Louisiana, LLC.

After eleven months, Jackson signed the lease agreement with the city, moving forward with ordinance 40, authorizing the lease.

Mayor Tom Arceneaux shared what it feels like to seal the deal.

“It feels really, really good. It was ordinance 40, but it was ordinance 40 of 2024, so it’s been on the agenda for a long time. We had a couple of ticklish issues that we had to tackle, and we finally were able to tackle those, and we think it’s a really good deal for the city,” says Mayor Tom Arceneaux.

The mayor also announced that the council has confirmed new leadership for the city. During Tuesday’s meeting, the council approved a new department head for public works and community development.

Verni Howard will be the city’s new director of community development and will assume that role in the coming weeks.

Jarvis Morgan is the new director of public works, and he is already established in that role.

“Mr. Morgan has some great ideas about how they can improve solid waste in streets and drainage, and the services that we deliver. I’m looking forward to receiving those, and Ms. Howard is one of the people who went to Cambridge last week, so she will pick up some great information and be able to convey that and figure out how we can get back in the community redevelopment business,” says Mayor Arceneaux.

Lastly, the mayor gave an update on the safety of downtown Shreveport and what the city is doing to ensure the area is safe. He says that after the shooting that took place on March 15th outside of a Shreveport nightclub, the business has put in place off-duty police officers to provide security there.

“We’ve moved some security cameras to be in place to watch those hotspots. There are a couple of hot spots in downtown,” he explained.