An East Baton Rouge Metro Council member’s lone vote Wednesday hamstrung an insurance switch, drawing backlash from colleagues who said he’s stalling a plan that could save millions in taxpayer dollars.

With only 7 council members in attendance on Wednesday, every member present needed to vote for it to pass.

However, Darryl Hurst's vote against a measure to change the city-parish insurance plan for retirees stalled it, as an Oct. 1 deadline looms.

Hurst said he feared it could cause the city-parish civil fees if retirees sued, despite opinions from attorneys, council members and insurance consultants who said other cities have made the switch and they did not see any legal issues.

"Why wait until this vote came up?" Racca said, "We've all talked about working on this for two years, fi

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