Now, little by little, we’re learning the rest of the story.
First, there was the revelation that Mr. Gunter used his
JEDCO email account to promote political candidates specifically those that
JEDCO was supporting for the Jefferson Parish School Board.
Now, the story goes even deeper.
A Times-Picayune article (http://www.nola.com/politics/index.ssf/2012/12/ethics_investigation_urged_for.html#incart_more_business) revealed that a JP Internal Auditor is claiming that since 2007 when he
was hired, Mr. Gunter has violated the residency rule requiring him to reside
in Jefferson Parish. The audit also uncovered the fact that Mr. Gunter used a
deeply discounted apartment as a cover for his St. Tammany Parish residency.
Mr. Gunter paid $300 per month for an apartment that would normally rent for
$1,100 – 1,200 per month. This deep discount was courtesy of real estate
magnate Henry Shane and his First Lake Properties.
In addition, Mr. Gunter is alleged to have been reimbursed
over $11,000 for meals at local restaurants. While this is not against JEDCO
policy, since JEDCO conveniently doesn’t have a policy, it is against Jefferson
Parish policies.
Gunter also received
a $750 monthly car allowance and received almost $2,000 in reimbursements for
mileage and parking.
While I have met Mr. Gunter several times during his tenure
at JEDCO, it wasn’t until January of 2011 that I had a really significant conversation
with him.
In the previous incarnation of ClickJefferson.com, I wrote
an editorial criticizing JEDCO for a controversial billboard advertising
campaign. You remember the billboards all over Jefferson Parish asking
ridiculous questions like “Who’s Reinventing A City?”, “Who Lowered Crime Rates?,
and, my personal favorite, “Who Built Better Levess?”.
In addition to running on ClickJefferson.com, the editorial
was also picked up statewide by BayouBuzz.com. Here’s a link: http://www.bayoubuzz.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=151216%3AJefferson+Parish+Economic+Unit+Involved+In+Controversial+Ad+Campaign&catid=137%3Alatest-buzz&Itemid=622&tmpl=component&type=raw
On the morning that the editorial was published, I received
a phone call from a JEDCO representative. The JEDCO rep had a message for me: “Mr.
Gunter would like to meet with you today. Can you make it here at 2?” Sure, I
said, I’d love to. What’s the worst that could happen? I get chewed out for 15
minutes? For the opportunity to get some questions answered, I’d put up with
it.
Well, 15 minutes turned into over 2 hours as Mr. Gunter
extolled the virtues of JEDCO, their importance to Jefferson Parish, the help
that JEDCO could give me as a business owner, and how my thinking about JEDCO
was wrong and I just didn’t understand.
That’s how it always works when I criticize the actions of
someone who thinks they are powerful or the organization that they represent: I
don’t understand.
When I criticized Kenner Mayor Mike Yenni regarding his plan to double property taxes in Kenner, the Mayor called
me into his office (again, for over 2 hours) to tell me that I didn’t
understand how government worked. When I’ve criticized Jefferson or Orleans
Parish Councilmembers, or other elected officials, it was the same story: I
didn’t understand.
I really can't count the number of times that I've been told by some elected or appointed official that I don't understand.
In fact, that’s a pretty popular deflection tactic employed
by many: don’t talk about the issues and blame the other person because they
clearly don’t understand.
So, after 2 hours of listening respectfully to Mr. Gunter
tell me that I don’t understand, he threw me another familiar line. Noting my
strong support of Jefferson Parish and Jefferson Parish businesses, Mr. Gunter
talked about the similarities between he and I and JEDCO and ClickJefferson.com.
“After all, we’re both on the same team,” Mr. Gunter said.
“No, we’re not,” I replied. And that was how our
conversation abruptly ended.
It was true then and it’s true now: Mr. Gunter and I aren’t
on the same team. Never have been. Never will be.
