Parish President Randolph Misuses Parish Credit Cards
Beginning in November, 2005, I began submitting public record requests to the Lafourche Parish Council administration for documents dealing with President Charlotte Randolph's expenses. Some three months later, I am ready to report what I uncovered. President Randolph made numerous unauthorized, and perhaps illegal, personal charges to Parish credit card accounts. Ms. Randolph charged plane tickets for her husband, George Randolph, on August 25, 2004 and April 22, 2005 on her Parish credit card. Ms. Randolph reimbursed the Parish for these charges by checks dated October 4, 2004 and May 26, 2005, respectively. My research also revealed numerous instances where Ms. Randolph likely charged meals and/or lodging for more than one person without revealing the other person's name or the purpose of the expenditure. In an April 27, 2004 Parish Finance Department memo, that office complained that Ms. Randolph's credit card receipts contained no explanations, asked that explanations be provided prior to being sent for payment and advised that the auditors required detailed explanations why the cost was incurred, for meals, who attended and the purpose, and for lodging, the purpose. For whom besides herself was Ms. Randolph providing meals using a Parish credit card?
Article VII, ยง 14(A) of the Louisiana Constitution prohibits "the funds, credit, property or things of value of the state or of any political subdivision" from being "loaned, pledged or donated to or for any person, association or corporation, public or private."
A 1992 Louisiana Attorney General Opinion addressed the issue of Parish credit card use for personal purchases by an employee or officer. Citing La. R.S. 42:1461(A), which prohibits a public official from misusing "funds, property, or other thing of value belonging to or under the custody or control of the public entity in which they hold office or are employed", the opinion concluded that a parish employee or officer would be prohibited from using a public credit card for personal purchases, unless he has been given specific authority to do so by the public entity. The opinion states that a public official or employee could use a public credit card for personal purposes without specific authority only in case of extraordinary emergencies, if the person remits payment to the public entity as soon as possible after the charges are made and such reimbursement is made prior to the receipt of the bill for payment by the public body. The opinion states that if this is done, the credit of the public entity would not be extended for personal use. The opinion emphasized that public officers or employees should not routinely use a public entity's credit card for personal purchases. The opinion concludes with advising the opinion seeker to bring the matter to the attention of the local district attorney.
Amongst other things, my research revealed that Ms. Randolph did in fact routinely use her Parish credit cards for personal purchases. Although, she reimbursed the plane tickets and some of her other personal charges, these reimbursements appear to have come at least thirty days after the charges were made to the credit cards, meaning that the tax payers were providing her a loan which is prohibited by the Louisiana constitution.
Beginning in November, 2005, I began submitting public record requests to the Lafourche Parish Council administration for documents dealing with President Charlotte Randolph's expenses. Some three months later, I am ready to report what I uncovered. President Randolph made numerous unauthorized, and perhaps illegal, personal charges to Parish credit card accounts. Ms. Randolph charged plane tickets for her husband, George Randolph, on August 25, 2004 and April 22, 2005 on her Parish credit card. Ms. Randolph reimbursed the Parish for these charges by checks dated October 4, 2004 and May 26, 2005, respectively. My research also revealed numerous instances where Ms. Randolph likely charged meals and/or lodging for more than one person without revealing the other person's name or the purpose of the expenditure. In an April 27, 2004 Parish Finance Department memo, that office complained that Ms. Randolph's credit card receipts contained no explanations, asked that explanations be provided prior to being sent for payment and advised that the auditors required detailed explanations why the cost was incurred, for meals, who attended and the purpose, and for lodging, the purpose. For whom besides herself was Ms. Randolph providing meals using a Parish credit card?
Article VII, ยง 14(A) of the Louisiana Constitution prohibits "the funds, credit, property or things of value of the state or of any political subdivision" from being "loaned, pledged or donated to or for any person, association or corporation, public or private."
A 1992 Louisiana Attorney General Opinion addressed the issue of Parish credit card use for personal purchases by an employee or officer. Citing La. R.S. 42:1461(A), which prohibits a public official from misusing "funds, property, or other thing of value belonging to or under the custody or control of the public entity in which they hold office or are employed", the opinion concluded that a parish employee or officer would be prohibited from using a public credit card for personal purchases, unless he has been given specific authority to do so by the public entity. The opinion states that a public official or employee could use a public credit card for personal purposes without specific authority only in case of extraordinary emergencies, if the person remits payment to the public entity as soon as possible after the charges are made and such reimbursement is made prior to the receipt of the bill for payment by the public body. The opinion states that if this is done, the credit of the public entity would not be extended for personal use. The opinion emphasized that public officers or employees should not routinely use a public entity's credit card for personal purchases. The opinion concludes with advising the opinion seeker to bring the matter to the attention of the local district attorney.
Amongst other things, my research revealed that Ms. Randolph did in fact routinely use her Parish credit cards for personal purchases. Although, she reimbursed the plane tickets and some of her other personal charges, these reimbursements appear to have come at least thirty days after the charges were made to the credit cards, meaning that the tax payers were providing her a loan which is prohibited by the Louisiana constitution.
posted by Carl A. Chauvin at 2:13 PM
1 Comments:
God Carl, you're such an idiot!
Is the law practice that slow down the bayou that you spend countless hours nitpicking over a few hundred dollars of airfare and meals???
I'll be the first to say that I'm not Charlotte's biggest fan, but I would also say that she's probably the best person to hold the office in quite some time - just by the fact that she has a brain and some patience to put up with the backwards culture that is "da bayou" represented by its poster boy, Daniel Lorraine.
Ever wonder why Lafourche, with a University in the North, an ag culture in the center, and a premier energy complex in the South has been stagnant for 30+ years???
WHY??? VISION - no reason other than the prior idiots running the parish couldn't see past the end of their noses. That includes those like you who bother with petty personal agendas to hamper instead of help move the parish forward.
Ever seen a glass half full instead of half empty? Sure, we can all find reasons to fight city hall, but you know if you sucked it up and looked at the positives and the POSSIBILITIES and worked for a better parish, we could maybe become a Terrebonne or Jefferson instead of wasting away in the time warp known as "da bayou"
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