KENNER, La. -- The Jefferson Parish District Attorneys Office is the latest agency to investigate the private business practices of parish Chief Administrative Officer Tim Whitmer.
Whitmer is already the target of separate parish, state and federal investigations. They focus on Whitmer's insurance company, Lagniappe Industries.
Documents show Lagniappe secretly shared the commissions on a lucrative insurance contract for employees at West Jefferson Hospital.
JP Council Chairman Tom Capella said the parish is cooperating with DA Paul Connick's request for documents.
"He requested from the parish attorneys office a copy of the information that we sent to the ethics board by Louisiana statutes, so now the ethics board has it, the federal government has it, and it's my understanding from Louis Gruntz, who is the parish attorney, that the district attorney has asked for this too," said Capella.
This latest development in the Whitmer case comes as the Metairie-based Citizens For Good Government is calling on the parish council to get more involved.
The group's vice-chair Margie Seemann said they want the council to pass a resolution, urging parish President Aaron Broussard to fire Whitmer.
Whitmer has already announced he will retire February 1, 2010. It's timed to immediately allow him to begin drawing his more than $170,000 a year pension after 30 years of service to the parish.
"We want to have all the council people to go on record to see if they are going to favor this," said Seemann. "If they don't, it's going to be held against them the next time they run for public office."
Capella said the council has no choice but to honor Whitmer's right to due process.
"We are actively working on this investigation," said Capella. "If Tim Whitmer or any other employee of Jefferson Parish is found to violate an ethics or found to break a law, they will be fired, immediately."
According to the Jefferson Parish Regulations of Conduct, Whitmer may be in violation of the rules he distributed to employees in November 2001. They state, among other things, that parish employees are prohibited from participating in businesses which conflict with their public duties.
They are also prohibited from profiting from any financial transaction that would depend in any way on their public position or authority.
"We felt like he has a full-time job with the Jefferson Parish government," said Seemann. "He should not have been spending his time selling insurance or being involved in all these other activities."
Capella said the Whitmer matter may come up at the council's next public meeting, Dec. 9.
