| Advisory opinion request regarding whether P.J. Hahn, the former Local Administrator of the Coastal Zone Management Program in Plaquemines Parish, can assist, on a contractual basis, with the complex funding and procurement for new coastal projects in Plaquemines Parish. |
|
The Plaquemines Parish Council established the Coastal Zone Management Program (CZMP) by ordinance, which allowed for the Parish President to appoint a Local Administrator to implement and administer the CZMP. When the Parish Council created the CZMP, it also established the Local Coastal Advisory Committee (Committee), which is responsible for approving or disapproving coastal permit applications. The Local Administrator, also referred to as the Director of the Coastal Zone Management Department, reports directly to the Parish President and the Committee and he generally manages the CZMP under the control of the Committee.
P.J. Hahn served as the Local Administrator for seven years, until Vincent Frelich was appointed in December 2014. As Local Administrator, Mr. Hahn supervised and coordinated the activities of the CZMP, which included supervising the Administrative Assistant and Local Coastal Program Manager. He was also responsible for managing all efforts relating to coastal restoration programs at the local, state, and national level; publicly lobbying for projects to be funded, built, and proposed in the Parish; and coordinating and overseeing all relevant local information to aid in constructing projects (land ownership, utilities, permits, etc.).
In addition to lobbying for, as well as coordinating and overseeing coastal projects in the Parish, Mr. Hahn was responsible for obtaining funding from a variety of sources, including CIAP, CWPPRA, the Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, State Facility Planning and Control, the US Army Corps of Engineers, and RESTORE, for new projects.
|
|
La. R.S. 42:1121A(1) prohibits a former agency head, for a period of two years following the termination of his public service as the head of such agency, from assisting another person, for compensation, in a transaction, or in an appearance in connection with a transaction, involving that agency or rendering any service on a contractual basis to or for such agency.
La. R.S. 42:1102(3) provides that "agency head" means the chief executive or administrative officer of an agency or any member of a board or commission who exercises supervision over the agency.
La. R.S. 42:1121B(1) prohibits a public employee, for a period of two years following the termination of his public employment, from rendering any service that he had rendered to the agency during the term of his public employment on a contractual basis, regardless of the parties to the contract, to, for, or on behalf of his former agency.
|
|
|
Adopt the proposed advisory opinion.
|
|
| Assigned Attorney: |
Haley Williams |
|
|