[StBernard] St. Bernard council slaps chairman with censure vote

[Westley Annis]

...and they say things in the parish aren't getting back to normal.

John Scurich


----- Original Message -----

> St. Bernard council slaps chairman with censure vote Criticism of fire 

> chief spurs rebuke of Dean Thursday, June 08, 2006 By Karen Turni 

> Bazile St. Bernard/Plaquemines bureau

>

> St. Bernard Parish Council Chairman Lynn Dean is a well-known longtime 

> critic of the local Fire Department, but his council colleagues 

> censured

him

> at Tuesday's meeting because they said he had gone too far this time:

> belittling Fire Chief Thomas Stone and other professional firefighters 

> in

a

> debate over cutting overtime spending.

>

> Dean said at the meeting that he "could be a better fire chief" than 

> Stone as they debated techniques used in a house fire two years ago, 

> and he also said the department costs too much even if they do "save a few

lives."

>

> Council members, who have had several public dustups with Dean in 

> recent weeks, were outraged and demanded the meeting be halted to 

> officially

rebuke

> Dean.

>

> "That's enough," Councilwoman Judy Hoffmeister said. "People will 

> think

you

> are representing the council, and that couldn't be further from the

truth."

>

> At that point, at the motion of Councilmen Craig Taffaro and Tony "Ricky"

> Melerine, Council Vice Chairman Joey DiFatta took over the meeting for 

> a council vote to censure Dean's actions, and Dean mumbled to DiFatta 

> that

he

> was being "ignorant."

>

> "That's right," DiFatta said. "I'm ignorant now. You have become 

> abusive

to

> the audience and abusive to the employees and abusive to the council."

>

> All council members except Dean voted in favor of chastising Dean for 

> his actions.

>

> Dean said the vote was a "political thing" and defended his criticism 

> of

the

> Fire Department.

>

> Dean has been battling the department since his days as parish 

> president

in

> 1992. During that term the council voted to force him to keep a 

> minimum staff at fire stations. In the fall of 2004, when he was first 

> elected to his at-large council position, Dean created a firestorm 

> when he said

keeping

> fire stations open in the rural parts of the parish was no longer 

> cost-effective, even though the firefighters also serve as first

responders

> in medical emergencies.

>

> The council is wrestling with financial trouble because of reduced tax 

> revenue since Hurricane Katrina destroyed the parish. Officials are 

> trying to reduce overtime spending across all departments, including 

> the Fire Department, and Stone promised to bring a proposal to the 

> council to consider June 15.

>

> The council's censure of Dean has no legal meaning and does not 

> threaten Dean's council chairmanship. Under the parish charter, Dean 

> and DiFatta alternate each year at the chairman's post as the only 

> parishwide representatives on the council.

>

> But after the meeting Hoffmeister said she would censure Dean again if 

> he continues to act as he has while chairing previous meetings, 

> rebuking audience members and sometimes refusing to let people speak 

> at certain

parts

> of the meeting.

>

> "He was acting totally unprofessional," Hoffmeister said. "I think he 

> was losing it by the minute, and he was actually verbally attacking 

> our fire chief and the Fire Department."

>

> . . . . . . .

>

> Karen Turni Bazile can be reached at kturni at timespicayune.com or (504) 

> 826-3335.