| Withdrawal of an advisory opinion request regarding a City of Ponchatoula employee receiving a real estate commission for representing the seller of property being purchased by the City while her son is the Mayor of the City. |
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Charlene Daniels is a licensed real estate broker and the sole owner of Branch Real Estate LLC. She has been the City of Ponchatoula's Main Street Manager for 32 years, for which she receives an annual stipend of $5,600. Charlene Daniels has also served as an appointed member of the Ponchatoula Consolidated Board ("PCB") since the City Council created it on May 13, 2019. The PCB consists of seven members who serve without compensation, and it handles the City's planning, zoning, and historic district matters.
In 2020, the City identified a property, owned by a private citizen, to purchase for its new fire station. In 2022, the City sought funding to purchase the property, and the State has since appropriated the funds. In 2023, the property was surveyed and appraised for a price higher than the property's sale price. The property is listed for sale by Charlene Daniels with Branch Real Estate LLC, who has facilitated the purchase agreement between the property's seller and the City, for which a commission from the seller is due. However, Charlene Daniels' son, J. Wesley Daniels, was elected Mayor of Ponchatoula and took office on July 1, 2024.
The advisory opinion request asked two questions: (1) whether Mayor Daniels is permitted to execute the sale documents since his role in the transaction is merely ceremonial and most of the transaction was completed before he took office; and (2) whether Charlene Daniels is permitted to receive a commission for her role as the seller's broker/agent in this sales transaction, even though she is a part-time employee of the City and a member of the City's Consolidated Board.
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La. R.S. 42:1111E(1) provides that no public servant, and no legal entity of which such public servant is an officer, director, trustee, partner, or employee, or in which such public servant has a substantial economic interest, shall receive or agree to receive any thing of economic value for assisting a person in a transaction, or in an appearance in connection with a transaction, with the agency of such public servant.
La. R.S. 42:1112B(1) states that no public servant, except as provided in R.S. 42:1120, shall participate in a transaction involving the governmental entity in which, to his actual knowledge, any member of his immediate family has a substantial economic interest.
La. R.S. 42:1113A(1)(a) states no public servant, excluding any legislator and any appointed member of any board of commission and any member of a governing authority of a parish with a population of ten thousand or less, or member of such a public servant's immediate family, or legal entity in which he has a controlling interest 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.
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Allow withdrawal the advisory opinion request.
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| Assigned Attorney: |
Jessica Meiners |
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