| Advisory Opinion request from Veronica Arceneaux, Clerk for the Lafayette City Council and Lafayette Parish Council, regarding her possible purchase of remnant property from Lafayette Consolidated Government. |
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In 1998, the Lafayette City-Parish Council adopted Ordinance No. O-216-98, which declared the East Pont Des Mouton Road Widening Project ("Project") a public necessity and authorized the acquisition of private property for completion of the Project. The required rights of way were obtained from private landowners bordering the Project by way of good faith offer and acceptance as required by the expropriation process.
The Project is now complete and there are multiple remnant parcels of immovable property along East Pont Des Mouton Road that the Lafayette City-Parish Consolidated Government ("LCG") has no use for. LCG intends to dispose of these remnant properties by offering the eight property owners who own the land immediately adjacent to the remnant properties the option to purchase the property at fair market value. Each piece of remnant property would be offered to the landowner whose current property is contiguous with the remnant property. In order to accomplish the sale of the remnant properties, the Lafayette City Council intends to pass an ordinance authorizing the Mayor, on behalf of the City of Lafayette, to dispose of the eight remnant properties from the Project for fair market value. The individual landowners will not be involved with the passage of the ordinance. Thereafter, the Lafayette Mayor-President's office will execute the necessary sale documents with the individual landowners.
Veronica Arceneaux been employed as the Clerk for the Lafayette City Council and Lafayette Parish Council since 2013. Pursuant to the LCG Home Rule Charter, her duties as Clerk include giving notice of City Council and Parish Council meetings, keeping the journal of those proceedings, acting as the official secretary of both councils, and performing other such duties. She has no decision-making authority over matters that come before either council, or as to any method of transfer, price of transfer, or time of transfer of property.
Ms. Arceneaux is one of the eight landowners who would be eligible to purchase the remnant property that was previously acquired by LCG for the Project. She asks whether she is prohibited from executing a purchase agreement with the Lafayette Mayor-President's Office to purchase the remnant property that is contiguous with her current property.
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La. R.S. 42:1112(A):No public servant shall participate in a transaction in which he has a substantial economic interest of which he may be reasonably expected to know involving the governmental entity.
La. R.S. 42:1102(15) defines "participate" to mean to take part in or to have or share responsibility for action of a governmental entity or a proceeding, personally, as a public servant of the governmental entity, through approval, disapproval, decision, recommendation, the rendering of advice, investigation, or the failure to act or perform a duty.
La. R.S. 42:1102(21) defines "substantial economic interest" to mean an economic interest which is of greater benefit to the public servant or other person than to a general class or group of persons.
La. R.S. 42:1102(12) defines "governmental entity" to mean the state or any political subdivision which employees the public employee.
La. R.S. 42:1112(C) requires that every public employee, excluding an appointed member of any board or commission, shall disqualify himself from participating in a transaction involving the governmental entity when a violation of the Code would result.
La. R.S. 42:1113(A)(1)(a): No public servant ... shall bid on or enter into any contract, subcontract, or other transaction that is under the supervision or jurisdiction of the agency of such public servant.
La. R.S. 42:1102(23) defines "transaction" to include any proceeding, application, submission, request for a ruling, or other determination, contract, claim, or other such particular matter which the public servant knows or should know: (a) is, or will be, the subject of action by the governmental entity; (b) is one to which the governmental entity is or will be a party; (c) is one in which the governmental entity has a direct interest. A transaction involving the agency of a governmental entity shall have the same meaning with respect to the agency.
La. R.S. 42:1102(2)(a)(vi) provides that the "agency" for public servants of political subdivisions shall mean the office, division, agency, or other organizational unit in which the public servant serves. Public servants of political subdivisions include employees of municipalities and parishes.
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Adopt the proposed advisory opinion.
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| Assigned Attorney: |
David Bordelon |
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