| Advisory Opinion request on behalf of Tommy Cvitanovich, owner of Drago's Seafood Restaurant, as to whether the Code prohibits Drago's from providing food services to visiting NFL teams. |
|
Tommy Cvitanovich was recently appointed as a member of the Louisiana Stadium & Exposition District ("LSED") Board of Commissioners. LSED, an agency of the State of Louisiana, is responsible for the John A. Alario Sr. Event Center, Caesars Superdome, Smoothie King Center, New Orleans Saints Training Facility, TPC Louisiana Golf Course, and the Shrine on Airline. LSED contracts with the New Orleans Saints football team to host games at the Caesars Superdome.
Mr. Cvitanovich is the co-owner of Lakeside Seafood LLC, which operates Drago's Seafood Restaurant. For over ten years, Drago's has contracted with visiting NFL teams to serve carry-out dinners to the visiting teams after games at the Superdome. The teams pay Drago's directly and no food is prepared, cooked, heated, or served using LSED facilities. The food is consumed by the teams on the team buses or outside of the Superdome. The visiting NFL teams do not have a contractual or business relationship with LSED.
Mr. Cvitanovich asks whether his recent appointment as a member of the LSED Board of Commissioners prohibits Drago's from continuing to provide food services to the visiting NFL teams.
|
|
|
In Docket No. 2024-136, the Board issued an opinion to Mr. Cvitanovich which did not prohibit Drago's from providing food services to vendors at the PGA Zurich Classic, since those vendors did not have a contractual relationship with LSED.
|
|
La. R.S. 42:1111(C)(2)(d): No public servant and no legal entity in which the public servant exercises control or owns an interest in excess of twenty-five percent, shall receive any thing of economic value for or in consideration of services rendered, or to be rendered, to or for any person during his public service unless such services are neither performed for nor compensated by any person who has or is seeking to obtain contractual or other business or financial relationships with the public servant's agency; conducts operations or activities which are regulated by the public employee's agency; or has substantial economic interests which may be substantially affected by the performance or nonperformance of the public employee's official duty.
La. R.S. 42:1102(2)(a) defines "agency" as a department, office, division, agency, commission, board, committee, or other organizational unit of a governmental entity.
La. R.S. 42:1102(16) defines "person" as an individual or legal entity, other than a governmental entity or an agency thereof.
La. R.S. 42:1102(18)(a)(ii) defines "public employee' as any person who is appointed by any elected official when acting in an official capacity, and the appointment is to a post or position wherein the appointee is to serve the governmental entity or an agency thereof, either as a member of an agency, or as an employee thereof.
La. R.S. 42:1102(19) defines "public servant" to include a public employee or an elected official.
|
|
|
Adopt the proposed advisory opinion.
|
|
| Assigned Attorney: |
David Bordelon |
|
|