Jefferson and case managers Chris Williams, Beatrice Wilson (Porsha Evans), Myra Parker and Charlie Esie were hired in late 2007 to work on the program, which was initially created to help people displaced by hurricanes Katrina and Rita and then extended for Ike and Gustav. So far Jefferson is the only one to file suit, but at least two others have made it clear they believe they were fired without justification and are owed for 30 days of work, as required by their contracts. The workers were terminated by the LHA board of commissioners in August, on the recommendation of then-Executive Director Walter Guillory, after an audit pointed out numerous deficiencies in how the program was conducted and managed. For example, when the LHA’s 2009 books were audited, the independent accounting firm found that the case managers were paid a hefty $37/hour for 40 hours each week (along with a monthly $600 car allowance) but were not turning in time sheets or any other supporting documentation of their work or travels.
Some of the case managers had other jobs, and in the case of former City-Parish Councilman Chris Williams, multiple jobs including a full-time position at UL Lafayette. In large part due to the troubled DHAP, the LHA got the attention of the state legislative auditor, inspector general for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, which funds the DHAP, and the FBI. The legislative auditor’s findings may be released before Christmas, according to a source close to the investigation.
Parker showed up at an Oct. 28 meeting of the LHA’s board of commissioners asking for her 30 days of pay — and the embattled board, three of whose members have since been removed for a second time by City-Parish President Joey Durel for allegedly violating the state’s public meetings law, came close to calling for a vote on the matter. Parker said she represented all of the fired case managers; Wilson has told The Independent Weekly that she is also speaking to attorney.
In her suit, Jefferson includes a copy of the contract she signed with LHA, a document that shows the contract ending in March of this year. LHA attorney Daniel Stanford has made his position on the matter clear: After March 31 the DHAP workers were operating as independent contractors without a contract and subject to termination at any time, with or without cause.
Jefferson’s attorney, Pride Doran, did not immediately return a phone call Monday morning, and the LHA’s Stanford could not be reached. The petition notes service to “The Housing Authority of the City of Lafayette through its Executive Director, Mr. Walter Guillory.” Guillory is no longer the executive director; he resigned Oct. 25.
MAY 24 Blogger Robert Mann posts this entry about the Baton Rouge Chamber's recent report on Louisiana's higher education system. It's critical to economic development, and yet our system is facing a "funding crisis" with no way to resolve it, the report says. The Chamber says control of tuition and fees must be returned to the higher ed governing boards.
MAY 24 Here's a NBC33 story about Tyrann Mathieu. He has signed with the Arizona Cardinals, inking a $3 million, four-year deal. He gets a signing bonus of $265K, but gets another, larger bonus if he doesn't get cut from the team for doing drugs. The deal reportedly includes mandatory tests and meetings for the player.
MAY 24 Jarvis DeBerry posts here about the redonkulus rhetoric that would have us believe NOLA is a safe city with a murder problem. Maybe the city's crime stats don't compare with its murder stats because you can't manipulate a murder, he says: a dead body's a dead body. It just doesn't make sense, he says, and his readers agree: a poll asks if they believe the city is safe, and more than 90 percent say no.
MAY 24 Jindal administration officials announced Thursday that the privatization of public health care is going to cost a lot more than they budgeted for, the Advocate reports here. "I'm so surprised," said no one. Anywhere. The cost they're projecting now is more than $1 billion - a lot more than the $626 million budgeted for it. And, it's more than it cost the state to operate those hospitals. So why are we doing this again?
MAY 24 Blogger CB Forgotston ridicules the recent PR campaign by the state GOP in the wake of a legislative auditor's request to both major parties. The GOP (apparently unaware that the Dems got the same request) started yammering about being targeted because it had "killed" a tax increase. CB finds that laughable, but it's also pretty funny that the GOP was comparing this episode to the IRS scandal (Because the President has so much to do with our state auditor. Right?).
MAY 24 Politico details some recent fund-raising efforts by Sen. David Vitter, which have raised the question of his future political plans. This time, it is a $5,000 per head "bayou weekend" that includes "Cajun cooking" and an all-caps "alligator hunt," the story reports. Funds raised go to a super PAC that can spend money to support Vitter in federal or state races, the story points out.
MAY 24 The pink building on Royal in the quarter was sold at a sheriff's sale Thursday, this Picayune story reports. An injunction that would have halted the sale wasn't enforced because the family failed to post a $150,000 bond, the story reports. So the owner of the mortgages on the building bought it, for nearly $7 million. Now the feuding family will have to negotiate with that company to get a lease on the building that has housed their business for close to 60 years.
MAY 23 This post in Louisiana Voice tells us about a bill by a Winnsboro lege that would require all public high school students to take at least one Course Choice online class in order to graduate. (What?) Blogger Tom Aswell says it's a monument to "waste and corruption," especially in light of the problems he's exposed with the program in recent weeks. Idaho had a similar program, but voters removed it by a 2-1 margin, Aswell says.
Most Read
in case you missed it
Subscribe to this comment's feed