Lafourche Parish Experts, Who do you Believe?
FACTS:
Lafourche Parish DPW director, Ray Cheramie placed the blame for the creation of “Monster Ditches” on the use of a herbicide named Roundup. Mr. Cheramie stated that Roundup kill the root systems of vegetation. Dr. Bobby Fletcher, an expert in the field of agriculture, allegedly stated on KLRZ Talk on the Bayou that Roundup do not kill the roots. Who do you believe?
Lafourche Parish President Charlotte Randolph stated that the use of $5.3 million of flood control devices was necessary at any cost. Do you believe they were necessary? Do you believe that Ms. Randolph could have taken a minute to seek expert advice? Do you believe the devices were really used? Could there be a commission paid to officials, if FEMA pick up the $5.3million tab?
OPINIONS:
In my opinion, had Ms. Randolph or her staff taken one minute to place a phone call, they could have received inflatable tubes in a timely manner at a much lower price. What stopped them? Was it “THE COST”? I base my opinion on the following document:
Message from Shannon Chiasson to Cullen Curole, Charlotte Randolph, publicworksdir@lafourchegov.org, and Gretchen Caillouet sent Monday, November 21, 2005 at 10:59 AM. Subject: FW. Additional information on inflatable dam pricing (Water Weenies) This message was originally from Jim Steele of FEMA. The message was sent to Seth Holloway and Chris Boudreaux.
MESSAGE: The following is an excerpt from the message. A fellow project officer working in St. Charles is having similar difficulty with respect to the “reasonable cost” analysis of U.S. Flood Control’s pricing on inflatable dams. This project officer contacted other firms to see what their costs might be for a similar scope of work. One contact was Kathy Sullivan of Hydro-Solutions, Inc. in Houston, another manufacturer of inflatable dams. In product comparison, he found that the Hydro-Solutions dam was similar in size, but was a superior product in both material and function.
Attached is a quote………………………… note that Hydro-Solutions’ price for renting inflatable tubes is $1,000 per month per tube, compared to $10,000 per month from US Flood.
QUESTION FROM THE PUBLIC:
Does graft come to mind? Why was all of this information kept secret from the Lafourche Parish Governing Authority? Were there two council members (Callais and Gouaux) involved in the negotiations? Should everyone involved be charged with possible malfeasance in office or is the alleged corruption in Lafourche just a way of life?
Stay in touch, who knows, the judicial part of government in Lafourche Parish may step in and save the citizens, tax money and embarrassment.
