You are on page 1of 3

councilalreadyhad votedagainsther

Judgedumps appointment.

lawsuits,removes In the other,Sanderssuedthe commission


itself,on Dec.31, in an effortto forceher
orders
appointee, appointment.

AlexandriaCivil NeitherRoy nor JohnsonattendedFriday's


courthearing.Severalothercity officials
Serviceprocessto attended,includingincludingcouncil
membersEd Larvadainlll, JonathanGoins
start over and MitziGibson.Sandersalsoattended'

SouthernUniversity had appointedSanders,


a formerassistantcity attorneyand
WrittenbY to
Southerngraduate,as its representative
Bret H. McCormick the commission.At a specialmeetingon
Oct. 14,2010,the CityCouncilvoted4-3
Date,Date.NaN,NaNl
lnwlid.undefined
againstthe nomination.
FormerAlexandriaassistantcity attorney
TiffanyN. Sanderswill get anotherchance The councilvotewas taken desPite
to be appointedto the AlexandriaCivil disagreement aboutwhen the council
reveived the recommendationand,
ServiceCommissionas a resultof a court
ruling. therefore,whetherthe councilhad actedon
it withinthe required30 daYs.
The ruling,whichis subjectto appeal,also
reversedthe decisionbY then appointedSanders
SouthernUniversity
the LouisianaCivilServiceLeagueto
Adwrtisement
appointa representativeto the commission
afterSanders'nomination had been
Council..
KeSmk
rejectedbYthe CitY
Bringin anYold Printerto
/..%

NinthJudicialDistrictJudgeGeorgeMetoyer {ffi# andsavean additisnal


Jr. on Fridaydismissedtwo lawsuitsrelated
u . t

to SouthernUniversity'snominationof $SOoff anvnewKsdakFrinter


Sandersto the commission. 2657 S Macarthur D ri ve
Alexan dri a, 318-427'7649
In one,Alexandria MayorJacquesM' Roy 5635Johnston S treet
filedsuit Roosevelt
against L' Johnson, LafaYette, 337-216'050l
presidentof the CityCouncil,to blockany EXP|RfSJ,qg./luil
CIFFER
effortto reconsiderthe nomination.The

P r i r r t P u i r . , t t r e cBl y
dismissal,but Sanderssaid she wantedto
for a secondtime,whichpromptedRoy's to "do the right
suitto blocka specialcouncilmeetingfor a givethe cityan opporlunity
secondvoteon Sanders'appointment' The ihing"throughthe nextrecommendation
mayorclaimedthat sinceSanders already process.
had beendenieda seaton the commission
by the council,she couldnot be "We are pleasedto havea rulingfrom the
reconsideredfor appointment for six courtthat will onceagainprovidean
months. opportunity for all partiesto handlethis
matterin an expeditious and fair manner,"
Afterpretrialmeetingswith attorneysfrom Sanderssaid."l lookforwardto
representing SouthernUniversity and
bothsidesFriday,Metoyerdismissedboth
servingthe employees of the city of
lawsuitsand orderedthat the process
beginanew. Alexandria."

"Startthe processoveragainfrom the TommyDavenport,attorneyfor the Civil


Metoyerwhat
beginning," saidMetoyer,who receivedhis ServiceCommission,asked
his decisionmeant for the LouisianaCivil
jurisdoctorate from SouthernUniversity
can submit ServiceLeague'sappointment of Connie
La* School."SouthernUniversity
The leaguesaid
any namethat theywant' The CityCouncil Bakerto the commission.
that sinceSouthernUniversity appointed
has the rightto approveor disapprove'
Sanderstwice,the universityallowed its
Startthe processoverfrom scratch."
timeframefor appointmentto expire,so
the CivilServiceLeaguecouldappoint
MalcolmLarvadain, an attorney for Sanders Baker.
and brotherof CouncilmanEd Larvadainlll,
saidhis clientwantedto haveher caseh "lt doesn'tmakeany difference whatwas
eard.Sanders'sidedisputesthat the done in the past,"Metoyersaid."Start
councilactedquicklyenoughto vote
Ad\€rtisement
againsther,whichmeansshe would
automaticallYbe aPPointed to the
commission.

SusanFord Fiser,anotherattorneyfor
Sanders,arguedthat dismissalof the two
caseswouldmeanthat Sandersshouldsit
on the commission.Metoyer,however,said
that argumentshouldbe heardon "another
level."

Sandersand her attorneYswere


an appealof Friday's
contemplating

i l ri nt P ow eredB y
over."

Davenport saidhe's not surewherethe


casemay next,but the dismissalmeans
go
that his clientno longeris a defendant'

"My clientis pleasedwith the court'sruling,"


Davenport said."Our primaryconcernis to
makesurethat the procedurein whichan
appointment is madeis followedto the
letterof the law. Thisassuresthat the
independence of the CivilService
Commission remains."

Alexandria CityAttorneyChuckJohnson
saidit was "unfortunate"that the public's
time and moneyhave been wastedon the
issue,but afterMetoyer'sruling,it was time
for the citYto moveahead'

"Thisentireprocess,from selectionof the


nomineethroughthe proceedings in court,
has beenunfortunate," "lt
he said. is time
to get on withtakingcareof the public's
business."

Adrertisement

i )ri rrtP ow eredB Y

You might also like