NEW ORLEANS — The city of New Orleans is dumping a controversial $6 million tech contract often defended by disgraced former 9-1-1 Communication District Director Tyrell Morris, who handpicked the firm.
Morris resigned last month after a WWL-TV investigation exposed how he altered public records to cover up what happened when he crashed his city vehicle in May. For years, he has defended a no-bid contract he pushed the Orleans Parish Communications District to adopt in 2021 for the Hexagon Records Management System, a data-sharing and records system for the police department and other public safety agencies.
In a memo to City Council members, the Cantrell administration announced it was canceling the deal after spending $1.2 million and getting little from Hexagon in return.
City Councilman JP Morrell, who repeatedly questioned the Hexagon deal, was irate.
“I think that the Hexagon contract is the last, bloody, nasty leftover of the horrific term of Tyrell Morris. We wasted two years and tremendous amounts of money… on a not-properly bidded contract that has resulted in nothing,” he said. “All of the stakeholders in the criminal justice community have been saying for two years, this program is junk.”
When Morrell questioned Morris about the contract in June, he defended it and change orders that increased the original $6 million price tag.
“And the administration and the board that appointed him stood up for it and supported it every single time,” Morrell said. “So, that $1.2 million that could have been used for a tremendous amount things in the city of New Orleans, that waste of money, it's not just Tyrell Morris' problem, it's the board that gave him the authority to do that stupid contract.
City Chief Administrative Officer Gilbert Montaño wrote in a memo that the city would have a hard time recovering the $1.2 million it already spent, but warned that Hexagon was trying to raise costs further and it would be best to end the deal and cut the city’s losses.
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