ERIK SANZENBACH / L’Observateur / August 4, 1999

LAPLACE – Walter Willard, the attorney hired by the St. John ParishCouncil last week to look into alleged wrong-doing in the St. John ParishHousing Authority, said the Housing Authority Board still has power over the St. John Housing Authority.”The commissioners are still in charge until the appeals process is over with.” he said.Sweltering in his shirt sleeves outside a public housing apartment where a ceiling had recently collapsed on a tenant, Willard and Housing Authority Board Chairperson Sheila Morris were discussing the future of the housing authority.

Willard was somber about the public housing situation in St. John Parish.”There’s a lot we don’t know yet,” he said, “and I don’t know if any amount of money is really going to fix this matter.”A former attorney for the St. Charles Parish Housing Authority, Willardsaid he is familiar with the problems faced by St. John Parish.”St. Charles went through the same thing, but not of this magnitude.” Headded, “The situation here in St. John Parish is very complicated.”He said the troubles in St. Charles Parish took over six months to resolve,and here in St. John it could be longer. In St. Charles Parish the issue wasresolved when the housing authority board hired a new executive director.

However, because of HUD-imposed timelines, Willard said he has “30 days from last week” to get some sort of report to the Parish Council. He saidhe won’t be able to begin official hearings for a couple of weeks. Plus,according to Parish President Arnold Labat, HUD wants the appeals process finished and a new board in place by Aug. 23.Basically, the whole matter rests on responsibility, Willard said. Notwanting to point the finger at anyone in particular, he stated, “The Parish Council hasn’t exerted enough pressure to find out what is going on. But atthe same time, Executive Director Ester owes an explanation to the board, and the board owes an explanation to the council.”Morris is still fuming over the HUD report released two weeks ago that blames most of the problems on the Housing Authority Board.

She claims that HUD “circumvented the facts.”Reacting to the charge the board interferes in the day-to-day operation of the Housing Authority, Morris said, “I and every member of that board work at other jobs. We work 40 hours a week, and the board meets only once amonth. Now where are we supposed to find the time to ‘interfere’ with thehousing authority?” Willard was really surprised when he went over the minutes and records of the Housing Authority Board.

“Ester does not seem to follow the guidelines of the board,” he said, “and Ester is not giving the board the housing reports that they need.”But he quickly added, “She will tell you that she is doing only what she thinks is right.”Morris thinks Ester and HUD locked her and the board out of the decision making process.

“HUD never met with us, only Patrena Ester,” she said, “They never talked with us. And then when the report came out, only the parish president andthe executive director got copies.”Ester has been very conspicuous by her refusal to talk to the council, the board or the press. Willard plans to put a stop to that.”I will subpoena her if necessary,” Willard stated firmly. “If there are anyshenanigans going on, it will come out, and my answer for that is jail.”Despite the job ahead of him, Willard seems optimistic about the end result.

“We’ll get to the bottom of all this,” he said. “The Parish Council willdecide, and we will get it resolved one way or another.”

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