When newly elected Mayor Adrian Perkins (D) said his security would be made up of undercover officers instead of uniformed ones, most voters didn’t expect to foot the bill.

710 KEEL reported yesterday that they obtained evidence that the City of Shreveport spent a total of $5,592 on suits and alterations for three police officers assigned with guarding the Mayor. That amounts to nearly $2,000 per officer for little more than one suit each.

When Mayor Perkins first announced that he would have plain-clothed officers, he said it was all about making sure that he felt approachable to the citizens. There was no mention of taxpayer-funded suits and ties.

The new Mayor has made a rough road for himself in his first term. His first proposal upon taking office? An $18 per month trash fee on an already struggling populace. Next, he took heat for cancelling one of the city’s top insurance providers. Perkins defended the move by saying that the new pricing structure will save the city money.

The Shreveport City Council did not take lightly to the mayor’s unilateral action which led newly elected Councilman John Nickelson (R) to introduce and pass a resolution preventing it from happening again.

The devil is in the details, as the saying goes. There are a few problems with the move- the new insurance provider, Roddrelle Sykes is rumored to be the former business partner and cousin of Mayor Perkins’ campaign manager. Second, Mr. Sykes is said to have been cited by the Louisiana Insurance Board for issuing fake insurance policies and allegedly pocketing the money.

Mayor Perkins has his own non-profit called “Future of Shreveport” which he is rumored to be raising money for. Why, you ask? Probably because he doesn’t have to reveal the donors.

The young Democrat who portrayed himself as a well-to-do moderate appears to be losing public support at a record pace.