Kenner Mayor Mike Yenni made a point of saying he didn't use public money to buy the gifts he gave Wednesday to the Jefferson Parish Council and Parish President John Young, on the occasion of the council's first meeting in Kenner. So what was the source of the money? Yenni said later he bought the notepad portfolios, jewelry and...
Kenner Mayor Mike Yenni made a point of saying he didn't use public money to buy the gifts he gave Wednesday to the Jefferson Parish Council and Parish President John Young, on the occasion of the council's first meeting in Kenner. So what was the source of the money?
Yenni said later he bought the notepad portfolios, jewelry and symbolic keys to the city with money from his own pocket and his campaign finance account.
"I look at it as a promotion for the city and the parish," he said.
The keys cost $176 from Yenni's personal funds, the mayor said.
The portfolios, which feature the logos of the city and parish, were specially made to commemorate the Kenner meeting, Yenni said. The council usually meets in Elmwood or Gretna, with one annual visit to Grand Isle.
Yenni said he hasn't received the bill for the portfolios but that he will pay it from his campaign finance account.
Cufflinks, for Young and the six men on the council, and a dress pin, for Councilwoman Cynthia Lee-Sheng, came from a supply Yenni regularly taps to give to employees and guests, the mayor said. He said he buys them with campaign money.
Yenni began 2012 with $79,695 in his campaign finance account, according to his report to the state Ethics Administration. In 2011, he spent $8,215 on "gifts," according to his report, including $3,295 for merchandise from Raymond's Jewelry Creations and $147 from Adler's jewelers.