JEFFERSON PARISH, La. — Outgoing Jefferson Parish President Mike Yenni had over $100,000 in questionable purchases when he moved into office in 2016, a new report from the Jefferson Parish Office of the Inspector General finds.
The 731-page report details more than a quarter-million dollars in expenses during Yenni's transition. Inspector General Dave McClintock says of the $261,000 spent during the transition, his investigation found more than $119,000 was questionably spent.
McClintock, one of Yenni's repeated political sparring partners, sent a draft of the report to the president's office over the summer. Yenni responded, according to the report, by accusing McClintock of spending too much on his office. His office said the report was full of "misstatements and wrong findings."
The funds McClintock's investigation focused on were partly for renovations to Yenni's office suite in Elmwood. Nearly $10,000 in expenses from the East Bank Consolidated Fire Department's millage funds were also questioned.
In 2017, Eyewitness News uncovered a 1,600% increase in the budget for executive office renovations in Jefferson Parish, authorized by Yenni.
Yenni claimed at the time he was using his own money to make his personal office look like the Oval Office did during George W. Bush's administration.
He said he used his personal money and personally picked out the furniture to make the room look like the Bush Oval Office, including special ordering a starburst rug nearly identical to the one Bush used.
He announced he would not run for re-election a month after receiving the report draft.
Cynthia Lee-Sheng, a Jefferson Parish Councilwoman, was elected as the next Parish President in the October election.
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