[StBernard] Employment of St. Bernard parish president's relatives raises questions: An editorial

[Westley Annis]

Employment of St. Bernard parish president's relatives raises questions: An
editorial

Published: Thursday, June 14, 2012, 7:16 AM     Updated: Thursday, June 14,
2012, 7:33 AM

 By Editorial page staff, The Times-Picayune 

In relatively small parishes, where the labor pool may be limited and local
government may be among the largest employers, it's sometimes inevitable for
some relatives of top local officials to end up working for the parish. But
the employment in St. Bernard Parish of several relatives of Parish
President Dave Peralta is raising questions.

Particularly worrisome is the timing of a substantial pay raise granted to
Sharon Peralta, Mr. Peralta's wife, on the day he took office.

Ms. Peralta, a parish paralegal, was the incoming parish president's fiancee
when she received a $5,575 pay raise Jan. 10. St. Bernard's chief
administrative officer, Jerry Graves Jr., said Ms. Peralta, who at the time
went by the last name Schaefer, complained about her pay at the beginning of
the year.

She argued that despite having earned her paralegal degree and performing
the duties of a paralegal, she was still paid as a legal secretary. "She was
being paid less than some people were paid just to be secretaries. And it
seemed she was doing the bulk of the work," Mr. Graves said.

A Jan. 4 report by Ms. Peralta's supervisor confirmed she had taken on
"additional duties and responsibilities." So on Jan. 10, the day the parish
president took office, Mr. Graves said he officially promoted Ms. Peralta
and raised her salary to $44,031, the avarege pay of paralegals in
neighboring Plaquemines Parish. Ms. Peralta, who has been employed with the
parish since 2007, said she had sought the pay raise under the
administration of former Parish President Craig Taffaro but never received
it.

Both Mr. Peralta and Mr. Graves claimed the parish president wasn't involved
in the discussions about the raise to his then-fiancee. Mr. Peralta even
said he didn't know of her pay raise until a reporter called him recently,
saying he keeps his finances separate from his wife's.

That may be the case, but parish residents can't help but wonder about the
timing of the decision. Ms. Peralta's pay raise came just months before the
parish announced the elimination of almost 100 jobs in an effort to balance
the budget. Mr. Peralta and Mr. Graves said that neither of them knew in
January of the parish's precarious finances. But St. Bernard's budget issues
aren't new.

This is not the only personnel decision raising concerns. After Mr. Peralta
took office, his administration hired his then-fiancee's daughter, Heather
Bertucci, for a clerical job in public works, and a nephew of Mr. Peralta,
Zachary, as a mechanic. Mr. Bertucci has since been laid off as part of the
parish's job cuts.

Mr. Peralta is unapologetic about the hirings and other personnel decisions
involving his relatives. "I hire a lot of people who aren't my relatives,"
he said. He also said his administration hasn't violated ethics laws
intended to prevent nepotism.

But Mr. Peralta ran on a campaing to run a more professional and fair
administration. The employment benefits enjoyed by some of his relatives
hurt that public image and the confidence in the parish.

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