By David Vitrano

L’Observateur

LAPLACE – Guest speakers at a St. John Business Association meeting run the gamut, and the ties to the business world are sometimes unclear. But when Metropolitan Crime Commission head Rafael Goyeneche spoke to the group last week, he made their role in his organization make sense.

The MCC is essentially a citizen-led watch group that independently investigates allegations of criminal activity. He said many of the investigations are initiated by tips received from concerned citizens.

While the group, which has been around since 1952, is based in New Orleans, it is active in the River Parishes as well as other areas surrounding the city.

Goyeneche said the group was started by the business community, which realized crime was detrimental to growth. It has gained notoriety through its involvement in investigations that have uncovered corruption within the government of New Orleans.

He explained that one of the biggest hurdles the area faces when trying to attract new business is its reputation for turning a blind eye to corruption.

“The prey of choice for the corrupt official is the business community,” he said.

He also stressed that no tip from the community is too small or insignificant and explained how a small tip that led to an ethics investigation in Mandeville eventually snowballed and led to the exposure of scandals that have rocked the upper echelons of government in that city as well as St. John the Baptist and Jefferson parishes.

The common thread and the factor that enabled the investigation to cross parish lines was the business community, including the vendors, he said.

“We need to stop the people that are siphoning the money from the public dole,” said Goyenenche.

Goyeneche said anyone with any knowledge of corruption should call the MCC hotline at 504-524-7000.

State Rep. Nickie Monica will speak at the SJBA’s next meeting.

On Oct. 20, the group will host a social, which will also include the St. James and St. Charles business associations, at Armand’s Bistro at the Quality Inn in LaPlace and will be Halloween themed.