Lafourche Community Services director keeps job

The Lafourche Parish Council discussed the future of the parish’s Community Service director in executive session Sept. 28 and a resolution to remove Thomas Turner from the position was voted down 6-3.

Daniel Lorraine, Lindel Toups and Joe Fertitta voted in favor of Turner’s removal.

“My biggest concern is too much of a turnover of people,” Lorraine said. “Either they quit, they resign or they got fired. That is my biggest concern, too much turnover. There is a serious problem there, and it’s going to continue until he is removed.”

Turner said certain councilmen have exaggerated the amount of turnover. He estimates that there have been five employees who have moved on for various reasons, which he would not discuss because they are personnel issues.

His position oversees the Community Action and Head Start programs, and it was implemented by Gerald “Buzz” Breaux, who was parish president from 2000-04. Community Action has been in place since 1977.

Denise Hughes resigned as the Community Action executive director after holding the position for seven years due to Turner’s treatment of staff and community members, she said.

“He yells at them,” Hughes said. “He calls them vulgar names. I won’t say the words that he says. He yells at the people in the community, and I don’t think that kind of behavior is deserving for the staff members as well as the people in the community.”

“Vulgar names?” Thomas asked rhetorically. “I think that I’m a little more professional than that – to stoop to calling people any kind of names. Denise Hughes is a disgruntled, former employee. Of course we know disgruntled employees will say anything.”

Eva Shanklin, a member of the Community Action advisory board, said Turner abused his power by hiring a new executive director without discussing it with the advisory board.

“He should have not have been taking over Community Action,” Shanklin said. “The council gave the power to the administration. However, if you read the [Home Rule] Charter, Community Action is ran by a governing board (parish council) and an advisory board.”

The Office of Community Action by-laws state that the administration, comprised of the parish president and representatives, can “discipline and dismiss any and all employees for cause including the Executive Director.”

It also states the Community Action advisory board has the power to participate in the selection and hiring of a new executive director.

Shanklin said the board was not afforded that opportunity.

“The advisory board was not informed of any of the hirings under Mr. Turner,” Shanklin said. “We should have been involved.”

Turner said Shanklin disrupted a meeting that was called by himself to discuss the executive director position. The meeting was dismissed by the board members because of the havoc she created, Turner said.

“We had gone almost two months without an executive director, and we needed to get somebody in there,” Turner said. “I think they have a problem understanding what advisory means. Even with their input, I do not have to take their recommendation.”

Both Turner and Toups had a list of witnesses prepared for the hearing, but none were called. Lorraine said the two sides agreed not to call the witnesses because they assumed it would escalate into debate with an emphasis on volume instead of facts.

“Both parties agreed,” Lorraine said. “I just thought if different people would have got in there, it would lasted forever, and it’s not for the time, but it probably would have been a good shouting match. I just thought it was left up to the council to debate it, say whatever they had to say and then go out and vote.”

This was not the first time a resolution for Turner’s dismissal was on the agenda. At the July 27 meeting, the council surfaced from an executive session and decided not to move on the proposed dismissal.

Hughes first appeared before the council with complaints at the June 8 council meeting. Her pleas ended with the vote to keep Turner in his position, at least until his next indiscretion, she said.

“I’ve made my point,” Hughes said. “I wanted the community to know as well as the council to know what they have on their hands.

“He needs to know what they have on their hands,” she added. “He needs to know that he needs to straighten up. If he doesn’t straighten up, yes, I will be back.”

Lorraine said he has done all he can do but seemed confident that the issue is not over.

“Next time, [the vote] might be the other way around, if there is a next time,” Lorraine said. “Just give it some time. It’s not going to stop there. It’s not going to get any better. He’s not going to get any better.”

Turner said he plans on continuing his duties as Community Services director and said the council voted in his favor because they believe in the work he is doing.

“I’m here simply to do a job to the best of my ability,” he said. “That’s what I have done and that’s what I’ll continue to do.”

Since June, Turner has sat in front of the council and listened to allegations made against him.

Because the issues involved personnel concerns, he had maintained confidentiality and not tried to defend himself.