Whether or not it is a newly formalized alliance remains to be seen, but two first term Gonzales City Councilwomen found themselves on the wrong side of multiple votes Monday night. Cynthia Gray James seems to have cast her lot with the most vocal critic of Mayor Tim Riley’s administration, Terri Lambert who cited “a couple of (Louisiana) Revised Statutes” for the proposition that a “senior staff member” might have committed malfeasance in office.
What is that “senior staff member” accused of doing?
Lambert’s legal analysis came during the discussion of Agenda Item 12:
Approve a Citizen Petition request for the City of Gonzales to set speed bumps on N Anita Street.
“Petitions…require the signature of 75% of homeowners (not residents) to be placed on the City Council agenda for consideration. Each household, business, etc. within the impact area is entitled to one signature on the petition per address. Non-property-owning residents are not included in the petition process. Property owner signatures are required. In the case of one property owner with multiple properties, that property owner will be provided one vote for each occupied parcel they own.”
Of the 28 homes on N Anita Street, eight are owned by non-residents. Chief of Staff Wade Petite assisted the petitioner by acquiring two non-resident homeowner signatures, one of whom owns two homes.
“What’s happened here could erode the public trust,” proclaimed Councilwoman Lambert. “We have a sitting senior staff member who has gone, in a city vehicle using city gas, using an official city business card, knocking on peoples’ house to get signatures. That can be very intimidating.
The government should not be getting involved in using public resources to campaign for speed bumps for a private citizen,” Lambert continued. “That goes against a couple of revised statutes (14:134 and 42:1111, see below) and it could be considered malfeasance in office. I think the integrity of the petition has been compromised.”
R.S. 14;134 Malfeasance in Office states:
A. Malfeasance in office is committed when any public officer or public employee does any of the following:
(1) Intentionally refuses or fails to perform any duty lawfully required of him, as such officer or employee.
(2) Intentionally performs any such duty in an unlawful manner, including violating the provisions of R.S. 32:43 et seq.
(3) Knowingly permits any other public officer or public employee, under his authority, to intentionally refuse or fail to perform any duty lawfully required of him, or to perform any such duty in an unlawful manner.
(4) Willfully and knowingly subjects any person to the deprivation of any right, privilege, or immunity secured or protected by the United States Constitution and laws, if serious bodily injury or death results.
R.S. 42:111 Payment from nonpublic sources states:
A. Payments for services to the governmental entity.
(1)(a) No public servant shall receive anything of economic value, other than compensation and benefits from the governmental entity to which he is duly entitled, for the performance of the duties and responsibilities of his office or position.
Lambert moved to deny the petition “because it appears this petition is tainted, is unreliable and doesn’t have the required number of signatures.” She wanted five vacant lots to be included in the calculation. Massaging the numbers failed to deliver a happy ending as a council majority approved the petition, though the ever-unpredictable Cynthia Gray James Lambert was won over.
The councilwomen found themselves in another minority when Councilmen Eddie Williams, Kirk Boudreaux and Tyler Turner approved a Special Use Permit application by The ARC of East Ascension. The organization sought use of the Civic Center, free of charge, on May 27 from 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. to host an Easter Party for local and neighboring ARC organizations in celebration of Disability Awareness Month.
Councilwoman James was all alone in opposing a Special Use Permit to operate an Airbnb. The 4-1 approval comes after a unanimous denial of a similar request last month.
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