JEFFERSON, La. -- A source has confirmed to Eyewitness News that the ex-wife of former Parish President Aaron Broussard, Karen Parker Broussard, will receive a target letter, indicating that she, and possibly others, are targets of an investigation.
Karen Parker was caught up in the scandal in the parish paralegal's office. With three more firings, the problems in that department may have gone deeper than first though.
After Aaron Broussard stepped down as Jefferson Parish president last January, interim President Steve Theriot found three people on the payroll of the parish attorney who weren’t working there at all. One was Broussard’s ex-wife, Karen Parker Broussard, an example of the patronage and cronyism currently under scrutiny in a sweeping federal investigation.
Theriot fired the employees, all of whom were drawing pay as paralegal supervisors despite working other lower-paying jobs elsewhere in parish government.
But it turns out the housecleaning was far from complete.
Records obtained by Channel 4 show that newly elected Parish President John Young found that three of the four paralegals he inherited inside the parish attorney’s office did not have paralegal certificates, the lone professional qualification for the job.
When Young found out, he acted swiftly. He fired all three last month.
“We let all non-certified paralegals go,” Young said.
“When I got in,” Young continued, “I wanted to make sure that we dotted our “I”s and crossed our “T”s and make sure we were in compliance with the job description and in compliance with the recommendations of the legislative auditor and I’m proud to tell you today that we are.”
The certification requirement was adopted in 1999, but records show that of the fired paralegals, Barbara Ann Namer was hired in 2000, Susan Thomas was hired in 2002 and Susie Melancon was hired in 2008.
Furthermore, each of the non-certified paralegals had a higher salary than the lone certified paralegal, Robin Ural, whose pay is listed as $34,442. By comparison, Thomas’ salary was $37,287, Melancon’s salary was $37,111 and Namer’s salary was $34,559, according to parish payroll records.
Rafael Goyeneche, president of the non-profit watchdog group Metropolitan Crime Commission, was among the people who brought the problem to Young’s attention, although several parish employees said the situation was hardly a secret. Goyeneche said the non-certified paralegals should be viewed as the symptom of a larger problem.
“It looks like, under previous administrations, the law department served as a job program for politically connected friends,” Goyeneche said. “It can’t happen unless somebody made some exceptions for certain people. And, you know, any department in government has to be governed by their own internal rules. The law department, you would think, would be a stickler for adhering to the rules.”
Young said he will continue to stamp out any other employment irregularities brought to his attention.
“Every position that we fill, those persons will be qualified based on the job description and they will be full-time,” Young said.
Young said the paralegals who were fired have the option of obtaining certification and re-applying for their old jobs. In the meantime, he said the parish is actively trying to fill the positions.
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