KENNER, La. — Federal agents served a subpoena on the City of Kenner on Friday, seeking payroll records and emails for one of Mayor Ben Zahn’s top aides.
Zahn on Tuesday confirmed that the city received a subpoena, but he declined to comment on what exactly the subpoena sought from the City.
"We received a subpoena here for an employee on Friday afternoon," Zahn said. "That’s all I can comment on."
Later Tuesday, the city provided the subpoena in response to public records requests from WWL-TV and The Times-Picayune | New Orleans Advocate. The subpoena demands the city furnish a broad set of records related to Deputy Chief Administrative Officer Chad Pitfield, who has been under news media scrutiny in recent months for having collected thousands of dollars in disaster pay after Hurricane Ida.
The city must provide "any and all personnel records for Chad Pitfield, including but not limited to: applications for employment; evaluations, performance reviews; personal and professional references; commendations; awards; complaints; disciplinary and adverse actions; tests; reviews; salary information; promotions; certifications; correspondence; and any other written documents."
It also asks for all of Pitfield's compensation records, including check stubs and time sheets dating back to Jan. 1, 2019. It also demands all of Pitfield's emails and all city policies related to pay for emergencies.
The city is directed to provide the records by Feb. 24.
Pitfield has been placed on administrative leave without pay, Zahn said. Zahn also said a committee was formed inside the city government to look into the matter. The federal subpoena requests the results of any internal investigation.
Separately, federal agents also subpoenaed Pitfield’s personnel records from the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office, where he was a reserve deputy, according to a source familiar with the investigation.
Some Kenner City Council members were told about the subpoenas, but were asked not to speak about it, two council members said.
“All I know is that they have subpoenas,” Council member Kristi McKinney said. She had been contacted by City Attorney Joyce Sallah, but Sallah did not tell her what the federal agents sought.
Council member George Branigan also got a call from Sallah.
“She told me it’s about an employee and that’s all she could tell me,” he said.
Shortly after WWL-TV and The Times-Picayune submitted public records requests for the subpoena to the city, Branigan said he got a second call from Sallah. She told him that talking about the subpoenas could subject him to a charge of obstruction of justice, he said.
Pitfield has been the focus of intense media and public attention after a series of news stories revealed that he had earned approximately $86,000 in disaster pay on top of his regular salary in less than four months after Hurricane Ida.
Zahn said in a recent interview that Pitfield’s total pay for 2021 went from a salary of about $143,000 to more than $229,000.
At the same time, Pitfield was filing time sheets with the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office, and multiple sources said the city placed Pitfield on administrative leave Monday after receiving the subpoena.
WVUE-TV reported last week that in some instances, Pitfield’s hours at the two agencies overlapped.
Former federal prosecutor Pat Fanning said the two time sheets could spell trouble for Pitfield.
“If he was claiming that he was at one location working and then he put in time sheets for the same time period and said he was somewhere else working then he's caught double dipping,” Fanning said. “And that's going to be a fraud case against him in particular if it involves taxpayer funds.”
Pitfield declined to comment on advice of counsel.
In an interview with WWL-TV, Zahn defended paying Pitfield disaster pay into the last week of December because he said Pitfield was still working overtime to restore city services from the storm. He said a liaison from the Governor’s Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness OK’d continuing hazard pay even after city offices reopened in September and most city employees returned to regular work hours.
The subpoenas related to Pitfield are not the FBI’s only Kenner-related inquiry. Federal agents have also questioned people about the city’s abrupt about-face on garbage collection in May 2020, when the city hired Sidney Torres-owned IV Waste to replace Ramelli Waste on most routes.
Ramelli has sued the city, and videos of depositions given by Zahn and others have been posted online. The city recently asked the judge to forbid the dissemination of deposition videos.
Earlier this month, Zahn said the FBI had not questioned him or anyone in his administration about the garbage contract. The mayor denied receiving any money related to the switch in contractors.
Earlier this month, Zahn said he had forwarded to the FBI recordings he secretly made of conversations he had with political consultant Greg Buisson and Jefferson Parish Council member Dominick Impastato in which the three of them discussed the upcoming races. Zahn accused them of attempting to extort him by pressuring him to urge Kenner City Council member Mike Sigur, a Zahn ally, to back out of the police chief’s race.
Zahn said the subpoena served Friday was the first time the FBI had requested records from his administration.
All of this is also happening against the backdrop of an intensely contested election. Zahn, who has served a little more than one term, is facing a heated challenge from current Police Chief Michael Glaser.
The city’s elections are March 26.
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