[StBernard] St. Bernard Parish president tackles problems from the past

[Westley Annis]

St. Bernard Parish president tackles problems from the past

Published: Wednesday, February 01, 2012, 10:30 PM

 By Benjamin Alexander-Bloch, The Times-Picayune 

Newly elected St. Bernard Parish President Dave Peralta on Wednesday
discussed the burdens, whether thieving employees or federal legal
pressures, that he says are carryovers from former Parish President Craig
Taffaro's administration.

The arrest Tuesday of Jeff Sanchez, the former NFL player and St. Bernard
Parish recreation department program manager, was prompted by an
investigation Peralta's administration started soon after taking over three
weeks ago. Later Tuesday evening through early Wednesday morning, three more
St. Bernard men were arrested on suspicion of conspiring with Sanchez in the
theft of more than $100,000 of parish equipment. The men are accused of
selling the items to a local scrap yard.

Also on Tuesday, the U.S. Department of Justice filed a lawsuit accusing the
parish of limiting rental housing opportunities for African-Americans.

"We are continuing to have to deal with issues that were created in the last
administration that now fall upon this administration," Peralta said. "None
of this so far was on my watch."

In addition to the incoming parish administration, five of the seven parish
councilmen are new faces also sworn to office on Jan. 10. Council President
Guy McInnis said the Parish Council was advised by a parish attorney not to
comment on the lawsuits.

Even though the new councilmen took office just a few weeks ago, a lawsuit
filed Tuesday by the Greater New Orleans Fair Housing Action Center names
them as defendants along with the previous council. Similarly, the
Department of Justice suit names Peralta.

While the Justice Department is looking more broadly at various housing
fights in the parish, the fair housing center lawsuit mainly focuses on
zoning and rental regulations the suit alleges parish government adopted as
part of its "overarching and persistent efforts to maintain St. Bernard
Parish as a predominantly white enclave." Peralta said Wednesday that his
administration now is working to settle the legal matters as quickly as
possible.

As for the theft arrests, Peralta said many of the items were taken from
recreation department storage facilities and that photos taken at the scrap
yard, WB Scrap Metal on Paris Road, show Sanchez selling several of the
goods.

Sanchez, 31, of Violet, became manager of the Recreation Department in
August.

Peralta said he came across the problem while doing inventory of parish
assets. A former New Orleans Police Department sergeant and major in the St.
Bernard Sheriff's Office, Peralta says it's common in law enforcement "to do
an inventory control or asset inventory when you have changes of command."

"You look at what you are accepting and what condition they are in," he
said. "When we started doing that inventory, there was a great deal of
equipment that was no longer there."

Missing items included about 15 soccer goals, bleachers, lockers,
deep-frying machines and a least one ice maker. Peralta said many items were
taken from the former Hannan High School, where Sanchez was an all-state
running back four years in a row.

Sanchez, who played at Tulane University before being drafted by the Dallas
Cowboys, was booked on two counts of theft of more than $500 and two counts
of possession of stolen property worth more than $500.

On Tuesday evening, two other St. Bernard residents, Brandon Johnson, 25,
and Jerrod Brown, 36, were charged with theft over $500 for allegedly
conspiring with him. A third, Oliver Banks, was booked Wednesday morning
with the same charge.

Peralta says there are more arrests to follow; the Sheriff's Office said it
is an ongoing investigation.

Two other parish employees -- public works employees Glenn Rocher, 31, of
Chalmette and Rickey Diecidue, 53, of Violet -- were arrested earlier in
January on charges of stealing parish equipment and selling it as scrap.
They both worked for the parish road department for more than two years.
Peralta said those incidents were unrelated to the Sanchez scrap-metal
incident.

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

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