The current president of the Southeast Louisiana Flood Protection Authority-East is Tim Doody. His term has expired and Gov. Bobby Jindal does not want to reappoint him. The SLFPA-E filed a lawsuit last year against almost 100 oil and gas companies for the injury and damage to the state’s wetlands. This lawsuit had drawn strong opposition from the governor and his administration.
The governor, however, is slowing replacing members of the SLFPA-E with those he knows will vote against such a lawsuit. A nominating committee that is supposed to be non-political was appointed by the governor to forward names to him to replace those members whose terms had expired. At the end of last year, the governor appointed three new members, forcing the vice-president, John Barry, from the board.
The nominating committee submitted Tim Doody’s name, as well as David Gorbaty, a retired judge. It was later determined that there was a conflict of interest for Gorbaty to hold a seat on the SLFPA-E’s board. The governor wanted Doody’s name withdrawn, but the members of the board refused to do so. He will remain as the board’s president until another individual is appointed by the governor. The nominating committee is supposed to meet again in April.
As we discussed in the earlier post this week, Sen. Robert Adley has filed legislation for the session that begins on Monday that would not allow government entities to be represented by outside council. Gov. Jindal has said that he supports such legislation and has said that he believes the lawsuit will affect the state’s efforts to address the problem of coastal erosion.
Those who have environmental concerns may feel they have no other option than to file a legal action to save some part of the environment. Attorneys who are experienced in handling such cases can prove very beneficial to those who wish to see positive changes take place.
Source: newstimes.com, “La. flood control authority membership debated” Kevin McGill, Mar. 06, 2014
