Parish President John Young had objected to two-year renewals
In an apparent compromise with Jefferson Parish President John Young, the Parish Council extended two consulting contracts Wednesday for just one year, instead of the two years originally planned.
Jefferson Parish Councilman Elton Lagasse, left, and Parish President John YoungUnanimously and without discussion, the seven-member panel gave Sisung Investment Management Services through 2012 to advise the Finance Department and Jefferson's two public hospitals about financial investments. The same was granted to Government Consultants of Louisiana, which advises parish officials on how to maintain Jefferson's bond rating.
Young protested plans for two-year renewals Tuesday on two fronts:
- The Sisung Investments deal wasn't set to expire until December, and the Government Consultants contract wasn't up until September.
- Both contracts were to be extended without a public competition, which could leverage a better price.
"This administration's position is going to be that, when we can, we're going to advertise for (proposals) and open it up to competition," Young said. He had asked the council to cancel the renewals.
But at least one council member had a different plan. Councilman Elton Lagasse said Government Consultants is a trusted financial advising firm that helped guide the parish to its excellent bond rating. Plus, he said, any competitive process would more than likely increase the cost of the contract, no matter what firm won the job.
"Change for the sake of change?" Lagasse asked. "I don't know."
But in a nod to Young's concerns, Lagasse asked his colleagues to reduce the contract extensions to one year instead of two. With council elections set for October, that means a new council can assess them in 2012, he said.
"At this time (next year), you could have five new people sitting there," Lagasse said, noting that would be the case only if he and Councilman Chris Roberts win the two parishwide seats on the panel. Except for Councilwoman Cynthia Lee-Sheng, the council members are term-limited in their current seats.
Council Chairman Tom Capella proposed the two-year renewals. He said he brought them up eight months before the first one was set to expire because the complexity of financial advising work, especially on government bonds, takes a lot of lead time. He also noted that the extensions call for more time but at the same price.
"They do a great job for no more money," he said.
Since 2006, Government Consultants and related companies also have given $3,000 to campaigns of Councilman Byron Lee, $2,000 to Capella, $1,300 to Roberts and $1,000 each to Councilman Louis Congemi and Lagasse, according to records on file with the state Ethics Administration. The records show no contributions from Sisung.
The Sisung firm has handled investment strategies for East Jefferson General Hospital and West Jefferson Medical Center since at least 2008. Founder Larry Sisung Jr. didn't return a message left seeking comment.
Jefferson Finance Director Gwen Bolotte said the firm is paid on a sliding scale, depending on the value of the parish's and the hospitals' investment portfolios. She said she couldn't speak for the hospitals' payments but that the administration paid the firm roughly $464,000 in 2008, $441,000 in 2009 and an estimated $437,000 for 2010.
Nancy Cassagne, chief executive for West Jefferson Medical Center, said she wouldn't comment on the Sisung contract because the hospital's financial advising agreements are the council's responsibility. East Jefferson General Hospital spokesman Keith Darcey also said he wouldn't comment on the Sisung contract.
The parish paid Government Consultants $31,000 last year, Bolotte said. It was paid $476,000 in 2009 because of a rash of new bond issues and the refinancing of old ones, she said.
Young said he was disturbed by the push to renew the contracts well before their expiration dates. Nonetheless, when Young was on the council in 2009, it renewed Sisung's contractthrough 2011. Young said he didn't recall that vote, but that his administration generally will not support contract extensions for work that could go through a competitive process without harming a continuing project.
"Our position is that we're going to continue on, as a general rule, to discontinue evergreen contracts, and we're going to advertise (for competition) when they expire," Young said.
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Richard Rainey can be reached at rrainey@timespicayune.com or 504.883.7052.