[StBernard] Longtime St. Bernard Parish clerk of court battles lawyer in hopes of 7th term

[Westley Annis]

Longtime St. Bernard Parish clerk of court battles lawyer in hopes of 7th
term

Published: Wednesday, November 16, 2011, 8:00 AM

 By Benjamin Alexander-Bloch, The Times-Picayune 

Ninety-year-old St. Bernard Parish Clerk of Court Lena Torres is asking
voters Saturday for one more stint at the helm, but her 46-year-old rival,
Randy Nunez, says change is necessary to bring the clerk's office into the
21st century. Torres has been in office for six terms, but her grip on the
office is more fragile than ever before.

She trailed Nunez, an attorney, after the October primary, and third-place
finisher Larry Landry, who claimed 3,368 votes, has endorsed Nunez, running
advertisements saying of the Torres clan that "nobody should have control of
a public office that long."

Torres took over the office in 1988 after the death of her husband, Sidney
Torres Jr., who had held the post since 1956. She started working in the
clerk's office in 1940, when she was 19 years old.

Since the primary, Torres has gone on the offensive. One advertisement
depicts Nunez's bid to take over as a life-threatening attack. In it, the
words "Licciardi-Nunez Law Firm" resemble stone tablets as they fall on the
parish courthouse, crushing it, followed by a series of high-pitched screams
as though the people inside have been maimed.

Torres' main missile has been that Nunez was reprimanded in 2004 by the
Louisiana Supreme Court for neglecting to file a client's case on time,
resulting in his client's inability to follow through on a personal injury
suit. In bold capital red letters, Torres' advertisements label it
"malpractice, neglect and mismanagement."

Nunez, of Meraux, accepts responsibility, saying the date he had to file
suit was marked wrong on his calendar and that, when he realized the
mistake, he immediately informed the proper authorities. He says his
insurance fully compensated that client.

A reprimand remains on an attorney's record and may be taken into account
should a future rule violation occur, but it is a much lesser disciplinary
action than a suspension or disbarment.

Nunez in turn has thrown stones at the Torres camp, claiming nepotism in her
leadership, saying it is unethical for her to employ her daughter, Lena
Nunez, as deputy clerk and alleging her son, attorney Sidney Torres III,
hasn't always paid the clerk fees generated by his court filings. He also
has pointed to a Florida-based insurance company's suit alleging that the
St. Bernard clerk's office did not properly notify it when dozens of
defendants failed to show up for court appearances.

While Torres has said the insurance company matter is pending litigation
that she cannot discuss, she says her son has paid all his fees and that her
daughter is extremely qualified for her position.

Nunez also has pointed to Torres' involvement in the Provident Realty
Advisors apartment saga. Both Torres and Nunez have said those apartments
likely are the hardest hit to Torres' poll numbers.

Torres and eight other relatives sold one of the 4-acre parcels of land for
the controversial mixed-income apartments.

Outside all the mudslinging, Nunez mainly has focused on the need to
modernize the clerk's office, and Torres has pointed to how her experience
would help guide the transition back into the historic parish courthouse,
which was shut down in April 2010 to eradicate mold and is expected to
reopen sometime next year.

Nunez promises to revamp the office website to make all files easily
accessible, institute a debit card payment system, and create an e-filing
system so documents can be submitted online.

Torres highlights her office's current efficiency and service and has said
that while "we are working on technology" that "there is nothing people
cannot do when they are in my office." She says she'd like the opportunity
to move the office's files, which she refers to as her babies, into the new
clerk of court office next year, and then, she says, in 2015 she'd likely
step aside instead of running for an eighth term.

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