Mayor Tim Riley met with festival organizers Friday evening
During the September 28 meeting of Gonzales City Council, a non-agenda discussion was initiated by Councilwoman Terri Lambert who pushed to bar a Hispanic Heritage group from using city property for two years. Lambert declared that, since alcohol was consumed during a September 20 event at Jambalaya Park, Hispanic Heritage Festival of Gonzales was required by the controlling ordinance scheme to secure police presence, which had not been done according to the first-term council member. Lambert cited no legal authority for the proposition, and we could find none.
The councilwoman read Section 18-26, Violations and penalties, into the record:
(a) Any organization or person that violates any of the provisions of this article shall not be able to apply for a special event permit for a minimum of twenty-four (24) months after the incident. The mayor or director of community services shall provide written documentation to the city council and the organization or person who was granted the special event permit showing cause for this action.
(b) Any individual who violates any of the provisions of this article may also be billed for any expenses incurred to the city.
“The ordinance is the ordinance…If she was serving alcohol (at a city sanctioned special event), she’s supposed to have police,” proclaimed 18-year Gonzales City Council veteran Kirk Boudreaux.
Indeed, the ordinance is the ordinance, but Councilman Boudreaux did not bother to cite the ordinance to which he referred either.
“We’ll watch it next time it comes up. She won’t get (the Special Use Permit),” Boudreaux asserted. “She was supposed to have police.”
The “she” being referred to by the councilman is Maria Truett, the Hispanic Heritage group’s president who presented the Special Event Permit request, appearing before the council when it was approved on August 24. Truett was not present on September 28 to defend her group. Mayor Tim Riley met with Truett and other members of the organization “to hear their side of the story” Friday night.
“My administration takes the allegations seriously,” Riley said about the “ordinance prohibiting the group from even applying for a permit for two years. I’ve directed members of the administration to investigate and deliver a report for the council at the next meeting (October 12).”
Councilwoman Lambert stressed that Section 18-26 calls for “the mayor…(to)…provide written documentation to the city council” in order for the Section 18-26 bar on special event permits to take effect.
“Does the uncited ordinance require police presence at an event where alcohol is consumed? Since neither council member bothered to cite the ordinance upon which they premised their position, we reviewed the entire scheme,” said Chief of Staff Wade Petite. “We found no such requirement though it might be wise to add one. In any event, we are convinced that Hispanic Heritage Festival of Gonzales acted in good faith with the very best of intentions.”
Petite did note that Section 18-29(3), Festivals imposes an affirmative duty on the Chief of Police to determine how many police officers should be present. It reads, “The number of police officers required to maintain order and safety shall be determined by the chief of police.”
The only verbiage specific to alcoholic beverages is found in Section 18-24(i) –Special event permit applications, review.
(i) If alcoholic beverages will be sold or served, City recommendation for approval and state special events alcohol permits are required by the applicant and/or vendor no later than thirty (30) days prior to the first day of the event. A letter of recommendation will be provided, after council approval, to be included with the applicant’s ATC special event application. ATC will not approve an application without the recommendation letter from the City.
Conspicuous by its absence, there is no requirement for police presence.
There are 17 paragraphs included in the ordinance, Paragraph (i) is the only one to address alcoholic beverages. The entire ordinance scheme, Sections 18-23 through 18-32, was adopted on September 9, 2024 during Interim Mayor Ryland Percy’s eight-month tenure. No mention is made of police presence, not if alcohol is being “sold or served” or for any other reason.
The issue was barely discussed (not at all by the council) on August 24 when a unanimous vote approved the Hispanic Heritage event.
That discussion, too, involved Kirk Boudreaux and Terri Lambert with zero input from their three colleagues. No one made mention of whether alcohol would be “sold or served” during the discussion which centered on whether a $50/hour charge would be levied to use the amphitheater at Jambalaya Park.
Gonzales PD was present for the heritage event in 2023 and 2024 when no fee was charged by the city. No charged for use of the amphitheater was imposed either time. The event was not held in 2025 due to fears in the Hispanic community that US Immigration & Customs Enforcement (ICE) might be nosing around.
“Somebody was not doing the charging correctly (for use of the amphitheater in 2023 and 2024),” Councilwoman Lambert opined during a back-and-forth with Maria Truett on August 24. “I’m just telling you.”
Truett questioned whether the event’s celebration of Hispanic culture was the reason for the charge being imposed.
“I think everybody else pays for the theater. We gotta follow our rules,” concluded Councilman Boudreaux, before making the motion to approve the Special Event Permit application.
After the unanimous vote, Maria Truett asked Police Chief Sherman Jackson if “we have to pay you too.”
“I got you, Maria. Don’t worry,” replied Chief Jackson.
Even if the council reads a police presence requirement into the ordinance, the group has taken the position that Maria Truett thought the exchange with Chief Jackson was sufficient to make the necessary arrangements. Mayor Riley concluded that “Maria was not unreasonable” in believing it.
“We will not be suggesting that the Hispanic Heritage group be banned from holding its annual event in the future,” the mayor said.
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