New Orleans Regional Transit Authority board member Al Herrera asked an RTA contractor last year to do business with his private Kenner industrial supply firm โย a request that came two months after the RTA extended the contractorโs contract.
Such arrangements are banned under state law, the state Ethics Board said in December, after the contractor, Dana Pecoraro of Laurel Outdoor Advertising, informed the board of Herreraโs request.
The request was made in August. The RTA had approved a contract extension for Laurel in June.
However, Herreraย said he had no intention of trying to benefit from the board's action or arrange a quid pro quo. He said he didnโt know that any deal he struck with Laurel would be illegal, and that he has since informed his staff not to solicit Laurelโs business.
โI knew that she contracted with the RTA (for signs on buses and transit shelters), but her billboards do not,โ Herrera said, as he explained that he was seeking work related to local billboards. โSo I thought it would be OK.โ
However, Pecoraro said her company has never handled billboards.
Herrera, a Kenner businessman, is one of three members of the RTA board who are named by the Jefferson Parish president; the other five are appointed by the New Orleans mayor.
Herrera also chairs the boardโs Finance Committee, the group tasked with reviewing the RTAโs finances and contracts it enters into with vendors, such as Laurel. The committee approved Laurelโs contract extension with the public agency before it was ratified by the full board.
Laurel is responsible for the advertising that appears on the RTAโs buses, streetcars and shelters, an arrangement that generates roughly $900,000 in annual revenue for it and the RTA. It must also handle the maintenance on some shelters.
Herreraโs firms, IPS Corp. and Best Bolt & Nut Supply of Kenner, sell fasteners, cutting tools, concrete products and other industrial supplies.
Pecoraro said she was contacted by Herrera in August about the possibility of his firm supplying her company with some items. She said she immediately told him she believed such a contract wouldnโt be permitted, given his position on the RTA board.
She reached out to the RTA's general counsel, Sundiata Haley, for clarification, and Haley advised her that the arrangement would be illegal.ย She also contacted the state Ethics Board, which said in December that such an agreement would run afoul of the law.
โThe board concluded ... that ... the Code of Governmental Ethics would prohibit Laurel Outdoor Advertising from compensating Al Herrera, or any company in which he exercises control โฆ for services it performs,โ the opinion said.
โLaurel has never been solicited by any other past or present RTA commissioner,โ Pecoraro said.
However, Herrera said he wasnโt aware then that his proposal to Laurel would break any laws.
He initially said that his sales team alone made the request of Laurel and that, as company CEO, he doesnโt get involved in the particulars of day-to-day operations. However, he later said that he contacted Pecoraro personally when his sales team informed him that it had reached out to her in an attempt to provide supplies for the work he said she did onย billboards.
The Ethics Board's opinion says that Herreraโs staff contacted Pecoraroโs firm.
โThey used to do the outdoor billboards, and thatโs what my sales team contacted them about,โ he said.
Pecoraro said in an email that her firm has never managed any billboards.
Herrera said he has since informed his staff that it would be improper for them to contact firms that do business with the RTA. And Pecoraro said that, once Haley advised him against it, Herrera didnโt contact her again.
Asked whether RTA commissioners undergo any sort of ethics training after they are appointed, board Chairwoman Sharonda Williams said it's up to individual members to be aware of relevant ethics laws.
"Commissioners are expected to familiarize themselves with the Code of Governmental Ethics, and RTAโs legal counsel provides guidance on ethics issues that arise,โ Williams said.
A spokesman for Jefferson Parish President Mike Yenni did not respond to a request for comment on Herreraโs actions.