The Port Allen official accused of offering to pay a council member to coax a colleague out of a City Council race has been placed on administrative leave, Mayor Richard Lee III said at a meeting on Wednesday.
“There’s a lot of civil liability when you do things that’s improper,” Lee said. “So, until the investigation is complete, he’s on administrative leave.”
The public announcement came at the urging of councilperson Clerice Lacy — who last week alleged that Walter Braud III from the city’s planning and zoning commission proposed a donation to her reelection campaign in July if she told Shelton Berry to drop out of the race for District 4 — for transparency in the investigation into her complaint.
“I gave you the evidence that you needed,” Lacy told the mayor Wednesday night. “This is not that hard. This is not who we want to be representing our city.”
Braud did not respond to requests for comment.
Lacy’s complaint included a recording that she said captured the phone conversation between her and Braud in July. She played the recording on a local podcast hosted by Berry, “Nothing But The Facts,” in November.
In the recording, Braud allegedly said, “I will be behind you 1000%, and I have money that I will put behind you, and I will have you reelected again, if you do one thing for me.”
“Honestly?” Lacy said.
“Tell Shelton Berry to go get out of the race of District 4 before Friday,” Braud said.
Lacy declined the request, she said, and found it offensive as an elected official and a Black woman. She reported the incident to the Mayor’s Office and the police, she said. The Port Allen Police Department said the case was referred to the Election Integrity Division of the Louisiana Secretary of State.
Members of the public at Wednesday’s meeting were anxious to learn more about the mayor’s investigation.
“For someone to do such an act, we need some consequences behind that,” Port Allen resident Sonceria Brown said.
The investigation will not conclude before Lee leaves office. Mayor-elect Terecita Pollard Pattan will be responsible for a final decision, Lee said.