Reform measures proposed in wake of Tim Whitmer scandal
by Richard Rainey - Times-Picayune (excerpt)

Now that it's apparent Tim Whitmer concurrently ran Jefferson Parish government and his own insurance agency for four years, Parish Council members said Tuesday they were most shocked by how little they knew about the intermingling of his private business with his public position. The steady disclosures of the past three months, that Whitmer's company, Lagniappe Industries, had arrangements with at least three local government agencies and six parish contractors, exposed what council members say is a major lack of safeguards against public employees mixing their duties with their private enterprises. It is those holes in parish law that have spurred the council to action, members said in the wake of Whitmer's resignation. "The situation that we've dealt with for the past several months, I think it's awakened a lot of people," Councilman Louis Congemi said. "Not just me and council members; I think it's opened a lot of people's eyes. ... You're going to see people being a hell of a lot more careful from now on."