By JIM BUTLER
John Callis won a battle last week and Tuesday fired the next salvo in his war with GAEDA.
His letter to the City Council, obtained by the Journal, cites an alleged pattern of unacceptable conduct by the Greater Alexandria Economic Development Authority, calling on council members to “reform it as an accountable entity” or shut it down.
And for the first time he refers to alleged violence against him due to his GAEDA activism.
Last week, the Louisiana Supreme Court overruled the 3rd Circuit and unanimously agreed that a GAEDA meeting in February 2024 was in violation of public meeting law, rendering actions taken during it null and void.
However that comes after the horse is long since out of the barn, with a commission reconstituted in late 2024 by new appointments and resignations essentially rubber stamping what occurred at the disputed meeting.
Also in February 2024, on the day of a GAEDA retreat after his authority appointment but before he took the seat, Callis reveals an unknown person fired shots at his business with he and a family member nearby.
Responding officers noted in their incident report that seven .40 millimeter casings were found in the roadway but the driver and his red Hyundai could not be located.
The report draws no conclusions as to the incident’s raison d’etre.
Callis pulls no punches in his Tuesday letter, asserting GAEDA has “acted as a patronage system wasting millions” while it “serves political interests rather than economic growth.”
Annual reports have raised no auditors’ issues with the agency’s accounting systems and practices.
Callis asserts the panel continues to refuse to honor a $1.4 million pact with the city by claiming it is illegal and poorly drafted.
Through a hotel/motel occupancy tax the Authority has about $1 million in annual revenue. Subsidizing a host of meetings and events has been the core element of its activity since its inception.
According to Callis, that activity has failed to produce economic results after two decades.
He entreats the Council “to reform it now as an accountable entity” or end it, otherwise, he says, he will take further legal action to accomplish his goals.
The Council now has requests from GAEDA to appoint successors to three commissioners who no longer attend the seven-member panel’s meetings and from Callis to pretty much junk it and start over.
Council members have been mum on the former, as have GAEDA officials when previously asked for comment.