No ouster, no censure: Attempts to move against council chair, councilman get blocked

FRANKLIN -- A St. Mary Parish Council member's attempt to remove one colleague from the council chairmanship and censure another went nowhere at Wednesday's meeting. One move was blocked by a judge, the other by Robert's Rules of Order.
Councilman Craig Mathews of Jeanerette had proposed separate resolutions seeking the ouster of Dean Adams of Morgan City as council chairman, and to censure, or condemn, Mark Duhon of Amelia over interference in personnel matters.
Duhon went to 16th Judicial District Court and obtained a temporary restraining order Tuesday from District Judge Suzanne de Mahy. The order prohibits the council from taking action on Mathews' resolution targeting Duhon pending further court action.
The resolution to remove Adams was tabled, or removed from consideration at least temporarily, after the council heard advice from Assistant District Attorney Dean Wattigny of Iberia Parish.
Wattnigny was called in by Assistant District Attorney Eric Duplantis, the council's usual legal adviser, out of concern about a possible conflict of interest.
Matthews' resolution said Adams should be removed as chairman "due to failure to impartially administer the executive office."
In an interview with The Review and again at Wednesday's council meeting, Mathews said Adams' actions at the Nov. 17 council meeting were "the last straw."
At the Nov. 17 meeting, Adams had an item submitted by Parish President David Hanagriff removed from the agenda, and Adams cut off Hanagriff's defense of a potential remapping consultant, even threatening to have Hanagriff removed from the meeting room by a sheriff's deputy.
Wattigny said Wednesday that he believes the council couldn't take up the resolution in the form proposed by Mathews.
The St. Mary Home Rule Charter doesn't specifically address removal of the council chairman, Wattigny said, so the council is bound by the charter to follow Robert's Rules of Order.
Those rules say that a chairman elected for a fixed term may be removed only after action by a disciplinary committee with the power to investigate allegations and even issue subpoenas. The council elects the chairman and vice chairman once a year, and court precedent indicates that the two council leaders serve fixed terms, Wattigny said.
"This [resolution] is not in a proper procedural posture for you to handle tonight, in my opinion," Wattigny said.
The Matthews resolution dealing with Duhon made unspecified allegations “relative to improper conduct counter to the St. Mary Parish Council’s standard of behavior, specifically for interference with personnel functions of the Parish Council and Government.”
The temporary restraining order from de Mahy will expire in 10 days unless extended by the court. A hearing on a preliminary injunction that would block action on the resolution until trial is scheduled for Jan. 26.
The council voted to table both resolutions. There was even a brief discussion about whether tabling the Duhon resolution would violate de Mahy's prohibition against taking action.
Wattingny also suggested that Councilman Jay Ina of Franklin withhold comment after Ina said the council should spend its time in more productive pursuits.
"I'm embarrassed to have to sit up here and deal with this stuff," Ina said. "It's ridiculous."
"Shakespeare said it best," said Councilman Scott Ramsey of Bayou Vista. "Much ado about nothing."
Ramsey suggested that since another leadership election will be held in January anyway, the council should put off action on the resolutions.
After the meeting, Adams said he believes Hanagriff was behind the resolutions. Adams traces the tension to his election as chairman, when he said Hanagriff told him to talk with council members representing single-member districts before attending meetings of local government subdivisions in their districts. Adams said he's a resident of the parish and free to attend any public meeting.
"All this is spearheaded by [Hanagriff] because he doesn't like me, and he doesn't like that we ask tough questions," Adams said.
On Thursday. Hanagriff said he only suggested that at-large members should tell single-district members of their intentions to attend meetings in their districts to avoid misunderstandings.
Hanagriff also denied telling Mathews to propose the resolutions.
"In no way, shape or form did I put Craig Mathews up to this," Hanagriff said. "I didn't and couldn't because Craig Mathews is his own man. Craig Mathews is an individual who stands on his own."
During the meeting, Mathews said he proposed the resolutions because he swore to put the interests of St. Mary Parish first.
"It's difficult because I like, care [for] and respect the gentlemen ...," Mathews said. "This is one of the darkest moments of my political experience."
Also Wednesday, Ina put off a passage vote on his ordinance asking voters to allow any member of the council to be elected chairman or vice chairman.
The council has 11 members, eight of whom are elected from geographic districts. Three are elected at large by voters parishwide. The charter currently limits the two leadership roles to at-large members.
Sending a charter amendment to voters requires a two-thirds vote by the council, or eight votes. Councilman Patrick Hebert of Morgan City was absent Wednesday, and Ina said he wants the full council to vote on the call for a special election.
The same proposal failed by a single vote last year.

This story has been edited to clarify our account of Adams' comments and to add reaction from Hanagriff.