Lafourche Parish President responds to The Times’ Our View last week

EDITOR’S NOTE:

Lafourche Parish President Jimmy Cantrelle has responded to a Times editorial concerning some budget item decisions. We have chosen to print his words in their entirety. We appreciate his willingness to speak to the people of Lafourche Parish on our pages.

I have read with some interest, but more dismay, the opinion column in the Houma Times on January 31, 2018, “Jimmy CAN do better for Lafourche.” If the whole story were told, the headline would read: “Jimmy has done MORE for Lafourche with much less”. We all know that royalties and revenues plummeted these past two years. Despite the decline, I dedicated funds to rebuild infrastructure parish-wide, not to fund special interests. More areas saw new or refurbished pump stations in addition to drainage improvement projects along roadways and streets. Flood protection is a matter of life and death. That’s my top priority.

Unfortunately, political rhetoric overshadows the story. Let’s present all sides of the story before reaching a judgment. Had you contacted me for comment, the Houma Times readers would have been better served and more fully informed.

1. The 2018 budget passed by the Council, with hundreds of amendments, is questionable as to whether it is even balanced, as required by law. Even if it is, it fails to address the disastrous and looming multimillion dollar deficit and the complete inability of the Parish Government to provide basic services, like garbage collection, now that money is scarce. For example, the Council approved the spending of BP funds.

The Council has failed in its fiduciary duty to act responsibly. Rather, they’ve collectively entrusted Mr. Bagala’s research, or lack of, and adopted risky financial gambles. It is again left to me and my administration to manage MORE with much less!

Since the Houma Times has brought up the leadership academy for girls, a non-profit special interest group (not a government agency), let’s get the whole story on that.

First, the LAW (Lafourche Parish Code of Ordinances) says that:

Sec. 2-125. – Board, agencies and nonprofits required to submit current audited financial reports.

(a) Any board, agency, or nonprofit organization that requests and/or receives any funds from the parish must provide the council with a copy of their current audited Financials prior to the parish transferring the funds. All funds used by these nonprofit organizations must be dedicated to certain projects, and those organizations must come before the council every six months with a progress report.

(b) The parish council legislative internal auditor shall review the audited financials submitted by the board, agency, or nonprofit organization and give a report to the council on their findings prior to the parish transferring the funds.

(Code 1996, § 2:402; Ord. No. 3565, 3-22-2005; Ord. No. 5553, 10-30-2014)

I am following the LAW. It takes more than the Council putting in the budget that they want to give away tax dollars to a non-profit. (1) The non-profit MUST submit its audited financials and (2) the council auditor (Reggie Bagala) must report to the council BEFORE the parish, i.e. the Parish President, actually transfers the taxpayers’ dollars to a special interest group. It has only been weeks since the Council spent that money in the budget, so where is Mr. Bagala’s timely audit report that is the pre-requisite to transferring the funds?? Sounds like the Council and Mr. Bagala have failed to fulfill their duties once again under the law.

For all of the People of Lafourche Parish, ask yourself if you can afford to give money to charities when you can’t pay your bills? Lafourche Parish is not so lucky; this is the new