Tempers flare during Parish Council discussion on hurricane aid

Early in Wednesday’s St. Mary Parish Council meeting, Chair Gwendolyn Hidalgo asked participants to remain civil. Her call was less than successful.
Morgan City Mayor Lee Dragna and Councilman the Rev. Craig Mathews of Jeanerette swapped accusations at the meeting, the fallout from a September argument over who had access to government aid after Hurricane Francine.
At that Sept. 18 meeting, a week after Francine caused widespread home and street flooding in eastern St. Mary, Parish President praised the local response to the hurricane. But Mathews said he’d heard constituent complaints that they had been turned away when seeking goods aid in Patterson and Morgan City, where the state government set up a point of distribution for food, water and other items in the weekend after the storm.
Dragna responded in a Facebook video that no one was turned away from the Morgan City point of distribution based on where they live. And he repeated that assertion in person Wednesday.
“No one was ever asked for ID,” Dragna told the council. “No one was asked where they live or anything like that.”
Talking directly to Mathews, Dragna said the assertion that people were turned away from Morgan City’s distribution point was “a stone cold lie.
“There’s always something that drags Morgan City into this,” the mayor said.
“All you’re doing,” Mathews said later, “is beating your chest, which is what you do every time you come here.”
At the end of Dragna’s allotted time, he was escorted away from the lectern by the sheriff’s deputy who is on duty at all Parish Council meetings.
Dragna began his comments with a recap of events leading up to the creation of the point of distribution. He said his first attempts to acquire generators for the city government failed.
But Gov. Jeff Landry called to ask what Morgan City needed, and Dragna’s reply was food, water, generators and the military to help distribute the aid. The state quickly responded, sending in 10 trucks. The Purple Lemon and Walmart sent in two more 18-wheelers, Dragna said.
Officials from Berwick and Patterson also sent trailers to pick up goods for distribution in their municipalities.
On the Friday after the hurricane, the search turned to tarps for damaged roofs. Dragna said the city came up with a list of 2,000 people who needed assistance, but didn’t get the tarps.
Homeland Security Director Jimmy Broussard had been recommending that residents register damage by using a QR code publicized by the state.
Dragna said that as a result of the local registrations, 700-800 tarps were delivered.
Hidalgo asked Dragna why he went to the governor instead of following procedure by going through the parish homeland security office.
Dragna replied that the governor called him, and that he’d been in touch with Broussard.
“Nobody’s going around anybody,” Dragna said. “Jimmy asked me to distribute (aid) and that’s what I did.”

This story was edited to remove the implication that Broussard recommended registering through the QR code specifically to apply for tarps. Registration in general tells emergency response officials where the damage is and is a guide to allocating resources.