The St. Charles Parish Council has proposed earmarking $50,000 in its 2013 budget to pay for special legal counsel to defend a civil suit filed by New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu over whether St. Charles has the right to select a representative on the New Orleans Aviation Board. Earlier this month council members voted unanimously to hire Timothy Marcel...
The St. Charles Parish Council has proposed earmarking $50,000 in its 2013 budget to pay for special legal counsel to defend a civil suit filed by New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu over whether St. Charles has the right to select a representative on the New Orleans Aviation Board.
Louis Armstrong International Airport Earlier this month council members voted unanimously to hire Timothy Marcel as their attorney for the case. On Tuesday, during a budget hearing attended by six of the nine council members, they proposed transferring $50,000 from the parish's general fund to the council's budget to cover legal expenses.
The full budget has yet to be approved and a second budget hearing will be held tonight at 6 p.m.
Landrieu filed suit in September in civil district court in New Orleans asking a judge to declare that the mayor of New Orleans has sole appointing powers to the board under the city's home rule charter.
At the heart of the contention is the 1985 agreement between the parish and city that gave St. Charles the right to nominate a representative to the nine-member Aviation Board as part of a compromise to let the airport expand a runway into the parish. That agreement also gave the New Orleans City Council final approval of all members.
In the suit Landrieu said the Parish Council's interpretation that the agreement gives them perpetual nominating and selecting powers is incorrect, and if that interpretation is allowed to stand, it would violate the city's home rule charter.
The suit alleges that the agreement allowed St. Charles to retain the person who held the seat in 1985 and then to name that person's successor once the term expired.
Smith was the successor and held the seat until his death in 2011.
"The Mayor of the City of New Orleans has completed his obligations under the Agreement with regard to the Parish of St. Charles," the suit states.
Landrieu's suit asks for a declarative judgment that New Orleans' home rule charter, which established the aviation board, gives Landrieu the sole appointing power of all members.
Although the suit does not contest or mention other details of the compromise agreement, some council members said the litigation could impact the $500,000 a year in taxes the parish receives from Kenner that's generated by sales at the airport.
Parish Council members say the 1985 compromise agreement gives them appointing rights and that the city is attempting to renege.
For nearly a year, the St. Charles Parish Council has attempted to seat Luling businessman Neal Clulee on the aviation board to replace long-time member Henry Smith, Jr. of Norco who died last year.
Clulee was nominated by a majority vote of the Parish Council in November 2011, over the objections of three councilmembers and Parish President V.J. St. Pierre, Jr. who argued that the council should have considered several people for the nomination.
At its Oct. 8 meeting, the Parish Council rejected St. Pierre's veto of Clulee's nomination and reaffirmed his selection.
The council will continue its public budget hearing tonight in the council's chambers at the parish courthouse, 15045 River Road, Hahnville.
A third, and possibly final, budget hearing is set for Tuesday at 6 p.m. also in the council's chamber.
St. Pierre has proposed a budget for 2013 that includes expenditures of $139.7 million, a 14 percent increase over last year's estimated $119 million spending plan. Projected revenues are estimated to total $164 million, which includes about $60 million in fund balances carried over from 2012; about a 2 percent increase overall.
The council has until Nov. 30 to amend and adopt the budget. If it fails to adopt the budget by Dec.1, St. Pierre's proposed budget is automatically adopted and effective Jan. 1, the start of the parish's fiscal year.