Lafourche internal auditor’s position made part-time

Ending a debate they’ve had for years, the Lafourche Parish Council voted last Tuesday to make the parish’s full-time legislative internal auditor’s position part-time or “as needed.”

The shift came after Legislative Internal Auditor Tommy Lasseigne sent Council Chairman Jerry LaFont an email, wherein he states his own position would be suitable as a part-time position. Council members had discussed Lasseigne’s job performance during an executive session in February.

“That office is not fulfilling what I think is required and we’re not getting our money’s worth. At one time they had found several things that were cost-saving,” said Councilman Phillip Gouaux, who had reservations about creating the position in 2012. At that time Gouaux maintained that the job should be part-time.

Despite his concerns, Gouaux still voted along with the rest of the council for the position three years ago.

The position was born out of a need to gather the money needed to build a new parish jail. It was Lasseigne who issued a report to the council that ultimately proposed rededication of property taxes devoted to the Lafourche Public Libraries and Council on Aging, and led to a ballot vote, which voters rejected in 2013.

In guidelines governing the auditor’s position, the council required Lasseigne to address the council during the second meeting of each month “or any other meeting deemed necessary to present a report on projects or findings.”

The Times tallied all Lafourche Council regular meetings since Lasseigne’s very first report in May 2012, through Feb. 24th of this year, the date of his last. There were a total of 61 council meetings, 29 of which were the second one of the month.

During those meetings Lasseigne reported projects in the works 17 times. That means he fulfilled the requirement 58.62 percent of the time.

LaFont read Lasseigne’s e-mail aloud during the meeting, in which he said that since he hasn’t been conducting audits but once a month, or sometimes even every three months, agreed his position would be better suited as part-time.

A conflict between Parish President Charlotte Randolph’s administration, and Lasseigne is evident in council minutes cited during the meeting. They show that months passed before the auditor received financial statements regarding the Lafourche Parish Community Action Agency. The agency dispenses money to help low-income people needing emergency financial assistance. Lasseigne’s report alleges that the agency misspent taxpayer dollars and failed to show receipts for all expenditures.

That agency is in the process of correcting the situation, the minutes indicate.

LaFont said that a fulltime auditor “would be a great position” if the administration and the internal auditor “worked side-by-side without any arguments.”

That a lack of cooperation led to few audits actually being done, he said, made the position “less important.”

Councilman Aaron Caillouet said a perception Lasseigne has nothing to do exists because “he has been at the beck and call of council members individually who wants him to look at different things.”

Caillouet said the internal auditor has been used more like an inspector general than a legislative auditor and that he intends to fix that by writing up a job description to specify what Lasseigne is actually supposed to do.

The lack of a job description was one of Gouaux’s objections to the position during its conceptualization back in 2012.

The original advertisement for the internal auditor’s position posted a salary range of $55,000 to $60,000 annually. Lasseigne was being paid the equivalent of a $69,850 for 2015 thus far.

His clerk, Freddia Ruffin-Roberson, who is also full-time, was getting $35,850 for this year.

LaFont said the council would look at the possibility of either making Ruffin-Roberson a part-time employee or eliminating her position altogether after District Attorney Cam Morvant issued a legal opinion on one sticking matter.

There was some doubt cast as to whether the internal auditor’s position could be made a part-time position without a two-thirds majority vote. Last Tuesday’s tally on the question of whether Lasseigne’s position should be part-time was five in favor and three opposed, with one absence.

Morvant’s opinion, delivered to the council Thursday, was that the body had acted correctly.