KENNER, La. — Hours after a majority of the Kenner City Council called on Mayor Ben Zahn to resign over revelations that the federal government had served subpoenas on City Hall seeking pay records for one of his top aides, Zahn clapped back, accusing the council of hypocrisy and political theater in light of the upcoming March 26 election.
Zahn pointed to James Mohamad, the city’s former code director who was indicted last year on federal bribery counts but who has been seen around Kenner hanging signs for Police Chief Michael Glaser, the lone candidate running against Zahn for mayor.
“A few ‘outraged’ council members have not chosen to call for an investigation of the elected Chief of Police even though Chief Glaser – along with a few council members - is working closely with James Mohamad, who is under indictment by the federal government for public corruption,” Zahn said in the statement late Wednesday. “This is both childish and hypocritical.”
Glaser said Mohamad had done some menial campaign work, but that was it.
“I let him put up signs,” he said. “He’s helping anyone who’s running against Ben Zahn.”
Mohamad also attended a campaign fundraiser for Keith Conley, a Glaser ally who is running for Police Chief.
But Kenner city permit records and Zahn’s private invoices and checks obtained Thursday by WWL-TV and The Times-Picayune show that Mohamad, before he was indicted, not only worked for Zahn in his capacity as code director but also did private jobs for him, too.
Specifically, Mohamad sold Zahn a whole-home generator for a house Zahn owned in February 2019, charging Zahn $4,000 for the work. Then Mohamad inspected and signed off on the installation of the generator, which was also done by a city employee at the time, Zahn said. Zahn did not pay the invoice until more than a year later, in March 2020, the records show.
That payment came nine days after Kenner resident Jack Zewe, a frequent Zahn critic, requested documentation about the generator installation and complained that Mohamad was inspecting his own private jobs for the city of Kenner.
The certified Generac dealer that activated and serviced the generator at Zahn’s house said it was a 22kW generator, that retailed for $5,800 at the time, and full retail installation can cost between $8,000 and $12,000.
Zahn said the generator was used and that everything was done above board. But the dealer provided documentation showing the unit was brand new when it was installed in August 2019.
As code director, Mohamad was also in charge of making sure the installation adhered to city code.
The FBI arrested Mohamad on federal bribery charges last April, alleging he got work installing A/C equipment under other people's permits, then inspected his own jobs on behalf of the city of New Orleans, to say they were done safely and up to code.
The city of New Orleans banned Mohamad from performing third-party inspections on the city’s behalf in July 2019 after alleging Mohamad was fabricating building inspections. But Zahn, who had appointed Mohamad as code enforcement director in Kenner in 2018, kept him as the top building official in Kenner until the day he was arrested in April 2021.
Mohamad’s attorney declined to comment for this story.
The City Council will meet Friday to take up a proposed resolution calling on Zahn to resign after a federal subpoena was served on the city Feb. 11.
That subpoena sought employment records related to Chad Pitfield, a former Deputy Chief Administrative Officer in Zahn’s administration. Pitfield has been under scrutiny for receiving approximately $86,000 in disaster pay after Hurricane Ida.
There were also some instances in which Pitfield appeared to have filled out timesheets saying he was working for the city of Kenner and the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office, where he was a reserve deputy, at the same time. The Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office has also received a federal subpoena for Pitfield’s payroll records.
Zahn launched an internal investigation into Pitfield’s actions last week and fired him on Wednesday.
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