In a hearing before Judge Lewis Pitman in 16th Judicial District Court on July 23, the city was handed a partial win in its case against Lawrence “Nanny” Mitchell.
The court action followed a decision by the council to seek an injunction forbidding Mitchell from entering city buildings or grounds and from interacting with city employees other than his wife during working hours.
The ten-day restraining order granted by Pittman, however, was considerably scaled back. Mitchell was only ordered to stay away from the city barn and anyplace where Public Works employees are working. He must also avoid contact with any of the five public works employees who filed affidavits in the complaint.
The city council initiated the court action after Mitchell confronted employees who were cutting up a downed tree on July 17, on what Mitchell said is private property, at the corner of Jefferson and Vivier Streets. He then drove to the city barn and allegedly continued to harangue employees there.
According to the affidavits from the five employees, Mitchell, unable to locate superintendent Brian Touchet, resumed the confrontation with Michael Martin, who had been cutting the tree. On the witness stand, Martin said Mitchell had asked him if he wanted to fight and said he intended to “make Touchet curse at him so he could get him fired.”
The following day, according to Touchet, Mitchell resumed the conflict outside city hall, when he encountered the superintendent and Councilman Dennis Paul Williams. Williams and Touchet described further threatening behavior from Mitchell during the interaction.
Mitchell’s attorney, John Milton, relied upon character witnesses to attest to his client’s easy-going nature as well as issues they also had with the Public Works Department.
On the stand, Mitchell admitted that he was not sure whether the tree being cut on July 17th was actually intruding into the utility right-of-way, or was close enough to a fire hydrant to justify the work being done by city employees.
Mitchell took the stand and said he was acting as a concerned citizen, in reaction to what he saw as an illegal act by Public Works employees. In his decision, the judge said that employees could not be expected to disregard the fact that he is the mayor’s husband.
Local businessman Mark Brignac and previous superintendent Charles Rader were among the witnesses called by Milton to testify on Mitchell’s behalf. Both said he has never been known to behave violently. But both have had or threatened legal action against the city based on their dealings with the Public Works Department, and both have been barred from going to the city barn or yard.
An interaction between Touchet and Brignac, who has been in a protracted dispute with the city over electric service upgrades in his mobile home park, had resulted in Mayor Melinda Mitchell giving Touchet a two-day suspension for cursing.
Rader had been terminated as superintendent during his probationary employment period after a tense interaction with Martin about overtime hours.
Pittman rejected a preliminary motion by Milton to exclude city attorney Allan Durand from the case, contending that his direct involvement in this and other complaints against Mitchell made him a principal in the action.
Milton also contended that Durand had “coached” the witnesses when they wrote their affidavits. On the stand, Durand said he had neither coached witnesses or engaged in any fact-finding activities concerning the complaint.
The temporary, renewable restraining order was granted by Pitman as an interim measure. The request for an injunction making the order permanent will be heard by another 16th Judicial District judge at a later date.
Durand said he is satisfied with the outcome. Milton commented that he will continue to fight all actions against Mitchell when the hearing for a permanent injunction is held.
