Two Westlake city councilmen alleging
that the city’s chief administrative officer improperly used city funds
took their accusations
to law enforcement officials on Friday.
Councilman John Cradure confirmed that he and Wally Anderson met with officials from the Calcasieu Parish Sheriff’s Office
to bring allegations that Lonnie Smart has been improperly using city funds.
Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman Kim Myers confirmed that the meeting took place, as did District Attorney John DeRosier, who said a member
of his office sat in on the meeting.
Both said it was a preliminary meeting.
Myers stressed that “no report has been filed” and that the Sheriff’s Office does not discuss ongoing investigations.
“Let’s not pre-judge it until we see exactly what we’ve got here,” DeRosier said.
Cradure said he and Anderson took their concerns to the sheriff’s office because, “we have a fiduciary responsibility and we felt that it was warranted.”
Cradure said the councilmen began to
look in to spending because “they were withholding everything. They
wouldn’t release anything.”
Smart said “I invited” the investigation and called it a “political ploy by two people on the council that aren’t getting their
way.” He said the investigation will clear his name and reveal no improprieties.
Cradure said among the allegations is
that Smart has been using the city credit card for personal use,
including to pay
for a plane ticket to North Carolina in June and to pay for the
ticket of a female who accompanied him on a city trip to Washington
D.C. in March.
Smart said he paid both back. He said
he repaid the city for the North Carolina ticket when the bill came in.
He claimed auditors
saw the transaction and found “nothing wrong.”
He called the ticket for the female companion a “booking convenience” because he bought her ticket at the same time he bought
his.
“They can investigate all they want, I have nothing to hide,” Smart said. “In the history of that city, anybody who has ever used a credit card, when they got back if they had any personal issues, they paid them.”