By Richard Rainey
The Times-Picayune
JEFFERSON, La. — After poor management sparked a state audit of charitable donations meant for East Jefferson firefighters, Jefferson Parish officials now plan to create a formal account for the cash.
Should the Parish Council approve the move Wednesday, it will be the first time the money, now totaling $57,817, will be in one place.
It also will be the first time that firefighters or their families who are suffering from injury, disease or a death will have access to the financial aid. To date, no money has been distributed despite several inquiries from East Bank Consolidated Fire Department employees.
“I think the problems it experienced in the past — poor record-keeping and not serving the fire personnel — once this is put in place, those problems will have ended,” said Bob Burkett, president of the department’s firefighters union.
The Jefferson Parish Finance Department will create the new account, Deputy Chief Administrative Officer Bert Smith said. It will be managed by a five-member board including two union members, Fire Chief Paul Smith, a parish attorney and someone picked by the council.
After the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, firefighters began selling small commemorative bells — tokens supplied by WWL-TV — for $3 each at fire stations. Alternately called “the bell fund,” “the tragedy fund” or “the memory fund,” the money was meant to help firefighters suffering from injury or disease or the families of those who died in the line of duty.
But several firefighters said they were turned away when they asked for help. So in November the Metropolitan Crime Commission began investigating, which led to an as-yet-unreleased review by the Louisiana legislative auditor. When word spread of the legislative auditor’s interest, Parish President Aaron Broussard’s administration announced it would conduct its own internal investigation.
Parish attorneys said they found some bell fund cash in a private account at the parish employee credit union. Then a firefighter came forward with an additional $18,000 in small bills that he had kept in a tackle box.
Smith said none of the bell fund money has been spent, making it easier now to establish official guidelines. Along with the new account, controlled by parish government, parish officials plan to establish a regulated method to apply for the cash. A firefighter could receive no more than $2,500 in aid in a 12-month period, according to the proposed ordinance that the Parish Council will consider.
“Certainly we’ve had discussions about it, and we believe this is the right way to do it,” Burkett said. “It’s a worthwhile cause. We want a program that can withstand the light of day.”
Jefferson is taking a different tack than St. Tammany Parish. When state auditors pressed St. Tammany officials with similar accusations of mismanaging donations for a north shore fire department, they decided last week to end the charity altogether.
However, Jefferson’s fund will begin $50,000 short. A New York charity reclaimed its donations earlier this year when local officials could not account for the money.
“And that was sad, because at the time we could have done some good things with that money,” Burkett said. “That’ll never happen again.”
Copyright 2009 The Times-Picayune Publishing Company