Terrebonne’s Claudet vows not to resign parish president’s post

Terrebonne Parish President Michel Claudet said firmly on Friday that he would not resign following criticism of his decision to transfer emergency powers to Sheriff Vernon Bourgeois in response to the threat of Hurricane Gustav.

Two former Terrebonne Parish presidents asked Claudet to resign at last Wednesday’s parish council meeting, but several parish council members supported Claudet.

“We will do better,” Claudet said. “It’s a commitment I will do as president. I saw things that needed to be rectified. This will not happen again.”

Claudet appointed Bourgeois head of the parish Office of Emergency Preparedness on Sept. 2 in place of Jerrold Richard, who was named assistant director.

“You failed to live up to your obligations,” Barry Bonvillain told Claudet. Bonvillain served as parish president in the 1990s and ran against Claudet for president in 2007. “I think I speak for a lot of people in the parish,” he said.

Bobby Bergeron, who served from 2000 to 2004 as president, said, “Parish government did fail the residents… If I were parish president, no one would have to recall me. I would leave… If the elected parish president is in the way, get him out.”

Bergeron said his criticism of Claudet was not political since he had accomplished all he wanted to do when he was president.

Bergeron called on the Terrebonne Parish District Attorney to investigate the legality of the transfer of power.

Claudet asked parish attorney Courtney Alcock to confirm whether his appointment of Bourgeois was legal.

Alcock said Claudet’s declaration of a state of emergency for Hurricane Gustav under the Louisiana Disaster Act gave him broad powers, including the capacity to suspend the provisions of any ordinance and the ability to transfer the personnel and functions of departments.

“You appointed Bourgeois to that position,” Alcock told Claudet. “That action is allowed under the Disaster Act.”

“He had worked hurricanes before,” Claudet said about Bourgeois. “He’s done a great job.”

Bourgeois’ appointment as head of the Office of Emergency Preparedness would last until Claudet issues a signed declaration stating otherwise, she said.

Richard was suspended by Claudet late last week following criticism of Richard’s attending an LSU football game during hurricane recovery efforts. He reportedly used a parish-assigned SUV to drive to Baton Rouge.

On Friday, Claudet defended Richard, saying he may have received two approvals to take the day off. Claudet also said the parish Office of Emergency Preparedness was fully manned during hurricane recovery efforts.

At last Wednesday’s meeting, Councilman Johnny Pizzolatto fired back at Bergeron, who had accused the council of not exercising sufficient power during Hurricane Gustav and said the council lacked a plan. Pizzolatto said the parish government tower had to be evacuated because the building could withstand up to Category 2 winds; Gustav was projected to be Category 4.

“You cannot tell us we don’t care,” Pizzolatto told Bergeron. “Our parish president didn’t have a swelled head. He turned it over to Vernon, who did a great job. It was a terrible thing that happened to the parish, but we worked as a team.”

“In the future, we will critique this thing,” he said. “We will have a plan we never had before. It’s an insult to say you (Bergeron, as parish president) had a plan. I asked for a plan. I got a card saying, ‘This is how you evacuate.’ I’m sick and tired of this blame game. We’re not perfect.”

Councilman Alvin Tillman also backed up Claudet. Tillman said he could not communicate with his family – who had evacuated – for five days after Gustav.

“As parish president, he did all he could,” Tillman said. “He’s trying to get acclimated to the system. He needs hands-on experience and he got it.”

Councilwoman Arlanda Williams supported Claudet as well, saying, “The parish president did everything he could. Bourgeois and the president had the command center together. We know we have to improve communication.”

But she complained about New Orleans receiving the bulk of media coverage during Gustav, even though the eye of the hurricane made landfall in Terrebonne Parish.

She said Houma was misidentified by the media as having only 3,500 residents, “even though we supply 30 percent of their energy.” The Houma area’s population is closer to 80,000.

“Our first instinct was to help,” Williams said. “None of us was trying to find a camera. Our colleagues in New Orleans were on camera…We’re not New Orleans. We’re better than New Orleans. We stick together.”

Claudet complained about communications problems in Terrebonne during Gustav. Some calls were getting through into the parish, but no calls could go out for at least a couple of days.

Numerous speakers said they could receive little or no information after evacuating about the condition of Terrebonne Parish when Gustav struck.

Kevin Voisin, who is a candidate for the parish council’s District 6 seat, said that “there wasn’t any news” when he evacuated, so he assumed his house had been destroyed. That way he could be happy when he came back and found it intact.

“We’re not going to hear about Houma from the national media, but that’s OK,” he said.

While he criticized the lack of communication, Voisin praised other aspects of the parish’s recovery effort.

“The parish was up and running just three weeks after Gustav and one week after water rose as high as I’ve ever seen it (during Ike),” Voisin said. “It’s convenient to throw bricks at Claudet.”

Bourgeois also complained about media coverage, but his criticism centered on rumors propogated on the Internet.

He said some Web sites stated falsely that “Terrebonne was mutilated… The Web sites claiming Terrebonne was destroyed caused many problems.”

“We lost total infrastructure in this whole parish,” the sheriff told the council. “The total infrastructure was knocked down for the first time since (1992’s Hurricane) Andrew. We got reprimanded by the media.”

“Our communication was totally broken down,” he told the council.

Bourgeois also responded to those who said some drivers carrying relief supplies into Terrebonne were turned away by deputies.

Drivers “get paid by the hour,” so they can return home and receive pay for the haul, he said.

“They lie by saying, ‘They won’t let me in,'” he said. “They get paid extra. It happens with every hurricane.”

Seventy percent of poles were down after Gustav. “With poles across the road, we couldn’t let people back,” Bourgeois said. Because of the large number of roads coming into Terrebonne, the sheriff said deputies had little chance of stopping every resident from coming back into the parish before being officially allowed.

Claudet added that the large number of evacuees generally made conditions easier for law enforcement.

But the barrage of criticism from prominent ex-Terrebonne Parish officials continued for Claudet.

Barry Blackwell, parish manager under Claudet predecessor Don Schwab, was more equivocal. Asserting that he had supported Claudet in his run for the parish presidency, Blackwell said “there was a substantial failure in our leadership structure.”

“I’m not asking Claudet to resign,” he said. “I will support him. Either he will make the decision or the people will.”

“When people are in imminent danger, it’s unfair to him (pointing to Bourgeois),” he said. “He has to regroup. He did a great job.”

“I want to know what his plan is for the next storm,” Blackwell said. “I cannot get up and leave and pretend that something serious did not happen. I will support Claudet as long as he has a serious plan.”

Interim Parish Councilman Harold Lapeyre pointed to the bigger picture concerning Terrebonne Parish and its vulnerability to hurricanes.

“Until the parish gets Morganza to the Gulf (hurricane protection levees), we will have to leave like rats every time,” he said. “Until the project becomes a reality, this parish will be in a weak position.”