Terri Lambert (file photo)
It is no secret that three members of Gonzales’ City Council have committed to oppose Mayor Tim Riley’s administration. The resistance has been obvious and, oftentimes, unseemly like denial of the General Fund Budget by Kirk Boudreaux, Tyler Turner and Terri Lambert without bothering to explain or justify their votes. Increasingly tenuous, the alliance is fraying at its edges as evidenced by Monday’s 3-2 vote to approve an Intergovernmental Agreement (IGA) with Ascension Parish to facilitate recreation baseball in the city.
Lambert has done herself serious political damage in rabidly resisting the agreement as Boudreaux and Turner finally took an offramp on the road to electoral oblivion. She proposed an agreement with Impact Sports/AP Baseball (instead of Ascension Parish) even though the current proposal would save the city $40,000. Lambert turned on Councilman Boudreaux when he defended the deal with Ascension Parish.
“I’m more worried about recreational ball because the kids that play can’t afford travel ball,” Councilman Boudreaux defended his support of the IGA on Monday (the fourth consecutive agenda to include it). “We worked (competing demand for field access by recreational teams versus travel ball) out last year and I don’t see where it’s a big deal (to work it) out this year.”
A reasonable, easily defensible position for the councilman to adopt…and one that elicited a vitriolic attack from Councilwoman Lambert.
“Why can’t we do it like we did last year?” she demanded. “I think Gonzales is fully capable of taking care of our own contracts.”
Maybe so, but the city had to suspend baseball for multiple years due to a lack of interest prior to 2025.
“Why are you giving the city away right now?” she grilled Boudreaux who disclaimed the accusation. “Yes, you are! You’re giving the parish eight of our fields.”
An indefensible, nonsensical statement since the same private company (Impact Sports/AP Baseball) will run the league and decide scheduling…JUST LIKE IT DID IN 2025. And, “They’re only using a few (Municipal Park/Civic Center) fields for practice,” Councilman Boudreaux responded.
“Dr. Adams (Jason of Impact/AP Baseball) said he needs four fields,” countered Terri Lambert. “He got his Tee Joe fields, and I say we can go ahead and give travel ball the other four.”
Consistently inconsistent, Lambert would vote against this very arrangement she had championed only moments before. But not before constructing a maze of circular logic from which no one could escape.
“We’re doing the dirt work, we’re doing the (field) striping, we’re doing the maintenance,” Lambert itemized the functions undertaken by the city’s recreation department for the last fifty years (including last year but excluding the years when the city failed to host recreation league baseball. “We’re cleaning restrooms and we’re filling the supplies. The Cabelas Test, you know that test? You gotta keep that in mind, too.”
Three Prong Test: Three-prong test developed following the Louisiana Supreme Court’s Cabela’s decision states that all three of the following elements must be met for a public entity to properly expend or transfer public funds or property.
- The expenditure or transfer must be for a public purpose that comports with the governmental purpose which the entity has legal authority to pursue;
- The expenditure or transfer of public funds or property, taken as a whole, does not appear to be gratuitous; and
- Evidence must demonstrate that the public entity has a demonstrable, objective, and reasonable expectation of receiving a benefit or value at least equivalent to the amount expended or transferred.
As ridiculous an argument as any elected official has been able to muster in recent memory, since, as it was pointed out, “we’re doing it now.” More perplexing still…Lambert’s insistence that the IGA be refused in favor of another contract that would cost Gonzales taxpayers an additional $30,000 in cash. And she was not done.
“We have 177 kids in the city who play city ball, rec ball. Recreation in Gonzales comes first, okay. Travel ball is…travel ball. It’s different. It’s not, you know, the city.”
We pay for those fields. Taxpayer dollars pay for the fields. AP Baseball, so there’s a $95 registration fee.
Keep in mind, we have 177 kids that, supposedly it’s not enough to do whatever so they’re going to be thrown into AP Baseball game so we can, they can play rec ball. The registration fee is $95 and y’all have 1315 kids (throughout the program, city and parish). Is that about correct,” Councilwoman Lambert grilled Ascension Recreation Director Brandon Smith.
“That’s $128,000.
Then you’ve got team sponsorships. You’ve got 100 teams, give or take. That’s another $50,000. That’s $178,000 y’all are making right there (ignoring the fact that 177 city players only account for $16,815 of the total). Then you’ve got $4,500 field sponsors, I don’t know how many field sponsors you have or you can get a two-year field sponsorship for $8,000 (none of which emanates from inside the city). Then, concession stand money, y’all keep all the concession stand money (yes, but only at parish fields)?
The City of Gonzales is taking care of all of these fields. We’ve got tractors, we’ve got trailers, we’ve got weedeaters, we’ve got blowers, we’ve got gas, we’ve got manpower, toilet paper, everything that goes in the bathrooms. I’m not gonna put a price tag on 177 kids, okay. I’m not going to do that. But this is a lot of money.”
Brandon Smith, who’s been doing recreation for a quarter-century, offered to provide expenditures and revenues to demonstrate “what, exactly, you do make in a recreational program. Which is nothing. You’re actually at a loss on anything you do.” Smith did not take a position on the Cabelas Test issue.
“I think we need to do what we (actually, just her) said last time, a Cooperative Endeavor Agreement (between) City of Gonzales and AP Baseball. I don’t have a problem with that (nor with the extra $30,000 commitment of Gonzales taxpayer dollars, apparently, Cabelas Test notwithstanding). I’d like to keep control of what we do.”
“Which will be fine with us,” said Ascension’s Recreation Director who noted that the city “will just incur all the expenses that are associated with it.” Mayor Tim Riley intervened at this point, asking for a motion and vote. Councilman Turner complied, proposing an agreement that would reserve the Tee Joe Park fields to the parish, the rest for travel team use.
Doc Adams came to the microphone, promising to make it work even though “a tremendous amount of rescheduling, 470 kids” involved, would have to be accomplished. Which set off Councilwoman Lambert who went on a Corey Orgeron-worthy rant and ramble.
“I was doing a Cooperative Endeavor Agreement just in case we would decide to do this cuz I made a motion to deny last time,” she addressed Doc Adams. “You and I went back and forth on email, okay. The field agreement between the city and AP Baseball directly. So, we had talked about some changes you wanted to make if we did that with us this time.”
Adams claimed that no finalized agreement had been provided.
“No, it’s right here. I didn’t send it to you cuz I wasn’t finished,” Lambert conceded.
The routine was greeted with an appropriate level of disdainful laughter, effectively concluding the councilwoman’s diatribe. Joined by a continually confusing Division C council member, Lambert found herself in the minority as Tyler Turner’s motion prevailed.
PLAY BALL.
Loading ...