A disagreement has arisen between the members of the council and the President of Livingston Parish, Randy Delatte, about the possibility of the council employing their own counsel. President Delatte has stated that it is not required, and he is concerned about the finances involved.
“In my experience, I have never witnessed the council not possessing the legal counsel that they claimed they required, and having it does not cost you anything, in contrast to having it and it cost you $250 per hour. President Delatte expressed his disbelief, saying, “I do not understand it.”
According to Councilman Dean Coates, however, there are situations when it is difficult to obtain legal guidance, and in those instances, they would pay for an attorney using assets that they already own.
“There were also some things in there that said if we want to call them, we have to call them through the office of the parish president or through our council clerks, or through an appointed representative council, which I assume would be the chairman, so we were definitely restricted to some extent when we needed legal attention,” said Coates. “There were also some things in there that said these things.”
According to Coates, the council is of the opinion that it is unacceptable to have the same attorney working for both the parish president’s office and the council’s office.
There should be multiple branches of government so that in the event that we do not agree with one another, we will have someone to assist us in resolving the issue.
According to Coates, “We are not both working with the same lawyers working in between, trying to cater to two masters.” Both of us have a side, and we are not dealing with the same lawyers.
On the other hand, President Delatte asserts that there should be no potential for a conflict of interest if both of them are working for the benefit of the people.
“A conflict of interest means that you are not working toward the same goal to protect the citizens of your parish,” President Delatte explained further. “This is what a conflict means.”
On the 7th of December, the people will have the power to decide what will take place. In the event that the council votes in favor of changing the home rule charter, it will be able to hire their own attorney.
On the other hand, if they vote against, they will continue to share an attorney with the parish administration.
There are other parishes in the region that have stated that they use different attorneys, while other parishes have stated that they share an attorney amongst its branches. It is up to the people of Livingston Parish to select which attorney is most suitable for them.