JEFFERSON PARISH, La. — Jefferson Parish Registrar of Voters Dennis DiMarco accused WWL Louisiana of a “hatchet job… since day one with Mike Yenni” while refusing to answer the station’s questions for a sixth straight day about his controversial decision to hire the disgraced former parish president back into public office.
Eight years ago, the station broke the story that Yenni sent sexually explicit texts to a 17-year-old boy in the summer of 2015, while Yenni was the 40-year-old mayor of Kenner and was running for Jefferson Parish president.
Two days after the story broke, Yenni admitted sending “improper texts to a young man.” In 2019, he stepped away from public life, citing the “disappointment” he caused with his “private actions.”
The station hasn’t done any stories on the sexting scandal since Yenni left public office. But the issue reemerged six days ago, when WWL learned DiMarco was hiring Yenni to become his top deputy in the Registrar of Voters Office.
Members of the Jefferson Parish Council, who appoint the registrar, said they learned about the hire from the WWL Louisiana report last Tuesday. After the story broke, DiMarco said he wanted to meet with each council member individually before answering WWL’s questions about his decision.
Jefferson Parish Council President Scott Walker told WWL on Wednesday that DiMarco was potentially reconsidering hiring Yenni and would make a final decision in the coming days.
After giving DiMarco several more days to agree to an interview, this reporter went to the regular public meeting Monday of the Jefferson Parish Finance Authority at the parish government building in Gretna, where DiMarco was presiding in an open meeting.
After it ended, WWL asked again for an interview, and DiMarco said he hadn’t finished meeting with the council members yet and said there was “nothing to report.”
Asked if Yenni was officially hired, he again said, "Nothing to report." Asked what process was used to determine if Yenni were qualified to be deputy registrar and what those qualifications are, DiMarco repeated, “Nothing to report.”
In less than four minutes, DiMarco said “nothing to report” 28 times in response to WWL’s questions.
He also accused this reporter of a “hatchet job” against Yenni from the moment we reported about the sexting scandal, even though Yenni admitted to sending the texts. Asked if he had read any of Yenni’s texts to the boy, he said he hadn’t. In 2016, the teen provided us with copies of the texts between him and Yenni. They showed Yenni asking to see the teen in underwear Yenni had bought for him, saying he wanted to see the boy naked and telling the youth that he wanted to engage in a specific sex act.
When WWL reported about the texts in September 2016, top elected officials in the parish called for his resignation and backed a recall effort. Tens of thousands of registered voters signed a petition for a recall election, but the campaign fell short of collecting more than 90,000 certified signatures. Yenni stayed in office until the end of his first term, but decided not to run for reelection in 2019, acknowledging his private actions had caused disappointment.
Asked if the public has a right to know why DiMarco had brought Yenni back to public office, DiMarco again accused this reporter of a “hatchet job.”
“I'm not going to participate in a hatchet job, which is what you have been doing since day one with Mike Yenni,” DiMarco said. “Nothing to report. All right?”
“He admitted that he sent those texts. How is that a hatchet job?” this reporter asked.
“Nothing to report,” DiMarco responded.
DiMarco again promised Monday to sit down for an interview after he meets with all the parish council members, but he declined to say which council members he still needs to meet with and said he didn’t know when he would complete that process.
► Get breaking news from your neighborhood delivered directly to you by downloading the new FREE WWL-TV News app now in the IOS App Store or Google Play.