Jefferson Parish’s first Inspector General, David
McClintock, announced that his first task will be to provide oversight of the
controversial proposal to lease Jefferson Parish’s two public hospitals.
At a meeting of the Parish’s Ethics and Compliance Commission
(I bet you didn’t know we had one of those, right?), McClintock said that he
will not get involved in the process to determine which of the three finalists
are chosen to lease the hospitals but will ensure that the procedure is fair
and protects the citizens of Jefferson Parish.
“I have zero information at this point in
time to indicate there was any wrongdoing in this process to date,” McClintock
said.
McClintock did have some
cautionary words though for the process.
"Here you have a project that is large, complex. Something that we
don't do everyday. Sometimes government isn't good at things we don't do every
day," he said.
On WWL-TV, Jefferson Parish President John Young, who
suggested that the IG look into the hospital deal, said that the decision to
lease the hospitals is crucial.
"Probably one of the most important decisions that will be made
while we're here," Young said.
Which leads to the inevitable question: if the decision is so important, why did the Jefferson Parish Council and the Jefferson Parish Legislative Delegation remove the people’s right to vote on it?
