This is the first in a series of candidate question and answer features St. Tammany News will run before the upcoming elections. Each candidate was asked a series of the same five questions.

Trilby Lenfant has served on the Mandeville City Council since 2000, when she was elected without opposition to represent District One, which covers the western side of the city.

In 2004, she ran and was elected to one of two at-large seats on council. In 2008, Lenfant was re-elected as an at-large councilmember along side former District Three Councilmember Adelaide Boettner. She has served as Mayor Pro Tem and chaired the council from 2004 until recently, when she turned over the gavel to Boettner.

TRILBY LENFENT

Lenfant, 52, is a Republican and a graduate of Louisiana State University. She is married to Jay Lenfant, an attorney and former prosecutor with the Attorney General’s office, and together they have four children. Lenfant is a board member of Habitat for Humanity. She is a past member of the boards of St. Tammany West Chamber and the Lake Pontchartrain Basin Maritime Museum, where she served as president of the board and chair of the Madisonville Wooden Boat Festival for three years.

Lenfant was a founding member of the Friends of the Dew Drop, and is a past president of the St. Scholastica Academy School Board. She is a graduate of Leadership St. Tammany.

If Lenfant is elected in March, the remaining City Council members will be charged with appointing someone to fill her seat until an election can be held. The person who is then elected will finish out Lenfant’s unexpired term.

Do you think the audit committee should remain? Who should be on it? What should be its purpose? Yes. I authored the ordinance, which requires the annual internal audit and created the internal audit committee. The audit committee should include members of the council, as well as citizen members with appropriate financial or business experience. The purpose of the committee is to oversee and work with the internal auditor in formulating a plan for the annual internal audit, which varies from year to year, unlike the city’s financial audit. This type of oversight committee helps to assure transparency in the process. Such a structure is used successfully in other cities and is a good government reform I support.

What safe guards should be put in place so the city does not have a repeat of what happened to Eddie Price? Both the council and administration have moved forward to correct the city’s internal management controls. The annual internal audit will be a management tool to identify and correct deficiencies.

I proposed a comprehensive policy to prevent the misuse of city credit cards and introduced an ordinance to establish a qualifications-based selection process for awarding contracts to professional service providers. The distribution of a code of conduct for city contractors, consultants and suppliers will foster an awareness of the city’s high ethical standards. The key to the future is transparency in all government activities and keeping citizens informed and involved. 

Do you think the city should have a RFQ process for professional services? If so, how should it be handled? Yes. I have proposed an ordinance to establish an RFQ process for professional services. This is a qualifications-based selection process and is a commonly used procurement tool by federal, state, and local governments and the private sector. My proposal basically involves an annual request for qualifications (RFQ) from professional service firms who wish to be considered for service contracts.

A pool of qualified applicants is established by a selection review committee (SRC) using an appropriate, objective evaluation system, including the use of detailed criteria, weights, and grading. The SRC makes recommendations to the mayor as services are needed.

Do you think the city should continue doing business with Meyer Engineering? McMath Construction? No. The city should request a formal review by the legislative auditor of the Meyer contract. Specific task orders and the status of ongoing projects must also be reviewed in order to determine how best to exercise our legal options.

Regarding future on call engineering services, as mayor I will implement the Request for Qualifications process to hire a new consulting engineer. I know of no contracts with McMath Construction, but suggest similar action if any exist. All contractors are expected to maintain a standard of behavior which promotes confidence and trust in the work within the City of Mandeville.

Should the city continue having take home vehicles or should it switch to vehicle allowances? Who should be given either? The city should issue take home cars only to policemen and appropriate public works employees. Beyond that, the city should institute a policy similar to the state wherein only employees who can demonstrate that it is more economically feasible for the city to provide a car than reimburse mileage expenses are issued take home cars. I do not favor vehicle allowances.