[StBernard] Spillionaires Revisited: Gov2019t Official2019s Associates Got Big Contracts After the BP Oil Spill

[Westley Annis]

Spillionaires Revisited: Gov2019t Official2019s Associates Got Big Contracts
After the BP Oil Spill
by Kim Barker
ProPublica, July 18, 2011, 12:06 p.m.

Last month, Craig Taffaro Jr., the president of Louisiana's St. Bernard
Parish, lambasted a ProPublica story while testifying before a congressional
committee.

The story, <a
href="http://www.propublica.org/article/spillionaires-profiteering-mismanage
ment-in-the-wake-of-the-bp-oil-spill/single">published in April</a><span>
[1]</span>, described how some local powerbrokers and others, aided in part
by Taffaro, cashed in after the BP oil spill, winning lucrative jobs related
to the cleanup effort and earning the nickname "spillionaires." The story
also showed how some who profited from the spill then donated to Taffaro's
campaign. On June 2, Taffaro told the <a
href="http://www.c-span.org/Events/Issa-Continues-Investigation-Into-Gulf-Oi
l-Spill/10737421962-1/">House Committee on Oversight and Government
Reform</a><span> [2]</span> that the story was "a hatchet job" with "no
factual data."

New documents obtained by ProPublica, however, show that BP's auditors
repeatedly questioned bills submitted by St. Bernard contractors, including
three with ties to Taffaro, based on suspicions that they had overcharged or
charged for permanent parish improvements unrelated to the spill.

Other reporting shows that six of Taffaro's associates got BP work last
summer potentially worth millions of dollars. A seventh, Taffaro's biggest
campaign donor, loaned money to help the parish's main spill contractor2014a
company picked by Taffaro. These seven men subsequently joined Taffaro's
re-election committee. One, an old friend of Taffaro's who landed the BP
catering job, solicited others working on the spill for donations to
Taffaro's campaign, according to an email sent on the man's behalf.

Taffaro, 46, a marathon runner and avid bicyclist who once <a
href="http://www.nola.com/politics/index.ssf/2010/04/st_bernard_parish_presi
dent_wa.html">offered to wash the feet of parish employees</a><span>
[3]</span> in an attempt to show humility like Jesus Christ, is well known
for his take-charge personality in St. Bernard. After the spill, Taffaro
liked to tell local fishermen that the buck stopped with him. As parish
president, he declared a state of emergency, allowing him to suspend typical
government checks and balances on contracting, such as competitive bidding.
He picked the main parish cleanup contractor without a standard bid process
and directed who got other jobs, according to a parish official and a BP
contractor familiar with the cleanup.

Taffaro's critics say his maneuvering hurt local businesses and fishermen
affected by the spill who were not connected to parish powerbrokers.

"If BP could have taken all the millions they wasted on these people and
given it to the fishermen, I wouldn't be complaining," said Wayne Landry, a
parish councilman and candidate for sheriff who went to court to try to find
out how parish cleanup money was spent.

Taffaro did not respond to questions from ProPublica. His interim chief
administrative officer, <a
href="http://www.propublica.org/documents/item/216426-hopedale-branch-flowch
art#document/p1/a27470">David Dysart</a><span> [4]</span>, and spokeswoman,
Karen Turni Bazile, said BP picked all the contractors in St. Bernard except
for the main contractor. They denied that Taffaro had any influence on who
did what.

BP officials declined to speak publicly about what happened with the oil
spill in St. Bernard parish. But one of BP's main consultants in St.
Bernard, <a
href="http://www.propublica.org/documents/item/216426-hopedale-branch-flowch
art#document/p1/a27230">Pat Touchard, who worked there for almost six
months</a><span> [5]</span>, said BP included input from the parish in
deciding who got work. Touchard also said parish leaders were involved with
choosing the contractor for Camp Hope, where some oil-spill workers stayed,
and the contractor who built the parish's command center, both Taffaro
associates. An internal BP billing document shows the parish actually
handled the billing for the Camp Hope job.

But Touchard also said he did not think Taffaro, Dysart or anyone else
engaged in favoritism. "I'd look anyone square in the eye and say I don't
have any evidence of that," he said.

Touchard, who is from St. Bernard, has his own connections in the parish.
His wife worked as Dysart's secretary before Taffaro was elected parish
president in 2007. <a
href="http://www.propublica.org/documents/item/216426-hopedale-branch-flowch
art#document/p1/a27235">She also was a BP consultant</a><span> [6]</span> in
charge of housing after the spill and donated $300 to Taffaro last fall.
Touchard denied any conflict.

"I was never involved in parish politics," he said. "I'm a retired state
trooper. I never really worked for the parish. ... I'm a hired gun. I go
from emergency to emergency."

Among the largest contracts given to a Taffaro associate was for providing
food to St. Bernard spill cleanup sites, according to BP records and
interviews. In late May 2010, <a
href="http://www.allbusiness.com/management/921950-1.html">Jim Besselman
Jr.</a><span> [7]</span>, a longtime friend of Taffaro's, <a
href="http://www.propublica.org/documents/item/216426-hopedale-branch-flowch
art#document/p1/a27307">was put in charge of catering</a><span> [8]</span>.

Besselman2014a financial-services executive who with his wife helped run two
restaurants in New Orleans, <a href="http://www.ernstcafe.net/about/">Ernst
Café</a><span> [9]</span> and its upstairs neighbor, <a
href="http://www.thechicoryvenue.com/history/">The Chicory</a><span>
[10]</span>2014had known Taffaro for at least 13 years. He served as <a
href="http://www.propublica.org/documents/item/216429-form-990-of-straight-s
treet-inc#document/p4/a27309">chairman of the board</a><span> [11]</span> of
a nonprofit home for teenage girls that Taffaro, a therapist, started in
1998. <a
href="http://www.propublica.org/documents/item/216428-record-of-loans-receiv
ed-including-one-from-jim#document/p1/a27311">Besselman also loaned Taffaro
$2,500</a><span> [12]</span> for his campaign for a parish council seat in
1999, campaign finance records show.

The Chicory billed BP more than $13 million for catering between June and
September 2010, according to BP records. (Much of the money went to other
restaurants that acted as subcontractors.) Auditors raised questions about
excessive costs and recommended that tighter controls be put on who was
eligible for meals. They also suggested that BP review market rates for
similar services, records show.

Chad Blanchard, who runs Charlie's Restaurant and Catering in St. Bernard,
said he was the lead caterer for BP in St. Bernard before the job was given
to Besselman. Blanchard said he charged BP less than $27 a day for three
meals per person. The Chicory charged <a
href="http://www.propublica.org/documents/item/216422-catering-invoices-from
-the-chicory-september-2010#document/p2/a27317">at least $48 a day</a><span>
[13]</span> for three meals per person, invoices show.

"If BP would have stayed with me, I would've saved British Petroleum a
couple million for sure," Blanchard said.

Dysart, Taffaro's chief administrative officer, said BP representatives
explicitly requested Besselman because they were not happy with his
predecessor's food. Touchard, the BP consultant, was not familiar with how
<a
href="http://www.propublica.org/documents/item/216424-receipt-for-ferrell-ga
s-june-22-2010">Besselman was picked</a><span> [14]</span> but said a
central contractor was needed to handle the large amount of meals.

Two other men who later served on Taffaro's re-election committee got big
construction jobs related to the BP spill: Buddy Turnage and Raymond Boasso,
the brother of former state senator Walter Boasso.

Jerry Graves, who was director of the parish government office that handled
permitting for new construction, said Taffaro told him that <a
href="http://www.sbpg.net/index.php?option=com_content&amp;view=article&amp;
id=2331:grand-opening-for-new-gazebos-and-a-bait-shopboat-house-in-torres-pa
rk-in-chalmette-&amp;catid=2:local-news&amp;Itemid=2">Turnage's
company</a><span> [15]</span> was the contractor for the large command
center on the main cleanup site. Graves estimated that the building cost at
least $800,000, given its size.

Dysart said BP directed the job to Turnage. BP consultant Touchard, however,
said the parish government led the project. No BP records made available to
ProPublica indicate that BP questioned the charges.

<a href="http://www.boassoconst.com/index_files/frame.htm">Raymond
Boasso</a><span> [16]</span> got the job of refurbishing Camp Hope, a
volunteer camp set up after Hurricane Katrina, a contract worth about the
same amount as the command center, Graves said.

As of Aug. 22, the parish had charged BP $1.5 million for rent for spill
volunteers staying at the camp and for refurbishing the building, BP records
show. Auditors recommended paying the bill and did not challenge specific
charges, but they suggested terminating the contract, a rare step. The
record said only 80 people were staying there. (Three weeks after the
auditor's note, <a
href="http://www.propublica.org/documents/item/216422-catering-invoices-from
-the-chicory-september-2010#document/p1/a27316">The Chicory billed BP for
meals for 242 people at the camp</a><span> [17]</span>, invoices show.)

Two other members of Taffaro's re-election committee2014Tim Thomasson and
Thomas Bayham2014held top posts at companies tapped for substantial cleanup
roles. Thomasson is a managing partner at <a
href="http://www.publicsafetymanagementgroup.com/index.php/whoweare">Public
Safety Management Group</a><span> [18]</span>, which was hired to provide
training for spill workers and to help run the cleanup. It's not clear how
much the contract was worth, and none of the records available to ProPublica
indicate that anyone ever challenged the company's bills. <a
href="http://www.propublica.org/documents/item/216426-hopedale-branch-flowch
art#document/p1/a27226">Thomasson was named the operations section
chief</a><span> [19]</span> for the main parish cleanup site, according to a
flowchart of parish cleanup management.

Bayham is the chief administrative officer at <a
href="http://www.usesgroup.com/contact/new_orleans.php">U.S. Environmental
Services</a><span> [20]</span> (USES). Together with a sister company, USES
was put in charge of the parish Vessels of Opportunity program, which hired
fishermen to clean up oil. USES and its sister company had started
supporting Taffaro in 1999 with small donations, campaign finance records
show. USES was a Coast Guard-certified Oil Spill Response Organization, a
designation that helped it win tens of millions of dollars in contracts
along the coast, but the company had a more limited role in St. Bernard,
paying the checks of the fishermen and administering the program. Available
BP records indicate no one questioned USES invoices in the parish. Taffaro
was ultimately in charge of picking the fishermen, he has said in interviews
and meetings in the past.

In September, as the spill cleanup wound down, Taffaro, who is up for
re-election in October 2011, held a fundraiser.

The event took place at The Chicory, and <a
href="http://www.propublica.org/documents/item/216322-craig-taffaro-fundrais
er-invite-sept-29-2010#document/p1/a27360">Besselman</a><span> [21]</span>,
one of his business partners, <a
href="http://www.propublica.org/documents/item/216322-craig-taffaro-fundrais
er-invite-sept-29-2010#document/p1/a27366">Anthony Macaluso Jr.</a><span>
[22]</span>, <a
href="http://www.propublica.org/documents/item/216322-craig-taffaro-fundrais
er-invite-sept-29-2010#document/p1/a27361">Raymond Boasso</a><span>
[23]</span>, <a
href="http://www.propublica.org/documents/item/216322-craig-taffaro-fundrais
er-invite-sept-29-2010#document/p1/a27362">Turnage</a><span> [24]</span>, <a
href="http://www.propublica.org/documents/item/216322-craig-taffaro-fundrais
er-invite-sept-29-2010#document/p1/a27363">Thomasson</a><span> [25]</span>
and <a
href="http://www.propublica.org/documents/item/216322-craig-taffaro-fundrais
er-invite-sept-29-2010#document/p1/a27364">Bayham</a><span> [26]</span> were
on the host committee. So was <a
href="http://www.propublica.org/documents/item/216322-craig-taffaro-fundrais
er-invite-sept-29-2010#document/p1/a27365">Joe Georgusis</a><span>
[27]</span>, one of Taffaro's biggest donors. <a
href="http://www.propublica.org/documents/item/park-investments-ltd-finance-
agreement-with-paul-loupe">One of Georgusis' companies helped bankroll Loupe
Construction and Consulting Co.</a><span> [28]</span>, the main parish
oil-spill cleanup contractor, after it had trouble paying its bills. (In
late August, BP sent a letter <a
href="http://www.propublica.org/documents/item/bp-letter-to-paul-loupe-aug-2
9-2010">questioning more than $28 million in Loupe invoices</a><span>
[29]</span>, saying they lacked proper documentation. Newly obtained BP
documents show that one of those invoices, for a vessel called Brazos
Express, billed almost $1.5 million even though auditors found "no proof ...
that the vessel was used.")

The fundraiser invitation suggested a contribution of $1,500 per couple, and
$2,500 per group of four. (Under Louisiana law, contributions are limited to
$2,500 per person or company per election cycle to candidates for St.
Bernard parish president.)

On Sept. 19, <a
href="http://www.propublica.org/documents/item/216425-email-about-sept-29-20
10-fundraiser-for-craig#document/p1/a27312">an email was sent out on behalf
of Besselman</a><span> [30]</span> to 23 recipients, along with the invite.
The recipients primarily were restaurants that had been given spill catering
work, known as "rotations."

"The upcoming election is in roughly one year, but by having a successful
fundraiser and with Craig's high favorability rating this will greatly
increase his bid for reelection," Besselman said. "I look forward to seeing
you at the fundraiser. Once again, please understand that your contribution
does not enhance your rotation and or your lack of participation does not
hurt your rotation."

Most recipients donated, campaign contribution records show. Three said they
felt obligated to do so because of the email from Besselman and because they
got spill work; one said he did not feel obligated and did not donate;
others could not be reached. Besselman did not return repeated calls from
ProPublica, but Dysart and Bazile said Besselman's email clearly indicated
that donations had nothing to do with spill work.

<a
href="http://www.ethics.state.la.us/CampaignFinanceSearch/ShowEForm.aspx?Rep
ortID=23743">The fundraiser, on Sept. 29</a><span> [31]</span> raised
$207,400, the most ever collected by a St. Bernard politician in one night,
according to records available online, which stretch back to 1999. It was
also more than Taffaro raised in the previous two years combined. The host
committee members, along with their family members, their business partners
and their different companies, donated $47,500, or almost 23 percent of the
total.

Companies or people tied to the spill cleanup, including several of the
catering subcontractors, gave an additional $59,300.

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