Louis Pomes, Parish President
Did Pomes violate his oath of office by not enforcing the Buy and Build Program on himself?
It would certainly seem so. But let’s walk through the facts together so you can decide for yourself.
The Buy and Build Program was established by ordinance by the Council in 2017. Just to reminder everyone of what should be obvious: ordinances have the effect of law in St. Bernard Parish. Take a look at the ordinance for yourself.
In addition to the requirements set forth in the ordinance, by two separate contracts (the purchase agreement and the act of sale) each buyer obligated himself to comply with the same requirements set forth in the ordinance.
So who was supposed to enforce the Buy and Build Program?
Under our Charter, the President is the elected official charged with the general executive and administrative authority over Parish government. Let’s take a look at the Parish Charter.
Sec. 3-01. Executive authority
The president shall be the chief executive officer of the parish government and shall exercise general executive and administrative authority over all departments, offices, and agencies of the parish government, except as otherwise provided by this Charter.That means that Pomes, as the Parish President, was charged with enforcing the requirements of the Buy and Build Program. As an elected official, Pomes was required by the Charter to take the following oath:
Sec. 7-06. Oaths of office.
I, . . . , do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support the constitution and laws of the United States, the constitution, statutes, and laws of the, State of
Louisiana, and the charter and laws of St. Bernard Parish, and that I will faithfully and impartially discharge and perform all the duties incumbent upon me as [PARISH PRESIDENT], according to the best of my ability and understanding, so help me God.Did Pomes honor his oath and charge as Parish President? No! The Parish has acknowledged that Pomes was one of the many non-compliant buyers under the Buy and Build Program. So Pomes didn’t do what he was elected to do and didn’t do what he swore to do.
Where did Pomes’ failure stem from?
Fundamentally, Pomes had a conflict of interest from the very beginning. Pomes was in non-compliance when he first took office. Once Pomes took office, he was charged with enforcing the law passed by the Council and the agreements with the Buyers. But how could Pomes do that when he was one of the people he had to take action against? He couldn’t! It was a clear conflict of interest. Let’s take a look at what the Charter has to say about that:
Sec. 7-03. Conflict of interest.
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(b) Any parish government officer, official, or employee, whether paid or unpaid, who has a substantial financial interest, direct or indirect or by reason of ownership of stock in any corporation, in any contract with the parish government, or in the sale of any land,
material, supplies or services to the parish government or to a contractor or subcontractor supplying the parish government, shall make known that interest and shall be prohibited from voting or otherwise participating in the capacity of a parish government officer, official, or employee in the making of such sale or in the making or performance of such contract.
(c) Any parish government officer, official, or employee who willfully conceals such a substantial financial interest or who willfully violates the requirements of this section shall be guilty of malfeasance in office or position and shall forfeit the office or position. Violation of this section with the knowledge express or implied of the person or corporation contracting with or making a sale to the parish government shall render the contract or sale void.Pomes had a direct contractual relationship with St. Bernard Parish Government and Pomes was in violation of Ordinance 1856-07-13 as a result of participating in and then not complying with the Buy and Build Program.
Did Pomes ever disclose this conflict of interest? Not to the public – at least as far as we can tell!
When Summary 4245 came up for consideration, Pomes failed to disclose that substantial financial interest to the public. What’s worse is that the Council knew (because they had the list) that Pomes had an undisclosed financial interest and that Pomes had been protecting his financial interest since he took office by not enforcing the Buy and Build Program requirements on himself or anyone else.
It was only after Councilman Everhardt introduced a resolution to identify all non-compliant buyers in the Buy and Build Program that Pomes knew that his conflict of interest was about to be exposed. For more on that resolution and what prompted that resolution to be introduced, take a look at our article “Nothing suspicious going on here.“
Who else was supposed to be enforcing the Buy and Build Program?
Donald Bourgeois, III, Chief Administrative Officer
Under the Parish Charter, it is the Chief Administrative Office who is also tasked with overseeing the Buy and Build Program. Let’s take a look at the Charter:
Sec. 4-03. Chief administrative officer.
(a) The St. Bernard Parish Chief Administrative Officer (hereinafter referred to as chief administrative officer or CAO) shall be appointed by and serve at the pleasure of the president.
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(c) Subject to the direction of the president, the chief administrative officer shall supervise all departments, offices, and agencies of the parish government and perform such other functions as may be directed by the president.
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b. Managing contracts and monitoring of all parish contracts,Bourgeois found himself in an unenviable situation for two reasons. First, Pomes, the person who appointed Bourgoeois and for whom Bourgeois serves at the pleasure of, was one of the non-compliant buyers. No one could expected Bourgeois to take action against his boss. Second, the list also identified “Donald Bourgeois” as one of the non-compliant buyers. The conflict of interest evident here does note require any further elaboration.
What was the end result of all of this?
The end result is that the Parish had the fox guarding the henhouse. The Council should have been the backstop to having this problem go on. But the Council chose not to take any action to enforce the rules either. Instead, the Council (excluding Everhardt) voted to waive the non-compliance of everyone who was in non-compliance at a cost to the Parish of no less than $3.3 million.
So we leave you with a few questions:
If Pomes can’t or won’t perform all of his duties as Parish President, then what do we need him for?
If Bourgeois can’t or wont’ perform all of his duties as Chief Administrative Officer, then what do we need him for?
And, if the Council (excluding Everhardt) can’t or won’t perform all of their duties as the legislative body of Parish government, then what do we need them for?
