07:30 AM CST on Wednesday, November 16, 2005

Associated Press

BATON ROUGE -- A state commission has rejected a settlement offer from a politically connected motorcycle shop that did not have a license to sell travel trailers when it started selling post-hurricane housing to the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

The Louisiana Recreational and Used Motor Vehicle Commission on Tuesday found that Bourget's of the South, located in River Ridge, violated state law with the FEMA deal. The shop is owned by the father and uncle of state Rep. Gary Smith, D-Norco.

The commission rejected an offer by the uncle, Glen Smith, to plead no contest and pay a $10,000 fine for selling the trailers without the proper license. The commission then voted to hold a full hearing as early as next month.

Bourget's got a $2.4 million contract to provide FEMA with 105 travel trailers 12 days after Hurricane Katrina hit southeast Louisiana.

The contract has swelled since then to $108 million to provide 6,416 trailers.

"It's the magnitude of it that disturbs me personally," said commission member Henry Smith.

Glen Smith has said he already had a license to sell used trailers and was not aware he needed another one. The shop got its new trailer license in mid-October after it had already begun fulfilling the FEMA contract.

Smith said he was able to secure the contracts because he has worked with the federal government for nearly four decades during disasters, removing debris, dredging rivers, and providing mobile housing following Hurricane Andrew in 1992.

The company bought trailers from dealers in Metairie, Mississippi, Missouri, Indiana, Kentucky, Georgia, Arkansas, Florida and as far away as Ontario, Canada, commission investigators said.

The investigation followed a complaint by Steve Bordelon, a St. Bernard Parish RV company owner who alleged Bourget's got the contract because of political connections.

The Legislature is considering a proposed law to require elected and some appointed officials to reveal when they or their close relatives benefit from federal hurricane-recovery contracts. Despite requests from some lawmakers, Gov. Kathleen Blanco's agenda for the current legislative session does not allow them to pass laws restricting recovery contracts.

Rep. Smith, D-Norco, is an attorney for the company, but said he had nothing to do with the FEMA contract.

(Copyright 2005 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)