Randolph to council: You’re not the boss of me

Lafourche Parish President Charlotte Randolph succeeded in halting the parish council’s attempt to reestablish the pecking order for maintenance projects in Lafourche at Tuesday’s council meeting.

The council approved an ordinance Sept. 11 directing Randolph to provide separate monthly maintenance reports for road sales tax districts 2 and A. However, Randolph vetoed the measure Sept. 21.

At Tuesday’s showdown, a two-third’s vote was needed to override Randolph’s veto. With councilmen Joe Fertitta and Rodney Doucet absent, and Phillip Gouaux, Jerry Jones and Mike Delatte voting against the measure, the parish president’s veto stands. Councilmen Lindel Toups, Matt Matherne, Daniel Lorraine and Louis Richard voted in support of the override.

Randolph argued that the council’s attempt to dictate the ongoing maintenance report violated the parish’s Home Rule Charter, which a month earlier, several council members insisted she follow.

“If you want me to follow the Home Rule Charter, that’s what I did,” Randolph told the council.

Lorraine argued that District Attorney Cam Morvant, not Randolph, should have determined if the council’s demand was legal.

“All the councilmen want is to know what’s going on,” he said. “We think Mrs. Randolph should be presenting continuous reports about the projects in our district.”

Gouaux suggested a resolution requesting the report would have been more suitable than attempting to order Randolph to provide monthly reports. “It’s not an issue of knowing what’s going on,” he explained. “As a council, we can’t tell the administration what they will and won’t do.”