[StBernard] St. Bernard Parish's housing restrictions are legally and morally wrong

[Westley Annis]

St. Bernard Parish's housing restrictions are legally and morally wrong
Posted by The Times-Picayune editorial page staff September 12, 2009 6:08AM

U.S. District Court Judge Ginger Berrigan has seen enough stubbornness from
St. Bernard Parish officials -- and it's time for those officials to obey
the law and stop trying to restrict who can live in the parish. 

In a searing decision Friday, Judge Berrigan ruled St. Bernard's government
in contempt of court for its groundless denial of a resubdivision for a $60
million, mixed-income apartment development in Chalmette. 

"Defendants are not free to defy this Court simply because they think they
know better," Judge Berrigan wrote in her latest ruling in the case. 

She ruled that the developers had met all requirements for their
resubdivision request and that the application is approved. She gave the
parish until 5 p.m. Monday to produce the respective paperwork. If parish
officials delay without cause, St. Bernard faces fines of $5,000 the first
day and $10,000 every day thereafter. 

St. Bernard officials have already wasted enough public money defending
illegal and discriminatory housing policies. President Craig Taffaro and
Planning Commission Chairman Earl Dauterive must ensure that the parish
meets Monday's deadline. 

On a broader point, though, parish officials need to realize that they are
engaged in a game of chicken with a federal judge over patently
discriminatory policies. Governors have tried this in the past -- and
failed. 


President Taffaro, Chairman Dauterive and other parish officials have
insisted that they are not acting out of prejudice. But Judge Berrigan
concluded that the parish's actions not only have a discriminatory effect
but were crafted precisely with that intent. 

"Instead of acquiescing in, and even pandering to the exaggerated fears and
race and class based prejudice of some of its citizens, these officials
could courageously challenge those assumptions, and accurately present to
its citizens the advantages this development could bring to the parish,"
Judge Berrigan wrote in her decision Friday. 

Instead, St. Bernard officials have been erecting obstacles for rentals and
multi-family developments since shortly after Hurricane Katrina -- all with
the intent of restricting minorities from having access to housing in the
parish. 

Three years ago, the Parish Council approved a law crafted by
then-Councilman Taffaro prohibiting home rentals to anybody but blood
relatives of the owner. The parish lost a court battle defending the
discriminatory law. 

Then earlier this year, Judge Berrigan ruled that a 2008 moratorium on
multi-family housing was intentionally discriminatory. 

These legal defeats were foreseeable. Then-Councilman Lynn Dean in 2006
chastised his colleagues for intentionally creating discriminatory policies
and for tapping taxpayers' money to hire attorneys to defend those policies.


"Our parish is broke," Mr. Dean said then. "We are going to hire an
attorney, and when it's all over with, we are going to lose." 

That's exactly what has occurred. 

Parish taxpayers are paying dearly for the stubbornness of their government.
St. Bernard already has had to shell out $153,000 to settle the lawsuit on
the 2006 rental ordinance. The current case is likely to prove more costly.
Judge Berrigan in July ruled St. Bernard liable for the attorney fees of the
developers seeking the resubdivision. 

As of March, those fees had reached almost $770,000, according to a filing
by the plaintiff's attorneys. A magistrate judge will decide how much of the
charges the parish will have to pay, but it's likely to be hundreds of
thousands of dollars. 

That makes the parish's actions bad fiscal policy as well. 

In her decision, Judge Berrigan accurately noted that no parish was more
devastated after Katrina than St. Bernard. She praised parish officials for
their aggressive efforts shortly after the disaster to begin rebuilding
their community. Indeed, the initiative of local leaders in St. Bernard has
been a crucial factor in the parish's recovery. 

But the relentless and illegal campaign by some of those same officials to
restrict housing developments threatens to tarnish their legacy. Their
actions are also blocking investment in a parish that still has a long
recovery ahead. 

That's a myopic disservice to constituents -- one they must begin correcting
now.