[StBernard] Lena Torres is fighting her last big political battle in St. Bernard

[Westley Annis]

Lena Torres is fighting her last big political battle in St. Bernard

Published: Sunday, October 30, 2011, 8:00 AM

 By Benjamin Alexander-Bloch, The Times-Picayune 

In 1940, at the age of 19, Lena Randazzo Torres entered the St. Bernard
Parish clerk of court's office fresh off a degree in dictation and
typewriting and an upbringing helping box and wash vegetables on her
father's Creole tomato and cabbage farm in Meraux.

Lena Torres has been St. Bernard Parish clerk of court since 1988, when she
was elected after the death of her husband, Sidney Torres Jr., who had
became clerk of court in 1956.

At the time, the now iconic, Art Deco St. Bernard Parish Courthouse was
brand new, St. Bernard Parish counted around 7,000 residents and then Clerk
of Court Anthony "Tony" Nunez's staff numbered two.

Torres never left.

Now, 71 years later and holding the title of clerk of court, she is waging
one last political battle, to remain in the office she refers to as "home."
Torres, 90 years old, ran second in last week's primary, and parish politics
watchers wonder if it will spell the end of her family's stronghold on the
office.

Randy Nunez, a local attorney who also ran against Torres in 2007 -- the
first time she was ever contested in an election -- led the primary field.
Larry Landry, who trailed the pack but still received nearly a third of the
vote, has thrown his support to Nunez.

"We're taking on a dynasty," Nunez said last week. "It took us five years to
chip away at it and we eventually did.

"It's a course of nature, sometimes change comes."

A study of contrasts

Torres' age is never mentioned in political forums or campaign literature,
but various keywords put the contrast in full light. Nunez, 46, often
describes himself as "young and energetic." Then there's the constant
discussion of modernization, dynasty, the need for "up-to-date technologies"
and "bringing the clerk's office into the 21st century."

While Nunez talks about pounding the pavement every day, going door to door,
Torres does not walk the streets campaigning. Her supporters do that in her
stead. But occasionally, once or twice a campaign cycle, you can see her
standing alongside St. Bernard's busy thoroughfare, Judge Perez Drive,
waving campaign signs with supporters as passing cars honk at her famous
profile.

Randy Nunez, a lawyer who is running for St. Bernard Parish clerk of court,
says, 'We're taking on a dynasty.'

Torres has been clerk of court since 1988, when she was elected after the
death of her husband, Sidney Torres Jr., who had became clerk of court in
1956. While she rarely speaks of her age, it is one of the backdrops of the
campaign and is often talked about in St. Bernard political circles.

For instance, on a recent afternoon in the clerk's office two different
groups of people waiting for service whispered to one another about how
Torres looked that day, seeming impressed that she was busy on the job. In
almost a gee-whiz manner, they tried to recall her age and pointed to the
photos on the wall that showcase the lineage of the office -- Sidney Torres
Jr.'s picture hangs to the right of her portrait and Tony Nunez's historic
mug to the right of his.

Torres scoffs if her age is mentioned disparagingly, saying she can do
everything she did as a younger woman and even more. For example, she said
her mind at times is an archive all its own as she knows where files --
which she refers to as her children -- are located simply because she
remembers when they were first filed.

In a twist not so uncommon in tightly-knit St. Bernard, Tony Nunez, who was
clerk of court from 1940 until 1956, is a distant relative of Randy Nunez.
Torres' daughter and chief deputy, 66-year-old Lena Nunez, also shares a
connection with Randy Nunez: Lena Nunez's deceased husband, "Boopie," was a
distant cousin of Randy Nunez's father.

Some St. Bernardians wonder if Torres might retire midway through her term,
allowing Lena Nunez to take over and garner an incumbent title come election
time. Torres said if she ever were to retire, which she has no intentions of
doing, her 66-year-old daughter would retire along with her.

Icons, archetypes and images under fire

Catholic saints, angels, popes and priests stare up from beneath Torres'
glass-topped desk, where she sits each working day. Torres is quick to point
out she has never taken a vacation.

Behind her are reams of photos that span generations.

One is of Archbishop Philip Hannan, a man of her generation, who died last
month. Another is an autographed photo of Cindy Crawford, upon which the
supermodel scribbled, "Way to keep the boys in line," referring to
Crawford's friendships with grandsons Sidney Torres IV and the late Tony
Nunez, who died in a 2007 car accident at the age of 31.

Sidney Torres IV is famous in his own right as New Orleans' glamorous
garbage collection magnate. He recently sold his high-profile waste
management company, and the former personal assistant to rock star Lenny
Kravitz now hopes to create a new identity for himself as the founder of a
private investment firm.

But Sidney Torres IV is only one of Lena Torres' two Sidneys, the other
being her son, prominent lawyer Sidney Torres III.

At 5 foot 1 inch tall, with her white hair coiffed into a classic pompadour,
Lena Torres is St. Bernard's closest thing to a stateswoman.

Alongside her photos, awards and plaques also surround her desk, from the
citizen of the year and woman of the year, to the LSU Medical Center's
Strength in Age Award, to a state Legislature resolution in 2009 recognizing
her for her many hours of "invaluable public service," and even an American
Italian Sports Hall of Fame civic award.

Yet, her image recently has come under intense fire.

With the controversy over four mixed-income apartment complexes still in
full blaze, full-page mudslingings have run in the weekly St. Bernard News
and St. Bernard Voice pointing out that Torres and eight other relatives
sold one of the four-acre parcels of land for the apartments. Led by the
"red shirts,"  -- red signifying an urge to stop the mixed-income
developments that the opponents claim will harm parish real estate values --
many believe that opposition might ultimately lead to her downfall in the
polls.

Politicians who helped pave the way for the apartments have became targets
in the upcoming Nov. 19 elections. Despite opposition from parish government
and the Parish Council, a federal judge has pushed the apartments forward,
saying the opposition against them is racially discriminatory and violates
the Fair Housing Act by denying housing that is predominately needed by
African-Americans in St. Bernard and the surrounding metro New Orleans area.

'A formidable candidate'

In terms of her chances at re-election, Torres cautiously said, "I'm just
hoping."

Randy Nunez isn't counting her out.

"She's a formidable candidate," he said last week. "She's not dead in the
water."

Torres said she had thought about not running for re-election, simply
retiring, but that she would like to oversee the transition back into the
historic Parish Courthouse on St. Bernard Highway, which might not occur
until after her current term expires May 31. The courthouse was shut down in
April 2010 to eradicate mold; the clerk's office and courtrooms were
relocated to a strip mall in Village Square alongside a hodgepodge of
businesses, including a tattoo parlor and a Subway.

"I've taken care of these records so much, there's a responsibility I feel
toward them, like they are my babies," she said.

When asked what she would do if she loses, she said she doesn't know.

What she does know is she cannot sit at home. She said she would need to do
some sort of busy work, perhaps answering phones and doing paperwork for one
of her two Sidneys.

.......

Benjamin Alexander-Bloch can be reached at bbloch at timespicayune.com or
504.826.3321.



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