[StBernard] Judge rules that Plaquemines Parish Council, not the parish president, controls the port

[Westley Annis]

Judge rules that Plaquemines Parish Council, not the parish president,
controls the port
by The Times-Picayune 
Thursday January 08, 2009, 4:58 PM
A judge in Plaquemines Parish has sided with the Parish Council in a
long-running tiff with the parish president's office over control of the
parish's port.

Judge Pro-tem James Cannella ruled last month that the council, not the
parish president, is the sole governing authority of the Plaquemines Parish
Port, Harbor and Terminal District. 

Canella's ruling in state District Court in Belle Chasse came in a suit the
council filed against Parish President Billy Nungesser last August largely
stemming from Nungesser's opposition to the council's hiring Walter Boasso
to direct the port. 

Boasso, a former state senator from St. Bernard Parish who finished a
distant second to Gov. Bobby Jindal in 2007's gubernatorial race, has since
resigned the Plaquemines port post. 

The position remains open. 

Council Chairman Jerry Hodnett said arguments over which government faction
should control a parish port -- the council or the president -- have raged
for decades, since the parish charter was adopted in 1986. 

Canella, in his ruling, essentially said he interpreted the charter to give
port control to the council. 

"It's 100-percent the council's authority," Hodnett said. 

Nungesser was not available for comment this week, his office said. 

Canella's ruling is the latest in an active year of port-related politics in
Plaquemines Parish. In addition to quarreling over who controls the port,
Nungesser and the council last year also have to fend off a move in the
Legislature to allow the Port of New Orleans to operate in Plaquemines. 

"We have 100 miles of (Mississippi) river frontage," Hodnett said. "The
potential is unlimited."