Several accusations were made by school board members against other members during Wednesday’s meeting. The main show down was between board member Mike Fontenot and School Board President Wayne Dardeau, with Fontenot accusing Dardeau of going behind his back to “shut him up.”
The tension began with a discussion about the Attorney General’s opinion regarding Louisiana Revised Statute 42:63, which states “no person holding an elective office, appointive office, or employment in any of the branches of state government or of a political subdivision thereof shall at the same time hold another elective office, appointive office,” and other regulations. Fontenot is an accountant for the sheriff’s office and is a school board member.
“I just want to let everybody know the president of our school board called the attorney general’s office on me to get an opinion regarding dual office holding,” said Fontenot. “This is something I find to be a cowardly act, but that’s something he’s going to have to live with.”
Fontenot continued, “I followed the laws and policies and procedures, and in an effort to shut me up, that’s why he did this. And I’m not going to be shut up. And I have one question for the superintendent: I’m hearing a lot of backlash going around from school board members that I need to shut up and stop digging and looking into stuff and be quiet or Mamou’s not going to get anything anymore. Is that something that you are going to support? Are you going to back up his (Dardeau’s) threat?”
Superintendent Darwan Lazard looked perplexed and took a moment to compose his answer. “I’m not aware of a threat that Mr. Dardeau made to you, and the statements that you have said, are not a statement that I have made,” said Lazard.
Fontenot replied, “I just want to make sure the good-ol’-boy politics are over with. It’s time to start working together and not shutting people up. I’m sure all the other board members probably got the same kind of treatment whenever they stepped out of line. I’m not going to shut up. I have people I have to represent, and I’m going to represent those people.”
Dardeau responded by presenting the facts on the situation. He said he contacted an attorney on a separate issue and that the attorney informed him there is a provision in state law stating an employee of the sheriff’s department cannot be a school board member.
“I was shocked,” said Dardeau. “I had never read that. To find out the real truth, I called the attorney general’s office to get an opinion. Like every one of y’all, I raised my right hand to support and uphold the laws of this state, and if that was breaking the law, we have to do something about it.”
Dardeau contacted the ethics board. The ethics board told him it is true, but there is an exception if the accountant is on a contract or is a full-time employee, which Fontenot is.
Dardeau stated, “Two days later, the same lady with the ethics board called me back and told me she dug further into it. She said it is permissible in a parish with under 50,000 people that an certified accountant who works for the sheriff’s department can be a school board member. As far as I’m concerned, that’s the end of the story. I found out just because I was told by an attorney that it was against the law. I thought it was my responsibility to find out the truth. I’ve been on this board for 30 years, and I have never and will never do something illegally. And to my knowledge, Mr. Lazard has never done anything illegal.”
Fontenot said, “The push is to shut me up. I’ve told Mr. Dardeau before it could have been solved really quickly by coming to me if there was a problem.”
Dardeau said, “I’ve never tried to shut anyone up, but I have stated that our central staff needs time to do their work. When they come to me more than once complaining that they do not have the time to do what they need to do.”
Fontenot interrupted, saying, “As long as I find inappropriate activity, I’m going to continue to request information.”
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NANCY DUPLECHAIN Associate Editor