[StBernard] Sidney Torres IV and St. Bernard Parish exchange shots

[Westley Annis]

Sidney Torres IV and St. Bernard Parish exchange shots

Published: Wednesday, February 23, 2011, 9:00 PM     Updated: Wednesday,
February 23, 2011, 9:01 PM

 By Benjamin Alexander-Bloch, The Times-Picayune 

SDT owner Sidney Torres IV and St. Bernard Parish President Craig Taffaro
nearly walked outside a contentious committee meeting Wednesday afternoon
and duked it out in the streets.

The tension between the two St. Bernard figureheads, both parish natives,
cut deep and obviously ran deeper than disagreement over the garbage
contract under discussion at the afternoon parish Executive Finance
Committee meeting.

Torres labeled Taffaro a "control freak" and a "micromanager," something a
string of Taffaro's past employees also have alleged. He brought a slew of
e-mail messages between himself and Taffaro in attempt to prove just that.

Torres provided the e-mails to the Parish Council and also read off text
messages between the two.

Meanwhile, Taffaro called Torres a crook, stating with no explanation - "you
stole $5 million."

The topic on the agenda that afternoon, which repeatedly devolved into baser
subjects, was how many addresses should be counted in the parish's current
SDT contract.

Taffaro has claimed he's willing to compromise at 15,000 addresses, but has
said he believes the actual number is closer to 14,100. Torres says the
number is between 16,700 and 16,800.

The addresses are for occupied residential and commercial properties
parishwide, and the contract calls for $20 per address, per month for
garbage pickup. The difference between the two address counts comes to about
$34,000 a month.

According to a Sept. 7 parish ordinance, two-person teams - one parish and
one SDT representative - were required to use a jointly approved counting
system and at the end of each day they'd certify that count through
signatures by both parities. But after 18 days, parish officials began using
electronic counters to record the addresses, something Torres said went
against the ordinance because SDT representatives could not easily observe
which addresses were being entered into the device.

Torres contends the device only counted even or odd numbered addresses on
several streets.

Taffaro says the count basically was correct and that the electronic counter
was needed because the process - going address by address through the entire
parish - was taking much too long. But both Taffaro and Torres agreed -
nearly the only agreement all afternoon - that the two parties had not
certified the counts at the end of each day.

At a standstill, complete disagreement and at each other's throats,
Councilman Wayne Landry acted the referee. A solution finally was settled
upon: starting the Wednesday after Mardi Gras Day, the two sides will spend
30 days recounting the addresses.

"We want to make sure this is right ... SDT has problems in other
communities!" Taffaro charged.

Torres turned, dumbstruck: "Wow, wow, wow! You are making this personal!"

Taffaro countered, "Just check with the city of New Orleans."

In 2009, under then-Mayor Ray Nagin, SDT hit a brief standstill with New
Orleans over counts in the French Quarter and Central Business District.

Torres had been collecting trash at 9,000 addresses in the Quarter and CBD.
After an agreement between New Orleans and him, it was slashed to the 2,900
locations. Now a new contract under Mayor Mitch Landrieu's tenure lists
4,062 addresses at $23 a month per unit.

"It's absurd with his comments," Torres rebutted. "People have told me all
along, 'That man with the bald head has a serious problem with you!'"

Taffaro, apparently not enjoying the "bald" comment, retorted: "You have a
psychology degree? You stole $5 million!"

Taffaro has a master's degree in counseling from the University of Southern
Mississippi, and was a self-employed psychotherapist before becoming parish
president.

Landry stepped in, pounding, "Order! Order! Order!" and during the ruckus,
Taffaro turned to Torres and suggested, "You want to take this outside!"

Torres accepted the challenge and took off his seemingly tailored grey suit
jacket and said, "I will more than happily take it outside!"

Taffaro quickly rejoined, in a tone suggesting Torres was insane, "I don't
want to fight. I want to count."

After the meeting, the two approached each other and Taffaro growled,
"You'll get what you deserve."

Torres recoiled after claiming Taffaro had squeezed his hand white, and
Taffaro teased while walking away, "Oh, well, next time I'll do a finger
shake."