• E-mail
• Print
• Comment
• Font Size
• Digg
• del.icio.us
• Discuss article

Port Commission Chief Suspended Probe Focuses on Comp Time, Spending

Posted on: Friday, 29 July 2005, 18:00 CDT

PORT ALLEN - The Greater Baton Rouge Port Commission terminated Chief Executive Officer Roger Richard's contract Thursday evening and suspended him with pay, pending the results of a legislative auditor's investigation into his accumulation of comp time and spending.

Jay Hardman, the port's managing director, will serve as acting chief executive officer. Hardman has been managing director since May 2002.

The commission terminated Richard's contract, which has a base salary of $177,985, after port attorneys determined that the employment agreement had been invalid since November because of a state law which forbids boards or commissions from offering contracts that last longer than members' terms. A number of appointments were made to the commission in 2004, with Gov. Kathleen Blanco replacing some members appointed by former Gov. Mike Foster.

Richard's contract, which was approved in December 2000, was to expire on Dec. 31, 2008. Richard and his attorney, Murphy J. Foster III, the former governor's son, said in a letter they "strongly disagree" with the port's legal opinion.

Richard said after the meeting he was disappointed with the commission's actions and said he's fulfilled all the duties of his contract.

"There's no investigation going on, because there's nothing to investigate," he said.

The Legislative Auditor's Office looked into his spending several years ago and found no evidence of wrongdoing, Richard said.

The nine commissioners present at the meeting all agreed to terminate Richard's contract and suspend him with pay. Four commissioners were absent and there are two open seats.

The suspension with pay forbids Richard from entering port property, contacting port staff and orders him to return all port- owned property, such as gate passes, keys and cell phones.

Larry Johnson, the commission's vice president and a critic of Richard, said the Legislative Auditor's Office should wrap up a review of Richard's comp time, travel and entertainment expenses by September. But other issues, including the port's cooperative endeavor agreements with local charities and some of Richard's hires are still being looked at, Johnson said.

"With all the turmoil that's happened at this port, it's been uncomfortable," Johnson said. "We're trying to get focused on activities and move the port forward."

Commissioners have been at odds with Richard after they discovered three months ago he had accumulated 3,252 hours of comp time during his seven years on the job. It was Richard's request for a raise to bring his salary up to that of other Gulf Coast port directors that caused the commission to look at his comp time.

Since April, the commission has frozen Richard's salary, stripped away his comp time, restricted his ability to travel without prior approval, taken away his authority to hire employees and voluntarily submitted his travel and meal receipts to the Legislative Auditor's Office for review.

The commission also formed an oversight committee to review port policy. It was as part of the oversight committee that Barry Wilkinson, an attorney for the commission, said he discovered Richard's contract was violating state law La. R.S. 42:3.

According to Wilkinson, Richard's eight-year contract was approved by commissioners who were appointed by then-Gov. Mike Foster. Gov. Kathleen Blanco appointed new commissioners June 2, 2004, and Nov. 30. "Consequently, the legal term of the contract ended Nov. 30, 2004, which was the date upon which the newly constituted commission was complete," Wilkinson and Stephen Glusman, another port attorney, wrote in a memo sent to commissioners.

Richard attorney Foster contends that because port commissioners serve at the pleasure of the governor "an argument could be very well made that no such Board or Commission could employ any officer, director or employee for any specific duration. ... That is because any Governor, can fully reconstitute a Board at the drop of a hat."

Foster warned that the commission could owe Richard as much as $622,944 in salary alone, because the port director signed an amended contract in January 2004, just before Blanco was sworn in as governor, to reflect an increase in his base salary.

"Even accepting your premise that La. R.S. 42:3 is applicable to Mr. Richard's particular employment and that ... the terms of Commissioners coincides with those of the Governor, we would contend that Mr. Richard's contract is in force and in effect until at least the first term of Governor Blanco is concluded. ... If she serves a second term, an argument could be made ... that Mr. Richard's contract is valid for the full of its stated duration."

Richard would not say what his plans are, but the commission approved a motion to allow legal counsel to take "any appropriate action at a short notice."

Said Johnson, "The ball's in his court now."

Because of the turmoil at the port, Johnson said, the port commission will not buy an advertising supplement in The Greater Baton Rouge Business Report this year. Johnson said the decision not to spend the money had nothing to do with two columns that were critical of how some commissioners were treating Richard. Those columns drew complaints from Johnson.

"It's too early to do something like this to run in August or September, with what's been going on at the port," he said. "We want to come back in January, after we've had five or six months of other things."

Source: Advocate; Baton Rouge, La.

More News in this Category