St. Tammany News

Police chief defends mayor, offers to resign if necessary

Mandeville Police Chief Tom Buell on Friday said he would offer to resign if it would end media scrutiny and backroom tongue-lashings for Mayor Eddie Price, who is accused of accepting private gifts from philanthropic funds set up by the city's top cop. "I don't necessarily want to resign," Buell said. "I enjoy my job, but I'm prepared to if it will fix things."

"I'm paying the price," he continued. "That was a bad judgment call."

The scandal blanketing the typically quiet city of Mandeville erupted recently when a legislative audit found Price had accepted $2,800 in Wal-Mart gift cards and other gifts, including a $780 bow and arrow and gun case during the Christmas season.

The gifts were paid for by the Police Citizens Fund, which solicits donations from area residents via letter campaigns and fundraisers to raise money for Toys for Tots, a side agency set up by the Mandeville Police Department.

On Wednesday, Price tried to rectify the situation, writing a $2,300 check to reimburse the fund. He defended his role in the ordeal. He said he thought the gifts were paid for by employees.

"If I would have even remotely thought this was a gift coming out of the Toys for Tots fund for me," Price said, "I certainly wouldn't accept that gift."

But "when you get a gift from somebody, you don't ask them where did the money come from," he said.

The situation unfolded when the New Orleans Metropolitan Crime Commission received a complaint of abuse from an unknown whistleblower. A short investigation followed, and the commission's president, Rafael Goyeneche, tipped off legislative auditors.

He blasted the Mandeville Police Department's relationship with City Hall, saying a buddy-buddy relationship is typical of Louisiana politics that Gov. Bobby Jindal recently tried to stomp out with a massive ethics reform overhaul.

"This is a system that's been in place for God knows how long," Goyeneche said. "It's only logical that if you have abuse in one area of government there will be abuses in other areas. Corruption in politics doesn't stop at the shore of Lake Pontchartrain."

It's that school of thought that prompted the Louisiana Legislative Auditor to expand its investigation into all areas of city government, said lead auditor Dan Daigle.

Daigle declined to specify what areas of Mandeville government his office is investigating, but he said it's wide ranging in scope.

"I'm not saying there is fraud or department abuse, but we have concerns with the management," Daigle said.

He expects the findings of the audit to be released in six to eight weeks.

TOYS FOR TOTS

The Toys for Tots fund is the brainchild of the police department and is set up to collect donations from the public to be distributed to community members in need. Toys for Tots is a major aspect of the fund, which gave away more than 600 toys to children at Christmas last year, the most in its history.

The probing of the program has since progressed into a detailed audit of all of the city's departments even after the 85-page, 2007 financial audit compiled by LaPorte Sehrt Romig Hand was released earlier this year with no significant incidents found.

Department of Finance Director Milton Stiebing said the city became involved with the fund more than 10 years ago.

"The officer that was in charge of the fund at the time was caught stealing from it," he said. This made the public apprehensive about giving to the organization, so the city agreed to take control of the checkbook to ensure the fund's validity and future success.

"We didn't want the Toys for Tots to die, so we figured if we handled the checkbook, it would give people confidence again," Stiebing said.

The city's involvement in the fund was extremely limited, Stiebing said, only encompassing the task of tending to the fund's checkbook and issuing checks after Buell, in charge of the fund, submitted a voucher basically stating the vendor's name and amount of money needed to pay the vendor.

"Our job was not to question where the vouchers came from and for what, because it was never part of the city's budget," Stiebing said. "We simply were acting as the checkbook."

NOT MAYOR'S FAULT

"It's not the mayor's fault, but he's taking the heat for it, and he doesn't deserve it," Buell said.

Buell said every year each city department chips in to purchase a gift for Price. Instead of burdening his officers with an extra expense, Buell made the decision to withdraw monies from the Citizen Service Fund the last several years.

"I didn't feel comfortable collecting from the officers, so I made a decision to take it from the fund," he said. "We should have not taken part in it at all. It was a bad decision."

Buell is changing the Citizen Service Fund into an official nonprofit, 501(c)(3) corporation called the Greater Mandeville Police Foundation.

Buell said a board of nine members has already been formed consisting of Shelby LaSalle, Gerald Sticker, Ron Goux, Pat Brister, Tommy Breazeale, John Crosby, Roy Rieckie, Buell and Eric Schouest.

He also said the transformation will not be complete until the auditors have finished their investigation and have provided Buell with the proper requirements needed to co-form the foundation.

As for the audit into the city's departments, Price remains confident the final report will be positive.

"I don't think they will reveal any criminal wrongdoing," he said. "I'm looking forward to their recommendations to running a better city."

Price also said Buell's decision to resign would be premature if done so before the auditor's report is released.

FURTHER REACHING

CONSEQUENCES

Dena Dyer, director of the Samaritan Center in Old Mandeville, a philanthropic organization aimed to help the needy, feels the abuse of funds will scar other donors from reaching into deep pockets.

"We would hate to see knee-jerk reactions," Dyer said. "I want to reassure the public that there are organizations out there that put their heart and soul into helping others."

After Hurricane Katrina, philanthropic donations dwindled, and now organizations such as the Samaritan Center need more donations than it has in its 19-year history.

"To have a story like this come out and shake people's confidence ultimately the people who are hurt are the little children," she said.