By JIM BUTLER
The posted agenda for Tuesday’s monthly GAEDA board meeting is one of fill-in-the-blanks.
One of the blanks will be the seat of John Callis, who confirmed Sunday evening he has resigned, actually doing so in November.
He, John Carroll and Chris Patel constituted the new minority on the board.
Carroll and Patel could not be reached regarding their intentions.
When board membership changed with appointments after election of two new council members in December a reconstituted majority, sans Callus, Carroll and Patel, took control.
Back to the agenda – two items deal with the just-concluded audit of the year ending December 31, 2024. One is to hear auditor Kurt Oestreicher’s report on financial findings and agreed-upon procedures, the other is to accept both.
At this month’s City Council Legal Committee meeting GAEDA Executive Director Angie Varnado indicated everything was hunky-dory. Buzz around City Hall was that the auditor had interviewed several parties relative to possible anomalies.
The subject and outcome of such discussions, if held, may be part of Tuesday’s review.
Last year, some then-board members raised questions about transactions with then-former board attorney Tiffany Sanders, prompting them to ask the Legislative Auditor’s Office to take a look.
Nothing since has been heard.
Sanders, rehired by the current majority, is on the agenda to discuss a Third Circuit Court decision regarding meeting notice and holidays and its implications.
The court ruled late in April this year that disputed notice of a February 2024 GAEDA board meeting met legal requirements, reversing a district court July 2024 decision and validating actions taken.
Louisiana Supreme Court records show Callis, plaintiff in the action, filed a writ May 15 asking it to review the case.
Another blank in the agenda relates to a motion to authorize payment to the city of about $110,000 as reimbursements under the GAEDA-City pact regarding the former Weiss & Golding building.
The blank is recommendation on May 1 by Sanders that GAEDA move to terminate the agreement.
That was not mentioned in Varnado’s update to the Legal Committee, nor at a subsequent City Council session.