The first Lafayette City Council meeting since Mayor-President Josh Guillory entered rehab saw frustration over his absence lead to an argument Tuesday over trust versus proof of the mayor-president’s availability.
Guillory’s July 25 announcement that he had entered a 21-day, in-patient rehab program for untreated post-traumatic stress disorder and alcohol use prompted a question of leadership last week as he insisted on remaining in power while undergoing treatment in Texas.
The councils are required by law to appoint an interim mayor-president when Guillory is “absent from and unavailable to Lafayette Parish for more than 48 hours.”
But council members have been rebuffed by the administration when they’ve sought proof of Guillory’s availability from the facility where he is being treated, which City Councilman Glenn Lazard said could have put the issue to rest immediately.
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“We simply asked you to provide us with some proof of that. I don’t understand why that would have been so complicated to do,” he said at Tuesday’s meeting.
“That would have put this whole thing to rest by simply providing us with some documentation verifying what you were telling us was the truth.”
But Guillory’s City-Parish Attorney Greg Logan warned the councils last week that appointing an interim mayor-president could subject them to fines, jail time and loss of elected office, dousing plans to temporarily appoint Parish Councilman Kevin Naquin in Guillory’s stead.
Logan has argued that Guillory is not “unavailable” because Logan and Chief Administrative Officer Cydra Wingerter can contact him through special accommodations made by his treatment facility.
The councils’ chairs, Nanette Cook and AB Rubin, spoke to Guillory on conference calls with Logan last week, as did 15th Judicial District Attorney Don Landry.
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In response to Lazard’s comments at Tuesday’s meeting, Wingerter said the councils should “lead with trust” in the administration’s explanations of Guillory’s availability.
“Usually, I would think that we would lead with trust,” Wingerter told Lazard.
“Clearly you’re saying that there’s no trust or perhaps that we’re lying about the ability to get the mayor-president on the phone. That is available. We do have that capability to get him on the phone.”
Wingerter also pointed out Guillory’s support for Lazard while the councilman endured lengthy treatments of leukemia in Texas shortly after taking office in 2020, referencing efforts to allow Lazard to vote remotely
“We had the opportunity to speak personally about your support of the mayor during his time seeking recovery because of his support of you during your time out of of office and unavailable,” she said.
Lazard lambasted the comparison.
“First of all, I’m not the mayor. I’m not the mayor of the city. The comparison, if that’s what you were doing, is totally off base. Everybody knew where I was. Everybody. There was no question where I was. I even received mail where I was,” Lazard said.
“That comparison … is totally off base and totally uncalled for. My availability wasn’t a question,” he added.
Wingerter’s response to Lazard at Tuesday’s meeting was inaudible because her microphone was off. She did not return a call from the Daily Advertiser seeking clarity on her comments Wednesday afternoon.
An hour before council meetings started Tuesday, Rubin, Cook and Lazard sent a letter to the state Attorney General’s Office in response to Guillory’s request for an AG opinion last week.
RELATED:Lafayette council leaders say they have ‘diminished’ access to Josh Guillory in rehab
Their letter clarified that contact with Guillory has been sparse and tightly controlled by Logan and Wingerter since his entry into rehab and pointed out that Guillory’s request failed to mention his rehab treatment at all.
“The fact that that information was not provided in the letter, I felt — myself and a couple other council people felt — that that was important that that be shared with the Attorney General,” Cook said at Tuesday night’s City Council meeting.
Attorney General opinions do not have the force of law, but the threat of fines, jail time and loss of office could be enough to deter the councils from temporarily replacing Guillory if the AG’s office decides to take his side.
Cook said Wednesday that Wingerter’s insistence on trust over proof was baseless, saying “trust has to be earned, and we don’t feel like we’ve received any respect in terms of this information.”
“There’s no respect for the fact that we have a job to do as well as the City Council to follow the charter and protect the citizens,” she said. “Apparently, they don’t trust us enough to give us this information, which shows that they don’t respect the fact that we have a job to do.”
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