Will the follies of Mandeville ever end? Congratulations to Cindy Chang of the Times Picayune for uncovering more shenanigans among city officials.

It seems that on the night of August 15, Mandeville City Attorney David Cressy was driving a city owned vehicle and was involved in an accident with a motorcyclist. Right after the accident, the attorney left the scene to go to a nearby watering hole and grab a glass of wine.

He supposedly needed the drink to calm his nerves. Yet, no one, not even the City Attorney, is supposed to leave the scene of an accident and then drink an alcoholic beverage before police show up. It raises suspicions to say the least. Maybe the City Attorney knew exactly what he was doing. Maybe he was trying to cover his tracks. We will never know because he was not tested and immediately had a drink after the incident.

By having a drink of wine, police officers could not perform a breathalyzer test on the city attorney, so we do not know if he was drunk at the time of the accident. Funny, the same thing happened with Eddie Price both on the Causeway and in Mandeville. Is the Mayor’s bad behavior rubbing off on his administrative team at City Hall?

Just like Eddie Price, Cressy was driving in a city owned vehicle with a ghost license plate, designed for law enforcement officials doing undercover work, not employees of Mandeville. Use of an untraceable license plate is just another abuse of the system by people who seem to think they can get away with anything.

Just like Eddie Price, Cressy enjoys drinks at Nuvolari’s, a restaurant favored by the ruling class in Mandeville. This is the restaurant where you might find Mandeville public officials spending city money on parties, dinner or a nice glass of wine after running a city owned vehicle into a motorcycle.

Cressy should have been charged with hit-and-run for fleeing the scene of an accident to consume an alcoholic beverage. As is becoming too customary with the Mandeville Police Department, he was not ticketed or tested and was allowed to leave.

This is not the first questionable incident involving the City Attorney. Cressy has used his city owned vehicle to take out of state trips without reimbursing the taxpayers. According to the Legislative Auditor, he charged fuel expenses to the city again without reimbursing city coffers.

In Mandeville, many citizens have the impression that everyone at Mandeville City Hall can just create their own laws and do what they want. Some believe that the Police Chief Tom Buell is much too lenient in dealing with cohorts at City Hall. In fact, Barney Fife seems to be a sterner law enforcement official, at least when dealing with the politically powerful. Buell has his own set of problems relating to how he mishandled the Citizen Service Fund, otherwise knows as the Toys for Tots Fund. This is the fund that distributed very little money to needy children, but gave plenty of expensive gifts to fat cats like Mayor Eddie Price.

The City Attorney episode is just the latest in a disturbing litany of abuses and embarrassments in Mandeville. City government seems to be run like a mixture of the Keystone Cops and Boss Hogg of The Dukes of Hazzard. This comedy routine passes for city government in Mandeville. Taxpayers have a right to be concerned about how their tax dollars are being misspent. There is also a legitimate concern about the conduct of public officials. These individuals are in these positions solely to serve the public, not enrich themselves.

Thankfully, a recall effort of Eddie Price is underway and should be publicly announced soon, according to sources familiar with the campaign. A new Mayor, a new Police Chief, a new City Attorney and a new attitude of public service are all desperately needed in Mandeville.

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