»
More From The
Times-Picayune
Levee chief resigns, defends actions
'I did
the best I can,' he says of contracts
Thursday, October 27, 2005
By Frank Donze
Staff writer
Embattled Orleans Levee Board President Jim Huey
resigned Wednesday amid cries of foul by colleagues that he might have
overstepped his authority with unilateral decisions to hand no-bid contracts to
relatives in the days after Hurricane Katrina and to collect nearly $100,000 in
back pay several weeks before the storm.
Huey, whose nine-year-plus tenure at the agency's helm
is the longest on record, made no apologies for steering work to members of his
wife's family, saying those steps were taken under emergency conditions. As for
the back pay, Huey said he was legally entitled to the money.
"Every single decision made during this crisis
situation was made in the best interest of the levee district, and that will be
proven in time," Huey said minutes after he faxed a letter of resignation
to Gov. Kathleen Blanco, who controls six of the eight seats on the Levee
Board.
While Huey maintains that his resignation was
voluntary, sources close to Blanco said Wednesday that she demanded that he
step down, citing the negative publicity he has attracted in recent weeks.
Huey, 55, said he resigned because the furor over his
post-Katrina maneuvers had become "a sideshow" for the board as it
struggles to recover from a disaster that destroyed levees and laid to waste
much of the agency's real estate holdings, from
Huey said he welcomes investigations into both
contracts as well as the salary matter.
"I didn't want to leave under these
circumstances, but I fell victim to some other folks
who don't know what they're talking about and they have to live with
themselves," he said, declining to name names.
"I hold nothing against anybody," he said.
"I am comfortable that I did the best I can and that history will tell the
story. It always does."
Colleague 'bewildered'
Huey's exit comes two days before he was expected to
address the controversy at the board's monthly meeting.
Levee Board members Dan Foley and Eugene Green had
called on Huey to give a full explanation of the back pay issue and provide an
inventory of all contracts awarded by the agency since Aug. 25, the week before
Katrina hit.
Foley, who said he was "bewildered and deeply
disturbed by what's happened," and Green have expressed concern that Huey
took the actions without board approval. At Foley's request, state Sen. Edwin
Murray said last week that he had asked the governor's office and the
legislative auditor to launch inquiries into Huey's decisions.
On Sept. 1, three days after Katrina came ashore, Huey leased 3,000 square feet of office space in
Huey said he authorized the six-month, $5,000-a-month
agreement to ensure that the agency's executive staff would have a place to
operate after its lakefront headquarters was decimated by Katrina's storm
surge. He said he signed the lease only after state government failed to
provide him a base of operation and after he saw that all available property
closer to
About a week later, Huey OK'd a business arrangement
with Carmouche's son, Scott, whose newly formed company was given the authority
to coordinate the salvage of boats damaged or destroyed by the hurricane at the
board's two marinas. Huey said he was forced to move quickly on the salvage
contract because the recovery of boats by insurance companies and owners was
threatening to devolve into chaos along the Lakefront.
Board lacks contract
Technically, the board has no contractual agreement
with Marine Recovery and Salvage LLC, which was formed by Michael G. Mayer, the
owner of a local yacht repair and sales company that leases land from the board,
and Scott Carmouche on Sept. 8, about a week after Katrina struck.
Using an emergency provision in state law, Marine
Recovery was authorized to oversee the salvage operation by letter on Sept. 12.
Scott Carmouche said his company recruited and then signed a contract with
Florida-based Resolve Marine Group to actually do the salvage work.
Under the deal, Marine Recovery acts as the Levee
Board's liaison with boat owners and insurers and has been responsible for
keeping an inventory of the recovered vessels.
Resolve Marine collects fees ranging from $150 to $350
per foot, depending on the size of the boat and whether the boat was on land or
in the water. Carmouche said his company gets 10 percent of the fees collected.
As for the back pay, Huey said he obtained legal
opinions certifying that he was entitled to about $96,000 in unpaid
compensation dating to June 19, 1996, the day he was chosen board president.
The separate legal opinions Huey cited were prepared
by the elder Carmouche and Gerard Metzger, a high school friend of Huey's who
also works as a contract lawyer for the board. Huey did not request an opinion
from the board's staff attorney.
After putting in long hours of service to the board,
Huey said he felt that it was time to take advantage of a law letting levee
board presidents collect a $1,000-a-month salary.
In a July 8 memo, Huey instructed managing director
Max Hearn to deduct all per-diem payments he had received, halt the per-diem
pay immediately and initiate a regular monthly payment of $1,000 beginning July
19.
Facts will tell, Huey says
In his letter to Blanco, Huey said "it is
unfortunate that you have not been afforded the facts, but given the challenges
before us, I am confident that this is the appropriate action to take at this
time."
Once the "facts are reviewed," Huey told
Blanco, "you will find all decisions and actions taken during this time of
crisis will prove to have been made in the interest of the Orleans Levee
District."
Under the agency's rules, Huey's resignation means
that Vice President Mike McCrossen becomes acting
president. McCrossen, named to the board a year ago
by Blanco, is the former Orleans Parish recorder of mortgages, an elected post
he held from 1990 to 1998.
Like Huey, McCrossen is an
ally of state Sen. Francis Heitmeier of
Huey, an
Frank Donze can be reached
at fdonze@timespicayune.com or (504) 826-3328.