TEDA goes on the offensive

Directors of Terrebonne Parish’s embattled economic development agency are going on the offensive, and plan to make their case for continued operation to Parish President Michel Claudet.

Independent investigation reveals that they may first need to address the possibility that the organization and the parish’s executive government branch have not been taking cues from the same playbook, and that a communications breakdown could be the biggest culprit of all.

One of the board’s immediate stated goals is learning precisely what has caused the parish’s administration to propose eliminating funding for their agency, the Terrebonne Parish Economic Development Authority. Claudet has given no clear reasons why his 2014 budget, now under consideration by parish council members, drops parish funding of TEDA, which receives its money almost exclusively from occupational license fees sold by Terrebonne Parish, in a 50-50 split. The TEDA share generally comes to around $600,000.

Causes for the rift have been the subject of rampant speculation within Terrebonne Parish’s business community.

Strong clues to what playbook Claudet and his advisors may be using appears not within parish government documents exclusively, but in documents already available on the TEDA website, including a master plan and an amendment to it that specifically mentions suggested TEDA tasks.

That report was done by a consultant at a cost of $35,000 to the parish.

The parish is not mandated to provide the money, according to the legislation that birthed TEDA. But it may do so at its option, and Claudet’s option is to cut it off.

The parish’s planning and zoning department will assume economic development duties if the council approves the plan.

“There is still ongoing discussion to see how we can work together,” said TEDA chairman Clarence Williams, during a board meeting last week that saw the first discussion by members of executive director Steve Vassallo’s resignation, offered in the wake of word that TEDA would be defunded.

“They were going to provide us with a list,” attorney Louis Watkins said, reporting to fellow board members of a meeting he and Williams had with Claudet and other administrative staff at parish government offices. “I have not received a list; I have not seen a list. We were led to believe there was a list of deficiencies at TEDA, things we weren’t doing, or things we were not supposed to be doing, he mentions this vague thing about the functions of TEDA.”

Board member Mike Lewis, owner of Big Mike’s Bar-B-Q in Houma, was among those expressing puzzlement and hope that answers emerge.

The TEDA board has chosen to formally ask the parish council to continue its funding. But members were also at a loss to determine what process the parish is using for passage of the budget.

According to interviews with council members and parish administration staff, the council can vote down the item, or specifically request that Claudet remove it.

Claudet has the power to veto a vote-down, and while the council can over-ride it, there is question as to whether enough votes would exist to do so.

“I would like to see them held accountable for the reasons why they want to do this,” said Lewis, who said what little information the board has received from Claudet – a letter asking that the agency’s fund balance be returned to the parish after the defunding occurs, indicate to him that the death of TEDA is a “done deal.”

Board members, during their meeting held last Tuesday at the Houma Ramada Inn, also discussed Vassallo’s resignation, which according to his letter will be effective Dec. 24. Vassallo has seen himself as a lightning rod of sorts, suggesting that a personal dislike of him by Claudet could be a cause.

The board determined it need take no action to accept the resignation, as TEDA’s contract with Vassallo states the relationship may be severed unilaterally with notice.

A copy of Vassallo’s resignation, received by Williams, was not brought to the meeting.

What has emerged through interviews is a difference in philosophy and practice between Vassallo and some members of Claudet’s staff.

Vassallo’s predecessor, Mike Ferdinand, routinely attended weekly parish government staff meetings at which various topics – including occasional references to items relevant to economic development – were discussed.

Vassallo said he gave up attending them because he found nothing useful in them.

But some of Claudet’s staff have suggested the director missed key opportunities to mesh with the parish by doing so. The lack of communication they say resulted from that is reflected in emails between staff and Claudet.

For his part, Vassallo maintains that TEDA’s independence from government is important, and that he has stayed in touch with council members.

But government staffers say that’s not necessarily enough.

Vassallo, in interviews, has also downplayed the importance of a blueprint for TEDA’s functioning.

A 2002 parish plan for strategic development was updated in 2008, specifically reflecting the role TEDA should play.

Prepared by the Competitive Strategies Group of Atlanta, the report, titled “A Blueprint for Economic Success: A Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy for Terrebonne Parish,” the report outlines key industries the economic development agency should court.

It also notes that a sites database should be kept and mentions other tasks for TEDA.

Some of the suggestions were followed – whether by design or opportunity – such as the properties database, which TEDA keeps online.

Two suggested target industries, telecalling and development of wind energy in the Gulf of Mexico, were not.

Vassallo said that such reports – which he once authored himself as a consultant – have limited value, and that other items in the checklist, including business retention and public outreach, have been farmed out to other agencies, such as the South Louisiana Economic Council and South Central Planning and Development.

But if lists within the Blueprint report are essential to Terrebonne’s plan, that hasn’t been communicated to the TEDA board or its director, according to interviews with them.

And TEDA’s chosen direction has apparently not been communicated by TEDA to the parish government’s executive branch.

Altogether, there are around 30 recommendations meant to guide TEDA in the report.

A Tuesday meeting of TEDA board members charged with reaching out to the parish government was expected to mark initial steps toward mending the rift, although some board members – and staff at the parish level – say it may be too late.