By JIM BUTLER
The Rapides Parish Journal has learned GAEDA’s attorney recommends it terminate a cooperative agreement with the city regarding plans for the former Weiss & Golding building and the Bolton Avenue Community Center.
The W&G pact was adopted last October on a unanimous vote by Greater Alexandria Economic Development Authority board members and the City Council, hailed as a new chapter in the relationship between the entities.
Since a change in board membership following December’s council elections chaffing over the GAEDA annual financial commitment in the agreement has been intensifying, according to persons familiar with the discourse.
A concern exists among some that the agreement poses a potential cutback in the flow of traditional GAEDA funding to a host of events they believe meet the agent’s primary charge.
At its March meeting the board was to hear from the city administration regarding the agreement and also to hold an executive session to discuss strategy and potential litigation though the posted agenda did not specify what issue was involved.
Whether those items were related to or were the catalyst for counsel Tiffany Sanders to review the agreement could not be reliably determined.
The administration does not ordinarily respond to darts aimed its way.
A City Hall source not authorized to speak on the matter did assert the agreement was properly drafted, vetted and executed.
Sanders, a former assistant city attorney, in her May 1 correspondence to Executive Director Angela Varnado, presumably copied to board members, cites seven instances of what Sanders feels are legal shortcomings.
“I am compelled to bring to your attention a series of material legal deficiencies that render the agreements insufficient and potentially violative of Louisiana constitutional and statutory requirements,” she writes.
She recommends
- Immediately suspend any pending or future payments pursuant to these agreements;
- Formally issue notice of intent to terminate the CEA and Addendums unless renegotiated to comply fully with Louisiana law;
- Convene in executive session to consider the potential initiation of a declaratory judgment or other legal remedies to protect GAEDA’s assets and mission.”
The structure and content of these agreements suggest they were not entered into on terms that serve GAEDA’s best interests or support its long-term viability,” she writes.