ST. MARTINVILLE, La. (KLFY) — St. Martinville Mayor Melinda Mitchell is continuing her fight against the city council for veto power.
On Monday, Mayor Mitchell asked a city court judge to disqualify and remove the city’s attorney from the case, after he said the city’s charter does not give the mayor veto power.
The judge did not grant the mayor’s request, but the mayor says the battle is not over.
The question whether or not Mayor Mitchell has veto power was first brought up in 2020 when the city council attempted to reduce the mayor’s position from full-time to part-time.
The proposed change would reduce the mayor’s salary from $56,000 to $30,000 per year.
“I actually vetoed that, and the council members said I do not have the authority,” the Mayor stated.
“Our charter is silent as to whether the mayor has veto authority, so the law states that when a charter is silent, you roll over to the Lawrason Act, and in the Lawrason Act, the mayor has veto authority.”
The city’s attorney, Allan Durand, told the city council that he believed the city’s charter does not give veto power to the mayor, and the mayor says she was forced to hire her own attorney out of pocket for the court battle.
“The charter says that myself and the council represent the board of the city. My question was, “Why does Mr. Durand represent the council and not the mayor? It forced me, as the mayor, to get my own personal representation where I’m in the office of the mayor. It should not be a personal expenditure for myself,” Mayor Mitchell said.
In court Monday, Mitchell and her attorney asked the judge to disqualify the city attorney from the veto case and the judge denied the request.
“Unfortunately the judge did not disqualify Mr. Durand, so he’s still able to represent the council, but as of now, we can appeal it, or we can just go forward with the veto, which that day will be May 12. So at this time, I’m going to talk to my attorney, and we’re not sure exactly what we’re going to do.”
She says she is considering appealing the judge’s decision.
