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Commission authorizes two‑year contract for executive director; chair rebuts Gazette editorial
Summary
The council authorized an employment contract for Executive Director Charles Tillotson and the chair publicly disputed a Plaquemines Gazette editorial that alleged non‑transparency, saying the port complied with public records requests and that claims of 'backroom deals' were false.
The Plaquemines Port Harbor and Terminal District voted to authorize the chairman to enter into a two‑year employment contract with Executive Director Charles D. Tillotson. The motion was offered by Commissioner Champagne, seconded, and recorded by the chair.
During debate the chair took several minutes to list Tillotson’s recent accomplishments — including a market study, a master plan, a capital improvement plan, revisions to administrative procedures, and grant work — and to respond directly to a recent editorial in the Plaquemines Gazette that accused the port of lacking transparency in handling the director’s contract. The chair said the port acknowledged a public records request on Oct. 17 and provided a draft contract on Oct. 21 within the three working‑day period the parish attorney advised was available for compliance. He said he spoke with the reporter (identified in the transcript as Justin Walton) and that assertions of deliberate concealment or 'backroom deals' were 'fabrications' and 'lies' intended to sow distrust.
The chair said he was correcting the record and defended the commissioners’ and staff’s handling of the contract process. He also said the port would meet counsel and proceed with the next steps related to the contract and related agreements.
The commission subsequently approved several associated administrative items and announced a plan to have four commissioners sign the contract as witnesses immediately after the meeting, followed by a photograph.
The transcript records the motion being offered and a vote recorded; the chair also named specific accomplishments and referred to correspondence timelines. The meeting did not include presentation of the final signed contract text during the public session; the chair announced the post‑meeting contract signing with witnesses.
