JEFFERSON, La. -- In 2008 and 2009, with the country in the midst of a deep recession and Jefferson Parish looking for ways to reduce expenses and balance a shrinking budget, the Jefferson Parish Film Commission was traveling the globe.
Cherreen Gegenheimer was an Aaron Broussard chief administrative assistant, earning an annual salary of $106,000. In 2004, she became the head of the parish’s fledgling film commission office. She said she was told then to put Jefferson Parish on the map.
Through a public records request, Eyewitness News requested her travel expenses for 2008 and 2009. During that time, she spent more than $56,000 on trips – all of them pre-approved, sometimes by then-Chief Administrative Officer Tim Whitmer.
It included 14 out-of-state trips, often to California and sometimes just for a 3 1/2 hour seminar; two visits to Park City, Utah and the Sundance Film Festival; and two trips to France and the Cannes Film Festival.
Each trip to France lasted three weeks or more, costing the parish $28,000 for those two trips alone.
Cherreen Gegenheimer refused an offer from WWL-TV to conduct an on-camera interview, but allowed a phone interview to be recorded. In it, she defended her trips to France, saying she went to the film industry's trade show there, not the movies, and she said her working a booth at the show daily, to promote the parish, was grueling.
"It’s literally anywhere from 12 to 16 hours a day without a break and that’s Mother’s Day, Memorial Day, weekends,” Gegenheimer said. “We would have welcomed the help.”
Gegenheimer says she was following advice from JEDCO, the parish’s economic development office, to increase the parish’s marketing efforts regarding the film industry.
She said the Louisiana Film Foundation and others recommended the parish include France and Utah in its marketing plan.
But at the same time that Jefferson Parish was traveling abroad, its film industry partner, Orleans Parish, was more judicious in its travels. During two years of records requested by WWL-TV, Jefferson Parish again spent more than $56,000 while New Orleans spent less than $14,000. No New Orleans official traveled to Utah for Sundance during that time, nor spent three weeks in the south of France for Cannes.
Jennifer Day was then the head of the Orleans Film Commission. She said the tax credits were doing the job, saying “We had such great momentum with lead generations coming across our desk at such a high rate, we did not see the value in using what limited resources we had for travel.”
Gegenheimer maintains it was money well spent. She said she has assisted on over 60 films since 2004 and that $29 million have been realized in economic impact for the parish because of those movies.
But what about specific leads or business that came out of the lengthy trips to France?
“There is a major studio developer who's in negotiations, at least the last time I heard... We met at Cannes at the Marche' (du Film event),” Gegenheimer said. “He happened upon our exhibit and he met with me for, I think about an hour, and he's made at least two trips to New Orleans.”
For an office that traveled frequently under Aaron Broussard, travel came to a halt when interim Parish President Steve Theriot took over in January.
Cherreen Gegenheimer has traveled only one time in all of 2010, and that was back to Sundance this past January, but Theriot said it was only because the trip was already paid for prior to him taking over.
Rafael Goyeneche, president of the Metropolitan Crime Commission, doesn't believe any crimes have occurred, but says this is a perfect example of why Jefferson Parish needs an inspector general, to provide a level of independent scrutiny.
“This is certainly a situation that doesn't pass the smell test and probably won't be viewed very favorably in the court of public opinion by the people of Jefferson Parish whose tax dollars were used to support this,” Goyeneche said.
Newly-elected Parish President John Young was a councilmember at-large at the time. He said he didn't know the amount of travel Gegenheimer was logging, but when he recently found out, the numbers surprised him.
"I was surprised. I was also surprised by the extent of it,” Young said. “I'm certainly not going to authorize that and, as a citizen, I certainly don't approve of it either.”
Young said he's put a freeze on all out-of-state travel and that employees will have to justify each trip on a case by case basis. As for international travel, Young has made changes as well.
“International travel under my watch is not going to be authorized any time in the foreseeable future - absolutely not,” Young said.
Young said he didn't see the parish getting the best bang for its buck by traveling internationally.
"It’s a mentality (where) everyone's got to tighten their belt. We have to be a little more judicious as to what we decide to do,” Young said. “At the same time though, I want to make it clear certainly we need to continue to court the film industry, just in a different way.”
Young also said he is evaluating the structure of the film commission office within his administration and said everything is on the table.
Promoting Jefferson Parish within the film industry certainly falls within the parameters of Cherreen Gegenheimer's job, but on many of her trips, including both trips to France, Utah and California, she was not alone. Her husband, Jefferson Parish Clerk of Court Jon Gegenheimer, was with her, serving as the clerk of court, but working a convention booth for the parish film commission.
Goyeneche questioned the reason for a parishwide elected official in Jon Gegenheimer’s position to attend film events like this.
“(To do so) in his capacity, and not use his vacation time in traveling to France,” Goyeneche said, “so in effect the taxpayers were paying him as if he were presiding over his office in the Gretna courthouse. Instead he's handing out brochures about the film industry in Cannes, France.”
How does Jon Gegenheimer justify his travels as the Clerk of Court? Look for part two of this report Thursday at 10 p.m. on Channel 4.
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