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July 23, 2013
The state Attorney General’s office is following up on an anonymous complaint received in regard to the Terrebonne Parish School Board’s lease of the old Houma Elementary building.
“Yes, our office received an anonymous complaint by telephone,” said Amanda Papillion Larkins, director of communications for the attorney general’s office. “The complaint alleges that the process for leasing and selling publicly owned property was not followed by the Terrebonne Parish School Board. We have been in contact with the attorney for the board about this matter.
“Our office remains in contact with Mr. (Sonny) Lovell, who forwarded documents for our review. We are currently in the process of reviewing those documents.”
On June 19, the board voted 7-2 to approve the lease of the old Houma Elementary building to Historic Restoration Company at a rate of $1,000 a month. Board members Debi Benoit and Brenda Leroux Babin voted against the action.
Since that day, questions have arisen in the community and amongst the board regarding not only the amount of the lease but the time of the bid process. According to state law, bids for leases must be advertised for 15 days and bids for sales must be advertised for 30 days.
“We followed the statute for leases,” said school board president Roger “Dale” Dehart. “We only got one packet for a lease of the building. We are not going to turn down any legal revenue. There was no self-gain or favoritism involved with this lease, and I would do it again.
“Our attorney said the lease was legal and OK. I know what people are saying and I know what the attorney said. We are covered 100 percent legally.”
According to school district Superintendent Philip Martin, Lovell spoke to someone with the attorney general’s office recently, and that person did not express an urgency regarding the matter.
“I do not know who Sonny talked to, but the person did not raise any immediate concerns,” Martin said. “We submitted the documents and followed the law. We are just trying to sell a building to someone who wants to buy it. I do not see any issue with the lease.
“We advertised for the lease as prescribed by law for the period prescribed by law, and we got a bid. It was brought before the board and they accepted it.”
According to Dehart, Martin recommended that the board approve the lease or sale of the building to the company, and the company plans to turn the building into low-income housing.
“A company from out of the parish that has done work in Terrebonne Parish before was interested in the building,” Dehart said. “This company is very reputable. The company restores old buildings, and I was excited to hear the word restore. I would like to see the building restored, but that did not influence my decision.
“I followed Mr. Martin’s request and the board reviewed it.”
Currently, the school district’s special education and federal employees are still using the building, but those staff members will be moved to the old West Park Elementary once the building is prepared for their occupancy.
As the plans move forward, board member Babin, who has been opposed to lease due to the low price, has more questions than answers regarding the deal.
“I want to make sure want to make sure that the procedure was followed correctly according to bid laws,” Babin said. “Why was a bid for sale pulled and bid for lease allowed to go forward? Can a lease be signed off on before board approval?
“I don’t think there is any malice or mal intent (malicious intent) with the lease. The bottom line is I would like to see more transparency to the public so the public always sees what is going on.”
Babin cited the May millage failure as what she sees an indicator of a lack of public trust of the school board.
“We are letting the public know according to law, but we need to go beyond law and be even more transparent to gain public trust,” Babin said. “Our biggest issue is gaining back the public’s trust. The vote showed that.”
The Terrebonne Parish School Board approved the lease of the old Houma Elementary building. Questions have since arisen regarding not only the amount of the lease but the length of the bid process.
