Public opposition stalls TRAC resolution with DA involvement; council postpones vote to August

The St. Tammany Parish Council on Thursday postponed consideration of a resolution that would create or amend a Transparency and Resource Accountability Committee (TRAC) to collaborate with the 22nd Judicial District Attorney’s office after extensive public comment and council discussion.

The resolution under consideration, council series CD-17138, would have established a collaboration to provide assistance or resources as needed to review budgets and operations of parish departments and agencies that receive parish funding. After members of the public and several taxing districts raised concerns about the district attorney’s role, the council voted to postpone the item until the August meeting. The postponement passed unanimously with two members absent.

Why it matters: The proposal touched multiple independent taxing bodies — including fire districts, mosquito abatement and recreation districts — and the inclusion of the district attorney’s office prompted repeated questions about scope, authority and potential conflicts of interest. Speakers called for an independent auditor or clearer boundaries instead of bringing a prosecuting office into routine budget oversight.

Several public speakers urged the council to remove the district attorney’s office from any oversight role or to narrow the committee’s authority. Jamie Segura, a resident who planned to oppose the change, said she had discussed the issue with legal counsel and withdrew her opposition after that conversation. Randy Hess, fire chief of St. Tammany Fire District 2 and vice president of the Fire Chiefs Association, said the chief concern was unclear boundaries: “My biggest problem is, what are the boundaries of TRAC?” he said, adding that districts already undergo budget hearings and state audits.

Jennifer Goins of Recreation District 12 said taxing bodies have boards and regular audits and questioned adding another local government office to review budgets. Dr. Kevin Cayuet, executive director of the St. Tammany Parish Mosquito Abatement District, told the council the DA’s public statements about independent taxing districts suggested a predetermined outcome and urged the council to reject the modified resolution or instead create an independent inspector-general function.

Council staff presented an amended version of the resolution that changed the word “partnership” to “collaboration,” clarified that the district attorney “will not be a member of the TRAC committee for the purpose of making formal observations to the parish council,” and limited the DA’s office role to “providing resources on an as‑needed basis to gather information, conduct interviews, collect data, perform analysis, and document observations and/or findings for the council to review and consider.” Several speakers said they only saw that revised language at the meeting and asked for more time to review it.

Councilmember Seiden moved to postpone the item until the August meeting so stakeholders could review the amended language; the motion was seconded and carried unanimously with two members absent.

What’s next: The item is postponed to the August meeting. Stakeholders who addressed the council asked the council to either remove the district attorney’s office from the collaboration or further narrow the committee’s authority and membership before reconsideration.