Vote of no confidence: Parish President respond’s to council’s vote

Lafourche Parish President Jimmy Cantrelle has responded to last week’s harsh rebuke of his administration by the parish council.

Cantrelle issued a statement on the council’s vote of no confidence in his ability to lead parish government going forward, which happened at a Thursday special meeting he did not attend.

Cantrelle said he did not attend the meeting because he did not present any resolutions for it. He called the meeting “legislative business.”

Cantrelle said he would focus on results, rather than the opinions of the council.

“The people of Lafourche Parish and the employees of Lafourche Parish deserve better,” Cantrelle said. “History shows a focus on perception and opinion rather than facts. In time, facts surface. While I appreciate healthy debate and challenge, my focus is on the work and results. Flood protection, pump automation, recreation expansion, economic development, on-buildline system expansion and community services outreach are just a few of the many priorities this year.”

The no confidence vote was the last part of a whirlwind week for Cantrelle and his administration that featured the firing of one top official, the resignation of another and the council’s strong strike back on Thursday.

The turmoil began on Tuesday when he fired Reggie Bagala from his position as parish administrator, the second-highest position in Lafourche Parish Government. According to Bagala, Cantrelle had offered him the chance to step down and return to his previous position overseeing the office of community action the previous week, but fired him entirely last Tuesday.

Bagala’s firing marks the third time in a little more than a year Cantrelle will have to find a top executive, as Bagala was promoted to the post in September to replace Don Matherne, who resigned after seven months on the job.

On Wednesday, Cantrelle hired interim replacements for Bagala, including one official

with a troubled history with Lafourche government. The parish president tapped Paul

Robichaux, an operations manager with decades of experience in operational expansion and employee development in the oil and gas industry, as interim director of community services, a department Bagala continued to oversee after his promotion

to administrator. Cantrelle also appointed Tommy Lasseigne to be the interim parish administrator.

A Lafourche Parish press release announcing the interim hires praised Robichaux’s experience working with both Danos and Curole, saying “[Robichaux] will tap into his long time networks to grow Community Service offerings as it relates to education, services and recreation expansion.” The release also praised Lasseigne for his experience in Lafourceh Parish government.

“[Lassiegne] knows the intricaties of Parish Government like no other. With leadership roles in the Legislative and Executive Branches in recent years, Lasseigne is known for

his ability with ‘the numbers,’” read the release.

Lasseigne was previously the legislative internal auditor for the parish council from 2012 to 2015 during former parish president Charlotte Randolph’s administration.

He resigned from that post, mired in controversy regarding allegations by Lasseigne that both Randolph and council members were not cooperating with him enough to effectively do his job, with a short statement and a “gone fishin’” photograph.

Lasseigne rejoined Lafourche Parish when Cantrelle took office last year and hired him as the head of both the finance and human resources department.

He resigned from that position in October as the council was preparing to go into executive session and vote on firing him in light of disputes between Lasseigne and employees. At its Aug. 24 meeting, the parish’s Civil Service Board reinstated a pay raise Lasseigne had taken from an executive assistant without going through proper procedure.

A December opinion by District Attorney Cam Morvant, looking into allegations of malfeasance by parish administration, found no legal wrongdoing by Cantrelle or his staff but did find that “numerous civil service procedure violations and potentially a civil rights violation occurred” when Lasseigne placed an employee on the random drug screen list when he did not have the authority to do so.

In a separate December opinion, Morvant again found no law-breaking by Cantrelle but did find that Cantrelle sought raises for key employees in exchange for presenting the council- and employee-favored health insurance plan for council approval.

Both Bagala and Public Works Director James Barnes told Morvant that Cantrelle pressured Bagala into making calls to council members proposing the deal, with Bagala refusing to make any more after calling two members, saying he was uncomfortable with the action. Morvant found enough in the investigation to request the Louisiana Board of Ethics review the matter for any state ethics code violations.

Cantrelle declined to comment on his reasons for firing Bagala when contacted by the Times.

Bagala declined to speculate on Cantrelle’s intentions for firing him and if the December opinion played a role in his ouster, instead chalking up any disagreement between the two to differing opinions.

“It was apparent there’s a difference in philosophy between the parish president and myself in how parish government should work in Lafourche,” Bagala said.

The parish president’s long week continued on Thursday with another state departure and the council’s forceful response to Bagala’s firing. Director of Communications Doug Cheramie resigned that morning with his own terse, two-sentence statement to Cantrelle, closing with “It was an honor to serve the citizens of Lafourche Parish.” Deputy Director of Communications Caroline Eschette has taken over all aspects of communication for the parish.

On Thursday night, the council made both ceremonial and concrete rebukes to Cantrelle’s handling of his staff . The council first voted 7-1-1 to hire Bagala to Lasseigne’s old post as legislative internal auditor, with James Bourgeois voting no and Lorraine abstaining. All council members praised Bagala for his love of Lafourche, integrity and knowledge of parish government.

Bourgeois said he voted no because he did not approve the process of hiring Bagala via special meeting, while Lorraine abstained because he said he did not want to seem like he was interfering with Cantrelle’s authority to hire and fire department

heads. Council Member Jerry LaFont said the outpouring of support from parish employees for Bagala motivated him to vote for bringing him back into parish government.

“I had phone calls when they removed him from the building, employees called me crying, because they had so much faith and trust in this guy. And they’re like, ‘Man, what are we going to do?’ That’s why we’re hiring him,” LaFont said.

The council then passed the vote of no confidence 6-1-2, with Lorraine voting no and Bourgeois and Michael Gros abstaining.

The vote carries no official action, which Gros and Bourgeois cited as the reason they abstained.

However, the vote could build momentum for a recall vote in which voters could oust Cantrelle.

Already there are public rumblings of a potential recall. “Louisiana Today” talk show host Joey Sanders said last week that “if voters agree with the council, then now is the time to begin organizing to conduct a recall petition

drive to remove Cantrelle from office.”

Cantrelle was grilled in absence by council members during discussion of the no confidence vote, showing the fissure between the council and parish president extends far beyond his recent personnel decisions.

Armand Autin alleged Cantrelle pulled strings to re-hire a pump station operator who was fired for failing to show up and pump during a rain event. Autin called the action unfair to constituencies and the parish.

“Yeah, we friends, Mr. Jimmy, but things got to change. They got to change. You got my back if they change, but if not, you know what, then get ready,” Autin said.

LaFont alleged the parish president told someone who has a contract with the parish to falsely tell Morvant that LaFont was negotiating a parish contract, which is illegal for council members to do, in an effort to get LaFont arrested.

“For [Cantrelle] to do that to me, I have no vote of confidence,” LaFont said. “Because if he’s doing that to me, then what is he doing to everybody else?”

When asked about the allegations, Eschette said “the President does not comment on personnel or hearsay.”

Cantrelle has yet to respond to the allegations levied by Autin and LaFont.

Other council members turned their focus on themselves during the no confidence vote.

Bourgeois offered an apology to Lafourche taxpayers for the way parish government has operated since the new administration and council have taken office.

Lorraine was Cantrelle’s biggest defender, saying the council was refusing to cooperate with him.

He asserted the council should share in the blame for parish government’s current state, offering an amendment to declare a vote of no confidence on itself, which the council voted down. Lorraine said the parish president and council members should work to put the past misgivings behind them and start with a clean slate for the sake of Lafourche.

“I think it’s time that this council, this administration, gets together, let bygones be bygones. Let’s start tomorrow. I don’t think it’s fair that you got to put a resolution like this for just the administration and leave the council out,” Lorraine said.

The council’s final action on Thursday was to vote 9-0 to seek an opinion from Morvant regarding Cantrelle’s appointments of Robichaux and Lasseigne.

At dispute is if Cantrelle is allowed by Lafourche’s home rule charter to fill those vacancies with interim appointments without first presenting full-time replacements to the council for approval. Morvant has not issued an opinion yet, but did send a letter to Cantrelle warning him of the possible issues the appointments may bring up.

“I would like for you to be cognizant of the possibility that pending the issuance of the requested opinion, any actions taken by you with regards to appointing an interim administrator and an interim department head, and any actions taken by theses (sic) interim appointments may be null and void,” Morvant wrote. “Futhermore, you and the interim appointments may have legal ramifications.”

Cantrelle echoed Lorraine’s statements about putting disagreements with the council behind him for the sake of a better future for Lafourche.

“The Parish President respects the “president-council” form of government. The distribution of power is to better serve the people,” Eschette said in an email to The Times. “He leads with a willingness to work together by leaving yesterday in the past to focus on today and tomorrow for the people in Lafourche Parish.” •

Parish President Jimmy Cantrelle’s empty seat at Thursday’s Lafourche Parish Council special meeting. Cantrelle said he was not at the meeting because he did not present any resolutions and the meeting was “legislative business.”