[StBernard] St. Bernard housing trial would have included allegation against Peralta

[Westley Annis]

St. Bernard housing trial would have included allegation against Peralta

Dave Peralta is sworn in as St. Bernard Parish president on Jan. 10, 2012.
(NOLA.com | Times-Picayune archive)
Print By Benjamin Alexander-Bloch, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune 

St. Bernard Parish President Dave Peralta was accused of playing a part in
the alleged discrimination against African Americans wanting to rent
property in St. Bernard after Hurricane Katrina, according to U.S.
Department of Justice filings that would have been presented at trial this
week. The civil case that was settled Friday (May 10) was the final saga in
a long-running battle over post-Katrina fair housing practices in the
parish.

In the weeks leading up to that last-minute settlement - the case had been
set to start on Monday - there had been a legal fight between the Department
of Justice and attorneys representing the parish over whether the jury
should be allowed to hear evidence regarding Okechukwu Okafor.

Okafor, who owned the house next door to Peralta in Meraux, said in a sworn
statement to Department of Justice lawyers that the parish came down hard on
him after he rented the house to African-American tenants and that Peralta,
at the time a ranking parish official, and others pressured him to evict his
tenants. Peralta this week adamantly denied exerting such pressure and said
that he hadn't even known at the time that Okafor was renting the property.

On May 7, U.S. District Judge Ginger Berrigan ruled that the jury would be
allowed to hear about Okafor's case.

But the trial was averted when the parish agreed three days later to settle
the whole case for more than $2.5 million, which included attorneys' fees.
As a part of that settlement with the Department of Justice, the parish
agreed to pay $275,000 directly to Okafor and seven other individuals
identified in the Department of Justice's suit. Okafor will receive more
than half of that total, $143,000.

The Okafor case

Peralta became parish president in 2012 after beating Craig Taffaro in a
brutal campaign during which the fair housing suit was an issue. Taffaro,
who authored the initial parish ordinance that severely limited rentals in
the post-Katrina housing market, championed the parish's continued legal
fight to defend its ordinances. As president, Peralta distanced himself from
the fair housing battle, vowing to end a legal fight he said had been
created before he came to power.

But the evidence the Department of Justice won the right to present during
the trial sought to paint Peralta in a different light.

The Department of Justice's suit took aim at a parish ordinance that
required property owners to obtain a parish permit before renting out
single-family homes. The feds claimed the parish adopted the rule "with
discriminatory intent'' to shut out African-American renters by limiting the
supply of rental houses.

Before Katrina, St. Bernard was 86 percent white and 10 percent African
American; the population of neighboring New Orleans was 29 percent white and
67 percent African American.

Among other requirements in St. Bernard, the permissive use permit - often
referred to as a PUP - allowed only two rental permits for every 500 linear
feet of frontage for most contiguous single-family dwellings.

In his sworn statement, Okafor said he purchased a home on Newport Street in
Meraux's Lexington Place subdivision in March 2007 and began renting it out
to two African-American tenants in January 2008.

On Feb. 11, 2008, the parish sent Okafor a "Notice of Violation" letter
threatening civil and criminal penalties unless he evicted his tenants or
obtained a PUP. A couple of weeks later, on Feb. 29, 2008, the parish shut
off water service at the property by placing a lock on the home's water
meter.

The Justice Department placed a check into evidence showing that Okafor had
properly paid the bill.

On the same day that the parish locked out Okafor's water meter, Peralta and
another neighbor, Alvin Beaubouef, each applied for PUPs to make their own
homes possible rental properties. Eventually, the St. Bernard Parish
Council, the approving agency, granted their requests. Peralta represented
himself and Beaubouef before the council, but said he made it clear he was
there in a personal, not professional, capacity.

"There were African Americans coming around the property with their pants
around their knees." - Alvin Beaubouef
Okafor later applied for a PUP but was denied because it would have violated
the 500-foot rule, Department of Justice lawyers stated in their court
filings.

Peralta said this week the timing of his permit request "was just
coincidence" and that at the time, he did know that the lock had been placed
on Okafor's water meter.

Peralta this week said he actually opposed the PUP ordinance but that he had
applied for the permit "simply to avail myself of any or all opportunities."
He said he never did rent his home.

Okafor arrested for water meter tampering

Before Okafor knew about his neighbors' PUP applications, he went to the
parish Sewerage and Water Board and was told that the account was current
and that there was no reason why the water should have been cut off,
according to Okafor's sworn statement and Department of Justice filings.

Okafor advised his tenants to break the lock and turn their water back on.

On March 11, 2008, Okafor went to the parish government building in an
attempt to resolve the matter but was advised that a warrant had been issued
for his tenants' arrest.

Okechukwu Okafor Violation Notice

When Okafor said it had been his idea to break the lock, the Sheriff's
Office was notified and he was arrested and handcuffed.

Okafor, who is an American citizen of Nigerian descent, said in his
statement that during processing at the Sheriff's Office, his American
citizenship was questioned, as was the validity of his Social Security card.

He was booked with theft of utility services and criminal damage to
government property and was released the next day on a $5,000 bond.

During a meeting with some parish officials after his release, Okafor claims
that Peralta told him the charges would be dropped if he evicted the tenants
from his rental properties, according to Department of Justice filings. In
addition to the Newport property, Okafor had bought two other properties in
early 2006 - all told, he'd spent about $300,000 on the three property
renovations after Katrina, Okafor said in his sworn statement.

Okafor said he evicted his tenants and criminal charges were never brought
against him.

Asked if he ever gave Okafor that ultimatum, Peralta this week replied,
"Absolutely not. He can allege whatever he wants but I have never seen
Okafor's statement," Peralta said.

He said that he had met with Okafor several times, both professionally in
his capacity as the parish's chief administrative officer, and personally as
his neighbor.

"He was an extremely nice gentlemen," Peralta said. "We spoke about the
culture of Africa where he came from, and honestly, I was intrigued.

"He and I got along really well."

Beaubouef declined to comment this week on his PUP application.

But in a sworn statement submitted into evidence by the Department of
Justice, Beaubouef discussed his own recollection of Okafor's property.

"I recall people hanging around 4412 Newport Street at the time it was being
offered for rent," Beaubouef said in the statement. "They were not the kind
of people you want hanging around; there were African Americans coming
around the property with their pants around their knees."

In trying to convince Berrigan to not allow the jury to hear about the
Okafor case, attorneys for the parish argued that it both provided little
value in determining the outcome of the suit, and that it might confuse or
unfairly prejudice the jury.

But Justice Department attorneys argued that Okafor's story demonstrated the
chilling effect of the parish's housing ordinance.

"In particular, Mr. Okafor's experience is relevant to the United States'
claim that the parish harassed, intimidated, and interfered with the rights
of landlords, and by extension their tenants, in enforcing the PUP
ordinance, because of race," the Department of Justice said in its filing.